Chris Gagen

There's more 4 inch than 6 inch in mine but still just a snaffle (great word, word of the day I think) of branch wood. But this is exactly my point, waaaay to much in a 'cube' bag... I'll make a point of counting when I do stage 2 of the experiment.

Funny you should say that, I didn't count the logs in this instance however I recently had to stack a load (from a vented bag...) round the back of a customers house. Having not been given prior notice of having to do this, (yes I did charge extra:sneaky2:) I used a recycling sack as a tray to carry the logs from truck to storage place. I noted that I was loading 20 logs each time. Totalled 560 logs... This was based on 9 inch logs split to house brick size and counting 2 small logs as 1 regular size log.

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....!

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...

The bags do need shaking to firm them up enough to stack properly. See my thread titled Stop giving your logs away about shaking the bags and the volume this makes though... 1 bag directly on top of another, make a row of double stacked bags like this at the back and another row of the same in front. For the third layer I use a standard pallet with a piece of 12mm ply nailed to the bottom. This increases the strength of the pallet and makes picking it up again easier as the logs from the top of the second layer aren't poking into the bottom of the pallet where your forks need to go. This top layer should be placed half on the back row and half on the next row, locking everything together. Also half way in from the end of the row, so if you have a back row of 3 double stacked bags and a second row of 3 double stacked bags then you can fit 2 bags on pallets on top.

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!

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...

can rate the Einhell BT-LC 400 Log Cutting Saw Bench, brilliant on softwood for kindling, bought 2 more back in september was so pleased. this once has a max 5 inch cut and whilst it copes with 4.5inch oak offcuts from staircase manufacture you do have to give it the time to cut. overall great on 3inch but motor is perhaps a little underpowered for the max 5inch on hard timbers can't fault the longevity for the price i paid though (£150 ish) easier put 120+ cube through the first saw and it's still going strong!

Weather forecast for Sible Hedingham, England (United Kingdom) ? yr.no

Tony, how much are you asking for it?

I do maybe 80 - 100 cube per year, I have found my japa 700 indispensable. I don't think it's just the volume to be considered, also how long you can see yourself doing firewood for.

a pto converter is a short piece that fits on the 1000 pto shaft on the tractor, (21 spline female side) and allows you to fit a 540 rated implement pto (6 spline male side) 1000 RPM 540 RPM PTO Shaft Extension (4 5/16") | eBay Although don't buy one from the states, they are available over here, just this was the first image i found... It's not 100% ideal in as much as the implement may be running a touch fast for what it should do even with the tractor just idling, but the fuel saved is tremendous.

that ought to be gutsy enough on the 1000 Sorry i dont know how much they are new. mine was second hand and has had lots of repairs, but that's half the beauty of it, they are soooo simple to repair/modify.

a 700 mm circular saw will very much out pace a chainsaw (piece for piece, not comparative to the saw horse and chainsaw cutting multiple logs at once). something like the japa 700 is a good bet to start with with out too much outlay, but hang on to your stand alone splitter for anything that needs splitting in to more than 4 pieces. depending on hp of tractor you can just about get away with running your processor on the 1000 pto with a converter, leaving the tractor only on tick over.

Thanks Egg!

Thanks Egg!

Thanks Egg!

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Peeling them will extend their life, but it's hard work to get the extra money for them...

will be having a go at making a prototype one of these tomorrow i hope, then it's just the usual story of having to compete with the ridiculously cheap disposable bbq's...

I built my own, as pic in avatar. As an owner/user I felt that the safety features built into modern machines were over the top. I wanted a foot operated machine and the only way that was going to happen was to build my own. Apart from spool valve and pipe work I was able to use materials I had lying around so that cost was as cheap as it was going to get. I guess including labour to build mine cost £400 - £500. Building to your own spec is great until you need to pay someone to operate a "dangerous" machine for you. If you're over my way you're more than welcome to come and have a closer look at my splitter.

yeah i agree with the anchors, i would fit a ground spike if i sell them. I bet B&Q don't make them out of anything other than softwood tho..

thank you guys, the last time i tried any carving of any sort i used a sthil 390 with full chisel, kinda put me off as i couldn't get anything like accurate or a tidy finish. I was gifted this little 170 with semi chisel ages ago and was asked recently if i could carve mushrooms so i said i'd give it a try. the tall one i did get a little bit too slim at the top of the stem but the little one i concaved the underside of the cap, i'm pleased as they're my first efforts... i've never been artistic, can't draw for toffee but i've got soooo much sweet chesnut sitting around at the moment i figured i'd got nothing to lose by trying!