I am lucky enough to have an acre of ash coppice to play with. We have just felled half of it for our firewood supply for the next couple of years (first time in 30 years it has been done) Good big rounds between 10 or 15 inches. Split easy with a gb splitting axe when green, hard work when seasoned. Being disorganised it almost always gets burnt green with no detriment to the chimney or heat output. We have a charnwood stove and a franco belge stove, both of which I intend to be buried with!
Need a splitting axe, or do i?
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Buy fire wood:yikes: :yikes: :yikes:
I know chopper and this is why it is time to start collecting and seasoning my own now that I have the lavvu and stove.
Buy fire wood
too right, when there's so much free stuff out there just for the picking. Mind you, sometimes I get some very odd looks when I'm out with bowsaw and blade. I sometimes wonder of some people think it's illeagal to gather dead wood from the roadsides etc.
OOps pleasepardon my mistake Matt, I have not read the post's properly
and have managed to confuse yourself and bilko who started the thread and he DOES come from South east London. I used to live there many year's ago at Brocklehurst street New cross SE14, not the one in Manchester. Why not consider cutting some ash or oak while your out on a trip, and split it down to 1 1/2 or 2 inch square's, and keep them right next to the stove while its burning. Its surprising how fast a stick can lose its moisture when forced, seeing as theres no worries about wether it cracks or warps etc as there would be if you were using the wood to make something. If you do it in rotation you could end up not needing to carry any when you set out? I tried a method I saw on a canadian site where they pack the stove with a lot of medium to fine sticks rather than 1 or 2 large log's, and if you shut the air it will glow steadily for a long time and you have a bigger surface area of timber to release the gases etc. I know in France there favourite fuel wood is ash or oak. They let the oak dry for usually 4 years stacked in square heaps in the forest or under corrugated shed's. For some reason none of it ever seems to get pinched
. When you use it it looks like you have a huge red hot lump of dropforged stel sitting there in the stove I bet that tent is cosy with the stove under way and a nice brew and your boot's off
cheers Jonathan
I have a Maul, its the mutts nutts
Great for splitting logs and if I hold it right next to the head with one hand its even good for splitting kindling.
My brother knocked down the wall between my kitchen and outhouse with the hammer bit of it.
I don't put effort into the downstroke I just lift it and use its weight.
If you have never used one, spend the 20 or so quid they cost (mine was a fiver off a bloke I worked with) and have a bash.
You don't know what your missing.
Great for splitting logs and if I hold it right next to the head with one hand its even good for splitting kindling.
My brother knocked down the wall between my kitchen and outhouse with the hammer bit of it.
I don't put effort into the downstroke I just lift it and use its weight.
If you have never used one, spend the 20 or so quid they cost (mine was a fiver off a bloke I worked with) and have a bash.
You don't know what your missing.
also when it comes to splitting wood , it splits easier when it is frozen, but don't know if it get that cold very often in England. A good splitting maul is the way to go, 8 pounder and frozen wood and it will explode when you hit it, just go around knots and branches. Pat
If you want something a little lighter that will do the job, the GB Small Splitting Axe is very good. I've been using it with great success on rounds of a recently felled sycamore that measure up to about 20". I know that sycamore splits easily but I've been surprised at how easy it has been to do so with a relatively modestly sized tool.
Probably more than you want to spend, but the Gransfors splitting axes are excellent. They're much lighter and handier than some of the mighty mauls one sees at B&Q, etc., but they really pop those logs apart thanks to a very efficient design: convex grind at the edge, then concave (hollow), then the shoulder. They're splitting axes and split logs very well, but that's all they do!
Burnt Ash
too right, when there's so much free stuff out there just for the picking. Mind you, sometimes I get some very odd looks when I'm out with bowsaw and blade. I sometimes wonder of some people think it's illeagal to gather dead wood from the roadsides etc.
I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but in some areas it is actually illegal to collect fallen wood without a permit.
In our area you need a free permit from the Council and risk prosecution if caught without one.
The best way of obtaining free wood is to call your local tree surgeons and ask if you can have some. Most of them will have to pay to get rid of it, so if they can drop it off for free they will jump at the chance.
I done this when we first bought our wood burner, I landed up with sooooo much wood I had to sell some off as logs. I had people calling all the time as it is so dear in the petrol stations.
