Autumn Weekend Warmth

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Paulatic
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Re: Autumn Weekend Warmth

Post by Paulatic »

Flinders you should get a stove [emoji3]
Your open fire is not good for the environment, all that wasted heat going up the lum. Not mentioning the constant draught you'll have.

Where I live there is so much lumber laid around after harvesting the wildlife and decaying process isn't going to be starved by me burning wood.
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Mick F
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Re: Autumn Weekend Warmth

Post by Mick F »

What open fire?
I opened the door so I could photograph the embers.
Here's a daytime (cool) photo of it.
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Paulatic
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Autumn Weekend Warmth

Post by Paulatic »

Mick I was referring to Flinders open fire.
I can see you've a stove [emoji3]

Edit to add
Mick
Does the town crier ring his bell when there's a fire or does he just blow a lot of hot air'
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al_yrpal
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Re: Autumn Weekend Warmth

Post by al_yrpal »

Aaah… Nothing like a nice log fire… . My sons dog always tries to pinch one of those logs when he visits. :D And… I must remember to swap out that empty gas bottle before the other one runs out! (Yes, its a gas log fire from gas bottles) This little baby is my insurance policy against the cold when the inevitable power cuts happen because of successive governments vacilating on the subject of nuclear power.
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Mick F
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Re: Autumn Weekend Warmth

Post by Mick F »

:lol: :lol: :lol:
Long story about the brass TC.

Mrs Mick F's dad was TC for West Lancashire, and we have many pieces of memorabilia. About four bells in the loft!
Mrs Mick F is the TC for the Parish of Calstock down here and has been for 20(?) years.
This is the two of them in Newquay for the World Championships in 2003.
http://www.kierenmccarthy.me.uk/pages/g ... spics.html

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Heltor Chasca
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Re: Autumn Weekend Warmth

Post by Heltor Chasca »

A fine smiley photo Mick F.

I left my bike under wraps today and split 18-20 'rounds' of birch. With the rest of the ash I've got that makes my wood shed 3/4 full. Or 1/4 empty. I need more....b
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Mick F
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Re: Autumn Weekend Warmth

Post by Mick F »

Our (2 acres) woodland is about 60years old, having been a flower-growing field in the 1950s. Birch, oak, beech, hazel, and some sycamore and willow all seeded and spread from the hedgerows. It all gets cut down and provides hot water and central heating, and meanwhile the younger smaller trees will replenish the woodland.

I cut a dead birch down on Friday.
The top bit had broken off last year, and the bottom bit stood proudly and vertically and dry. Birch dies naturally at maybe 60years. They don't live forever, unlike bicycles or Trigger's broom! :lol:

The bottom of it was perhaps 18" wide, and the lower rings need splitting. I've barrowed one lot down, split the bigger ones up, and the fire is nice and warm. We keep the fire low and ticking over rather than roaring and fierce.

More to come out of the wood when I need to, and meanwhile it can stay there stacked up, and meanwhile there's more birch to cut. I don't like sycamore or willow, but oak is ok if it dries long enough.

Favourite is ash, but we're running out of decent trees to cut. Some of them are way too big to cut safely, or far too small to be of any use. Perhaps I need to live for another 20 years so the big ones fall naturally and the small ones are the right size to cut. :D
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Paulatic
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Re: Autumn Weekend Warmth

Post by Paulatic »

Heltor Chasca wrote:
I left my bike under wraps today and split 18-20 'rounds' of birch. With the rest of the ash I've got that makes my wood shed 3/4 full. Or 1/4 empty. I need more....b


Feeling smug as I got my log shed ,10'x10'x6' filled up by the end of June. Sadly I can only get Sitka Spruce, Willow and Sycamore grows like a weed here. On the plus side everything has been felled for at least 5yrs.
As my back gets older I invested in one of these a couple of years ago. Wished I'd got one years ago [emoji3]

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Heltor Chasca
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Re: Autumn Weekend Warmth

Post by Heltor Chasca »

Paulatic wrote:
Heltor Chasca wrote:
I left my bike under wraps today and split 18-20 'rounds' of birch. With the rest of the ash I've got that makes my wood shed 3/4 full. Or 1/4 empty. I need more....b


Feeling smug as I got my log shed ,10'x10'x6' filled up by the end of June. Sadly I can only get Sitka Spruce, Willow and Sycamore grows like a weed here. On the plus side everything has been felled for at least 5yrs.
As my back gets older I invested in one of these a couple of years ago. Wished I'd got one years ago [emoji3]

Image


In arboricultural 'circles' any wood is good so long as you season it well. I have a client who uses bio-fuel in the form of Salix viminalis to fuel power stations in France so you are ok so long as you are fit enough to keep stoking. Fire not bikes!

Those splitters are great. I had an elderly client who kept his family cottage toasty as Tuesday pancakes thanks to one of those. A VERY good buy. I still split with a maul. I'm 41 now. I work physically for 5-6 days a week and cycle 5-6 days a week and still after 2 hours today. I know I'll feel it tomorrow!

Wisdom is what you have when you get older. I may just have missed the brain bus!...b
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Paulatic
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Re: Autumn Weekend Warmth

Post by Paulatic »

Just talking to someone the other day saying how we learn as we get older. I've been splitting logs for 40 yrs starting off with an any old axe. 25 years ago I bought a proper "Sthil"splitting axe which I still have. Then 10 yrs ago I discovered (thanks to YouTube) the "using a tyre" technique to save bending over and picking up fallen over logs. So simple but why hadn't I thought of it?
Now with the Logmaster I've very little bending. Working at waist hight I set up by the shed and throw them straight in. Whilst I enjoy seeing other peoples logs neatly stacked I've always thrown mine in higgledy piggedly I feel they dry better that way.
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Heltor Chasca
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Re: Autumn Weekend Warmth

Post by Heltor Chasca »

Paulatic wrote:Just talking to someone the other day saying how we learn as we get older. I've been splitting logs for 40 yrs starting off with an any old axe. 25 years ago I bought a proper "Sthil"splitting axe which I still have. Then 10 yrs ago I discovered (thanks to YouTube) the "using a tyre" technique to save bending over and picking up fallen over logs. So simple but why hadn't I thought of it?
Now with the Logmaster I've very little bending. Working at waist hight I set up by the shed and throw them straight in. Whilst I enjoy seeing other peoples logs neatly stacked I've always thrown mine in higgledy piggedly I feel they dry better that way.


You are my twin brother. Bizarre! I've used a tyre for the past 3 years and it's a saviour. My logs also dry better 'pick-up-sticks' style! I only stack them 'designer-style' when they are in the house!
PDQ
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Re: Autumn Weekend Warmth

Post by PDQ »

There are some advantages to stacking.

The main one being it saves space and quite a lot of it. I get around 50% more in any given space.

Wood forms 100% of my energy needs including hot water and cooking so I use a fair old bit in 365 days, so reducing the necessary space is useful.

I don't find stacked wood dries any less well, unless stacked in sopping wet in rain (particularly badly effected are dead softwoods), but I do have a dedicated wood store front open to the sun and gets lots of air through it.

Dare I say IMHO it dries better than just thrown in a pile.

Additional advantages are being able to use seasoned wood without the driest wood being at the bottom of one large pile!

Stacks are allowed to season and empty space filled as it becomes available. I try to keep a year ahead using wood already felled for some time. At the moment such wood (assuming no ground contact) comes pretty dry because of the fine weather.

I have become an expert stacker and it actually takes me very little extra time to stack instead of just "throw". My splitting operation is right adjacent to the wood stacks. Moving wood is also easier as an armful can be gathered in one compact block.

I am not surprised that "Paulatic" bought a splitter; Sitka Spruce can be the very Devil to split with an axe.

I too predominantly use forestry "waste" (Larch, Sitka, Western Hemlock etc) and wonderful hot burning stuff it is too. For cooking and hot water production (given the right heat exchanger) it can hardly be beaten.

And contrary to an earlier posters opinion it is not that bad for the environment.

Burned well seasoned with enough oxygen the smoke emissions are minimal, chimney tar almost non existent, clean wood ash makes a reasonable fertilizer and above all it is sustainable.

Energy that just grows -on and on and on and on. Sun Energy! Earth Energy! Wonderful.
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: Autumn Weekend Warmth

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
Been mentioned before the pollution is very high.

A nice thought but not practical for most of us.

Saw a log burner at the tip the other day just missed the sale :(
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loch eck steve
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Re: Autumn Weekend Warmth

Post by loch eck steve »

Oct 12th and lovely up here in Scotland ! Long may it continue !! Ps i have an open fire a lot of work , but love it !! :D
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Paulatic
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Re: Autumn Weekend Warmth

Post by Paulatic »

PDQ wrote:There are some advantages to stacking.

The main one being it saves space and quite a lot of it. I get around 50% more in any given space.

Wood forms 100% of my energy needs including hot water and cooking so I use a fair old bit in 365 days, so reducing the necessary space is useful.

I don't find stacked wood dries any less well, unless stacked in sopping wet in rain (particularly badly effected are dead softwoods), but I do have a dedicated wood store front open to the sun and gets lots of air through it.

Dare I say IMHO it dries better than just thrown in a pile.

Additional advantages are being able to use seasoned wood without the driest wood being at the bottom of one large pile!

Stacks are allowed to season and empty space filled as it becomes available. I try to keep a year ahead using wood already felled for some time. At the moment such wood (assuming no ground contact) comes pretty dry because of the fine weather.

I have become an expert stacker and it actually takes me very little extra time to stack instead of just "throw". My splitting operation is right adjacent to the wood stacks. Moving wood is also easier as an armful can be gathered in one compact block.

I am not surprised that "Paulatic" bought a splitter; Sitka Spruce can be the very Devil to split with an axe.

I too predominantly use forestry "waste" (Larch, Sitka, Western Hemlock etc) and wonderful hot burning stuff it is too. For cooking and hot water production (given the right heat exchanger) it can hardly be beaten.

And contrary to an earlier posters opinion it is not that bad for the environment.

Burned well seasoned with enough oxygen the smoke emissions are minimal, chimney tar almost non existent, clean wood ash makes a reasonable fertilizer and above all it is sustainable.

Energy that just grows -on and on and on and on. Sun Energy! Earth Energy! Wonderful.


I've overcome the possible drawbacks you mention. My shed is open all round and is split into four. Divided by gates and pallets I can burn in order of filling and start filling as soon as one section is empty. You can just make out a dividing gate in the picture.

My experience of stacking is exactly how you say. Two wet surfaces laid tightly together don't dry. Image
Whatever I am, wherever I am, this is me. This is my life

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