Stop giving your logs away...

[Chris Gagen]

Inspired by the thread titled Stacking arb bags of logs I thought I would start this thread...

 

Carried out stage 1 of a simple experiment today, the pictures should speak volumes (pardon the pun...)

 

Picture 1.

A metal stillage dimensions 1.43m x 0.88m. Stretch wrapped to a height of 0.80m. (This gives an internal volume of 1.00672m3) loose filled with logs to a level top.

 

Picture 2.

A "cubic meter" vented log bag, filled with the same logs as were in the stillage in pic 1. Unshaken.

 

Picture 3.

The same bag with exactly the same amount of logs in it but having now been shaken/bounced

 

What I'm trying to illustrate here is that what I have up till now been terming a "cubic meter of logs" is clearly rather more. I will find out how much more in stage 2 of the experiment, this will involve emptying a bounced and brim full bag into the stillage and measuring exactly how much over a cubic meter there is in a "full " bag. I'm hazarding a guess at up to 0.4cbm over...

 

Perhaps worth mentioning here the first 2 things that spring to mind against bouncing the bags;

a. Notice how an awful lot of products have the words "contents may settle in transit". A loose volume is a loose volume, surely if shaken down it is no longer truly loose...

b. Would the bag manufacturers really recommend bouncing the bags when full of a heavy material?? I doubt it.

 

Picture 4.

Don't get me wrong, I have up until now also been bouncing the bags and topping them up not only so they look presentable but also so they are a more uniform volume and so they will stack safely. I am now rethinking both my pricing and my storage methods.

 

P.S.

The stretch wrapping I know is not suitable for storing logs due to poor air circulation but it has sufficed to create a quick measured cubic meter vessel... I'm planning to fit weld mesh to the sides but have not that far yet...

[Goaty]

I do think its time an industry standard was created, if we did it on here without an interferring clipboard jobsworth. We could improve our image and separate us from the rogue wood sellers. That is standardise volume and seasoning/moisture content.

 

Nice stacking:thumbup1:

[Chris Gagen]

Thanks for the compliment!

 

I honestly though I was in on the industry standard by saying the vented bags were a cube... clearly I've been doing myself over...

 

I simply took for granted that the bags i purchased as Cube Bags would hold a cubic meter. Indeed they do hold a cube but in order to use them effectively they hold substantially more.

 

It's not surprising the customer doesn't have a clear idea of what his cubic meter should look like when the sellers ourselves don't either!

[Goaty]

Funny stuff wood. If you bought a bag of sand or gravel you get the same sort of amount every time. If you cart trailer loads of branches and woody material as opposed to chip, Its somewhere between 6 or 9 to 1 load!1.

If you cut logs larger you get less in said volume.

Can't weight it either, no doubt some irate EU jobsworth will be sorting it soon, Beekeepers can't reuse jars anymore and have to guarntee content specs, thats when no one is allowed to know where GM crops are grown, impossible task they have.

[Chris Gagen]

Funny stuff wood. If you bought a bag of sand or gravel you get the same sort of amount every time. If you cart trailer loads of branches and woody material as opposed to chip, Its somewhere between 6 or 9 to 1 load!1.

If you cut logs larger you get less in said volume.

Can't weight it either, no doubt some irate EU jobsworth will be sorting it soon, Beekeepers can't reuse jars anymore and have to guarntee content specs, thats when no one is allowed to know where GM crops are grown, impossible task they have.

 

And yet there is a cross over point somewhere whereby a solid cubic meter of wood would log up to something like 1.4cbm as loose logs...

[Kev Stephenson]

My guess is put the bag down in photo 2 and it will just sit level like the fixed box in picture 1.

 

Picture 2 and 3 are both loose loaded, i.e. not stacked. If I was buying from you I would not be happy to receive picture 3 as a cubic meter however as a seller I know all about settling during delivery.

 

I sell either by the level load in the van (it measures exactly 2 cubic meters and puroposely overfill to prevent issues) or by the builders bag. I state the volume of the bag and not the volume of the logs within. If you buy a bulk bag of sand/pebbles/gravel/etc it is never filled to the top so why should logs be?

 

If you sold a cubic meter of logs and weights and measured got involved when you arrived with picture 3 you could be in bother.

[Kev Stephenson]

I always sell (in volume) what I would be happy to receive, usually that means heaped as it looks like I am getting some for free. If you are that concerned about getting 1.1 cube in a 1 cube bag then up your price by 10% to cover your loss.

[Acg128]

I never fill mine to the brim I just keep stored in bags then tip bags onto van loose as to how many the customer wants and tip them off.. You can't please everyone.

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

Didn't happen to count the logs in the pics did ya? Of course the size of the logs makes a difference but I've found over countless loads 1m3 has been approx 300 logs.

[Chris Gagen]

My guess is put the bag down in photo 2 and it will just sit level like the fixed box in picture 1.

 

Picture 2 and 3 are both loose loaded, i.e. not stacked. If I was buying from you I would not be happy to receive picture 3 as a cubic meter however as a seller I know all about settling during delivery.

 

I sell either by the level load in the van (it measures exactly 2 cubic meters and puroposely overfill to prevent issues) or by the builders bag. I state the volume of the bag and not the volume of the logs within. If you buy a bulk bag of sand/pebbles/gravel/etc it is never filled to the top so why should logs be?

 

If you sold a cubic meter of logs and weights and measured got involved when you arrived with picture 3 you could be in bother.

 

As is being discussed in another thread to use available space effectively the bags need shaking to firm them up.

 

You say to prevent issues, surely if a given space is exactly 2 cubic meters then you're still effectively giving logs away by purposely overfilling...

 

I think you're right about stating the volume of the bag not the contents, but as I've said to use the bag system effectively i.e. to be able to stack them then the bags need filling to capacity.

 

Not sure why I'd be in bother with weights and measures, the example pictures are all exactly the same volume of logs....!