collecting wood for a stove
Pep
Posts: 501
We want to install a wood burning stove in our living room.
How about collecting wood from a forest, can I just do it when out for an outdoor family walk in the country or is it illegal?
What if it's someone's land, would it be theft?
What if it's public land, can I just collect it?
How about collecting wood from a forest, can I just do it when out for an outdoor family walk in the country or is it illegal?
What if it's someone's land, would it be theft?
What if it's public land, can I just collect it?
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Pep wrote:We want to install a wood burning stove in our living room.
How about collecting wood from a forest, can I just do it when out for an outdoor family walk in the country or is it illegal?
What if it's someone's land, would it be theft?
What if it's public land, can I just collect it?
I occasionally take dead wood from my local woods, but NEVER chop any down, and always leave some dead wood for nature.
I mainly drive around industrial estate filling the boot with discarded pallets, great for the open fire.0 -
Sure of course, I am thinking about dead branches lying on the ground."LeicesterLad wrote:I occasionally take dead wood from my local woods, but NEVER chop any down, and always leave some dead wood for nature.
That's a good idea, thanks.I mainly drive around industrial estate filling the boot with discarded pallets, great for the open fire.0 -
Yes, it would be theft if the land was private and you didn't have the landowner's permission. Not sure where you'd stand on 'public' land but since it's all owned by someone I can't see it being different. I think Leicester Lad's answer is pragmatic though. Don't take too much, don't chop stuff down and you are unlikely to be bothered.
Round here the council used to give away - at a central point - stuff they'd cut down in parks etc. The public auditor criticised them for giving away a resource and there was talk of them stopping but as I've got a full woodstore I haven't checked for a while.
Bear in mind that wood you pick up won't be seasoned and wet wood is not good for stoves. You'll need to keep it a while to get the best from burning it. Also worth bearing in mind that wood from skips - especially if they are doing roof work - has often been treated for pests and you might not want to breath in the fumes from that. (Pallets though are just untreated softwood.)0 -
DrKJM wrote:Yes, it would be theft if the land was private and you didn't have the landowner's permission. Not sure where you'd stand on 'public' land but since it's all owned by someone I can't see it being different. I think Leicester Lad's answer is pragmatic though. Don't take too much, don't chop stuff down and you are unlikely to be bothered.
Round here the council used to give away - at a central point - stuff they'd cut down in parks etc. The public auditor criticised them for giving away a resource and there was talk of them stopping but as I've got a full woodstore I haven't checked for a while.
Bear in mind that wood you pick up won't be seasoned and wet wood is not good for stoves. You'll need to keep it a while to get the best from burning it. Also worth bearing in mind that wood from skips - especially if they are doing roof work - has often been treated for pests and you might not want to breath in the fumes from that. (Pallets though are just untreated softwood.)
Spot on i'd say. Id deffinately give the skips a miss, you don't know where that nasty asbestos might be lurking...0 -
I think if you were seen by the land owner..ya could be pick'n 'buck-shot out ya arse :shock:....if possible I would ask first...other than that just 'black-up' and go in the early hours
Where I live is on the edge of a woodland country park and there's lots of fallen trees just rotting away...and the keepers of the parkland say its good for the small wild-life
Unlike were my brother lives in central France with a mass of woodland around his village...locals are allocated an area to clear of all fallen and deadwood from the forest floor then stack into cubic mts to buy or sell on..just something the local do through the late and early months of the year..... It keeps the woodland clear and tidy and gets his alloted cubic mts of firewood himself0 -
check out local diy stores chain stores etc, round here they let people takeaway old pallets they've had stuff delivered on saves them having to dispose of, my father in law reckons he has a years supply of heating for his wood burner from doing thisAll lies and jest..still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest....0
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i dunno where about you are but i work for a furniture manufacturer that only use hardwood, they have a massive container that gets filled with off cuts an is taken away to make MDF with it.
you can have as much as you likeKeeping it classy since '830 -
bianchimoon wrote:check out local diy stores chain stores etc, round here they let people takeaway old pallets they've had stuff delivered on saves them having to dispose of, my father in law reckons he has a years supply of heating for his wood burner from doing this
+1 Yep, most factories and warehouses are more than happy to let you have palletts for free, it costs them to arrange for a compnay to pick them up and recycle them, so they end up in landfill. In fact nearly all used pallets end up in landfill, and its become a big issue. that amount of useable wood should not be going to landfill :x0 -
LeicesterLad wrote:bianchimoon wrote:check out local diy stores chain stores etc, round here they let people takeaway old pallets they've had stuff delivered on saves them having to dispose of, my father in law reckons he has a years supply of heating for his wood burner from doing this
+1 Yep, most factories and warehouses are more than happy to let you have palletts for free, it costs them to arrange for a compnay to pick them up and recycle them, so they end up in landfill. In fact nearly all used pallets end up in landfill, and its become a big issue. that amount of useable wood should not be going to landfill :x
we have vans coming around collecting pallets, as i think they sell them on??
word of warning dont burn mdf, its nasty!Keeping it classy since '830 -
Pep wrote:We want to install a wood burning stove in our living room.
How about collecting wood from a forest, can I just do it when out for an outdoor family walk in the country or is it illegal?
What if it's someone's land, would it be theft?
What if it's public land, can I just collect it?
It's a ball ache this one.
If you take wood from anywhere without permission, it's theft. The trees, whether standing or fallen, live or dead belong to the land owner. If it's a private wood, then you need the owner's permission. If it's public land, technically, you should have permission from the council.
If trees are still standing, but dead, you still need permission from the land owner and more than likely English Heritage, to fell them, or even take chunks off them. If the woodland is yours, you may also need permission from English Heritage, as my parents recently found out. (EH soon backed down when my parents pointed out that if the dead trees fell onto their new house, they would be sueing for damages
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Go and have a word with the local timber merchants, they often have offcut bins, ie small bits of timber which is too small to use, which they are glad to get rid of.Science adjusts it’s beliefs based on what’s observed.
Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved0 -
I didn't think English Heritage had anything to do with consents for tree felling? The local planning authority will deal with felling trees with a TPO or within a conservation area and the Forestry Commission deal with felling licences for all other trees over a certain size.0
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Replies seem very sensible.
I'll chase up furniture makers, diy stores, timber merchants etc, and see if get anything.
I'll ask permission to landowner, maybe they'll be glad to have wood removed, we'll see...
Public land and asking permission to the council I'm not sure I want to bother...
Only dead wood already fallen on the ground.
Cheers0 -
I believe that there is ancient law protecting your right to pick up any wood from the ground in woodland. However, I'm not 100% on that, so don't quote me on it.0
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Can't comment on the accuracy but it is stated with authority which usually convinces me
http://naturenet.net/blogs/index.php/2009/02/08/firewood0 -
We want to install a wood burning stove in our living room.
How about collecting wood from a forest, can I just do it when out for an outdoor family walk in the country or is it illegal?
What if it's someone's land, would it be theft?
well a couple of points too for you to consider:
unless the wood burner is just for cosmetic warmth reasons you can count on getting through a lot of wood ; we use c 5 tons a year with a smallish --4kw ---woodburner.
The wood should be dry and seasoned, burning wet wood on woodburners doesn`t generate a lot of heat, burning unseasoned wood tars up chimney.
Natural England and FE would have jurisdiction over removal timber/ tree felling; former on conservation grounds and latter would issue a felling licence (if taking more than 5 cubic meters per quarter year)
Yes as above the trees are someones property; Forestry enterprise too do NOT like people randomly accessing their woodlands to collect timber; I used to have an FE licence to collect forest trackside timber (ie left over stacks from loggoing ops); this ceased last year due to FEW and HSE concerns about who is in their forest and when; it is now just contractors who can access legitimately to get wood.
If the woodland is common land and you have commoners rights on it you may have a right in law to collect wood for personal use.
So overall if you are considering a woodburner you need really to think hard about getting a good reliable supply of fuel, ie timber; best wishes
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wood needs to be at least 2 years dried, post cutting or you will tar up your flue in no time and risk a flue fire0
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Pep wrote:We want to install a wood burning stove in our living room.
How about collecting wood from a forest, can I just do it when out for an outdoor family walk in the country or is it illegal?
What if it's someone's land, would it be theft?
What if it's public land, can I just collect it?
It is illegal
It would be theft
No, it would still be theft.
Happy to help.0 -
Bamboo Bike would burn well 0
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We have a wood burning stove that heats our living room and also a boiler for the radiators.
No way could we just wander around the local woods (whether legal or not) and pick up enough wood, we'd need a massive trailer. All you can really pick up is a bit of kindling.
Pallets and scrap wood have been mentioned, these are handy for kindling too and will kick out some fast heat but what you really need is well seasoned hardwood. We have to plan about a year ahead, we buy in wood which is advertised as seasoned but it really still needs another year before it's worth burning.
There's nothing worse that burning unseasoned wood, it's a chore to keep the fire going and you don't get much heat at all.
my 2p0 -
A friend of mine has a small trailer that he leaves in the yard of a joinery firm. They fill the trailer with offcuts, he picks it up once a month takes it home and empties it. Instead of paying for skips the joinery firm has a number of trailers lined up in their yard.
Around here (Surrey, Hants area), some of the wardens for the various commons let people cut down conifers and take them away for firewood. You need permission and they'll mark up which ones they want cutting down and removing.~~~~~~Sustrans - Join the Movement~~~~~~0 -
I think a quick browse of this thread indicates that it was not without good reason that coal, oil and gas became popular
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Totally agree with these posts.
My log burner is what heats the living room. The idea of wandering around the forest collecting enough firewood to burn is quite amusing. You will see why when you get yours put in. You need to have well seasoned wood delivered to you on flat bed truck or similar.
You will have to pay for it though, about fifty or sixty quid a load is what I pay. If you get a multifuel burner you can make the wood last longer with some house-coal. The added benefit of this is that it burns much, much, much hotter.0 -
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BigJimmyB wrote:
ha, ha, these are great You have to collect loads of newspaper, spend ages making the bricks, then leave them for a year or so to dry out - it is a lot of hassle. Everybody I know that has bought one, has used it once then left it gather dust in the corner of the garage.
Mind you, if you've got the storage space it would give the kids something to do.
~~~~~~Sustrans - Join the Movement~~~~~~0 -
verylonglegs wrote:I think a quick browse of this thread indicates that it was not without good reason that coal, oil and gas became popular
Very true but once the fire is roaring and the log basket is full the general fuzzy warm and homely feeling is well worth all the effort. 0 -
BigJimmyB wrote:
We have one of those, as the amount of free newspapers we get is immense. They work well, kicking out a fair bit of warmth, but only lasting on average 30-60 minutes each.
As for wood, we have a few large trees in the garden that need trimming every few years, and we have friends also who generate a lot of logs/ waste wood which is currently sat in our garden ageing.
We also use a fair bit of coals from the coal man (Even though it's not actually coal) which keeps a lot of heat kicking out of the burner.
Oh, and btw, don't get a wood burner, get a multi fuel. You're not limited to just wood then.0 -
PeteMadoc wrote:verylonglegs wrote:I think a quick browse of this thread indicates that it was not without good reason that coal, oil and gas became popular
Very true but once the fire is roaring and the log basket is full the general fuzzy warm and homely feeling is well worth all the effort.
Yeah, I do miss the open fire since I moved out from the folks place, they've always burnt coal. 13C forecast for christmas day though so I doubt it will be lit for that real festive feeling when I return on sunday.0 -
I got a pile of pallets from local ceramic tile importer - many came from India and were made from a pretty hard wood - it took at hour with crowbars and saws to break each of them down into small enough pieces to fit in the stove though - I could think of better things to do with my time. Currently working our way through a pallet of Eco-logs which are made from compressed sawdust and burn pretty hot.
I was advised not to burn wood and coal at the same time 'cos it puts tar on the chimney liner due to the higher temperaturesMake mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..0 -
Pross wrote:I didn't think English Heritage had anything to do with consents for tree felling? The local planning authority will deal with felling trees with a TPO or within a conservation area and the Forestry Commission deal with felling licences for all other trees over a certain size.
Yep, unfortunately the interfering old biddies get everywhere !!!Science adjusts it’s beliefs based on what’s observed.
Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved0
