Eucalyptus Firewood

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Mick F
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by Mick F »

Rather inconclusive experiment complete.
Three pieces of wood.
From the left ....... green oak, similar size and shape eucalyptus, and a big piece of eucalyptus.
All three on top of the coal bunker, still wet with water.
IMG_0488.jpg


I filled the big Belfast outside sink with water, and dropped the three pieces in.
The oak sort of sank, but bobbed about on the bottom, sort of sunk but not "really sunk".
The similar sized eucalyptus also sunk, but a tad more than the oak.
The big piece of eucalyptus REALLY sank. Solid and hard on the bottom and completely under water.

I guess, though I'm not certain, that narrower eucalyptus from branches is lighter than thicker pieces from the trunk.
I'm not going to cut a healthy oak down to compare.
Mick F. Cornwall
Ben@Forest
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by Ben@Forest »

Cyril Haearn wrote: 28 Mar 2021, 12:45pm @ben@forest
A wood near me is being cleared because the gigantic trees are being devoured by tiny beetles, plan is to replant, but nursery trees are hard to get because demand is so high (bleated the foresteress). Are other options available, just abandon the area for a few years/decades?

What might be done with the wood (pine/fir, up to 40cm diameter)? Looks solid, no damage where it was cut, growth rings, but apparently the bark beetle has done its destructive business
Cyril, sorry for belated response. I presume the beetle is great spruce bark beetle (Dendroctonus micans) - but this is controlled by release of a predatory beetle called Rhizophagus grandis. Affected trees are further hammered (literally) by great spotted woodpecker which obviously go for the beetles. Forest Research will arrange for the release of R. grandis at no cost to the owner and I have organised this (and it has worked).

I haven't heard of a stand having to be be felled because of D. micans but I suppose it depends if it's been ignored and the trees have all been infected. I would also assume the timber felled would not be of much use. Also felling dead or dying trees is a trickier process than felling live ones.

Nursery demand is a tricky thing - if you want a couple of hundred thousand trees (and remember trees may be planted at around 2,250 per ha) then giving suppliers a year's heads up is a good idea. But even if you only want 400 of species X and you're asking in late March you may not get them.

Ecologically if you leave a felled woodland to regenerate (and you protect it from rabbit and deer browsing) it will come back eventually, but it may not come back with the species 'you want'. What's trickier though is that live trees must be felled with a felling licence. If it's Wales then Natural Resources Wales (NRW) will almost certainly stipulate in the licence that there must be X number of trees within Y years. If you rely on natural regeneration that may not happen in 5 or 10 years (though it probably will in 20 or 25) and you won't satisfy the licence conditions. So replanting is a safer option than relying on natural regeneration.
francovendee
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by francovendee »

That's very interesting.
We have a woodland nearby that was cut down around 5 years ago. One part got replanted with Birch, all spaced at regular intervals.
The other side was just left. After 5 years the Birch are doing well and are now quite tall.
The side that was left became a jungle of plants but now some more rigorous trees are doing well, mostly Acacia.
I think this species sends up new growth from the roots and the new trees are taller than the Birch.
I wonder if this is part of an experiment?
Ben@Forest
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by Ben@Forest »

francovendee wrote: 7 Apr 2021, 8:27am That's very interesting.
We have a woodland nearby that was cut down around 5 years ago. One part got replanted with Birch, all spaced at regular intervals.
The other side was just left. After 5 years the Birch are doing well and are now quite tall.
The side that was left became a jungle of plants but now some more rigorous trees are doing well, mostly Acacia.
I think this species sends up new growth from the roots and the new trees are taller than the Birch.
I wonder if this is part of an experiment?
Acacia coppices (sends up new growth from suppressed buds on the stump) so if the original crop was acacia it wouldn't be a surprise if the new acacia coppice would get away quicker than newly planted birch - though birch is a quick-growing species and I should think fairly rockets where you are. The reason they may have had to have planted up (any species) in the birch plot was that a non-coppicing species (most of the conifers) was there before felling. Birch coppices too and is used a lot as woody biomass.

I have to say that when seeing new sites and if there are no records a lot of a forester's job is trying to work out what someone was thinking 30 or 40 or 100 years ago - so there's lots of room for speculation!
thirdcrank
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by thirdcrank »

Neglected burial grounds seem to be a good example of what grows if nature is left to its own devices. Here's one not far from here. There are now trees growing out of graves.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.74897 ... 312!8i6656
francovendee
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by francovendee »

Ben@Forest wrote: 7 Apr 2021, 10:51am
francovendee wrote: 7 Apr 2021, 8:27am That's very interesting.
We have a woodland nearby that was cut down around 5 years ago. One part got replanted with Birch, all spaced at regular intervals.
The other side was just left. After 5 years the Birch are doing well and are now quite tall.
The side that was left became a jungle of plants but now some more rigorous trees are doing well, mostly Acacia.
I think this species sends up new growth from the roots and the new trees are taller than the Birch.
I wonder if this is part of an experiment?
Acacia coppices (sends up new growth from suppressed buds on the stump) so if the original crop was acacia it wouldn't be a surprise if the new acacia coppice would get away quicker than newly planted birch - though birch is a quick-growing species and I should think fairly rockets where you are. The reason they may have had to have planted up (any species) in the birch plot was that a non-coppicing species (most of the conifers) was there before felling. Birch coppices too and is used a lot as woody biomass.

I have to say that when seeing new sites and if there are no records a lot of a forester's job is trying to work out what someone was thinking 30 or 40 or 100 years ago - so there's lots of room for speculation!
It was a mixed woodland and did have Acacia amongst the trees.
We have a large number of Oaks here, in fact the neighbour has a very large one that donates acorns and leaves to my garden every year.
I get as many as possible off the gravel but inevitably miss one ore two. They will quickly take root and put down a root very quickly.
I wonder if oaks here are the same type as the UK ones?
Jdsk
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by Jdsk »

francovendee wrote: 8 Apr 2021, 8:06amI wonder if oaks here are the same type as the UK ones?
Lots of different species at both ends! You could measure the local ratio of pedunculate to sessile... if there's nothing better to do!

: - )

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Mick F
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by Mick F »

Look what the eucalyptus has done to my Husqvarna chainsaw chain brake-band! :shock:
IMG_0491.jpg
Off out this afternoon and will call in at Callington Garden Machinery.
https://www.callingtongardenmachinery.com

I can buy one online of course, but I'd rather support a local business if I can.
https://www.mowerpartsales.com/husqvarn ... -512-p.asp
Mick F. Cornwall
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ncutler
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by ncutler »

Coincidence warning:. Replaced mine yesterday.
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Mick F
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by Mick F »

WOW! :shock:
Coincidence indeed.

Just looked up when I bought my Husqvarna 555, and it was Nov 2011 and cost just over £500.
All it's needed is a new spark plug and a few new chains.

Last machine I had was a basic Alpina. The brake never worked properly, but it was a reasonable chainsaw nonetheless. Bought it secondhand locally, and ran it from 1997 to when I retired it and splashed out for the semi-professional Husqvarna.

New brake band on order, and it'll be in next Friday.
Mick F. Cornwall
Ben@Forest
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by Ben@Forest »

Mick F wrote: 9 Apr 2021, 3:47pm Just looked up when I bought my Husqvarna 555, and it was Nov 2011 and cost just over £500.
All it's needed is a new spark plug and a few new chains.
It's not been used much then! I've had a few saws over the years and used saws that came with the job too. My oldest saw, dating from 1996 is a Huskie that's had 2 new pistons, 2 clutch drums, a good number of guide bars and more spark plugs and chains than I care to remember..... it's still working.
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by RickH »

rjb wrote: 28 Mar 2021, 7:32pm Lignum vitae was used extensively as shielding in the nuclear industry. The refuelling equipment at the magnox Hinkley Point A is a case in point. The Hole preparation and the Fuelling machine used 100s of tons of it. How many crown green bowls could have been made from it. :lol:
& probably good for playing in the dark! :lol:
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
francovendee
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by francovendee »

Mick F wrote: 9 Apr 2021, 11:08am Look what the eucalyptus has done to my Husqvarna chainsaw chain brake-band! :shock:
IMG_0491.jpg

Off out this afternoon and will call in at Callington Garden Machinery.
https://www.callingtongardenmachinery.com

I can buy one online of course, but I'd rather support a local business if I can.
https://www.mowerpartsales.com/husqvarn ... -512-p.asp
A friend here took his Stihl into the local dealers for a service and for the oil pump to be changed. He had to return to the UK so didn't collect it for 5 weeks. When he went to collect it they presented the bill, 238€! He was shocked but paid up. On his way out of the store he saw a newer model of the same saw for 299€! He asked why they never contacted him to tell him the saw wasn't worth doing? All he got was the Gallec shrug of the shoulders.
I think unless you can fix it yourself paying for repairs may make little sense.
Being able to fix things has in my lifetime has saved me £££££££££'s.
Electronics are a little beyond me but I did manage to change the charging port on my Chromebook. Thanks you Youtube. :)
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by Paulatic »

Mick F wrote: 9 Apr 2021, 11:08am Look what the eucalyptus has done to my Husqvarna chainsaw chain brake-band! :shock:
Never had that happen but I’ve never put the brake on except by accident. Then I have a dwell moment wondering why the chain won’t go around. :lol:
Whatever I am, wherever I am, this is me. This is my life

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Mick F
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by Mick F »

Mick F wrote: 9 Apr 2021, 11:08am Look what the eucalyptus has done to my Husqvarna chainsaw chain brake-band! :shock:
IMG_0491.jpg

Off out this afternoon and will call in at Callington Garden Machinery.
https://www.callingtongardenmachinery.com

I can buy one online of course, but I'd rather support a local business if I can.
https://www.mowerpartsales.com/husqvarn ... -512-p.asp
Collected the band yesterday, and fitted it this morning.
Cost £8.85.

How difficult a job! :shock: :shock: :shock:
The spring is strong and has to be compressed to fit it into the housing.
Try as I might, the pliers idea to pull it back wasn't working at all, and I imagined the spring suddenly flying off never to be seen again.

I hit on an idea of mounting a screwdriver horizontally in the vice and pushing hard against it to locate the spring. It worked! :D
Then, the brake band was in a position to lock the flywheel, but the mechanism to operate it couldn't be done despite all my ingenuity and dexterity with screwdrivers and levers and snipe-nosed pliers.

All I could do was to remove the drive mechanism, the bar and the chain. RH thread and you have to lock off the engine and you can whack a spanner to undo it. All off, the cover on and the kick-back lever pulled back to open the brake. All off again and replaced the drive, the bar and chain, and and checked that the chain would move freely, then locked it off to check it wouldn't move.

The job must've taking me an hour or more, but it's done now and I'm confident it will be fine, and I can go on cutting this eucalyptus. :D
Mick F. Cornwall
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