TO ORDER YOUR FIREWOOD
Please call or text Andrew on 07919 830336 or Email: Andrew@SurreyFirewood.com

- with the following information:

1. How many bags, of which type (Oak or Mixed Hardwood)
2. Delivery address and post-code (for the Sat-Nav)
3. Contact phone number: Mobile is best so I can send you a text when I set off from the yard with your logs.

Mixed Hardwood contains 50%oak/beech. Budget contains 0%oak/beech

I will reply with a firewood order Confirmation.

DELIVERY
I bring a wheelbarrow and will help you move the logs to your store, though neatly stacking every log is usually outside my remit. The bags are retained for re-use.

If you expect to be out:
Let me know where the logs need to go (and leave the gate etc unlocked).
Please leave the driveway clear of vehicles so I can reverse the delivery truck right up close to where the logs need to go.

Free delivery is included within about 3 miles of Woking. I charge £10 for delivery further away. Please check on the map. Please text or email me your post-code if you are unsure. Longer distances are unsustainable

A firewood supplier should ideally be local to you. I am reluctant to burn fossil-fuel diesel simply to deliver logs over longer distances.

* I will need a delivery address & postcode (for the sat nav), and a mobile number is useful so I can text you with arrival time updates.

PAYMENT
Bank Transfer: I will send you a text when delivery is complete with the amount and the bank details
Cash or Cheque. Please make cheques payable to "Andrew McManus".
Pingit (PayM) mobile payments (sent to our mobile number: 07919 830336)

LOG SIZES
SurreyFirewood standard logs are under 10in long. I may also have some longer 10-15in, chunkier logs and shorter logs under 8in in stock.
Many small stoves are designed for logs with a max length of 10in (254mm) so I aim to cut them at 9in which allows a little room for odd shapes to still fit under 10in. Log sizes always vary and some are shorter as the timber comes in all sorts of odd sizes.
My splitting aims for about 3in thick but there is usually a variety of odd pieces and knotty bits. There is usually a mixture of (shorter) sizes in a bag.
If you specify the max length of log that your fire can accommodate, I can filter out any that may be too big.
Larger logs are usually available, and un-seasoned logs can be cut to whatever size you want at no extra charge.
We will replace any log that does not fit in your burner or is not to your satisfaction, if you tell us when you order your next load.

BULK BAG SIZES
Standard builders bulk bags used for Seasoned Logs are 850 x 850 x 850mm and hold 0.6cu m of logs, I do fill them generously.

The subject of bulk bag sizes is horribly complicated. Here are a few pointers.
They are called a ton bag, not because they contain a ton, but because they are strong enough to. For it to contain a ton of firewood it would have to be a very big bag and/or the firewood would have to be very wet. Other names include, jumbo bag, bulk bag, etc. Every builders merchant seem to use a different size and shape of bag, containing different amounts. My 850 bags would contain the same volume as a Travis Perkins bag, but they are a different shape and I do tend to over fill them somewhat. Quoted bag sizes from the manufacturers is always the size of the fabric. This means the bag size is somewhat smaller because you lose a bit on every seam. Only the very biggest bulk bags contain 1cu m. Even a 1000 x1000 x 1000mm bag might not contain a cu m because they are often not filled to the top and the bag itself is a little smaller (see note above). Confused enough? Now consider how the humble bag of cornflakes seems to settle when it is shaken about in transport and even more because it bulges when removed from the box. Rest easy on this one because I bounce my bags of logs on the floor with the forklift while I am filling them so they settle and bulge, and so I can fit even more logs in the bag before I load them on the truck. hopefully you will also notice that I always fill them to the top and overflowing so I expect some to fall off while I am on my way to you. Fortunately the high sides on the truck mean they are safely contained and cannot fall onto the road.

ABOUT SURREY FIREWOOD
Hello, I am Andrew McManus. I am a Tree Surgeon who was shocked how much wood from the trees we cut was wasted; so I started cutting it into logs, splitting it with an axe, drying it under cover and delivering it. SurreyFirewood was born. These days I get a lot of help from my friend Paul and his family We work from our yard beside Horsell Common in Woking. The axe is still used occasionally but we do most of it with hydraulic splitters, a firewood processor and a tractor. Then we dry the wood in purpose made barns and tents. This year I am experimenting with solar powered fans and a kiln drying container that burns waste wood to help dry the logs. I have retired from tree surgery and firewood deliveries now have to fin in around my new full time job as a gardener.

HEAT VALUE
The Calorific (Heat) Value of Logs depends on
1. Wood Density (when dry)
2. Moisture Content

To get the best wood density we only use hardwood timber which is better than softwood, and I avoid the less dense hardwoods like poplar and willow.
"Mixed Hardwood" logs may contain a mixture of dense and less dense hardwoods. I sell ash, oak, beech, sw Chestnut and birch logs in separate bags so you know exactly what you are getting. So my oak logs are 100% oak …..

The moisture content of logs has the greatest effect on their Calorific value as any heat used to evaporate the water is lost up the chimney.

Seasoned Logs:
I cut and split the logs before drying them under cover so they become even dryer, even faster, aiming for less than 20% moisture content.
As each log store is emptied in the winter, it is refilled with split logs to dry ready for sale the following winter.

Kiln Dried Logs
The specified moisture content of kiln dried logs is the same 20% as for seasoned dry logs, the water is the same and the logs are the same. They will produce the same amount of heat when they are burnt. However kiln drying a log does use considerable energy to heat the kiln and run the fans, not to mention double handling the logs. This is why I do not encourage customers to buy kiln dried. Many kiln dried suppliers are being subsidised from your gas and electric bills up to 7.2p per kilowatt hour used to dry the logs and will be subsidised for 25 years via the Renewable Heat Incentive. There is a business case for doing kiln dried even without the subsidy as you can re-fill your log stores every week or two instead of once a year for seasoned logs. Costs of timber, storage, cutting, splitting, etc can be recouped every week or two when kiln drying, instead of 12 months later for seasoned logs. Anyway, having resisted the temptation until now, I have built a log drying kiln. This allows me to dry off any logs that have not got dry enough, for whatever reason and to continue a limited supply of dry logs when the seasoned logs have run out..... My kiln is heated using all the off-cuts that would otherwise have to go on the bonfire and the fans run on 12V solar power from a small array of solar panels. This is about as renewable as I can make it at the moment.

Hardwood:
Timber from any broadleaved tree, whether it is actually hard or not. (RFS Glossary of tree terms)
Ash, Oak and Beech have harder wood and have a higher wood density than Birch and Lime, while Poplar and Willow are extremely light and soft when dry.
I do not use Poplar and Willow because of their poor timber density.

Softwood:
Timber from any coniferous tree, irrespective of any hardness.
Softwood is less dense than hardwood and produces a more acid smoke that contains resins/tar. If a softwood fire is "damped down" the resin may be deposited inside your chimney which must be cleaned or risk a chimney fire.

Kindling
The kindling is made from softwood recycled building materials which, have been saved from land fill. It is cut and bagged by the Pathway Workshop, now called RAW, a charity which gives productive employment and training for disadvantaged adults between 16 and 80, with both physical disabilities and those with learning impairment. The kindling is supplied in bags holding approx 2.5 kg of dry wood.

LOG STORES
A good log store keeps the logs dry and off the ground, while allowing plenty of air to circulate through them. I prefer a log store with a generous roof overhang.
If it is deeper than it is wide then is much easier because most of the logs can be thrown in loose, behind a small log wall; which is easier than having to stack every log neatly.
Never store logs on bare soil - old pallets available.