Consequences of Ciara

I saw the other day they are felling ash to store and preserve stocks of timber for future use as more succumb to die back.

Curley said:

i agree we should be conserving the remaining stocks of ash but traditionally it has been the most prized wood for burning, burning green or dry. Pedant alert - it is bell stays not staves.

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Yes you are right ... blasted spell checkers and auto insertion. I picked up 18 from a church in a village near Hull that had been snapped over the years by over eager bell ringers ... lovely bits of wood that are still getting used on the lathe ...

I should imagine they were great for wood turning - I know nothing about wood turning but have made a few stays over the years - always select straight grained wood with no knots.

Curley said:

I should imagine they were great for wood turning - I know nothing about wood turning but have made a few stays over the years - always select straight grained wood with no knots.

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Yes ... that's what they are mostly like, some with a bit of movement in the grain which are really nice when turned.

The beauty about Ash is that it can be cut down to ground level and it will come back. In fact that's the best way for it to be grown.

iann41 said:

The beauty about Ash is that it can be cut down to ground level and it will come back. In fact that's the best way for it to be grown.

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Would that be Ash Grow ~ back ( hopefully!!)

We have coppiced willow and hazel on our land..... and produce half a dozen or more hurdles every year.

Make excellent wind breaks around the out apiaries... and the willow ones sometimes grow into a hedge!

Needed with the recent gales!

Chons da

I once took 20 or so Willow whips about 9' tall and the thickness of an adults thumb and after chopping to a point stuck them in the ground to create a wind break. I think only two didn't take. That was over 20 years ago. I wonder if they are still there, Think I'll go look.

Ash is my favourite wood. Splits and burns so easily. Looks good also. It has few knots and apart from the horrid virus is has at the moment, its indestructible. It does tent to be a bit brittle in high winds though so don't grow it near your house. See Millets photo.

i like the stands Neil....do you have the design....

Ian123 said:

I saw the other day they are felling ash to store and preserve stocks of timber for future use as more succumb to die back.

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You may find that what they are doing is felling a seemingly healthy ash the moment dieback is detected as it is still safe to climb and remove the limbs, or dismantle bit by bit - spoke at length to the tree surgeon we employ with the town council and the issue is, once the tree has died they cannot risk climbing it to dismantle and remove so they have to use costly MEWPS and cranes to remove it.
We've managed to get grant funding and bought an industrial size bandsaw so any ash trees we remove in the valley that are suitable can be planked then seasoned and used for projects like renovating my old chapel, park benches etc.

Several of the local tree surgeons around here have invested in very large machines that grab high limbs and tree tops and saw them off before lowering to the ground where they are cut up. Again because a lot of the ashes can not be climbed due to H&S concerns.
I believe these bits of kit are in the region of £250-300k...... big investment but speeds up jobs which used to be done by guys climbing, especially above roads.

jenkinsbrynmair said:

We've managed to get grant funding and bought an industrial size bandsaw so any ash trees we remove in the valley that are suitable can be planked then seasoned and used for projects like renovating my old chapel, park benches etc.

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Brilliant ... far too many ash trees are going for firewood ...

I keep looking at DIY logging saws with a view to making one myself, (my neighbour has a huge ash tree in his garden which has dieback and will have to come done so there's an agenda there !) .. loads of them in Youtube, mostly in the USA - most of them look absolutely lethal !

Cuckmere couple said:

i like the stands Neil....do you have the design....

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Neil's are very similar to mine ... Here you are ...

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=33922

Or for those who don't want to read the whole thread ...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/125609724@N03/sets/72157651752848654

Well never mind Ciara, this Dennis has caused chaos!
I'm glad I'm up on high ground, the surrounding areas are under water. Valleys cut off, emergency evacuation and land slides near Aberfan. I've never seen anything like it, admitted winter has been mild, but it's rained nearly every day since September.
Hope everyone is safe.

Swarm said:

Well never mind Ciara, this Dennis has caused chaos!
I'm glad I'm up on high ground, the surrounding areas are under water. Valleys cut off, emergency evacuation and land slides near Aberfan. I've never seen anything like it, admitted winter has been mild, but it's rained nearly every day since September.
Hope everyone is safe.

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Yes .. my heart goes out to all those people who are really suffering or just living in fear. We will never be underwater where we live but I have two 120' Lawsons Pines in the garden and the ground is saturated .. if either of them come down it will either be curtains for my workshop or the southern side of the house roof .. The wind here last night was howling .. I reckon we had 70mph gusts which in our relatively sheltered location is pretty scary. The top 30 feet of one of the trees was bending like i've never seen it .. I went out to check around before I went to bed at about 1.30am and I could feel the ground shaking at the base of one tree with some of the gusts. What it must have been like up the top of the tree (which is about the highest thing to the west of the town) I can't imagine ~ and I'm not sure I want to.

Lots of branches on the ground this morning but the trees and fences are surprisingly still standing.

pargyle said:

Neil's are very similar to mine ... Here you are ...

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=33922

Or for those who don't want to read the whole thread ...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/125609724@N03/sets/72157651752848654

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Cuckmere couple said:

i like the stands Neil....do you have the design....

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Hi cuckmere,
I don't have plans but they are made out of 89x38mm x 3.6m tanalised fence rails I get from Mole Country Stores. They cost under a fiver and I get a single stand from one rail, a triple stand out of two rails.
If you want a plan message me and I'll do a sketch to send to you.
Neil