Firewood time. Do you have such machine in UK?

[woodworkingMK]

Ok, I've always been interested to see reaction of people in UK, (which many by the way are terrified by dado blade )

A bit of prelude. In my town (small town of 40.000 people) most of houses are heated by firewood. We have a gypsy community who are responsible for cutting the firewood. They have some kind of self made cars with some kind of circular saw attached on them. There are at least 50 such cars in my town, maybe even more, and they are very active at this time of the year.

They charge £1.3 per cubic meter. Today I got 4 cubic meters of beech and they charged me around 5-6£ to cut them. So here is part of the process and the machine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZaNgef ... e=youtu.be

 

[garethharvey]

£1.30 per cubic metre, that's unreal.

 

[Beau]

Nope never seen anything quite like that in the UK. There are circular saws that work in a similar way but with more guarding http://www.riko-uk.com/product/71/468

 

[woodworkingMK]

More info:

In the process are included two people, that means they divide the money between, also in the price gasoline is included. So the work force per person comes around 0.6£ per cubic meter. But I have to say they do the job pretty fast, for example it took them around 20 minutes to cut 4 cubic meters, and it seems like they are satisfied with the price, no matter how unreal this can sound to you... But they can go to many places today.

Other interesting fact is that they do this job with these kind of cars at least 40 years, and I haven't heard of a single injury.

For the creation of the machine they use gasoline engines like this https://www.denqbar.com/en/universal-ga ... rt/a-1387/ which are pretty powerful, this is 15 HP.

Also, they change the belt and put it on other pulley and they drive the car home or whenever they need.

 

[woodworkingMK]

Nope never seen anything quite like that in the UK. There are circular saws that work in a similar way but with more guarding http://www.riko-uk.com/product/71/468

Interesting, this is made on the same principle with the same petrol engine. But it seems too expensive to buy it for your own firewood. Are there people you can hire to cut your wood with such machines?

 

[Rorschach]

Scary though still not as terrifying as watching a Briar cutter at work lol.

 

[Farmer Giles]

Interesting, I just bought a loose load of 6 "tonnes" of firewood delivered for £300. Sounds not bad for UK however that really means equivalent to 6 tonne builders bags which is probably about 1.5 maybe 2 tonne in weight maximum. It looks like it may fill 4 IBC containers. I will probably go elsewhere next time. There is no standardised delivery measure for firewood, you get crates, loose mesh bags, builders bags, IBC cages, loose level tipper loads etc. etc. Sometimes its very soggy too.

The only place I have been to that has it right is Longleat Forestry down in Warminster, it is all well seasoned, kept under cover and sold by weight. It may vary a little in moisture content so you may get a bit more or less but I think its best by measured weight, they measure your car/trailer on a weighbridge when you go in an out. You can also get different lengths. Most users have dainty little stoves that take small logs, I have an Austrian log boiler that takes 500mm logs, much easier to load and stack too. Stacking little logs is a PITA. Longleat have a section selling 12 to 15" logs, perfect for my use compared to the rest.

I loaded my own tipper trailer last year and got 1200kg of nice dry 12 to 15" firewood for just over £150, that filled 3 and a bit IBCs, so an IBC of low moisture content firewood is about 400kg. An IBC is about a cubic metre so I would say a decent price for good firewood is £50 a cube, it just doesn't compare with Macedonia! I need about 10 tonne per year. So next year I may team up with others in my village, buy wood "in the round" and hire a wood processor for a weekend.

How do they split the logs? Do they have a nifty car for that too?

Cheers
Andy

 

[woodworkingMK]

Interesting, I haven't heard firewood sold by weight. Here all logs are cut to 1m. And they stack 1m in height and 1m length, to get 1 cubic meter.

The logs are split in the woods by hand, it's not an easy job, I have seen it how they do it. One cubic beech or oak delivered to your home, costs £38. And £1.7 for cutting the logs

 

[Farmer Giles]

Price varies a lot over here, but from my experience, its about £50 a cube collected, and if I get 4 IBCs out of the latest delivery, about £75 delivered. So in Macedonia its £40 delivered so almost half price.

One issue we have over here is wood source certification, biomass is not very mature over here, but getting bigger. The government offer various schemes, one is RHI, Renewable Heat Incentive. You get your house assessed for insulation and heating needs then you get an offer per kwH you transfer from fossil fuel to renewable heat source including biomass. This will be about 6 pence per kilowatt soon. But some people were burning old kitchen units, tyres and other stuff that give off dioxins, PCBs and other nasty substances.

So now all wood you burn as part of your RHI has to be from a certified renewable source. I'm all for it but it does cause problems, for example, how is your tree surgeon going to prove it is from a renewable source? I have about an acre of semi-mature woodland, if I start to harvest it for my own use I have to apply for a self supplier license which costs about £300 per year. I may only get a couple of cubes of trimmings per year so it is not worth it. The scheme only lasts for 7 years from when you start it so I will wait until then!

Cheers
Andy

 

[Beau]

Nope never seen anything quite like that in the UK. There are circular saws that work in a similar way but with more guarding http://www.riko-uk.com/product/71/468

Interesting, this is made on the same principle with the same petrol engine. But it seems too expensive to buy it for your own firewood. Are there people you can hire to cut your wood with such machines?

Yep me

Well not quite the same sort of machine as not many people do billets over here but I do contract work with this ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtmZ0J7HH30

 

[Beau]

Interesting, I haven't heard firewood sold by weight. Here all logs are cut to 1m. And they stack 1m in height and 1m length, to get 1 cubic meter.

The logs are split in the woods by hand, it's not an easy job, I have seen it how they do it. One cubic beech or oak delivered to your home, costs £38. And £1.7 for cutting the logs

Amazingly cheap for these shores. I sell logs by the lose cubic meter but we charge £100. The raw material costs £50-£60 per tonne plus vat and it takes about 1/2 tonne to make a cube of logs.

 

[Farmer Giles]

..<snip>.. but I do contract work with this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtmZ0J7HH30

a

That would be an ideal tool to hire for a weekend up here, your a bit far away Beau

I left it a bit late this year as I had surgery, but next year I am up for getting a large load of logs in the round and doing this. I'm not sure how to go about it yet, minimum hire period, if you need at least one trained operator, who best to buy the logs and get them up the steep hill to the farm, hire and log cost etc. etc.

Any advice appreciated.

Cheers
Andy

 

[woodworkingMK]

Must be noted that the average salary here is £200-300. And some things are cheaper and some things are more expensive. Food is much cheaper than UK, taxes are lower, but machines, tools, electronics is either same or more expensive. That's why I buy machines from UK, one reason is I can't find everything here (especially Stanley, Record old tools), and other is more cheaper. Now imagine me, competing with you on ebay, and my income is much more lower and I must pay as much for shipping, and still is cheaper for me than here.

Nope never seen anything quite like that in the UK. There are circular saws that work in a similar way but with more guarding http://www.riko-uk.com/product/71/468

Interesting, this is made on the same principle with the same petrol engine. But it seems too expensive to buy it for your own firewood. Are there people you can hire to cut your wood with such machines?

Yep me

Well not quite the same sort of machine as not many people do billets over here but I do contract work with this ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtmZ0J7HH30

Aren't those logs too long for firewood? It seems to me like 40cm or something. Probably depends on the stove. It seems to be you need another man to help? Too much time machine works on idle.

 

[Beau]

Aren't those logs too long for firewood? It seems to me like 40cm or something. Probably depends on the stove. It seems to be you need another man to help? Too much time machine works on idle.

Yes that job was 50cm logs for a large biomass boiler on the aforementioned RHI. Most of my customers want short logs around 22cm or 9"

 

[Beau]

..<snip>.. but I do contract work with this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtmZ0J7HH30

a

That would be an ideal tool to hire for a weekend up here, your a bit far away Beau

I left it a bit late this year as I had surgery, but next year I am up for getting a large load of logs in the round and doing this. I'm not sure how to go about it yet, minimum hire period, if you need at least one trained operator, who best to buy the logs and get them up the steep hill to the farm, hire and log cost etc. etc.

Any advice appreciated.

Cheers
Andy

Plenty of guys around the country offering hire but almost always with an operator as they are tricky to get the hang of and breakable in the wrong hands. Some on ebay so might something near you https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw ... e&_sacat=0

You want a trained operator and at least one strong able bodied helper if not two as it's a tough job keeping a firewood processor fed. Best I have ever done is 19 tonne of oak in a day but normally more like 10-12 tonne a day. Lorry loads of roundwood are usually 16-18 tonne or 27 tonne depending on the haulier's wagon. They are not normally interested in part loads. Hope that helps

 

[Farmer Giles]

..<snip>.. but I do contract work with this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtmZ0J7HH30

a

That would be an ideal tool to hire for a weekend up here, your a bit far away Beau

I left it a bit late this year as I had surgery, but next year I am up for getting a large load of logs in the round and doing this. I'm not sure how to go about it yet, minimum hire period, if you need at least one trained operator, who best to buy the logs and get them up the steep hill to the farm, hire and log cost etc. etc.

Any advice appreciated.

Cheers
Andy

Plenty of guys around the country offering hire but almost always with an operator as they are tricky to get the hang of and breakable in the wrong hands. Some on ebay so might something near you https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from ... r&_sacat=0

You want a trained operator and at least one strong able bodied helper if not two as it's a tough job keeping a firewood processor fed. Best I have ever done is 19 tonne of oak in a day but normally more like 10-12 tonne a day. Lorry loads of roundwood are usually 16-18 tonne or 27 tonne depending on the haulier's wagon. They are not normally interested in part loads. Hope that helps

Many thanks Beau, you have just quadrupled my knowledge of firewood

Cheers
Andy

 

[Woody2Shoes]

My neighbour has a tractor-powered one like this:

http://www.ukendzone.com/index.php/1170 ... -by-wikia/

The noise gets pretty irritating after a while!

He also has one of these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrGChXXcDb4

I guess the older (or more home-made) a machine is, the less likely it is to have proper guarding/interlocks etc. for safety.

Cheers, W2S

 

[bugbear]

I always liked the old Ferguson design, where the log sits in a 'V' carrier which pivots towards the blade.

The wood is presented towards the blade in a very linear and controlled fashion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cuHiMraqsQ

(this saw is either VERY blunt, or the operator isn't pushing very hard)

BugBear

 

[Phil Pascoe]

My neighbour has a tractor-powered one like this:

http://www.ukendzone.com/index.php/1170 ... -by-wikia/

I like the heading - interior design ideas. I don't think my loved one would allow it in the house, somehow.

 

[whatknot]

I am glad he put on his gloves before starting work

You can't be to careful can you ;-)