big chris the log

Hi again check out gary wynn evans web site got a volvo fm12 timber lorry and trailer complete .As for fuel consumption all depends on roads and weights .I am in pembrokeshire and not even a dual carriageway here plus got to go over the hills and mountains.Lorry and trailer about 5 to 6 mpg lorry only about8 8.5. Cheers Chris

Hi length x width x height will give you the cubic metre value then you can work out exactly how many bags you have. Remember ton bags come in all sizes ie 80x80x80 =0.5 metre3 85x85x85=0.614 metre3 90x90x90=0.73cube or get proper vented bags that are 1 cube metre.Hopefully you put them in the shed dry as you could well up with the middle of the pile damp white mouldy and not a lot of good to anyone. Cheers Chris

Hi as the others have said clearing up fallen trees and getting to roadside is going to be a labour intensive job,then you have got to transport back to your yard and process them,and there has been plenty of questions on here of hows best to process this sort of material,generall answer is, a lot of work. Roadside price of £45 is for forestry grown timber stacked at roadside that will go straight throug a processor all day with out messing around with a chainsaw. Why not offer a small amount of money and try it then you only have your time to lose,then buy a lorry load of good stuff and see the difference. Hope this is of some help Chris.

Yes I have always done this that way I have work all year round and the pick up is on the road all the time advertiseing my buissenes.Alot of my summer customers are starting to stock up now just as the winter ones are tailing off. I always say to customers get them through the summer then you know they are dry for the winter.Just put in a biomass log kiln for the winterones but this will cost them a premium, also some are adamant they have got to have kiln dried regardless what moisture content they are,have seen some advertised as kiln drid to below 30%!! Cheers Chris.

Yes I like that about the yanks put a big lazy engine in and it does not have to work to hard.All these new pick ups 2.2 or 2.5 or if lucky 3 litre trying to get to much power from a little unit.These might be alright in cars , but a pick up loaded to 3 ton plus a 2 ton trailer what do you expect. Chris

Hi I use E sales and if you look at the lots ones starting with 1. are standing sales and ones starting 2. are roadside log sales. Yes there are lots of 1000s tonnes but these will be bought by big mills or kronospan that want several hundred tonnes a week.You can send messages to them or contact the forest manager if the lot is at roadside go and see it for yourself.The start time and finish time is when you have to clear the wood by.There are smaller lots of 100 or so tonnes it is just a case of looking around .You will need a credit account to buy which would need to be set up first.If you bid and are sucessfull you will be told so and a contract sent then you have to get it hauled. I doubt it is cheaper but you can buy set quantities and know you have stock I have just bought another 300 tonnes so am sure ofmy suplies. Hope this is of help Chris.

Just had my 6 wheeler tested Test fee and lane fee and VAT £186.00 Cheers Chris

Is 350mm it s max diameter,producing 500mm logs is great I hve not measured my pile but putting 4.9m saw logs through my palax 100 and 8 way splitter up to 40mm diameter and you have a huge pile in no time but not many customers want them ,unfortunately. Does this still have the infra red length measurer? Quite agree with you get what you pay for, all that Rand D costs.Is the tajfun a copy of another machine produced by an ex eastern european country.They seem quite popular though. Chris.

Hi I looked at this about 18 months ago but the crane has been taken off and the engine is broken I don t think you would get a UK MOT on it as Sisu are not in the UK and you need a letter of conformaty from the UK manufacturer better look to volvo scania daf etc as they have UK headquarters. Cheers Chris

Hi what a list of questions,any way here goes. What ever lorry you look at over 3.5 tonne as soon as you put wood on it and go onto the road you will need white diesel,hgv road tax operators licence a maintenance schedule with a commercial garage a hgv licence and drivers cpc.If you want to go onto FC land add weigher ,spill kit ,first aid certificate and kit . The trucks abroad look like a good deal but be careful get the ID number and check with the manufacturer in the UK to make sure it will be compliant with UK regulations.A friend of mine imported a tractor unit and took 3 months to get all the paper work sorted before he could get a UK mot,this cost money as well so you would be better off looking here. The vehicle:A second hand 6 or 8 wheeler timber truck will be hard to find if it is any good,most will be worn out and sold for export. What I did was look for a decent brick lorry as they are short wheelbase take off the brick crane and put on a proper timber crane put bolsters and pins on and away you go. I have ended up with a volvo fm12 globetrotter 6x2 rear lift and steer with a loglift 60 crane and 2 bays This will carry 14 tonnes legaly at 26 tonne gross Add the trailer and put another 14 tonnes on.The lorry will get in and out of almost any where and does not need that much more roon with the trailer. I have had the crane for 12 years now and this is the 3rd truck I have put it on.I only use it to carry my own timber so it is not getting bashed about every day,I used to haul timber untill the late 90s but got fed up with the cost of diesel and not getting paid. Hope this answers some of your questions, Cheers Chris.

Hi ,sorry to hear your problems I run a palax 100 and that blasts the sawdust out so I made a frame and put a bilk bag in it place it behind the tractor and it goes straight into the bag when it is full just lift it out and put an empty one back it realy is that simple and works well.Could you do somethiung similar with the posch I do not know where the sawdust comes out or how fast on yours. Cheers Chris.

Hi Jon still cold at night here in pembrokeshire and still fairly busy taking loads out every day.Just as well for longer evenings, as going off in lorry to collect more timber in late afternoons then back at night. Cheers Chris.

Still selling well nice sunny days here but still cold at night.Won t mind if it slows abit as got 300 tonnes hardwood to haul back to yard before end of April. Cheers to you jon ,Chris

Try woodlots or forestry commision e sales or ask your local hauliers Cheers Chris

Get a few builders bags they only hold half a cubic metre put your dry logs in and charge £40 if they like them they might order 2 next time and you then get £80 a metre and another happy customer. Cheers Chris.

Would think a 3 point crane would need a good size tractor would you want to keep taking of the crane to use the tractor on the processor or have you got 2 tractors.Same with a forwarding trailer do you keep changing the tractor over. How much would a 360 with a grab and rotator be and could you justify it for sorting and loading the log deck,the one in the photo some one has put up looks like a lot of money.I don t think there are any cheap solutions just a question of finding what you can afford and works for your operation. My solution is tractor with pto processor fulwood splitta run off the hydraulics and use the lorry with log crane to collect sort stack and load the log deck. Cheers Chris

Hi bought a 30 binderberger in 2002 to break up oversize logs as was getting a lot of tree length hardwood .Does a great job 30 tonne ram seems to cope with everything I have put in.Is 3 point mounted and pto just runs at tick over on 1000 pto.Still as good as when I got it no bends or other problems at all.Only thing I would like to upgrade to is a 2.5 m radio controlled one so I could use it from the truck crane as I load it ,but that looks like spending 20 grand so not on.The posch looks the same but get the 30 tonne ram. Hope this helps Chris.

A if you want C then 1 m3 load of each no arguments then over % of mix.

Yes quite agree but different species burn at different rates.A lot of the kiln dried is imported ash and birch so will burn quicker than home grown beech and oak.I bet klin dried softwood goes like matches.What wood are you supplying and presumably your customers are quite happy,so it works for you.This seems to be the main thing keep the customers happy and they keep comming back.Cheere Chris

Hi how much are you spending on oil chains and bars and all the down time associated with this .I have only ever had circular saw models from palax and do not have any of these problems.I buy good hardwood so a tungsten blade does over a 1000 cube before being sharpened and costs less than £20.I really do not see the point in a chainsaw model processor myself.You pays your money and take your choice.Cheers Chris.

Hi bought 90 ton mixed larch spruce all log and bar spec in 3m and 4.9m lengths this month £27 roadside will haul it myself probably £10 or £12 a ton. Would want realy good hardwood for that price derlivered in. Reckon you would have to charge it out at £75 or £80 at that rate who is going to pay that for softwood. Cheers Chris

I thought 25% and under was the hetas standard so he seems to be meeting this,some websites I have seen advertising kiln dried logs are claiming just this 25% and under.I believe the rhi is for sub 20%. Cheers Chris

Hi thanks sounds like you have got a good little kiln there for a bargain. Cheers Chris

I think this council is liberal or green party controlled so no surprise, they want to get rid of transport and power everthing with wind turbines and solar panells . Whatch out for an introduction of the fuel escalator soon as we are enjoying to much cheep fuel again. Cheers Chris.

Hi could you contact me or send me your contacts please would like to know more about this. Thanks Chris.