Winter log prices

[qbman1]

Mmmmm - burnt chops, burnt potatoes. Lovely

[Onelife]

I was thinking more along the lines of a fry up....not a bloody three course meal cubie ..l haven't had the need yet but l'm sure you could cook no end of meals on top of a stove. In fact l nearly cooked my sweetbreads the other day by standing to close to our stove....ouch!

[qbman1]

Probably does a good rump steak too !

[Raybosailor]

I am fortunate enough to have a couple of mates who are arborist's so I get a phone call now and then to take my trailer to where they are felling or pruning hardwood.
They know I will only accept certain logs and my preference is in the following order:

Ash- burns slow and gives out high heat.
Oak- much the same as Ash.
Sycamore- burns well but not as hot as Ash or Oak and needs more time drying.
Hawthorn- very prickly and hard to handle but gives hot flame.
Cherry- once dried burns well and smells great.

Any other wood I would think twice about with the exception of Birch.
Softwoods like pine have a high moisture content and worse still a high resin content which will produce tar deposits in the flue.

Much of what Gill46 says is on the button and a good chimney sweep will tell you how efficient your log burner is by the state of the soot.

If you are felling trees for log burning do it between November and February, the reason for this is that trees start to shut down in Autumn and shed a lot of moisture once the leaves have fallen off so they take less time to dry out, that is why deciduous trees make better logs.

When stacking split logs always stack them bark down as the bark stops the moisture from rising, the exception to this rule is when stacking logs in the open where the top row is stacked facing up.

When lighting a log stove don't scrimp on kindling as you need to get the stove hot quickly, if there is a lot of smoke your stove is too cool and gasses from the wood are not igniting.

As Gill said you do not have to clean the ashes out that often but I do mine once a week but sift out any pieces of charcoal and put them back in the base of the stove, a log fire needs a hot ash bed to burn efficiently.

Lastly I advise anyone with a log burner to get a moisture meter to make sure their logs are dry enough to burn. A lot of log sellers advertise their wood at 20% but even after I have seasoned my logs for 2 years I sometimes find they are sometimes slightly above this. I will not burn any timber that has a moisture content above 18%.

I know I might be teaching one or two grannies to suck eggs here but I hope that at least one person has found this advice helpful.

Here in Nottingham a 1.73m crate of Ash is between £120 and £130.

[Stephen]

Good prices Ray.

[qbman1]

I am fortunate enough to have a couple of mates who are arborist's so I get a phone call now and then to take my trailer to where they are felling or pruning hardwood.
They know I will only accept certain logs and my preference is in the following order:

Ash- burns slow and gives out high heat.
Oak- much the same as Ash.
Sycamore- burns well but not as hot as Ash or Oak and needs more time drying.
Hawthorn- very prickly and hard to handle but gives hot flame.
Cherry- once dried burns well and smells great.

Any other wood I would think twice about with the exception of Birch.
Softwoods like pine have a high moisture content and worse still a high resin content which will produce tar deposits in the flue.

Much of what Gill46 says is on the button and a good chimney sweep will tell you how efficient your log burner is by the state of the soot.

If you are felling trees for log burning do it between November and February, the reason for this is that trees start to shut down in Autumn and shed a lot of moisture once the leaves have fallen off so they take less time to dry out, that is why deciduous trees make better logs.

When stacking split logs always stack them bark down as the bark stops the moisture from rising, the exception to this rule is when stacking logs in the open where the top row is stacked facing up.

When lighting a log stove don't scrimp on kindling as you need to get the stove hot quickly, if there is a lot of smoke your stove is too cool and gasses from the wood are not igniting.

As Gill said you do not have to clean the ashes out that often but I do mine once a week but sift out any pieces of charcoal and put them back in the base of the stove, a log fire needs a hot ash bed to burn efficiently.

Lastly I advise anyone with a log burner to get a moisture meter to make sure their logs are dry enough to burn. A lot of log sellers advertise their wood at 20% but even after I have seasoned my logs for 2 years I sometimes find they are sometimes slightly above this. I will not burn any timber that has a moisture content above 18%.

I know I might be teaching one or two grannies to suck eggs here but I hope that at least one person has found this advice helpful.

Here in Nottingham a 1.73m crate of Ash is between £120 and £130.

Strikes me as a bit expensive

220px-Steinkohlenasche.jpg

[Stephen]

Anyone we know.

[qbman1]

Shergar !

[Raybosailor]

Strikes me as a bit expensive

[/quote]

A 1.73 cubic metre crate roughly fills two builders bags and the crate can be chopped up for kindling so its not as expensive as it looks.

I season my own logs over a three year cycle and generally get the moisture content down to 16% or less, this year I will be burning a mixture of Ash,Oak,Hawthorn and Sycamore. The Ash and Oak cost me a few beers but the Hawthorn and Sycamore were free as I felled a couple of trees for friends.

I am currently sizing some Cherry,Peach and Apple branches that I cut down for a neighbour but I might use that on my barbie next summer as it gives off a nice aroma, I don't buy logs or kindling and I cringe when I see people buying nets of logs and kindling from the garage.

[Stephen]

I came across some smallish tree trunks the end of last year that had been cut down and left at our local hospital where Mrs S works. After getting permission I was soon up there with my bow saw cutting them into manageable sizes to fit into the back of the car, and then into smaller logs for the fire. There is at least the equivalent amount of a large builders 1 ton bag. Had them stacked and drying out in the garage all year which gets pretty hot in the summer (my version of kiln dried). The fire is made up and ready to go with a couple of these freebie logs, so will see how they burn, as and when.

Don't know what wood it is, but Mrs S says they were just small trees, although they didn't feel like that when I was cutting them up . They're definitely not laurel, which apparently gives of a poisonous chemical when burnt. Only found that out after I cut down a couple of our large laurel bushes, cut the trunks up for logs and burnt them on our open fire. Never done me any harm

[qbman1]

I came across some smallish tree trunks the end of last year that had been cut down and left at our local hospital where Mrs S works. After getting permission I was soon up there with my bow saw cutting them into manageable sizes to fit into the back of the car, and then into smaller logs for the fire. There is at least the equivalent amount of a large builders 1 ton bag. Had them stacked and drying out in the garage all year which gets pretty hot in the summer (my version of kiln dried). The fire is made up and ready to go with a couple of these freebie logs, so will see how they burn, as and when.

Don't know what wood it is, but Mrs S says they were just small trees, although they didn't feel like that when I was cutting them up . They're definitely not laurel, which apparently gives of a poisonous chemical when burnt. Only found that out after I cut down a couple of our large laurel bushes, cut the trunks up for logs and burnt them on our open fire. Never done me any harm

The jury's still out on that one !!

[Stephen]

Where can I get some more.............man

[Raybosailor]

While driving early this morning I saw a sign at the side of the road saying Hardwood Logs £40 a builders bag. Might be a one off where the farmer has cut down some trees on his land.

[Stephen]

While driving early this morning I saw a sign at the side of the road saying Hardwood Logs £40 a builders bag. Might be a one off where the farmer has cut down some trees on his land.

Do they deliver down South Ray

[GillD46]

Apple is nice to burn and we have burned laurel too with no ill effects - not that that is to say it mightn't cause someone problems.

[Frank Manning]

We don't have a log burner, but this lot has been a hilarious read.

[Onelife]

My next door neighbour had 4 ash trees chopped down last year which he said l could help myself too if l didn't mind chopping them up.... although I've got a big chopper l haven't been able to swing it for years (dicey back) so have had to decline his kind offer. I did however get loads of kindling which will see me through the coming months

Keep smiling and keep warm.

[Stephen]

My next door neighbour had 4 ash trees chopped down last year which he said l could help myself too if l didn't mind chopping them up.... although I've got a big chopperl haven't been able to swing it for years (dicey back) so have had to decline his kind offer. I did however get loads of kindling which will see me through the coming months

Keep smiling and keep warm.

Don't make me laugh

[Onelife]

I knew l should have rephrased that sentence but being a big plonker what can you expect

[Raybosailor]

While driving early this morning I saw a sign at the side of the road saying Hardwood Logs £40 a builders bag. Might be a one off where the farmer has cut down some trees on his land.

Do they deliver down South Ray

Maybe South Notts. Stephen, if it is the farmer I think it is I am on pretty good terms with him, as a kid I used to go tater picking for his Dad and I grew up with his son. About 40 years ago I helped my dad build a crew shed for the farm but I don't think they carry any livestock now so that might be where he is keeping his logs.
Watch this space.

[Meg 50]

Do they do smokeless logs?

I thought wood fires were outlawed when the 'Clean Air' Act came in in the mid 50s

[Raybosailor]

Do they do smokeless logs?

I thought wood fires were outlawed when the 'Clean Air' Act came in in the mid 50s

No Meg, on the contrary if the log burner is HETAS rated and registered with building regulations you can install one in most locations.

When logs are burned efficiently they are a more environmentally friendly way of heating than gas,oil or electricity.

If you walk past my house in the winter you will not see any smoke come out of my chimney despite the fact that I have a roaring log fire, the design of my stove recycles any unburnt gasses resulting in jets of flame coming from holes back into the chamber.
When I have my chimney swept every year there is little more than a saucer full of soot and I think my sweep is earning money for old rope, but Cheryl insists I have it done professionally.

[Manoverboard]

Did you see ' Countryfile ' Sunday evening ... somebody has come up with a way of getting rid of bracken by processing it into ' logs '. Could be full of resin me thinks.

ps .... logs should burn clean but Firelighters and newspaper presumably do not

[Meg 50]

Do they do smokeless logs?

I thought wood fires were outlawed when the 'Clean Air' Act came in in the mid 50s

No Meg, on the contrary if the log burner is HETAS rated and registered with building regulations you can install one in most locations.

When logs are burned efficiently they are a more environmentally friendly way of heating than gas,oil or electricity.

If you walk past my house in the winter you will not see any smoke come out of my chimney despite the fact that I have a roaring log fire, the design of my stove recycles any unburnt gasses resulting in jets of flame coming from holes back into the chamber.
When I have my chimney swept every year there is little more than a saucer full of soot and I think my sweep is earning money for old rope, but Cheryl insists I have it done professionally.

thanks for the explanation

[Stephen]

Did you see ' Countryfile ' Sunday evening ... somebody has come up with a way of getting rid of bracken by processing it into ' logs '. Could be full of resin me thinks.

ps .... logs should burn clean but Firelighters and newspaper presumably do not

I saw it too. A great idea.