Alycidon

Looks pretty puny, limited to 250mm dia logs. Talking of log sales my local free issue magazine that came in today has 7 ads for logs, while I do advertise in there I don't advertise logs. 2 other stove companies who sell Certainly Woods logs do the same. All the new ones seem to be arb lads selling off their logs, prices down to £65 - £70 for a cube for seasoned hardwood delivered. If it is what they say and in the volume they say which is probably unlikely then its not worth buying cord in and having the investment in gear to process it. We will see how it pans out over the winter. A

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Welcome to the forum, nice stable of gear you have there. I cant see what use a chipper will really be to you unless you plan to burn the chips in your boiler. Then you have to think about handling them. A small processor would though be a good idea as you can cut and split your own logs and maybe start to sell a few as well. You will need to think about how to store and handle the logs, bags seems to me far easier but a teleporter is a handy tool to handle and stack them. An old dutch barn with open sides is fine for storage. A

According to my map Devon is next door to Somerset !!!. Big counties though ! A

For most stoves 240mm is fine but occasionally you will need 200mm. Diameter wise aim for no more than 100mm average diameter for optimum flame patterns. People with big stoves, then just put more logs on at a time. Smaller logs give far better flame patterns than bigger ones, they burn hotter and faster, so everyone wins. A

I had some horse chestnut billets go mouldy, mainly on the ends. These were kept outside with no cover over them from this time last year untill I processed them in April/may time. They dried well. A

Use for oversize cord only. Handy to have a stack of billets if someone wants odd sized logs. A

The summer season has about finished now certainly firepit/chimenia wise but we do have a wet bank holiday forecast. A

Get a good web site, get it optimised, Dont pay for google adds, when I did that for a month my click throughs were cost me £12 EACH, google said that was about par for the course. A

Its my overdraft renewal time, never used it but I like one there just in case. Been with this bank for 6 years now, had 3 managers in that time. A few weeks ago my daughter told me that the bank had rung me at home mid afternoon mid week. I sent them a scorching e mail asking them why they expected me to be at home at such a time and to call me at my showroom. I had no response until last week when I got a poor quality message on my mobile asking me to ring, I ignored it. Today I had the worst overdraft renewal phone call I have ever had. The lad had no idea what my company did, what its turnover and profit was, what its value is, all this is available on the web freely. All he was interested in was his annual arrangement fee, he considered a 10k OD to be very large !!, thats 10k not 10 million. I dropped in to see them a few weeks ago as I was in the area, no appointment admitted but I like to know who I am dealing with as people deal with people, alas no one was available to see me. For two pins I would have told him to stuff it and changed banks but the first guy I did a deal with when I moved to them is a good man, think I will talk to him tomorrow. Where the hell did training and professionalism go. A

You may be able to get a grant for a new store depending on where you are, you would need formal planning permission for a wood store before a grant offer would be forthcoming. If you want to use the corn store then fine, but just fill the bags, stack them up inside the store base layer on pallets and let them sit, ideally leave the front doors open for better air flow. A

Agreed, it may be a heart issue. I had a similar problem some years ago, I needed a stent fitting. A

I can see several potential problems. The farm may need the space as a grain store, or maybe a wet grain store for grain awaiting being put through the drier. The drier blowing air through the stack will work but is likely to be pretty expensive to run and arguably unnecessary. Sell that energy Putting logs into piles sounds fine, but, when dried all the chips from the splitter, bark, slivers of wood etc will congregate at the bottom of the pile. In my first year I put 70 cube into a big pile and let it sit, it seasoned well. I used log bags to separate hard and soft piles and build a front wall. But everyone wants timber in bags these days so I had to fill bags from the pile. I found it hard to keep the crap content in a bag to an except able level once I had loaded maybe half the pile. The last 10 cube had to be filled by hand as the crap was unbelievable. I use dutch barns, stack the bags 3 high and leave them, yes the top ones get a bit damp but not to bad. Quite a lot here stack there wood in the open to season, maybe with a sheet over the top. I cant see the point of using energy to do a job that given time nature will so just as well. Sell that energy to the grid. A

Agreed, but the Baker bags are better, bigger eyes suit my timber grab better. Stronger bags as well, well less easy to rip with the end of a loader fork when stacking. A

I did the the 360 at last years Arb show hooked up to a sawdust extractor system. A

Even bouncing and topping off the contents shrink in storage causing the top level of the logs going out to be below the top of the bag. If you did not bounce then you would only be about 75% full when going out. The other issue is that the shrinkage in storage causes the piles to move if stacked more than 2 high. My three high piles can move a couple of feet at the top, I have had piles fall over. The bags do stretch, and the thinner web sites stretch worse than the more closely woven sides. When you top them off usually its about another 50 or so logs, I sell them as 1.2 cube when filled. I think the width when full of the two thinner web sites is as much as 1.3 meters in total. I just manage to squeeze 2 bags onto an IFW GD85, usually to get the pump truck on as well then they need a shove with the loader. That has an internal length of 2.5m which they fill. The pump truck slides up the sides. Another thing to bear in mind is that some bags are 1100 x 900 x 1000 (Bag Supplies), others are 1mx1mx1m ( SG Baker). I think that ideally I would like bags that are taller but of smaller size, so 900x900 x1225 high perhaps. A

Grain trailers vary from 4 ton up to 18 ton. Price would depend on the sizes of the lumps. Processor size cord is about £55 per ton delivered. Bearing in mind the extra handling yours would need I cant see anyone giving much above £20 a ton for logs. It might be better to sell it all as chip and get a big chipper in. A

The Valiant is a cheapy one !!. A

The other issue with 8 wheelers is that quite a few are 8x2 with a lifting rear axle. I have seen one of those fail to get out of its owners yard one icy morning. A

My Posch has an integrated pump, so just connect the PTO. I use an MF135 but dont think flow rate is that high. I do have a second splitter that runs off hydraulics, connect that to a big JD6900 and it flies compared to running it off the 135. A

My Posch has a log lifter, cut to 1m, roll onto machine, lift and split. A

I have a Posch 20 ton splitter on it taht ot handles with ease but hang a 350 or 360 processor on the back and it wont go far. Should be enough power though and use a teleporter to move it. A

It will pull the hot air down from the ceiling and push it out about another 20 feet. An Ecofan will increases the temperature at head height by 4 deg C, the Valiant will probably do the same at least for a time. A

Think the people doing logs like me who sell a few hundred cube a year as a side line to a main business will quietly carry on as will the guys buying their timber standing. RHI funded kilns are doing nothing good to the price in the market, I have a lad here buying in cord, getting it processed, stuffing it into an RHI funded kiln and then going out at £95 a cube delivered. Cant see how the hell he can make a decent profit. I do think that there may be some milage in sharing a larger machine between several local people to get optimum use out of it. Bringing in KD from the Baltic is also cost effective if the price of Ash gets over £60 a ton. A

Or a bigger tractor, not to many industrial MFs about these days. The 135 would not be big enough to move a big processor around. Nice JD 3050/3350/3650 would do or I can hire in a JD 6600 from the farm. A