Potential firewood yield from coppice woodland

[Ty Unnos]

Hi all,

 

I need some guesstimates for the potential yield of coppice woodland.

 

At the moment it is all overstood mixed hardwood coppice about 6" - 8" diameter.

 

I guess it was last cut 20+ years ago. No standards.

 

Eventually its all coming off for firewood but I need a rough idea of how many tons an acres I am likely to get while bringing it back into rotation?

 

It is then going into a 15 year rotation for firewood. Any idea how many tons each acre should yield after 15 years?

 

I appreciate there is not enough info here to be accurate but very rough figures will do.

 

Cheers

Edited July 15, 2011 by Ty Unnos

[john burgess]

They used to say one cord of Wood per acre per year

[Ty Unnos]

They used to say one cord of Wood per acre per year

 

I read that somewhere but it seems a little low to me?

 

Whats a cord weigh? Maybe 2 - 2.5 tons green wood, per acre, per year.

 

I guess while I am getting the coppice back into rotation I will be able to take out more than this each year. But once it has all been cut I will need to only take out what is sustainable.

 

If 1 cord a year per acre is right I am going to need a bigger wood!

 

My target is to be able to fell 200+ tons a year to make the firewood business worth while.

[slack ma girdle]

Work out the timber volume (useable part of the trunk up to about 4" in diameter) in a 5.6m circle (0.01 of a hectare). Repete this at random intervals to give you a volume per coup. The more times you do it the more accurate the answer.

[Ty Unnos]

Work out the timber volume (useable part of the trunk up to about 4" in diameter) in a 5.6m circle (0.01 of a hectare). Repete this at random intervals to give you a volume per coup. The more times you do it the more accurate the answer.

 

Thanks. I will give this a go.

 

I would still like a rough idea of what to expect.

 

How about asking the question a different way.

 

Last time you priced up a hardwood clearfell how much timber did you estimate an acre?

[Brushcutter]

Thanks. I will give this a go.

 

I would still like a rough idea of what to expect.

 

How about asking the question a different way.

 

Last time you priced up a hardwood clearfell how much timber did you estimate an acre?

 

depends on size and spacing. I'd have to measure it to work out what i'd get.

 

Do you have the forest measuration handbook? Or the field guide? Both of these will have tables in to work out how much volume you get in a tree. If you have 100 trees in an acre each one 2m3 each you have 200m2 of timber.

 

Have you tried contacting the FC or local council about help measuring and putting a management plan in place?

[Ty Unnos]

Ok Thanks Guys.

 

Sounds like there is no easy answer.

 

I shall just have to get out in the woods with a tape measure!

 

If found this:

 

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/timbervolume.pdf/$FILE/timbervolume.pdf

 

Will it do for measuring tree volume?

 

Still going to be a tricky with multi stemmed coppice.

[Brushcutter]

Treesource

 

Get this book. It will guide you through the whole process and has all the tables you will need.

[Ty Unnos]

Treesource

 

Get this book. It will guide you through the whole process and has all the tables you will need.

 

Thank you. I will see if I can track down a copy.