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Thread: Buying firewood

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    Buying firewood

    Winter is drawing closer and I need to get hold of some wood for the stove. I used to have a stove years ago and managed to get in a position that I rarely needed to buy bulk supplies of logs. I would get builders bags of offcuts and scrounge enough wood through the years to stay ahead. No chance to do that this year. I had found a supplier but he closed before I moved.

    Prices seem to have gone up a bit and the move from Kent to Wilts has had a bit of an impact. Although with as many trees here than Kent it seems a bit odd.

    Looking at the adverts the advertised amounts are meaningless. A 'tonne bag' can be 0.8x0.8x0.8mm(0.512m3) to 1x1x1mm (1m3). The tonne part states the safe working weight the bag can hold. Packing has a part to play.

    A 'load' or half load is subjective. The seasoned part...

    Its got to the point I'm tempted to just buy a stacked pallet from the interwebz and get it transported down from the lake district. At least I know what I'm getting. Not happy about this, would prefer local stuff.

    What's everyone else doing and has anyone tried briquettes?

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    Re: Buying firewood

    My log shed is overflowing in to the cellar at the moment, but there's a few places near me that let you fill your boot for £25-£30 and you get decent enough firewood. Value obviously depends on the car, I've got a decent size estate so can get a few months worth with some good packing.

    I'm curious about the pallet-loads you have found - got any links?

    I tried making my own bricks out of wet paper and a press last year, they burn well but make so much fluffy ash it chokes the fire

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    Re: Buying firewood

    I made friends with the local electricity guys. They're forever cutting up trees that have fallen on their assets and are happy to stop by my place to dump these 10" sections of branch and trunk, especially if I'm in at the time as they get tea and cakes.
    Local farmers are another source.

    I don't think we've paid for a delivery of logs in over 7 years, now...

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    Re: Buying firewood

    A friend of mine gets wood for his stove from Freecycle, although he usually has to season it himself for a year or so before using it. Good if you don't mind planning ahead

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    Re: Buying firewood

    I'll sign up to free cycle.

    Heehee, there's a petrol station that does logs on the way home. I could see how much they charge a car load. I've got a xsara Picasso and if I remove the kiddies seats o reckon I could get a baby elephant in there!

    Google 'kiln dried logs' for the pallets its about £120-145 for 1-1.2m3 (external measurements) stacked of ash (v.good) or birch (good). Considering the 'dumpy' bags are 0.52-0.7m3 of unstacked and various species of unspecified moisture for £50-60 odd this looks OK. Its a bit late for seasoning so would like fuel that's good to go.

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    Re: Buying firewood

    kiln dried is safest if you dont have a year to have it in your log store.

    1.2 Cubic M in a bag is about £135 ish. Shortish pieces, (9") are best as you cac control the heat a tad better on cool but not frezing nights

    Stacked is best.. you get a LOT more than in a bag and often the wooden crate is then splittable and burnable so dont be put off by the extra price.

    Ash is a good call at the moment
    http://www.buyfirewooddirect.co.uk/k...-ash-logs.html

    If you're any where in Herts Bucks Kingacre are good
    http://www.kingacretring.com/winter_...-free-delivery

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    Re: Buying firewood

    I get to squirrel away timber as part of my job thankfully so I've got about two tons of pine, half a ton of ash and half a ton of hawthorn to chew through this winter which should keep us going. Zak's on the money as far as ready to go, burnable firewood. It's too late in the year really to season logs and kiln dried, while expensive, tends to be the safest bet.

    Personally I'd recommend checking out a few farm shops that will sell by the pallet or ton sack. Weight shouldn't be much of a concern, seasoned timber is lighter so the outright heaviest load isn't always the best, meaning a ventilated ton bag of seasoned timber even when it's not stacked can still represent good value at the right price. Green logs or logs stored in builders ton sacks can lose quality over time in an odd way too. The logs you grab from the top of a bag might seem ok but long term storage in unventilated bags can lead to the logs at the bottom of the stack sweating profusely in the wrong conditions. Check out some suppliers and actually look at what you're buying I suppose is the crux of what I'm saying

    It might also be worth checking out some local tree surgeons. Quite a few make money on the side selling logs and you can often buy directly from the source, cutting out the local farm shop or garden centers profit margin.

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    Re: Buying firewood

    Is there a problem with resin build up in the flue with burning pine in a wood burning stove?
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    Re: Buying firewood

    Quote Originally Posted by peterb View Post
    Is there a problem with resin build up in the flue with burning pine in a wood burning stove?
    Yes and no.

    Don't start the fire with pine but once it's going and you have it on 'full blast' pine is fine as it needs to burn at a higher temp.

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    Re: Buying firewood

    You could try a quick call to you local tree surgeons, I'm sure they would put you in contact with whomever they palm their logs off to. They should have some nice seasoned wood.

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    Re: Buying firewood

    Quote Originally Posted by peterb View Post
    Is there a problem with resin build up in the flue with burning pine in a wood burning stove?
    the most essential thing to know is...

    never EVER mix coal and pine or coal and green wood.

    the combination makes an acidic flue killing resin that destroys your flue.

    also, using pine is ok when it's hot but NOT if you're going to run it slow, and efficiently. If you keep the air intake/airwash open full and it runs fast and hot, then fine. But if you have an efficient stove which, like mine, once hot you can shut down nearly all the air wash and obviously have no lower air intake (as that's for coal), the resultant fumes still contain the resin. On mine I have a setting that closes all the air intakes except for a tiny little valve at the rear which I tweaked over several months, until the stove stays "in" for along time on a very low burn. You can tell it's working.. if you lay on the floor, as I often do, and look up into the top of the stove, it looks like northern lights.. like a slow lightning display.. as the unburned gases re ignite.

    With pine, some of that won't burn

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    Re: Buying firewood

    I'd go as far to say never mix coal and wood EVER.

    The much higher burning temp of coal eats wood so you get a very low efficiency.

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