name_mike

Some good ideas here.

Has anyone ever come across a small billet bundler? I'm after one that will do a bundle at 700mm diameter. This is so I can get the bundles to where my boiler is without having to split the bundle and re-stack by hand. Also, has anyone ever tried to cross cut through the bundles with a large chainsaw to produce 3 or 4 shorter logs out of the bundle? Mike

Looks like a fine piece of equipment. I think I'll just be going for the 1.25m stroke one. I'll cut the logs before they go in and hopefully get them through an 8 way splitter in one push if its 20" or less. Anything bigger will have to go through the 4 way a few times to get it down. Good thing about the large biomass boilers is they can handle a large diameter / thickness of billet so they don't need to be matchsticks.

Nice to here someone else in a similar position. As I said previously We're already producing our own fire wood and between us we have a lot of experience handling heavy machinery. We have a digger driver and two mechanical fitters. I was trained in a cardboard factory. You don't get any bigger wood processing machinery :-) As for the BSL, i'm approved already. I was waiting for approval before I invested any money in either timber or equipment. I plan to dry in large poly tunnel. I have one 20m x 8m which can handle 320m3. I've got space for another if needed too. One oddity is that I have my boiler sited in the cellar so I'm planning to install a lift up and down to move the stillages in and out. I'm going to get a single post car lift and adapt it to suit my purpose.

The boilers take 1m long billets so the split master is perfect for this. We have a smaller splitter too but we'll probably get a circular saw as you suggest and cut the billets down with that as and when they are needed.

How do you find the splitmaster 30? This is the splitter I intend to use. I know a couple of people hiring them out or depending how things go I may purchase one.

I may still go down the road of hiring people / equipment in, may even work along side them too. Theres a couple of people local who I've spoken to About labour and equipment hire. Everything is still an option at the moment. As for chainsaw size I was thinking a saw with the capacity to run a 36" bar but most of the time I'd probably be using a 24" or 30" bar.

No worries, Just out of interest what machinery do you have, I bet its some monster kit for 100K.

We're planning to use the posch splitmaster 30 with the hydraulic lift. We also have a winch for dragging them about. We've also got a tractor with front end loader but that will be tied up for the PTO whilst splitting.

I said a couple of weeks, not weekends. I also said I intended to use softwood.

Anyone any experience of these saws?

Thank you all for you comments and advice. To answer a few questions in one, I have a 180kw system which is registered under district heating as it feeds two houses, One very large victorian (single glazing, solid walls etc) and a converted stables in the garden. Both are in a conservation zone hence no double glazing etc so they are inefficient and require a lot of heat to keep them warm. As for the 100tonne, that not all to go through my boilers, Some is for family member's stoves and wood burners. The deal is I buy the wood and equipment, they provide some free labour and we all get the wood we need. We're currently producing our own firewood already and we're just looking to scale things up and make it a bit more time and labour efficient. Also, as i'm sure your all aware 100 tonne 'wet' is more like 70 tonnes once seasoned. Thats how much will be burned. THE WORK!! - I am aware its a big commitment and its going to be a lot of work. I have an office job through the week so believe it or not getting out in the woods and doing some 'proper work' is actually enjoyable. The reason I'm thinking of planning for bigger timber is that with the amount of firewood processors about all looking for 12" logs they can be in short supply and therefore more expensive (I'm happy to be corrected on this). If I plan for larger logs from the off then I can take any timber thats going. "why not buy from an established firewood trader?" Seasoned softwood sells for £150 tonne minimum (again, i'd love to be corrected). If I was to buy our 70 tonnes of seasoned in that would cost me £10500 as opposed to the £4000 to buy in and process ourselves. It may be a couple of weeks hard graft a year but for that sort of saving its worth it. Back to the original question about chainsaws, lots of food for thought, thanks.

I've Just got myself a biomass boiler capable of handling 1m long billets. I'm planning to invest in a large splitter capable of splitting large diameter logs so I'm going to need a largish chainsaw to cut said logs. If you have any experience, recommendations or advice i'm all ears. I'm going to be cutting and splitting 100 tonne a year for the next 20 years as we're on the commercial RHI so I don't mind investing in some good equipment that will last and make the job a little easier. I have some experience of handling chainsaws but this will be a big step up from previous usage. Thanks Mike

How long did it take from application to approval email?

Its still very early days so I don't have any fixed Ideas yet. I will have a 180kw biomass boiler so I need approx 90 tonnes of fresh felled timber a year. My main goal is to minimise the manual handling and effort required in logging and splitting this amount of wood. As I'm signing on to the commercial RHI I know I'll be doing this for the next 20 years so Its worth some investment at the start if its saves me months of hard labour over the 20 year period.

I am considering putting together a custom firewood processor which will cut and split logs to 1m in length to feed a biomass boiler. Does anyone have any experience of custom processors. Can you recommend someone who supplies custom processors?

I will be having a large log boiler installed soon so I am looking for a regular supplier of large quantities of logs. Initially I am looking for a large loads of seasoned wood (hard or soft) to get me through my first year or two. At the same time I also intend to purchase 26 ton arctic loads of green wood to store & season for the future I estimate my usage at between 55 - 65 tons (seasoned) per year and I am looking for a regular / reliable supply. Delivery will be to West Cumbria. If you can supply or can recommend a supplier please PM me. Thanks Mike