Do you use wood for heating? How do you get it and cut it

A hatchet to me a single handled axe with the heal of the blade formed into a hammer enabling the axe to be struck should it become stuck or a carpenters tool used for first rough shaping of timber. You don't use mauls then? Does Mallee smell like Eucalyptus when burnt? Here I use ash twigs for kindling one of the few woods that burns green or brown and have also used birch bark which is a natural fire-lighter I presume it's a choice between Stihl and Husky saws there too? I used to have a bench saw, powered by a single cylinder Petter 5 HP diesel engine but it got so old as to be dangerous all the best, urban

It was noisy perhaps as noisy as a chain saw but not such an annoying pitch I used to use Danarm saws, in my opinion the most charismatic of saws though perhaps not the most efficient but they got too old. Stihls are superb and clinical, Huskies retain a little charisma without being any less superb than Stihls, in my opinion, though I am sure both marques have their champions and detractors. This is the type of axe I would generally use for small timber, it is for single handed use http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=112732 The haft length being approximately 2' / 600mm I knew not that birch bark was used in torches but makes sense all the best, urban

I had to look that one up! Maul is not a term I've heard of before... it has other meanings here. Do you mean a block splitter like this...? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splitting_maul Your description sounds alright, but the handle is very short, designed to be used with one hand... what the Americans would know as a tomohawk. Using a maul looks like too much effort, if you don't mind me saying so. I've never actually got the hatchet stuck to have been in need of a hammer to free it, as there are a variety of very quick techniques used to free a stuck hatchet. I like the rhythm & flow of sitting in the woodshed for hours on end quickly cutting up short pine logs with that thing. And pine has a wonderful smell. It's difficult to describe the smell of seasoned mallee burning. It doesn't really have a smell that I can put into words - just one of the cleanest-burning woods around. Gums have a unique smell; a different smell for every variety. I've heard about the burning properties of birch bark. Didn't they used to use those wrapped around torches in the middle ages & the motion of them being carried was sufficient to keep them burning brightly? I think you're right about chain saw brands. We're actually still repairing the old McCulough's! Was that single cylinder saw also very noisy? Are you in a rural zoning or do you just have very generous noise regulations in your part of England?

Well soft wood burns so quickly even in a wood burner, the only maple I have used is sycamore which is ok but nothing special all the best, urban

I use a chainsaw too, used to be a Danarm but since these are no longer made I use Husquevana and Stihl, Swedish and German saws both excellent and an axe or maul for splitting all the best, urban