windfall

As i said, Mlarge ;-) firewood processors Hakki Pilke, logsplitters, sawmills, woodchippers They are based in Belfast.

My mates is very uneconomical he is always winging about it... sorry

Hi, A week ago i was quoted £1200+vat & delivery for a pto eagle, think it was £1800+vat for honda engine powered one. List price is £1650 +vat for the PTO.

OK so the engine is still hot as i type this! Managed to get the carb cleaned out and refitted it, refitted the magneto, connected up a make shift fuel tank. Pulled my old goped type scooter out of the shed and fired that up to use as a starter. No spark. Took the mag of, went to see the Doc who i got it from and he took the mag he had already sorted for a total loss circuit of the JAP engine from the other saw that he has in his shed. Fitted the new mag and all the wiring / coil and a charged battery, tested and had spark. My dad turns up at this point, great as i didnt have enough hands to hold the fuel tank, operate the ped and control the throttle on the carb. So we squirted brake cleaner in carb, fired up the ped and put the tyre on the flywheel. Plenty of popping, rust and smoke and then a flame from the 'exhaust' and we have ignition!! I adjusted the advance / retard thats been built into the new mag and the engine settled down and revved up.. my phone, sockets, screwdriver all then start vibrating towards the blade which is flying round now. Dad got scared at this point and switched it off. he said it was the sparks coming from the screwdriver that he was fearful off. fair point. We tried again and kept it running for 5 mins, the carb needs more work to get it ticking over, as does the governor. And of course i need to locate and mount a suitable fuel tank and fit the coil permanently. PLUS IT NEEDS SOME SORT OF EXHAUST... PARDON AM I SHOUTING? ... mind you the flames with the advance set wrong were kinda impressive. Oh and on my visit to the Doc today he gave me a huge saw blade he found the other day, its brand new! All in all i made the most of a very very wet day!

ps was thinking about bringing Cord over during the summer months when the prices and availability are better. I am going to discuss the logistics and costs with a hauler I know who has a log trailer today.

I remember those days... id say it gets better but id be lying... lol

Splitter came from Falkners Scamp, could have got it a bit cheaper from a uk supplier but try and shop local when i can. What are you charging for your end product?

Loving the pictures! I have the mag sitting on top of my fire place as i type, the one i had on my old grey fergy needed constant drying out. And as the saw bench has been outside for 2 years i figure that that its probably why i am not getting spark. If it will not give me spark tomorrow after 24 hours on my stove fire place then i am wiring it for a total loss system with coil & 12v battery using the original points. The engineer i got the saws from has already done this with the engine that is missing from the other saw so i know its possible. I love old stuff and if i can make this work great, but i wont think twice about sticking the GX340 motor on it that i have in the garage. I pulled it out of the shed at the weekend, put fuel in it and after a year it started on the 3rd pull. I love Honda... proper job.

Hi Scamp, Superb a local boy! Yes fella, processing Arb waste from myself and a few other local guys not touching the gov supplied cord anymore as its over priced rubbish. Made kindling out of most of mine, oh and sold it to clients who seemed to want stuff the same as you buy from the garage! Only been selling softwood cheap for the last two months because the wood was not seasoned properly, i had 30 tonnes of it and i needed to raise some quick cash to fund the start up of the business. All the logs i am making now and have seasoning will be sold (and are being sold) at the same price as my competitors. I am not wanting to start a price war, I have a lot of contacts already who will pay market rate. Also installing quite a few Stoves so get lots of loyal clients that way. I am based in Baldrine. Tractor was used on Douglas beach clearing seaweed, the sand has got everywhere! Its taken a lot of work to stop the progress of rust and remake the bits that had dissolved in the salt / nuclear fall out .... getting there though. So how about we get down to some price fixing?... Been thinking about offering a price list / menu as i have all sorts of different woods seasoning. Each has a different property/characteristic.. a lot of my clients do seem to appreciate the details.. but some seem to just want a cube of anything for £50! how about you? With regards to prices i am thinking: £95 for hardwood mix £85 for a softwood mix or £90 for a mix of hard and softwoods. Some guys seem to be £120 a cube though but i dont think i have the balls to ask for that...... Also id be up for going halfs on bringing over good quality cord from the main land... perhaps with twice with backing we could make it more profitable for us? Tom PS. Anyone who thinks they can strangle the market on the Isle of Man needs to pull their head out of their bottom and take a look around. PM me your number or email if you want to discuss anything i have mentioned.

lol no your not to cheap, just very competitive, and if you guys can turn a profit and then i can by retailing it everyone is happy. I have worked out that if i were to buy in the raw material, pay for fuel to process it, buy the nets and my time doing it.. its gong to cost me more than paying one of you guys £1.30 a bag. So its going to mean more profit for less out lay in time to buy in the finished product. So thats what i am going to do for next year, see how many nets i can get in a LWB transit! Also keen to find a supplier for kiln dried hard wood logs to do the same if anyone knows any?

Cheers John.

The prices you can buy nets of kindling wholesale it doesnt seem worth while making it yourself..

I am on the isle of man, hence the manx avatar ;-)

I do not have power at my chopping area so really need it to be self powered. Yes its a side valve and it has a very basic exhaust! The Jap Engines are supposed to be very good but as you say they are ancient so inefficient, it does however have a large flywheel which i think will help the saws ability. If i can get it running i will graft on a silencer and see what happens. John, how well does yours cut? have you had your disc sharpened yet?

Dropped the manky old oil, got the points freed up, removed the head, cleaned up the valves and got them moving freely. Only bugger was breaking a head stud, but managed to remove it so i will get a replacement on monday. Going to put it back together tomorrow and see if i can get a spark from the magneto, if i cant then i am thinking about putting in a total loss electrical system, ie, coil, 12v battery & on off switch wired direct to the points. However i may even have spark from it yet so ill cross that bridge when i come to it. Also still need to strip the carb and check in there and try and work out a way of turning it over effectively to start the bugger! ideas?

some more pics

Went and collected "the good one" today, liberally drenched all nuts and threads in WD40. Looks like a valve is sticking but the plug came out and it seems free. Going to let the WD soak in and ill start stripping it tomorrow. Anyone seen one before or know anything about it? If a Moderator reads this thread could you move it to the Large Equipment section?

Your preaching to the converted ;-) I own a Van Hire business so the van i will use is stickered up with our logos etc. So I will not get charged commercial rates "all 400 bags are for my use mate, honest". If we were to put a single window in the side of the van the price would drop further, its something we are looking into.

I am based on the Isle of Man so the closest and cheapest port is Heysham, which is around 45 mins from Manchester. I operate a small fire wood business and I am keen to add kindling to my sales list, but producing it without a machine is not economical, however as on the mainland it commands a premium price. So i have access to a LWB transit and a return boat ticket is £180 so if i can fit at least 100 bags in then i can return a good profit.. Anyone know how much space / volume one bag take up or how many will fit in a lwb transit?

:thumbup1:sounds familiar

Hi All, Very excited! My neighbour has finally relented and agreed to swap his two old saw benches for 3cubic meters of firewood, so this morning i took him round a cube of Ash and a cube of Sycamore. I will drop round a cube of Macrocarpa on Monday. Anyway i have just been round with my trailer and winch to pick up the one thats for spares. The axle is so rusty, as we were winching it up to the trailer the wheel fell off. However it has various pulleys and guides on the cutting top that i am sure will be invaluable. I may also be able to free it up and adapt it for a 3 point tractor mount. They are fetching so much wedge on ebay that it may be worth some investment! The other one is in much better condition, the engine turns over, the blade is nice and free and sharp! So i am hoping that with some fettling this weekend the engine will fire up and ill be away. However if the engine is knackered then i will be converting it to run with a Honda GX390 motor i have in the shed. Everything drive pulley wise seems to be 1inch the same as the honda. I will post some pictures and more info on the machines tomorrow as it was too dark when i got home tonight. Happy days, hopefully i have saved myself from flashing £1800 + vat on a powered rocking saw!!

I started doing them 10 - 12 but now i do them 8 - 10 inch. I also make them narrower now than i did when i started all of 3 months ago. As above, i do also check what size fire they have as some people want 12-16.

Hi Mark, There are loads of us all in the same position as you, best read through the Firewood section of this site and it will answer most of your questions. Tom

Hi Andy, I have been researching this long and hard over the last three weeks, i have spoken to all of the processor distributors regarding thier products and asked for advice. All of them have said the same as Dent, large horizontal self loading splitter to make billets for seasoning or just to split and a PTO or self driven circular saw bench for the cutting. Only thing i have read to the negative is the circular saw can struggle on bent /twisty timber. Personally i found Stephen Cabrol at Riko UK Ltd to be the most helpful, his website is http://www.alpinetractors.com they seem to have some quality products and it sounds like a lot are made in house and can be made to your spec. I am just plucking up the courage to flash the cash! If you find anything new and interesting please post it as there are lots of us in the same boat as you at present. Tom

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