Cord shrinkage upon seasoning

[benbound]

Does anyone have a good conversion factor for cord bought by the metre cubed, then split as logs, i.e for every metre cubed of cord, how many cubic metre log bags can you fill?

[kev7937]

not really just top them off from another bag its a few logs if any.

 

Just thought that the point of seasoning in vented bags was that you don't have to handle twice

 

Plus if you start with 100 bags you'd only have 95 after topping up, no major drama but a bit of a fiddle.

 

 

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[Joy Yeomans]

if its part seasoned your getting your volume the same quantity but weights better as its dried

it d oesnt shrink as such, we moved when green 27t volume of sitka spruce which after it had dried we sold onto another firewod merchant and once the haulier had it loaded on it only weighed 10t!!! was like cork, it all fitted back on the wagon it came off but lost soo much moisture

[mendiplogs]

Here is a good conundrum.

 

I contacted a cord supplier today who said they can deliver seasoned cord that was felled last November (a short season) weighing in at around 19t for the trailer load at £1,550. Working out at £81 per ton.

 

The cord supplier said it'd be a full trailer load so the same volume as 26t of unseasoned wood at £60/t but more wood and less moisture.

 

The question is how much does cord shrink on seasoning. I've had piles stuck outdoors for 2 years and don't look at it and think where has my wood gone to? it doesn't look any different. I've tried researching the web but there are only guestimates of around 5% to 10% shrinkage going from green to seasoned.

 

I can see that seasoned wood could lose 25% of its weight if fully seasoned but I'm not convinced it'd lose 25% of it's volume in the process to turn an £81/t part seasoned purchase into the same value as a £60t green purchase price.

 

My problem is I'm used to buying in tons and selling in volume. I know a ton of hard wood purchased gives me an average yield of 1.84m3 of bagged logs. In this case a ton purchased would need to yield 2.4m3 to deliver the same cost. I can't see that'd be possible with hard wood.

 

Do folks concur with my thoughts that it doesn't ring true, I'm suspecting it could be a case of smaller trailer being quoted at big trailer prices.

 

HI MATE thats what some were doing last winter it been down say 1 year so theres less moisture in timber but they no that so they add that 6 ton of moisture in the price mate im told there selling cord now if it been down a time by volume and just keep the price high mate thanks jon

[woody woodpecker]

hi benbound

when we started doing logs we did a phew experments regarding volumes,

the results were based on all logs being 9" long and coming from a cubic metre off cord as delivered from haulier with air gap deduction.

800x800x800 duilders bag = 0.51 cm3 which holds 300 logs loose loaded.

We filled 4 off the above bags from the cubic metre of cord ,so we have gone on the policy off 1cm3 = 2cm3 when loose loaded. it would be interesting to know other peoples results/ways of working out.

[baz]

Does anyone have a good conversion factor for cord bought by the metre cubed, then split as logs, i.e for every metre cubed of cord, how many cubic metre log bags can you fill?

 

I'm very much into yields, costs and margins as I can't be arsed doing something for nothing.

 

From hardwood we have averaged over 4 years 1.84m3 per purchased ton of wood (fresh felled to 6 month felled). The rate for the part seasoned was higher at nearly 2m3 per ton purchased. I have never seen anywhere near the 2.4m3 per ton that this deal would require to make it palatable.

 

I have data on log shrinkage and settling in bags. We double lift to aid settling. We use every 6th bag as a top up bag. That's around a 15% top up rate after a years sat seasoning. I'd reckon half the top up is due to shrinkage and half to setlling on lifting. So again I'm nowhere near this trader who has suggested 25%+ shrinkage has occured in 6 months since felling.

 

From talking to this dealer I think it is safer to buy by the ton and if the cord is part season you'll be quids in rather than buying as part seasoned and finding on the resultant yield you have been burned. The margins are to low on wood to carry a big variable yield risk.

[Logsnstuff]

if its part seasoned your getting your volume the same quantity but weights better as its dried

it d oesnt shrink as such, we moved when green 27t volume of sitka spruce which after it had dried we sold onto another firewod merchant and once the haulier had it loaded on it only weighed 10t!!! was like cork, it all fitted back on the wagon it came off but lost soo much moisture

 

Sounds about right, the last job we did as contractors at the start of the job lorries were taking about a 60% load for 28ton by the time we went out of business the logs were rolling over the top of the pins for 15 ton. pays to get paid by the cube but pay your cutters by the ton.

 

we work on 3x 90x90 bags to the ton obviously high oak content will reduce that a bit so we get £282 a ton so £40 a ton or £50 a ton to buy in doesn't really matter a great deal what hurts more is diesel when we will deliver 150 mile radius at 19 mile to the gallon, never bothered to count the logs in a bag

[Woodworks]

I'm very much into yields, costs and margins as I can't be arsed doing something for nothing.

 

From hardwood we have averaged over 4 years 1.84m3 per purchased ton of wood (fresh felled to 6 month felled). The rate for the part seasoned was higher at nearly 2m3 per ton purchased. I have never seen anywhere near the 2.4m3 per ton that this deal would require to make it palatable.

 

I have data on log shrinkage and settling in bags. We double lift to aid settling. We use every 6th bag as a top up bag. That's around a 15% top up rate after a years sat seasoning. I'd reckon half the top up is due to shrinkage and half to setlling on lifting. So again I'm nowhere near this trader who has suggested 25%+ shrinkage has occured in 6 months since felling.

 

From talking to this dealer I think it is safer to buy by the ton and if the cord is part season you'll be quids in rather than buying as part seasoned and finding on the resultant yield you have been burned. The margins are to low on wood to carry a big variable yield risk.

 

From my experiences this post looks bang on the money.

[woodyguy]

Sounds a rip off. I work in green oak and it shrinks by 0.15% length and about 5% radius.

That's going from freshcut to 10% (so less shrinkage for logs).

So a 30cm log that's 3metres long has a volume of 0.85 cuM when cut and 0.78cuM when at 10% ie an 8.5% loss of volume.

[mendiplogs]

if its part seasoned your getting your volume the same quantity but weights better as its dried

it d oesnt shrink as such, we moved when green 27t volume of sitka spruce which after it had dried we sold onto another firewod merchant and once the haulier had it loaded on it only weighed 10t!!! was like cork, it all fitted back on the wagon it came off but lost soo much moisture

 

HI JOY i no euro forestry were putting up there rates compensate there lost in weight when dry thanks jon