Hmmm, optimum fire-wood handling method/system

[windfall]

Ps also agree with Theocus about minimum handling being one of the best ways to improve productivity.

 

 

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[farmer_ben]

This works pretty well, I tried billets and circular saw but so much double handling it drove me nuts.

This way i collect/stack it once, pick it up, into processor into bag, skidsteer onto pallets and then into the barn. done!

 

Theo, I absolutely love your set up my friend, exactly what aspire too, but right now i dont turn out enough firewood to justify a processor. Instead I'm looking at a saw bench with conveyor, how much did you sell yours for in the end?

 

Also, your trailer with crane, what does it weigh empty and how much do you normal load onto it? What sort of money do them trailers retail at? could be just what im looking for

[DN22 Gardening]

we process purely arb waste

 

we cut into rings on site, approx 8 / 10" and depending on the size of job either load into one of the transits, or straight into cubic mtr crates.

 

the crates then go back to the yard and are stacked according to species.

 

we then use a home made towable splitter and split when we've nowt else to do, either full days, or if we finish a job before 5 ish.

 

one man can produce a cube in an hour no probs.

 

we have an old leyland c/w loader to do the lifting

[MikeTM150]

Jim its all about hydraulic flow and the splitters ram speed.

 

I find a 10 tonne splitter will split most pieces of 8 to 16" discs. On a JCB beaver with a 21lpm flow rate it takes us 45mins to split a cube. Hooked up to my tractor at 1800rpm i think its about 40lpm it takes 30mins. However, the tractor burns 4litres of red an hour and the beaver 0.5litres an hour. So I'm happy to loose 15mins and save money on fuel!

 

Matching the splitters power to the stuff you process is the way forward.

 

 

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I say this to everybody who evens mentions log splitters, 99% of the time its about speed of the cycle and not essentially the splitting force. Your better to split 90% of your wood fast and have to cross cut 10% with a saw, than split 100% of your wood at quarter pace.

[Daniël Bos]

I only process hedgerow stuff for myself (only about 40m³ this year) so do all by hand, but if I was to be able to billet stuff, I would like to do the following?

 

Cut into 1m, then split.

Stack in a cradle type holder to make a 3-4ft bale and strap with that plastic band type stuff, 3 straps. (round bale size for easy moving, also makes about 1m³)

Then stack to season using tractor with loader.

When needed, take a bale of wood, drop it back in that cradle, get the 880 with mahooooosive bar on and make 3 cuts, making 4 rings of 10" logs.

I'm still thinking whether for the cutting stage, the cradle should be up on a platform so the logs could just be shoved in bags/trailer/loader bucket without having to lift them again.

[Ashes_Firewood]

Do people rate vented bulk bags for seasoning logs then? I quite fancy trying some. Any tips? They would have to be stored outside, barns are full of straw and hay.

[difflock]

I did once try old bulk bags, unvented, but despite cutting several gashs in the sides I still ended up with mouldy Birch.

I am considering the vented bags and seeing as I appear to be un-able to securely secure a tarpulin to cover sticks in this particular wind tunnel site.

I suspect they should breath Ok

I wont be stacking them close mind.

However..................PHOTODEGRATION:001_huh: ( others may spel different, or even correctly:001_rolleyes:)

is the problem:thumbdown:

I think I saw recommendations that these bags were better stored out of direct sunlight (like in a shed) iffen one wished to re-use.

Derp!

Theres always sommat

[windfall]

I have found proper vented bags to be excellent, we split straight into them. Move with a tractor on to the field, stack two high and cover the tops with old plastic pepsi banners. A staple gun secures the banner really well.

 

I'm onto my second season with my vented bags and think they will be good for at least one more after this!

 

 

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[Ashes_Firewood]

I did once try old bulk bags, unvented, but despite cutting several gashs in the sides I still ended up with mouldy Birch.

I am considering the vented bags and seeing as I appear to be un-able to securely secure a tarpulin to cover sticks in this particular wind tunnel site.

I suspect they should breath Ok

I wont be stacking them close mind.

However..................PHOTODEGRATION:001_huh: ( others may spel different, or even correctly:001_rolleyes:)

is the problem:thumbdown:

I think I saw recommendations that these bags were better stored out of direct sunlight (like in a shed) iffen one wished to re-use.

Derp!

Theres always sommat

 

Hmmm so somewhere shaded but still with plenty of airflow. And needs to be good access for the tractor by the time winter comes so I don't end up ploughing to get them out... this logging business is never easy is it

[Stereo]

I suppose it depends on how you want to deliver to your customer as well? I don't sell wood but for my own use I go for the billet idea and we stack them in a huge row at the top of a field so it's getting sun on it and the wind straight through the lengths. Then just cover the top with either ply pallets, old ply boards or cheap tarps, whatever we have to stop the rain running down through the stack. A summer of this and most stuff is bone dry and ready to burn. To bring back home we have a chainsaw horse and 2 of us can fill the hilux in 15 mins or less. We have a steep fall off so built a shoot from weld mesh where the chopped logs fall into and slide down into the truck. We usually log up in late august / sept when the evenings are long, bring it back and fill the store.

 

What this means is that getting the wood stacked is easy and quick and we log to demand later when there is less going on. I have thought of bags but it gives us more work to do at the wrong time. But if you want to deliver in bags, then I can see that having your product bagged and ready is a big bonus. Also, with a setup like in Theocus' pic above, handling is minimal and handling is the key really in a commercial operation so I guess if I was doing this as a business, I would look to something like that.

 

I suppose the other thing is that if you have it bagged, you know exactly how much product you have at the point of processing rather than guessing from a line of billets.