Jump to content

Log in or register to remove this advert

John Skinner

Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    159

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by John Skinner

  1. John Skinner
    You can, if really really stuck, always try the bags of kiln dried logs to be found at your local bargain shop/petrol station. They are usually a weird orange colour and look fine stacked under your stove for decoration. But they also tend to be as dry as the scrotum of an Egyptian mummy (possibly that should read "daddy"?), and will probably last as long in the stove as the match you light it with. FREE wood will probably be freshly cut, wet/green and of no use to you atm. CHEAP wood might be the same, or misrepresented in quality, type of wood or more often than not 'quantity' for the £££ paid. e.g. a loose load of 6 cubic bags of prime hardwood that turns out to actually be 3-4 cubic bags of damp softwood. Best bet is to shop around and find the best price/deal from a reputable purveyor of wood based burnables. Hell ... there might even be some on here? As chasing the illusive free/cheap supply 'can' work out, but more often than not its only the chase itself that's gonna keep you warm.
  2. John Skinner
    Aye. I don't think you'll be the only one coming up with homemade solutions to the heat problem. I just put in a new gas boiler/system in June and already have the bugger turned off for all but hot water. NO WAY i'm forking out 3, 4, .., 7 times the normal price for gas to heat this place. It's all going to be logs in the stove from now on. The neighbours trees might all vanish but i will be nice and warm ... i hope.
  3. John Skinner
    You're best to shop around the various offers and deals that are going at the time, as they change so much every day. Just because they say £X price, doesn't mean they will only sell at that price. Always message with an offer price. Also if you are buying more than one, they will drop the list price on both. Often, if you just add to your watch list, you'll then get a much better offer in from them on a private message. That's what i got, and negotiated from there; reduced price for one, then made an offer on a further reduced price for two. Just search for 20cm/8" twin 8 blade stove fan. Either "hanging" "flue mount" or "stove-top" depending on what you want. You can obviously go for multiples of the larger single 4-5 blade fans. But those were too bulky/obtrusive for my needs. These are the same size/colour as the flue pipe and blend in well. It's not a massive push of air like you get from a cold air desktop fan, so don't expect that. It's more of a constant channel of warm air moving through the house.
  4. John Skinner
    The twin turbo flue mounted fans are actually quite good; and silent. I'm in a 3 bed bungalow with a stove in the kitchen at the back of the house. I fitted 2x 8" twin turbos (to the single wall flue section) and they push the warm air all the way from the back of the house to the lounge/bedrooms at the front. Ordered mine on Ebay from China at a 3rd of the price you buy then in UK stock. They arrived in 14/15 days; excellent quality. They also do stove-top models. As an alternative, as has already been said, use a simple electric desk/clip-on fan to push the warm air. Home Bargains (if you have one near you) have 9", 12" and 20" fans for around £12-£18 atm.
  5. John Skinner
    Just fitted 2 twin turbo fans to my stove and have to say ... they work remarkably well at moving the warm air all through the house. Well worth looking into as an option.
  6. John Skinner
    Another vote for the Top Down method (New 10Kw multi fuel stove, still learning) wood only. Seems the quick and easy option, especially with the eco stoves where 'apparently' you need to heat the flue to get things moving. Wee bit of paper at the bottom and any crushed fire lighter that's going. Mid sized kindling. Small kindling stack with one fire lighter cube. Top-off with any little bits of twig/bark laying about. Open both the top/bottom vents, fire in a match to the top stack ... and away she goes. Wait till it looks like the pits of hell, then fire in a couple of big logs (hardwood), shut the bottom vent, slide the top vet back to about 1/4 and leave it alone. As for glass cleaning. As long as i open the top vent at the end of the burn (if letting it go out, which i wont be doing over the winter) the air wash seems to clean off the glass pretty well. Also reduces the ash down nicely to a fine powder. * Added two twin turbo fans to the single-wall section of flue. Have to say those work really well at moving the warm air through the house. Silent too
  7. John Skinner
    Tried to do the same a few years back with eight large conifers along the property boundary. Their roots were under a wall and just no way they were coming out, not without serious work. Ended up just cutting to around ground level, drilling loads of deep holes and adding root/stump rot liquid. Then covered them with plastic, raised the ground level around them with soil and topped with stones. They are all pretty much gone now. Much less hassle and much less cost.
  8. John Skinner
    Nothing fancy, nothing pricey, certainly nothing of any great quality even ... but very handy indeed ... The 4" or 6" hand held electric mini chainsaws. Great for getting into those tight spaces a standard hand saw or bulkier electric saws just wouldn't work. Makes quick work of annoying branches, overgrown shrubs, pallets, sticks for kindling, etc. All for £35-£45 with multiple bars, chains and batteries.
  9. John Skinner
    No. He did think it through, and was aware of the fact prior to the conversation taking this twist. He just found it amusing. Done 🙂
  10. John Skinner
    Bats!! No one said anything to me about bats. Very cool 🦇👍 TBH i'd rather have bats than earwigs, bugs and spiders 🪳🪲🕷️
  11. John Skinner
    No. No mystery at all. Just find it ironic 👍
  12. John Skinner
    Well ....... That's the weird thing about these woodburners/multi fuel stoves. You have to keep them X-distance from all consumables (walls, doors, flooring etc) and obviously from firewood etc too. Yet you can store firewood 'in them' directly under the firebox in the built in wood store. It's even a 'feature' promoted for the stoves. So there's an apparent danger my house walls, floor, ceiling might spontaneously combust at any given moment, but the already dry logs sitting up against the fire itself will be fine and dandy - lol. But no. Not too close. At the other end of the extended hearth in a shielded log store rack doofer-ma-bobber thingy (technical term).
  13. John Skinner
    Yeah ... 🙄 it was ... shall we say ... efficient 😉
  14. John Skinner
    👍
  15. John Skinner
    Any tips on keeping the bugs out when bringing in firewood to rack by the fire? I'm not sure if its due to the mild/dry/scorching hot weather we've been having, but there seems to be a heck of a lot of bugs around; especially earwigs and spiders. Obviously there is always going to be the odd bug when you bring in wood to put by the fire. But is there any way to limit this migration from the woodshed to the house? Like ... maybe dunk them in water or spray the logs with petrol or something 🤔 Obviously that's a joke 🤪😂
  16. John Skinner
    Well the point of tags is to draw attention to/help folk searching for a topic. Since i was trying to let folk know about the wood/price, it kinda seems relevant? Nah, nothing fishy going on here at all. But thank you for your faith in my entrepreneurship. Just got a good deal locally and passing on the info like a good neighbour 👍 You lot are sooo suspicious 🙄😆
  17. John Skinner
    Nah. I wish it was. I could do with the income.
  18. John Skinner
    Aye, it's uneconomic for them and would be outright theft if i (or anyone) tried to help themselves; not to mention dangerous 😱 Plus it's a long walk back to town from the woods, carrying one log at a time 😂
  19. John Skinner
    There are a few places over this way and west offering hard and softwood at good prices. Problem is ... they are all at a distance from me (self collect only), which would then require me to get a driver, jeep and trailer (or whatever). By the time i did that i'm as well paying local delivery rates. Never thought it would be easier to collect pallets than wood. Especially as this entire area is surrounded on all sides (other than the sea) by trees 😂
  20. John Skinner
    Aye there are certainly loads of windblown trees around. Just a shame i can't get near them, or move them even if i could get near them. If i could i'd happily turn them into movable blocks or logs. * Have saw - Will cut !! .
  21. John Skinner
    The alternative option, which was at distance and had to be collected (additional cost) was loose ton cubes. So that's the comparison we discussed, briefly, so far. I'll be speaking to the lad when he's back from holiday and will make sure we're all on the same page; but tbh, i think we already are.
  22. John Skinner
    Yes, it was ton bags that was discussed; but I'll check this again. As i said the lad is on holiday so i've not gone into great details yet. Will do once he's back next week and will update. It was discussed in comparison to another place, also doing ton bags, but 'at distance' and required collection in person.
  23. John Skinner
    Finally managed to get my firewood situation sorted; Woohoo 🥳 Found a local supplier in the local Nairn area doing hardwood logs at £70 per cubic bag, delivered. That's a nice saving from the £98/£120 per cube quoted by others locally. Six cube ordered and more to come. Got to fill that woodshed 👍 I don't have all the OP details, as the lads still on holiday. But if there's anyone else around the local area that is looking for hardwood and wants more info, message me directly.
  24. John Skinner
    I think Lidl has moisture meters in this week for about £10, probably with a 3yr warranty.
  25. John Skinner
    Yeah, i'm like that too. So much so, i now keep DynoRod on standby 😆😂🤣

About

Arbtalk.co.uk is a hub for the arboriculture industry in the UK.  
If you're just starting out and you need business, equipment, tech or training support you're in the right place.  If you've done it, made it, got a van load of oily t-shirts and have decided to give something back by sharing your knowledge or wisdom,  then you're welcome too.
If you would like to contribute to making this industry more effective and safe then welcome.
Just like a living tree, it'll always be a work in progress.
Please have a look around, sign up, share and contribute the best you have.

See you inside.

The Arbtalk Team

Follow us

Articles

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.