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BenC

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Posts posted by BenC

  1. Tug For Sale

    in General Boating

    Posted

    Not really, we've only just got that electrickery thing, and as for running water and phones.... we still use two baked bean cans and a bit of string. But we've got fresh air, green bits between the towns, and accents I can understand. So it's not all bad!

    Say it again?!

  4. Wood, whats good to burn

    in General Boating

    Posted

    Just thought I'd share this little guide that I've had knocking about for a few years. Cant remember where it was from, but can be very useful.

     

    Alder: Poor heat output and short lasting. A low quality firewood. Produces nice charcoal that burn steady and is useful for homemade gunpowder.

     

    Apple: Great fuel that bums slow and steady when dry, with little flame, sparking or spitting. It has a pleasing scent. It is easier to cut green. Great for cooking.

     

    Ash: Considered one of the burning wood with steady flame and good heat output. It will bum when green, but not as well as when dry. Easily to saw and split.

     

    Beech: Similar to ash, but only burns fair when green. If it has a fault, it may shoot embers out a long ways. It is easy to chop.

     

    Birch: This has good heat output but burns quickly. The smell is also pleasant. It will burn unseasoned. Can cause gum deposits in chimney if used a lot. Rolled up pitch from bark makes a good firestarter and can be peeled from trees without damaging them.

     

    Blackthorn: Burns slowly, with lots of heat and little smoke.

     

    Cedar: This is a great wood that puts out a lot of lasting of heat. It produces a small flame, a nice scent, and lots of crackle and pop. Great splitting wood. Best when dry but small pieces can be burned unseasoned. Good for cooking.

     

    Cherry: A slow burning wood with good heat output. Has a nice sent. Should be seasoned well. Slow to start.

     

    Chestnut: A mediocre fuel that produces a small flame and weak heat output. It also shoots out ambers.

     

    Douglas Fir: A poor fuel that produces little flame or heat.

     

    Elder: A mediocre fuel that burns quickly without much heat output and tends to have thick acrid smoke. The Hag Goddess is know to reside in the Elder tree and burning it invites death. Probably best avoided.

     

    Elm: A variable fuel (Dutch elm disease) with a high water content (140%) that may smoke violently and should be dried for two years for best results. You may need faster burning wood to get elm going. A large log set on the fire before bed will burn till morn. Splitting can be difficult and should be done early on.

     

    Eucalyptus: A fast burning wood with a pleasant smell and no spitting. It is full of sap and oils when fresh and can start a chimney fire if burned unseasoned. The stringy wood fiber may be hard to split and one option is to slice it into rings and allow to season and self split. The gum from the tree produces a fresh medicinal smell on burned which may not be the best for cooking with.

     

    Hawthorn: Good firewood. Burns hot and slow.

     

    Hazel: An excellent fast burning fuel but tends to burn up a bit faster than most other hard woods. Allow to season.

     

    Holly: A good firewood that will burn when green, but best if dried a year. It is fast burning with a bright flame but little heat.

     

    Hornbeam: Burns almost as good as beech with a hot slow burning fire.

     

    Horse Chestnut: A low quality firewood with a good flame and heating power but spits a lot.

     

    Laburnum: Completely poisonous tree with acrid smoke that taints food and is best never used.

     

    Larch: Crackly, scented, and fairly good for heat. It needs to be seasoned well and forms an oily soot in chimneys.

     

    Laurel: Produces a brilliant flame.

     

    Lime: A poor quality fuel with dull flame. Good for carving

     

    Maple: A good firewood.

     

    Oak: Oak has a sparse flame and the smoke is acrid if not seasoned for two years. Dry old oak is excellent for heat, burning slowly and steadily until whole log collapses into cigar-like ash.

     

    Pear: Burns with good heat, good scent and no spitting. Needs to be seasoned well.

     

    Pine: Bums with a splendid flame, but apt to spit. Needs to be seasoned well and is another oily soot in chimney wood. Smells great and its resinous wood makes great kindling.

     

    Plane: Burns pleasantly, but is apt to throw sparks if very dry.

     

    Plum: Wood provides good heat with a nice aromatic sent.

     

    Poplar: A terrible fuel that doesn't burn well and produces a black choking smoke even when seasoned.

     

    Rowan: A good firewood that burns hot and slow.

     

    Rhododendron: Old thick and tough stems burn well.

     

    Robinia (Acacia): Burns slowly, with good heat, but with acrid smoke.

     

    Spruce: A poor firewood that burns too quickly and with too many sparks.

     

    Sycamore: Burns with a good flame, with moderate heat. Useless green.

     

    Sweet Chestnut: Burns when seasoned but tends to spits continuously and excessively.

     

    Thorn: One of the best firewood. Burns slowly, with great heat and little smoke.

     

    Walnut: Low to good value to burning. It a nice aromatic scent.

     

    Wellingtonia: Poor for use as a firewood.

     

    Willow: A poor fire wood that must be dry to use. Even when seasoned, it burns slowly, with little flame. Apt to spark.

     

    Yew: This burns slowly, with fierce heat. The scent is pleasant. Another carving favorite.

  6. women on boats are a special breed.

    in General Boating

    Posted

    Last week in the rain and strong wind, the other half steered our motor (Big Woolwich) turned it, tried to moor, ran aground, spent over half an hour getting free again, only for it to happen twice more, eventually she moored up after about 2 hours. And All I had to do was endure 10 minutes of swearing and shouting on the phone!unsure.png

  8. Wanted: Competent all-rounder to help our work in progress!!

    in General Boating

    Posted · Edited by BenC

    I know of a boat where the owner drilled through the floorboard and went straight through the thinning baseplate! A quick call to some inventive (if that's what you call them) people and they arrived with some treaded bar welded to a metal plate, took the boat to the closest lock, chilled it, drilled hole bigger, went under the boat with plate and mastic, bar through hole washer and nut on, refill lock boat back on mooring! 8 years on and 2 owners later, as far as I know that repair has never been made permanent!!!

    Also had a guy working on a site years ago that knocked a 110v transformer into a pond, then stepped in and picked it back out without turning the power off!

  9. Wanted: Competent all-rounder to help our work in progress!!

    in General Boating

    Posted

    The hardest and most difficult part of working on boats is not gathering your tools together or dodging the marina staff so you dont get collard as a contractor and have to pay their levy or finding the boat, but getting on board starting the job and realising you left that particular tool / part in your van !

    Oh happy days

    shaun

    Or just doing the last little job, then having that slow motion moment as you fumble, desperately trying to catch, that tool or part before you see it slowly disappear into that murky water. If only I had just.......

  10. Wanted: Competent all-rounder to help our work in progress!!

    in General Boating

    Posted

    I think that the OP just needs a competent DIY'er that needs a bit of extra cash (in hand), someone who is doing their own boat near by and needs a bit of extra funds for their own build, so to me £150 would seem a fair price. Like everything in life prices run out of control.

    If the gas pipes are already in place then get the DIY'er to do all the other work and get a gas engineer to do final connections to appliances and bottles. (that's what I've always done, not that I doubt my ability to do this, but it gives you peace of mind).

  22. boat wherabouts

    in History & Heritage

    Posted

    I believe that they were headed towards the K and A, bath direction, not sure if Conway has gone that far yet as needs work doing. Think that they had Bates look at it, but not sure if they will get the work done there. Not sure if my OH has any contact info, I'll ask

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