Firewood - How to get the best value in logs for firewood....

Qualitymark

leacy22 wrote: »

Wheres the best place to get the tool that checks moisture in wood? I tired aldi but didnt have it,. alternatively if I buy wood thats wet how long does it usually take to dry... I presume depends on the moisture (e.g. 20-80%)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/moisture-meter

ford2600

leacy22 wrote: »

Wheres the best place to get the tool that checks moisture in wood? I tired aldi but didnt have it,. alternatively if I buy wood thats wet how long does it usually take to dry... I presume depends on the moisture (e.g. 20-80%)

A kitchen weighing scales and your oven

locky76

leacy22 wrote: »

Wheres the best place to get the tool that checks moisture in wood? I tired aldi but didnt have it,. alternatively if I buy wood thats wet how long does it usually take to dry... I presume depends on the moisture (e.g. 20-80%)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Moisture-Digital-Tester-Detector-Timber/dp/B004NQ0RL4
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056806379

wayoutwest

Got the one off ebay for 13.90 - works o.k Don't push the probes into the end grain, instead - split your firelog in half and then take a reading from the very middle.

GY A1

leacy22 wrote: »

Wheres the best place to get the tool that checks moisture in wood? I tired aldi but didnt have it,. alternatively if I buy wood thats wet how long does it usually take to dry... I presume depends on the moisture (e.g. 20-80%)

It was about 2 months ago aldi had them,
Got one just to have it for a check now and again

An Ri rua

You can get the moisture meters also from www.Purchase.ie

ps I know its going to sound fruitbat to the commercial lads but I sawed through a good bit of green wood with a good old bow-saw. And I also picked up the excellent maul and wedge from Aldi last Autumn. Went looking for my sledge but some *********** had broken the handle. And left it back!! So I grabbed a lumphammer and bet the Be****** out of 1.5 foot lengths of 2 year old oak. I would say it was best split green. Lesson learned! But I agree with what others have said here; you have to love wood to work with it. I'm splitting wood since my teens and, though I love bogs and turf, nothing beats wood for the look, the smell, the heat, the lack of smoke, the lack of ash. Great stuff altogether.

pps As someone else noted here, the fact that the government aren't grant-aiding wood stoves is disgraceful. PARTICULARLY with regards to the fuel allowance. The government could have got a max 2 year ROI on the installment by working the 80/20 rule. 80%+ of an open fire's heat goes straight up the chimney. Yet that's exactly WHAT the government subsidises to the tune of 20pw for 20+weeks a year; across thousands of households. How many teams of young bricklayers, plumbers could have been paid decent money across the country to SAVE MONEY for everyone across a 2 year ROI ?? The idiots that we have in government......

I spent a large number of hours over two years lobbying Dan Boyle on this issue. Waste of time. Possibly the rubbish-burning issue as noted above. who knows?? What's obvious is that it takes the private sector, usually, to get things done. I had no agenda, only what I thought was good maths and common sense. Common what??

Thank God for Boards and for all of the great contributors here that keep peoples' minds open and hearts hopeful.

GY A1

30 euro tho for that meter

An Ri rua

GY A1 wrote: »

30 euro tho for that meter

Yeh, its pricey alright. I just saw that website from a recent business survey on Businessworld.ie. Mightn't even be in stock, could be quicker from the big sites! Just said I'd throw it out there though.

Qualitymark

I got my first moisture meter from amazon.co.uk; I think it was around £15. The wood man bought that from me, and I bought a second one from Ebay, for around a fiver, which works just as well. I punch it into the end grain - it gives a perfectly good reading.
This one http://www.amazon.co.uk/Handheld-Digital-Moisture-display-MD-812/dp/B0076LABVE/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1391583390&sr=8-8&keywords=wood+moisture+meter is typical (though '40%' isn't what you want to see!) Here's another cheaper one http://www.amazon.co.uk/iXium®-DETECTOR-MOISTURE-PLASTER-CARAVAN/dp/B004LXXUC2/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1391583390&sr=8-12&keywords=wood+moisture+meter and another for under a tenner in a nice little pouch http://www.amazon.co.uk/Digital-Display-Moisture-Detector-Tester/dp/B00F5NV0EW/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1391583559&sr=8-13&keywords=wood+moisture+meter

TomOnBoard

An awful lot depends on what you want to use the meter for.

If you want to assess 20 tons of thinnings you're buying as to their worth, based on moisture content, you'll need one type;

If you want to assess your own 20 tons (or even 100 Kg) as to whether its ready for use in your gasification stove, Ford2600's method may be more appropriate.

Furthermore, knowing how to use a meter is crucial. How many people bring an axe or hatchet with them when using a meter- You must do, as you must measure at a recently exposed point. Also, are you measuring at end grain, or on a lateral surface? Moisture, particularly in hardwoods tends to be released though the existing 'canals'; lateral cell to cell moisture transfer is much less speedy than is vertical.

Before you even start, consider what you are trying to measure. Is it

a) the proportion of the timber that contains water (i.e. weight of moisture expressed as a % of the oven-dry weight)? or
b) the extent to which the timber has been seasoned (which more closely relates to its combustability)? or
c) the distribution of moisture with a log or block, plank etc? or
d) something else?

SIX PACK

Anyone still looking for trailer load Logs at reasonable price. Cant go too far wrong at these prices
http://www.donedeal.ie/heating-for-sale/spruce-logs-in-5-6-foot-lengths-cheap/5807732

TomOnBoard

SIX PACK wrote: »

Anyone still looking for trailer load Logs at reasonable price. Cant go too far wrong at these prices
http://www.donedeal.ie/heating-for-sale/spruce-logs-in-5-6-foot-lengths-cheap/5807732

AND he's selling by the cubic metre, not weight. Excellent value IMHO.

cena

There us a 60Ft spruce tree in the local woods that the wind knocked down at Christmas at the entrance of the woods. Could I go in and cut it up to bring it home

Mycroft H

Depends on who owns the land I'd say.

cena

Coillte as far as I know. It is right beside the secondary school. Its the start of walk area for the woods

Jack180570

TomOnBoard wrote: »

AND he's selling by the cubic metre, not weight. Excellent value IMHO.

Hi sixpac... looked at the ad and it is selling logs at €25 a cubic meter but the calculations appear to be incorrect.
Using a rough conversion of 30 cm = 1 ft the 8 x4 x 2 Iis approximately 1.7 m3 odd and when you convert to solid m3 it's just over 1 m3 of logs for €50...
If you take that general calculation an comoare to a typical artic load which would contain around 30m3 it would equate to a price of approximately €1500... not particularly cheap Imho

Jack180570

TomOnBoard wrote: »

AND he's selling by the cubic metre, not weight. Excellent value IMHO.

Hi sixpac... looked at the ad and it is selling logs at €25 a cubic meter but the calculations appear to be incorrect.
Using a rough conversion of 30 cm = 1 ft the 8 x4 x 2 Iis approximately 1.7 m3 odd and when you convert to solid m3 it's just over 1 m3 of logs for €50...
If you take that general calculation an comoare to a typical artic load which would contain around 30m3 it would equate to a price of approximately €1500... not particularly cheap Imho

Jack180570

TomOnBoard wrote: »

AND he's selling by the cubic metre, not weight. Excellent value IMHO.

Hi sixpac... looked at the ad and it is selling logs at €25 a cubic meter but the calculations appear to be incorrect.
Using a rough conversion of 30 cm = 1 ft the 8 x4 x 2 Iis approximately 1.7 m3 odd and when you convert to solid m3 it's just over 1 m3 of logs for €50...
If you take that general calculation an comoare to a typical artic load which would contain around 30m3 it would equate to a price of approximately €1500... not particularly cheap Imho

sawdoubters

where I live there lots fallen logs I just go in with my trailer to the woods and chain saw after about 40 minutes I have 3 months supply
free

cena

sawdoubters wrote: »

where I live there lots fallen logs I just go in with my trailer to the woods and chain saw after about 40 minutes I have 3 months supply
free

There is two 60ft trees fallen near me. One spruce and the other brich. Brother ripped the thread for the sparkplug in the chainsaw, only hand saw for me

ford2600

Brother ripped the thread for the sparkplug in the chainsaw


Never give your chainsaw to anybody!

cena

ford2600 wrote: »

Brother ripped the thread for the sparkplug in the chainsaw


Never give your chainsaw to anybody!

It was our dads saw. Would it be costly to get repaired

TomOnBoard

Jack180570 wrote: »

Hi sixpac... looked at the ad and it is selling logs at €25 a cubic meter but the calculations appear to be incorrect.
Using a rough conversion of 30 cm = 1 ft the 8 x4 x 2 Iis approximately 1.7 m3 odd and when you convert to solid m3 it's just over 1 m3 of logs for €50...
If you take that general calculation an comoare to a typical artic load which would contain around 30m3 it would equate to a price of approximately €1500... not particularly cheap Imho

Hey Jack.. Got it the first time... Had a sense of Deja Vu, all over again, by the time I had read much further. ;-)

On yer substantive issue, you're right of course. I've been there a good few times over the years. I normally have a sheet of paper with me that explains the difference between

a) a loose, chopped and split cubic metre
b) a log- consuming cubic metre
c) a real cubic metre that adjusts for the proportion of the log stack that contain air vs wood. This requires a known technique and a physical sq metre form that is used, multiplied by the average log length....

There are understood and accepted formulae that (on average) translate between the different measurements that anyone buying raw timber needs to know and be able to explain and negotiate with.

In my experience, unfortunately, sellers simply don't want to consider these facts, and in 7 out of 10 cases, start a row where its not needed.

Contrast this with the USA and other countries where firewood is classified in terms of volume, and the seller MUST sell to a state defined norm that covers volume AND moisture content....

Nekarsulm

cena wrote: »

It was our dads saw. Would it be costly to get repaired

got my stihl 170 helicoiled for €15. Never a minutes trouble since.

cena

Nekarsulm wrote: »

got my stihl 170 helicoiled for €15. Never a minutes trouble since.

Where did you get that done. Great price.

Ours is one of these

Nekarsulm

I got it done in "Cavan Quad & ATV Centre" Fellow called Fred Smith. A Stihl dealer. Any competent saw shop should be able to do it.

cena

Nekarsulm wrote: »

I got it done in "Cavan Quad & ATV Centre" Fellow called Fred Smith. A Stihl dealer. Any competent saw shop should be able to do it.

I got a quote along time ago for 50 euro.

Mycroft H

Ahhh I remember when I tightend the lawnmower spark plug when the engine was hot when I was a young lad. The aul fella spotted me and gave me a bollocking hahah.

Nekarsulm

Well I think 50 is a bit on the high side. I was surprised the lad was so reasonable, to be honest. When I left the saw in, he said " that's a job that needs to be done when there are no distractions going on, I'll do it after closing time".

However, if you price a barrel for a big Stihl like yours, and factor in the time to get it delivered and fitted, perhaps 50 is cheap enough!

cpg093

What would be a reasonable price for an 8x4x6 cattle trailer filled with lengths of spruce for firewood?