Stop giving your logs away...

[bigdave]

i can get 2 builders bags into one of my cubic meter bags!!!!

 

 

i thought long & hard about this & have been involved with other posts about selling in a true cubic meter threads!!

 

after thinking about it i have decided that a steel box with an internal measurement of 1m in every direction is the way forward!

 

i have now bought a 1m3 tipping skip which i loose fill with logs i give it a bit of a jiggle & if neccesary stick in a couple more logs or so!

 

this then fills the bags like the shaken bag in the original post!!!!!

 

i have asked my bag supplier about the volumes & they have said a cubic meter of logs will bulge the sides out on the bag which means it will not be full to the top so there will be excess bag which will stop logs from falling out of the bag during transit

 

it is same for the .5m3 bags for sand or gravel they are not full to the top with a ton in them as the sides bulge out & this stops any spillage during transit!

 

as already stated if both you & the customer are happy then all is well!

 

i have had no complaints so far!!

[likeitorlumpit]

i can get 2 builders bags into one of my cubic meter bags!!!!

 

 

i thought long & hard about this & have been involved with other posts about selling in a true cubic meter threads!!

 

after thinking about it i have decided that a steel box with an internal measurement of 1m in every direction is the way forward!

 

i have now bought a 1m3 tipping skip which i loose fill with logs i give it a bit of a jiggle & if neccesary stick in a couple more logs or so!

 

this then fills the bags like the shaken bag in the original post!!!!!

 

i have asked my bag supplier about the volumes & they have said a cubic meter of logs will bulge the sides out on the bag which means it will not be full to the top so there will be excess bag which will stop logs from falling out of the bag during transit

 

it is same for the .5m3 bags for sand or gravel they are not full to the top with a ton in them as the sides bulge out & this stops any spillage during transit!

 

as already stated if both you & the customer are happy then all is well!

 

i have had no complaints so far!!

 

I may be wrong but doesn't the builders merchants 'tonne' bag actually contain 800kg.

Sounds crazy I know

[Kev Stephenson]

A builders bag is not a cubic meter.

[DN22 Gardening]

Had a flyer from Travis Perkins through this week

 

Thrown it away, but it basically says that there bulk bags are all 700kg's ( + or - 5% )

 

A number of years ago i went over a weighbridge with 5 Builders Center bulk bags of Red sand, they were full to overflowing,

 

According to a ministry of transport approved bridge, i had all of 3.1 tons on. this equates to .62 of a ton per bag.

 

Its safe to say they went straight back and a price re-negotiation happened

Edited December 11, 2012 by DN22 Gardening
bloody spellchecker

[growforest]

There's a very comprehensive set of tables and charts and other euro stuff here. Most of it is beyond the average punter, who just wants a decent load of quality logs at the right price. Warning link is four meg download - good reading for the anal log-counters and stackers among us

Edited December 11, 2012 by growforest
Additional info needed about link

[farmer_ben]

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...

 

Real interesting test Chris, but one im not surprised with if im being honest.

 

Its a problem i have been thinking about for sometime. I am trying to find a loader bucket of .6 cube so i can accurately measure each load that goes out of the yard. At the moment I am definately sending out loads that are slightly bigger then stated but I am happy with this at the moment.

 

Heaped loads imo look great when you turn up to a customer but if you are processing straight into delivery truck, the best way for seller has to be a level load in a measured area surely? My trailer is 1.4 cube perfectly level, so if i take a 1.2 cube load out in that i know dam well that the customer is getting a good deal!

[baz]

I do local deliveries bagged on telehandler forks. Sometimes you can see all the logs take of as you travel over a bump and what was a full bag settles down to look distinctly underfilled. There has been a couple of times when I've knocked down the price to reflect the settling in transit.

 

I always overfill my bags and take it nice and gently to minimise the bounce 'leakage'.

[Rob D]

Great thread Chris and methodically done

 

 

What would also be good if you had a method would also be to weigh the bag of loose filled logs and the bag of logs you bounced and settled. Just out of interest (I know oak will of course weigh a lot more etc etc...)

 

 

I have a very similar set up to you except the bags are x2 high and stacked in polytunnel. I don't bounce or settle the bags but usually just top them up as they come out for delivery - prob around 20 logs each time.

[Hogs Breath]

I have been shaking mine and topping up but more seems to go in with a second use, surely they must stretch a little too?

 

Shall move away from bags in the future and go to wooden crates as they are more mouse tolerant.

[Dave Martin]

I deliver in Barrow Bags which are supposedly just over 0.2 of a cube but it is frightening when a 1.2 cubic metre cage only fills five :confused1: