Sunday rides are often thinly disguised as firewood searches. Murr and I spotted some that had been cleared from our local trails. The council usually send it for shredding. So we liberted it from such a dastardly future.
Chopped and stacked, I'll celebrate Hogmanay with a dram in front of the stove tonight.
Hope all the STW stovists will be equally toasty tonight. Happy New Year when it arrives.
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
Bah Humbug... 
My store is empty and will be until 20th Jan when I get paid again, so just coal for us until then.
Just lit mine for the evening.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Rioja, cheese and crap telly. Bring it on!
Happy New Year!
just bought myself a shiny new maul to tidy my woodpile up.
Am slowly making progress through the first Coup of Stoner's Coppice.
This is about 1/6 of what will come out of 1/6 of the whole coppice (coppicing in 6yr rotation. There's a pile at in the distance cant be seen very well). Wont be burning this for two years though.
[img] 
[/img]
For next season I have this lot to split early next year:
[img] 
[/img]
the wood store is about 1/3rd full now. This from warmer times 🙂
[img] 
[/img]
I'm currently laying my last log of 2012 as I type, and quite a pile it is too. I think it's gonna be a double flusher.
Time for a hydraulic splitter Stoner?
the wood store is about 1/3rd full now.
Did you build it with partitions or do you just build the logs in yearly piles?
EDIT Oh there's a pic.
I just alternate sides. I might build an extension to the pile next year, probably just a 6' one, and maybe separate the 12' one into two bays.
With the poplar the idea is to split with one cleave anything over 3-4" in diameter, anything less, when dry, is fine on the furnace. There's nothing being felled over 6-7" so only the one cleave needed and no real need for a hydraulic one as poplar splits so easily with a dropped maul.
Oh, and HNY mcm!
What's the average install cost for these? Mrs Oath and I are looking at replacing one of our gas fires with a log burner at some point.
MC you must have enough wood now stored to see you warm for a fair few years. My five wood stores are looking a bit empty after helping out a flooded friend with a means of heating his property, found a bottle of Talisker On my doorstep yesterday with a thank you note so tonight I will have wood and Whisky to keep me warm.
Looking forward to another year of tree felling and chopping.
STW stovists have a warm and social new year 😉
What's the average install cost for these? Mrs Oath and I are looking at replacing one of our gas fires with a log burner at some point.
you won't get a lot of change out of £2k if done properly.
Allow £900-£1,300 depending on complexity of flue and/or building fabric changes (i.e. heat proof plasterboard, hearth etc) to cover flue pipes, register plates, mounting brackets, floor and ceiling boxes and storm collars & bends etc.
then add on the price of the stove - from £500 to £5,000.
Ski, I have a lot, but use a lot (a lot less with the new stoves). Whenever there's a space that's empty I'll try and replenish it. This stuff will take a couple of years to dry.
This was my first shed, I regret not building it with more open sides. It's really a long wide tunnel. The stuff in the middle is bone dry, but then it's been stored for five years. My new shed is narrower and open and accessible from both sides, so I could use and replace stock a bay at a time.
Stoner, my sister stays in France and nearly all their firewood is coppiced. Renewable with a capital R. I wish I had the space to grow and harvest my own timber. I used to cut pet when I stayed in Orkney, the rejuvenation cycle was much longer.
Show us the frame/trssle(?) things you lot use to hold wood for chainsawing please.
box - see those vertical scaffold poles in my 2nd pic?
they will take upto 20x 12' cords = 240 logs in about 20minutes loaded, cut and thrown in the store. Very efficient.
As you can see it's designed to take the cords I cut and store in the coppice - all in 12' lengths. Rule #1: keep wood as long as you can for as long as you can 🙂 makes it easier to manhandle and transport.
Another photo, in use with some junk cord my dad dropped round.
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
I built this a few years ago to do long large cords and still use it occasionally
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
Set of 'Log Splitters' the lot of you! (Jealous) 😥
Ah - I see it. No good for us plebby scavengers though......
Show us the frame/trssle(?) things you lot use to hold wood for chainsawing please.
Mine is just made from scrap 4x3s. Space the bearers to suit the firebox of your stove. If I was making another, I'd countersink the threaded rod nuts so I wouldn't catch the saw on them. It's only happened once or twice, but its avoidable by countersinking.
[img] 
[/img]
the cantilever one is good for scavenged stuff as it will take wonky bits and you dont have to move it once its jammed in the jaws - you can work down it with the saw.
mc'two horses'moonter
Still reckon Stoner & McMooter should have a TV programme 😀
One man and his log?
They already have.
Little Chop of Horrors?
Beverly Hills Copse?
mc'two horses'moonter
I had enough scrap wood to build two, my two woodpiles are a bit apart, it saved me dragging one up and down the hill. Though they must ave been together when I took the picture.
I think they might be dating each other mcm.
that one's got wood....
Mines roaring like a good un.
And yesterday i built a wee log store to dry out all that apple wood that's not been under cover, ever!
I shan't be having a drink though as i seem to have been giving away all that whiskey i've got here. I've only got the 5 litres out of the 13 that were left by the previous apple man, and have homes for the rest to go to. So just a cuppa and an early night for me. I'm all peopled out and fancy solitude and quiet.
This is my log holder, just need to get the dimensions right so the last cut results in logs the right size.
[img] 
[/img]
McMoonter - that's what me dad used to have. Stoner - the cantilever one looks ideal. Tool time tomorrow......
Richmars - yours, but with scaffold poles, I reckon. Got me some scrap sleepers from doing front garden. Now to appropriate a scaffold pole.
Is it wrong to fell genuinely excited at this??????????
I've got a bough....... (twiglet....)
boxelder, problem with scaffold poles is that I need to carry mine around, and if you hit a pole with a chain saw it may get messy.
Been burning some sycamore since about 11 this morning, it is like the bloody Sahara in here now. Sycamore was also 'liberated' from the local council wood. 😀
Best of luck for 2013 for all the STW wood burners, happy chopping!.
I forgot to mention McMoonter, I planted over 100 snowdrop bulbs last year, hoping to have a show soon. Won't of course be anything like yours 🙂
Amatuers...
[img] 
[/img]
That is about 1/30th of the wood.
Most started as logs this size...
[img] 
[/img]
Shame it is all for work as our landlord won't allow a woodburner to be fitted (yet has three himself 🙄 )
Oh, and this is how it starts...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/matt_outandabout/7177900694/
Who wants to know the whereabouts of ~12 tonnes of poplar? Can't see the EA doing anything with it, 6'dbh and 80' tall, responsible for flooding a chunk of the midlands.
Stupid logpile question: does it matter much if there's no roof? Haven't managed to organise a wood store yet (though this is on the cards for the New Year) so the woodpile is stacked against the fence...
Andy
does it matter much if there's no roof?
Not IME although it's worth trying to get them undercover for a week or so before burning them.
Mine seem to be going down at an alarming rate - luckily I've identified a load of fly tipped beech that needs 'tidying up'.
Not IME although it's worth trying to get them undercover for a week or so before burning them.
Thanks - that's what I'd assumed - the local wood yard just has a big pile out in the open; I also assume the most important thing is trying to get the bottom layer off the ground so air can circulate?
Mine seem to be going down at an alarming rate
Funny you should say that; we're going through what looked like a lot of wood (builder's bag) surprisingly fast too. May have to arrange a bigger delivery next time.
6'dbh
how bloody thick?!??! 😯
do you mean 6"DBH?
the most important thing is trying to get the bottom layer off the ground so air can circulate?
Stacking them on pallets works for me.
Timber - are you talking about some wood that wants salvaging? If so I am keen to know more!
I forgot to mention McMoonter, I planted over 100 snowdrop bulbs last year, hoping to have a show soon.
Bunnyhop, if you wait a couple of years you can split your 100 bulbs which will have mulitplied into 200 or more, it doesn't before they spread and look natural.
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
Stoner - no mis-type, six foot dbh, took 2 big tractors with hydraulic winches to pull it out.
Apparently it took out a bridge on it's way down stream.
Jamest - you'd need some pretty big kit to salvage it. Most timber wagons would struggle to lift it.
'kin 'ell.
"We're going to need a bigger bar"
Edit - in Herefordshire is it?
Bit further north.
Timber - Ok, I don't have any heavy lifting gear but am a highly motivated midlads based wood salvager, care to tell more.?
Is it true poplar is not an ideal firewood as it can rot if you store it too long and produces a weak flame?
I cut a 50 foot poplar down into a dried up lake last month, not had a chance to log it yet as most of Worcester is under water including this so called dried up lake! 😉
largest tree I have ever felled, was hoping it might be good for making bowls?
80'x6' of river wet poplar will require an extremely motivated scavenger, a saw with a 3' bar just to ring it up and a heavy duty trailer. I wish you luck (each ring will be the size of a tractor back wheel). It will be savage amusement!
I'd do it as well(if it was nearby) but have access to some fairly big machinary.
It won't be 6' all 80' but its still massive
Hmm... I've got all your names. If one of you even comments on anyone else's 'nerdy' thread, you've had it, right!
Some nice logs though.
No pictures, but we've got a rapidly thinning 12'Lx4'Wx8'H indoor logstore, probably 1/4 full, and with enough to fill it almost twice over outside. Not great airflow for the covered one, had planned to bring the stuff outside indoors over the summer but summer didn't happen so neither did the logs. Also use coal, but only as a base in the log burner, so get through that very slowly. Impressed by anyone who uses a solid fuel range for cooking, does fuelling one just become routine?
We have a solid fuel AGA, we fill it once in the morning and once at night, it's not that time consuming, as you say just routine.
When I lived in Orkney I ran a Rayburn Nouvelle exclusively on peat. That was a bit more time consuming, but I worked from home, and refilling the firebox always coincided with putting the kettle on for tea.
Cheers. We've got an oil Again, which is fantastic in winter, but gets turned off in summer because we can't justify opening windows whilst burning money.
We have a solid fuel furnace for the boiler sambob. Im just sitting down to a coffee having just started the burn. Between September and April I light it every morning and if really cold, keep it in all day, if not I then usually light it again in the evening. As mcmoonter says, its a matter of routine. Its not for cooking but for all the heating and ho****er in the house. It doesnt suit most lifestyles but I love living with it.
Lot more tree to the right that isn't in the picture.
Those humps in the grass are where the tractors have been dragged back before they've had any bite.
[img] 
[/img]
Poplar I've burnt has gone nicely and down to a fine ash. Bit of a pain to slpit, as like beech, it doesn't really have a grain. One of the few woods to break the blade on the splitter.
Grew up with a Warmsler, less faffy ovens than an Aga, hot water and cooking. Solid fuel cookers are so much better than any other cooker for making cheese sauce, you have all temperatures at once, just move the pan to the right bit of hot plate
Ok that is a lot of tree. Give us a shout if any of it needs re homing!
Is it true poplar is not an ideal firewood as it can rot if you store it too long and produces a weak flame?
According to the firewood sellers on Arbtalk, Poplar is not very good - rots quickly and not much heat. I've not tried it so can't comment.
mcmoonter - love your snowdrops. Will ask for advice about splitting in 2 years time. Half of ours are in the lawn, so I'm guessing I'll have to dig chunks of turf up again.
Poplar weighs next to nothing when dry, burns quickly without giving out as much heat as denser wood good enough for when the weather is not too cold,early autumn/late spring. When it is dry you have to keep dry as it soaks up water like a sponge and seems to be wetter than when it is green If its for free and you can keep it dry then its fine in my mind.
Love the smell of burning Peat. Criminally hard work getting it fron the bog to home what the stacking/drying process. Messy pre and post burning as well. Still the smell is like nothing else on earth. The smell of the Hebrides/rural Eire to me.
Love the smell of burning Peat. Criminally hard work getting it fron the bog to home what the stacking/drying process
I'd give my folks a bag or two to burn in their townhouse in the centre of Kirwall. Tourists would stand and sniff like a peat flavoured Bisto ad.
You need to choose your peat bank with care. I was lucky, mine had a fair road up to it, but we did have to try to maintain the road. When I last cut, there was only one other guy cutting with me, so the responsibility for the road fell to us. We'd hire a JCB and driver for a morning and try to divert the water that had collected and that that was eroding the road. Gordon my co cutter only used it to get to cut his bank. It was really satisfying work.
Gordon cut more than me, my bank was a hundred yards long and an average of four feet deep. We'd cut a swathe around eighteen inches into it. That was a significant volume. Gordon's bank was nearer six feet deet and longer. The road he used to transport his dried peat home was like something from a Camel Trophy stage. He only had a Grey Fergie and a trailer made from a cut down Transit. Wild stuff but happy days.
Aye, sounds better than the commuting to London by train thread! I know where I'd rather be. It's one of the things I love about having a stove, is getting to work in the fresh air. Canny beat being out on a fresh autumn morning, mist in the air, liberating some fuel. Happy days.
itstig - its worth remembering that for a given moisture level all wood has the same net calorific value by mass. I burn a lot of willow (and soon, poplar) and like a fast burning light wood as it takes less TLC in the furnace. Denser woods can burn a bit too slowly to maintain the flue temps that keep the flue clean.
I know what you mean , oak is often said to be good firewood, it takes years to season and can still sit in the fire grate and smoulder charring on the outside giving off little heat needing lots of other wood and attention to keep it alight. I'll burn anything and have no "rules" about what to burn. Recently we've been burning a windblown larch that was standing dead for ages its about 16% and gives a superb fire.
never tried a coniferous wood yet. Not much of it around the leafy shires.
Ive managed to get a 15% out of some willow, kept under cover. People say willow is "wet", but those big pores holding the water are also great pipes for getting it out again in a windy store.
It will be interesting to see how my poplar splits though (although not needing to do more than one or two cleaves with mine). I wasnt aware of the "grain" thing although deadlydarcy of this 'ere parish did mention that it makes a good skirting board for some reason to do with grain, and it takes paint well apparently.
I don't Know if there is any thing in this but have been told that willow and poplar can dry faster if stacked vertically so moisture can evaporate upwards thorugh the big pores or down by gravity seem plausable
The variation I heard was to stack it in cords on an incline. But same principle I guess.
This is quite a big tree we walk past with the dog.
[img] 
[/img]
(Dog in picture for scale, he's also quite a big dog)