Wood costs and chopping advice

Gloomendoom

Peat takes thousands of years to form. However, it is definitely not a 'green' source of fuel. Commercial extraction of peat is an environmental disaster.

SG27

chickaroonee wrote: »

I mean chopping up branches into logs, I'm not sure what the correct term is? I know it's hard work and it certainly won't come anywhere near what we'll burn, but I still think it's worth doing and wanted to know which tools were best.

I am not under any illusions that a log burner uses a lot of logs, hence me asking how much people get through and how much they pay for them.

We will use coal as well, and also have CH, but would prefer to use the burner more over the winter period, but it will have to produce a good heat for us. It is a 9kw so a big burner, I realise this will burn more wood than a smaller model.

You need a bow saw. I got a few 8 or 9inch thick logs from a family member recently. They were about 10ft each so needed some sawing! It's hard work but if you are reasonably fit you can get through them pretty quick with a bow saw. Also you will need a log saw horse of some sort to hold the logs steady while you saw. I got a cheap one for £20ish from Argos and its perfectly adequate.

I've got a couple of oak beams about 12inch which I'm quite looking forward to tackling over the summer although I expect they are more chainsaw material but it'll be good fitness for me

pauletruth

cutting peat by hand is not as damaging as you think. peat is layed down at a rate of roughly 1cm every 10 years. peat millions of years old is coal. most peat is less than 2000 years old. however shipping wood logs hundreds of miles is damaging. we often find bits of tree in the bottom of the banks. simply put its a product of global cooling and wetting.