Duffryn

I get the back hoe, got one. Key benefit is peed to site and back. Its probably just me but I find that its much more challenging machine, to get the most out of one you need to be a GOOD operator whereas with a 360 you can achieve a great deal more being an average operator (like me)

You are a true gent. I'm sooooooooo tempted but I would be like a kid in a sweet shop and after recently kitting myself out with a serious amount of kit I know that I would end up producing a spreadsheet to justify even more and end up being single and lonely. I will take your advice (who wouldn't) and just go for Geith the tilt.

Not sure this would be on my 2013 machine ? I can see the benefits ! Would be great if I could use the tilt bucket on both machines - both have a Geith quick attachment though not sure how the tilt would plug hydraulics wise on the 3cx, hammer is only one way ? The 3cx has pretty much every extra on it, servo controls etc so what would I need to look for ?

Thanks Eddie - I have been following your equipment purchases and I am humbled by your work (You are a God with a machine). If I took up your kind offer of a visit I would end up with severe kit envy, a spending spree and a divorce so as much as I would love to meet you, buy you a cracking breakfast and see your kit for I will regretfully have to decline. I will however take your advice and call Callum ! Once again a big thanks

After some advice if possible. I've got a JCB 8080 and I'm thinking of getting a tilt bucket or tilt rotator. The machine is set up for a grab rotator now, so I am assuming that no mods would be required for pipework ? It's an estate machine used for ditching, woodland track creation / maintenance, forestry track maintenance/ repairs etc. Questions 1) Will I benefit from a tilt rotator or this this really for fine landscaping work ? 2) I've already got a hydraulic thumb fitted, will the extra weight or either the tilt rotator or the tilt bucket be a concern ( appreciate I will have to lock the thumb off in order to use the tilt rotator ? 3) Ive got a Geith quick hitch, how do they fit onto this ? 4) Any brands recommended / ones to avoid ? 5) What sort of budget should I allow for each ? 6) Final question. I’ve got a 2013 3cx contractor, anyone have any experience of using a tilt bucket on this, if so how is it plumbed hydraulically ? Thanks in advance Iain

Processor for most of it, one person loading, one on the processor and two stacking. You did well with 17 tonnes in 7 hours.

Same here and agree, think I'll try 1 and 3 - both great ideas

13 tonne of Larch ( dry) in 4 hours, team of four of us on it. I'm knackered now

Most woodchip boilers work on using 8 or so key settings to arrive at the optimum efficiency for the fuel type. Yes the boiler will still work using hard wood on a softwood setting but you will waste a lot of wood , especially when the boiler is in standby. Been there, done that !

With chip wood at circa £30 a tonne and hardwood at circa £50 a tonne is doesn't really make economic sense to chip hardwood. Takes longer to chip hardwood as well which knocks chipping cost up. For most installations unless you are earning RHI out of drying the chip then much better off chipping seasoned wood. On my boiler 20% m/c gives the best return, though I guess this will be boiler specific. As others have said boiler settings will need changing if you switch fuels and mixing wont give the best results unless the mix is consistent.

Thanks again. I'm getting almost 2 days out of it on mixed Larch/ Ash / Beech. Tried fitting old chain back tonight and so much easier. New chains with the new technique are 10 mins versus 60 mins. Result ! This is the only drawback I found with an otherwise excellent machine and now thanks to the advice its now hardly a drawback

HUGE thanks for taking the time to do this. This is about the only method I didn't try, feel a bit stupid now !

Thanks everyone, some good tips here , should make things a bit easier.

Just lost an hour of my life that I am not going to get back trying to change the chain on my WP36 processor. Got the old one off easily, absolute bas**d to get the new one on. Chain adjustment screw was totally undone. Ended up taking the bar off, gaffer taping new chain to the bar, presenting bar at an angle to the cog, putting chain over cog and then straightening the bar. I've got to be be missing something here, any tips ???

VAT and Ltd are too separate issues. On the VAT front I would say that HMRC would consider this a linked trade in which case you will need to apply for a new VAT number as a partnership. If your intended business is firewood this is a no brainer anyway, reclaim 20% charge 5% ( in most cases). On the LTD front there are two issues here. Liability and tax. If your business is firewood, you have full PL/ PI insurance, you are no intending to borrow or build up big creditors, then the liability issue is a mute one. On the tax side without knowing a great deal more I couldn't advise but I would hazard a guess that you would probably be better off as a partnership rather than a LTD business.

A couple of questions in order to be able to help :- 1) Do you want to be vat registered in the new business ? 2) Is the new business the same "trade" or a closely related trade to the trade that as either of you currently trade in ?

The GF boiler is now 210kwh to take advantage of the medium tier, and Farm 2,000 offer a number above 200kwh. The extra cost of the larger boiler is marginal because the installation price is the same, though in the case of a Farm 2000 you would need a larger accumulation tank to match. The ROI on the extra cost of say a 300kwh boiler versus the extra tier 1 would be less than 2 years so well worth it for this let alone the increased drying speed.

No, it doesnt mater how you use it for the 1314 hours. The 1314 hours is how the tier 1 is calculated 13143 x 300kwh = 394,200 kwh So the first 394,200 kwh are paid at .0518p , it could take you 2,000 hours of running the boiler to get that and it wouldn't matter. No matter what , you get paid .0518p for the first 394,200kwh generated each year then it drops to tier 2 for the remainder of the year, the counter is then reset for the next year

Totally agree on the under 200kwh no one in their right minds would put one of these in now. Not true on the >200kwh though, this tariff has remained the same since RHI was introduced and still pays well. It was this tariff that my post on this thread have been based on

Yes but this is on the old tariff, not the current tariff that would apply to new installations

The tier is calculated out at 1314 hours times the boilers capacity x .0518p ( current medium tariff). The boiler must have a capacity of between 201 and 499kwh to fall in to this category. so a 250kwh boiler would have a tier 1 level of 250 x 1314 x.0518p = £17K a 450kwh would be £30,600 etc

I should also have pointed out that for those wishing to dry more than 500m3 of logs it would be worth considering a larger boiler. For example a 300kwh boiler would generate £20,400 in tier 1 RHI income as opposed to a 200kwh generating £13,600. It would also dry the wood a lot quicker thus giving extra drying capacity within the tier 1 RHI limits. The cost of installing a larger boiler is limited in most cases to the extra cost of the boiler ( not a great deal in the scheme of things) because the installation costs are largely fixed. A larger boiler also permits a longer run time at night because it has a larger fuel chamber, with the kiln fans turned right down to limit energy consumption the temperature can still be maintained in the kiln.

Lets assume 500m3 on a 7 day drying cycle. This would generate 16,800 kwh a week and over the 15.6 weeks a total of 262,080 kwh. This more or less uses up your tier 1 RHI on a 210kwh boiler but generates £13,571 in RHI You would be able to sell the logs for a £7K premium (£20 per m3). You could also free up yard space and cash tied up in wood air drying. In rough terms allowing for cost of fuel a 33% ROI. In my personal view, at this level or above you are better off with than without a kiln. If your cost of capital is low, fuel is free or you charge a gate fee then the volume of logs sold to easily justify a kiln would need to be even less. This also assumes that you are around on site to refuel the boiler yourself and the there is no labour charge for this. In most one or two man bands this may well be the case. The next 37 weeks of the year for volume log producers will be a pain because the reduced tier 2 RHI will barely cover the fuel cost and the cost of reloading will be a right pain. Here you may wish to consider a 2nd or third batch fed boiler or a woodchip boiler.

In my experience, dropping into 2m3 crates straight of the processor I get much more weight in smaller logs than I do in large lengths. Perhaps the difference is that way the wood is loaded into the bags or crates / size of crate ? In terms of profit from batch fed boilers. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer. Everyone's costs will be different based on fuel type, fuel cost, availability of staff on site etc. What I can say with some certainty though is that if you are selling 4- 500m3 plus of logs a year then you are infinitely better off with a batch fed boiler (>200kwh) and kiln than without ( cashflow, space, ability to charge premium for product, ability to react to demand, RHI income versus capex)

The calcs I used were based on weight because volume has so many variables. Loose stacked 50cm larch at 20% I am getting 4m3 to the tonne - verified on weigh bridge. If it were 20cm hardwood logs the volume per tonne would be a lot less. Most people will be burning fairly large pieces of wood in the batch fed boiler and so I think it is fair to assume that in most cases there would be more volume per tonne that the calcs you use when selling logs.