In article ,
says...

"Graham Harrison" wrote in
message ...
Having had some trees pruned I now have a pile of logs. Cut to length
but will need splitting before I can burn them in the grate. I have
Holly and Willow wood.

Question is do I split them now or wait until they've cured and then split
them? I'm expecting to have to leave them about 2 years to cure unsplit,
would it speed the process if I split them now?

On a related note, I've looked at local and national hire shop web sites
but can't immediately locate a log splitter. I don't expect to have any
more tree logs coming my way for a good few years so hiring seems to make
more sense then spending something like £200 for a splitter (I know you
can do it by hand and I also know that there are splitters for as little
as £150). I'm in "South Somerset" (between
Yeovil/Frome/Wells/Street/Glastonbury/Radstock and, at a push, Bristol,
Bath, Dorchester, Weymouth.).


The tree surgeon who did the work for us did warn us that the Willow would
take a long time to cure and not burn wonderfully. We don't use the fire
as a primary source so I use wood slowly and can wait for it to cure.

As for splitting, I have tried a maul in the past and not been very
successful. To be frank, I'm worried how much damage I could do (to me,
and surrounding buldings, cars, walls etc. etc) if I were to try with an
axe. Hence the thought about a machine.

The comment about the farmer has bought and idea to mind. One of my
neighbours might be able to help.

Unfortunately it is all cut to a maximum of about a foot. That doesn't
preclude turning it but does restrict what can be done (I have a beautiful
walking stick that was turned by a friend of my father many years ago which
rather directs my thinking).



Try a grenade and a lump hammer, things are a bit more under control
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

On 2008-01-28 13:03:17 +0000, The Natural Philosopher said:

Huge wrote:
On 2008-01-28, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Huge wrote:
On 2008-01-28, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

A ton of coal or wood is probably not far off 1000 liters of heating
oil in terms of heat output. I can easily get through that in 6 weeks
here if the weather is ultra cold.
Jesus, do you live in Siberia and have a prediliction for sauna-like
temperatures? 1000 litres of oil lasts us nearly a year.

BIG house.

Ditto. 5 bed detached in exposed site.

yeah..we are I guess about 6 bed here, or if divvied up into 'modern'
sized rooms, a small hostel!

On top of the hill and with nothing for miles.

Hills? East Anglia?

Andy Hall wrote:
On 2008-01-28 13:03:17 +0000, The Natural Philosopher said:

Huge wrote:
On 2008-01-28, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Huge wrote:
On 2008-01-28, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

A ton of coal or wood is probably not far off 1000 liters of
heating oil in terms of heat output. I can easily get through that
in 6 weeks here if the weather is ultra cold.
Jesus, do you live in Siberia and have a prediliction for sauna-like
temperatures? 1000 litres of oil lasts us nearly a year.

BIG house.

Ditto. 5 bed detached in exposed site.

yeah..we are I guess about 6 bed here, or if divvied up into 'modern'
sized rooms, a small hostel!

On top of the hill and with nothing for miles.

Hills? East Anglia?


I didn't say mountains!

We are almost - gasp - 200 meters above sea level..or is it 200 feet?

Probably 200 ft.

Norfolk and Suffolk are not fen. They start where the fens end, just about.

They are gently rolling terminal moraines from the ice sheet, covered in
sand and clay over a chalk substrate.

The native tribes do not have webbed feet, and undertsand what a tree is.

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
Graham Harrison wrote:
Having had some trees pruned I now have a pile of logs. Cut to length
but will need splitting before I can burn them in the grate. I have
Holly and Willow wood.

Question is do I split them now or wait until they've cured and then
split them? I'm expecting to have to leave them about 2 years to cure
unsplit, would it speed the process if I split them now?

Having failed to do it at the time, fer chrissake split the willow before
it dries. Its a complete ******* to split once it is.


Guess what my afternoon task is today..



On a related note, I've looked at local and national hire shop web sites
but can't immediately locate a log splitter. I don't expect to have any
more tree logs coming my way for a good few years so hiring seems to make
more sense then spending something like ?200 for a splitter (I know you
can do it by hand and I also know that there are splitters for as little
as ?150). I'm in "South Somerset" (between
Yeovil/Frome/Wells/Street/Glastonbury/Radstock and, at a push, Bristol,
Bath, Dorchester, Weymouth.).

Buy a splitting maul.
Or a bomb if you can find one.


I am using a hatchet and a sledge for the willow. Since the bomb broke.

At least when wedged right in you can knock it out.

Any thing more or less wedge shaped steel will work if it can be driven in
HARD.

The beech I had doesn't need the sledge. It splits (after a year), with
one mega whack from the hatchet, once sawn to 12" long pieces.

Blackthorn, hawthiorn and maple are a shade tougher, as is fruit wood.

Not done holly yet.






Now I'm intrigued. What's the difference between a maul, a bomb and a
grenade?

Graham Harrison wrote:
"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
Graham Harrison wrote:
Having had some trees pruned I now have a pile of logs. Cut to length
but will need splitting before I can burn them in the grate. I have
Holly and Willow wood.

Question is do I split them now or wait until they've cured and then
split them? I'm expecting to have to leave them about 2 years to cure
unsplit, would it speed the process if I split them now?
Having failed to do it at the time, fer chrissake split the willow before
it dries. Its a complete ******* to split once it is.


Guess what my afternoon task is today..


On a related note, I've looked at local and national hire shop web sites
but can't immediately locate a log splitter. I don't expect to have any
more tree logs coming my way for a good few years so hiring seems to make
more sense then spending something like ?200 for a splitter (I know you
can do it by hand and I also know that there are splitters for as little
as ?150). I'm in "South Somerset" (between
Yeovil/Frome/Wells/Street/Glastonbury/Radstock and, at a push, Bristol,
Bath, Dorchester, Weymouth.).
Buy a splitting maul.
Or a bomb if you can find one.


I am using a hatchet and a sledge for the willow. Since the bomb broke.

At least when wedged right in you can knock it out.

Any thing more or less wedge shaped steel will work if it can be driven in
HARD.

The beech I had doesn't need the sledge. It splits (after a year), with
one mega whack from the hatchet, once sawn to 12" long pieces.

Blackthorn, hawthiorn and maple are a shade tougher, as is fruit wood.

Not done holly yet.





Now I'm intrigued. What's the difference between a maul, a bomb and a
grenade?


A maul is a wedge on a stick. Like a broad headed axe.

A bomb or grenade is a cast iron wedge thing, ovoid to cruciform in
cross section. That needs to be whacked with a hammer.

Dave Liquorice wrote:
On 28 Jan 2008 11:33:51 GMT, Huge wrote:

Jesus, do you live in Siberia and have a prediliction for sauna-like
temperatures? 1000 litres of oil lasts us nearly a year.

I think he lives, like us, in an old solid stone house.

Nope. Brand new timber framed.

To latest building regs.

However two open fireplaces and underflooor vents to feed em take a lot
of heat out when they are not burning.

In las with 6 bed house of similar size, but less well insulated and
rick, burn even more. I am getting by on 3500-400 liters a year..they
need 4000-5000. Even with open fires as well.


I'd say the house is equivalent to three 'modern' 4 bed houses stuck
together.



Admitedly we are
exposed and at 1,400'. We used to get through about 4,000l year. It's
lower now maybe 3,500 or even a bit less since the really drafty windows
were replace with double glazing. Daytime temp is 18.5C on the stat going
up to 20 for the evening, heating is off over night.


similar temps here. Except we have given up on the UFH downstairs
altogether till Sunvic send a replacement stat, so thats down around
14-15c from heat bleed from the Aga only.

If we live in the kitchen office and bedroom ONLY thats about 1/3rd of
the oil burned.

On 28/1/08 13:35, in article
, "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:

On 28 Jan 2008 11:33:51 GMT, Huge wrote:

Jesus, do you live in Siberia and have a prediliction for sauna-like
temperatures? 1000 litres of oil lasts us nearly a year.

I think he lives, like us, in an old solid stone house. Admitedly we are
exposed and at 1,400'. We used to get through about 4,000l year. It's
lower now maybe 3,500 or even a bit less since the really drafty windows
were replace with double glazing. Daytime temp is 18.5C on the stat going
up to 20 for the evening, heating is off over night.

We get buffeted by winds, though temperatures don't fall horribly low
over-winter, usually! But this house is Victorian and every interior wall
is solid, keeping the house very warm. The windows, OTOH, are those diamond
paned jobs and are not remotely well insulated. We can't use double glazing
and it would anyway look hideous. But interlined curtains and those nice
solid walls keep us very snug.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

On 2008-01-28 13:56:01 +0000, The Natural Philosopher said:

Andy Hall wrote:

Hills? East Anglia?


I didn't say mountains!

We are almost - gasp - 200 meters above sea level..or is it 200 feet?

Probably 200 ft.

probably


Norfolk and Suffolk are not fen. They start where the fens end, just about.

They are gently rolling terminal moraines from the ice sheet, covered
in sand and clay over a chalk substrate.

The native tribes do not have webbed feet, and undertsand what a tree is.

Not sure that that's true in parts of Norfolk ;-)

On 2008-01-28 14:28:12 +0000, Huge said:

On 2008-01-28, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On 28 Jan 2008 11:33:51 GMT, Huge wrote:

Jesus, do you live in Siberia and have a prediliction for sauna-like
temperatures? 1000 litres of oil lasts us nearly a year.

I think he lives, like us, in an old solid stone house. Admitedly we are
exposed and at 1,400'. We used to get through about 4,000l year.

Grief.

OK, our house was built in 1977, has cavity wall insulation, double glazing
throughout and 1970's standard loft insulation. Just goes to show that
insulation is definitely worthwhile doing.

BTW, I've been thinking about adding more loft insulation. Would that be
worthwhile?

Yes, but you must install at least 2m. Dr. D. says so.

In article 479df114@qaanaaq, Andy Hall writes:
| On 2008-01-28 13:56:01 +0000, The Natural Philosopher said:
|
| Norfolk and Suffolk are not fen. They start where the fens end, just about.
|
| They are gently rolling terminal moraines from the ice sheet, covered
| in sand and clay over a chalk substrate.
|
| The native tribes do not have webbed feet, and undertsand what a tree is.
|
| Not sure that that's true in parts of Norfolk ;-)

Querying the word 'understand' in the context of the NFN, are you? :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 2008-01-28 15:21:38 +0000, (Nick Maclaren) said:


In article 479df114@qaanaaq, Andy Hall writes:
| On 2008-01-28 13:56:01 +0000, The Natural Philosopher said:
|
| Norfolk and Suffolk are not fen. They start where the fens end,
just about.
|
| They are gently rolling terminal moraines from the ice sheet, covered
| in sand and clay over a chalk substrate.
|
| The native tribes do not have webbed feet, and undertsand what a tree is.
|
| Not sure that that's true in parts of Norfolk ;-)

Querying the word 'understand' in the context of the NFN, are you? :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

No, just the inbreeding....

In message , Sacha
writes

We get buffeted by winds, though temperatures don't fall horribly low
over-winter, usually! But this house is Victorian and every interior wall
is solid, keeping the house very warm. The windows, OTOH, are those diamond
paned jobs and are not remotely well insulated. We can't use double glazing
and it would anyway look hideous. But interlined curtains and those nice
solid walls keep us very snug.

Why ever not?

We have simulated diamond double glazing in conventional timber frames.

Mind you, 25mm of Kingspan and boarding or render over 4" studwork walls
is not a recipe for low cost heating.

regards

--
Tim Lamb

In article ,
says...
That's because of the way the grain interlocks and is the reason it
was used for chair seats.

It's also durable when immersed, which is why narrowboat hulls were made
of it.
--
Skipweasel.
Never knowingly understood.

On 28/1/08 18:41, in article , "Tim
Lamb" wrote:

In message , Sacha
writes

We get buffeted by winds, though temperatures don't fall horribly low
over-winter, usually! But this house is Victorian and every interior wall
is solid, keeping the house very warm. The windows, OTOH, are those diamond
paned jobs and are not remotely well insulated. We can't use double glazing
and it would anyway look hideous. But interlined curtains and those nice
solid walls keep us very snug.

Why ever not?

We have simulated diamond double glazing in conventional timber frames.


Stone mullion windows, Grade II Listed building - think Victorian gothic.
We're having problems figuring out ways to put fly screens at the windows
and think they'll have to be magnetic to fit the iron frames. In summer,
I'd give my eye teeth for quarter lights in the windows, all of which are
casement! The downstairs windows are quite large, as are some of the
upstairs ones. Double glazing would have to be fixed into the wood beside
the mullions and would look appalling. On the downstairs windows there are
interior, folding shutters which would look awful and be ruined if we tried
to fit double glazing. However, we would not be allowed to fit it and would
probably be in trouble if the house police happened to check it out.


--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

In message , Sacha
writes
On 28/1/08 18:41, in article , "Tim
Lamb" wrote:

Why ever not?

We have simulated diamond double glazing in conventional timber frames.


Stone mullion windows, Grade II Listed building - think Victorian gothic.
We're having problems figuring out ways to put fly screens at the windows
and think they'll have to be magnetic to fit the iron frames. In summer,
I'd give my eye teeth for quarter lights in the windows, all of which are
casement! The downstairs windows are quite large, as are some of the
upstairs ones. Double glazing would have to be fixed into the wood beside
the mullions and would look appalling. On the downstairs windows there are
interior, folding shutters which would look awful and be ruined if we tried
to fit double glazing. However, we would not be allowed to fit it and would
probably be in trouble if the house police happened to check it out.

Ah! I see.

Have you asked what might be approved?

Although Victorian and with leaded lights, this house is well outside
any conservation area and did not attract any attention when we
re-built. We stuck to the casement style and opted for diamond lead work
on the outer sheet.

Glazing regulations have changed since 1995 and the gap between panes
made significantly wider. I think our inserts are only 6mm (14mm
altogether) making the installation indistinguishable from the original
draughty diamonds. You do get different reflection effects from
Pilkington K glass which might upset the purist.

regards



--
Tim Lamb