Hilary Burke reports from the village of Markfield where, as part of the National Forest Company’s Forestry Forum, machinery from Kubota, Exac-One and Heizohack was put through its paces in a demonstration of biomass harvesting.
TIMBER harvesting in the new woodlands of the National Forest is becoming a hot topic of debate in the Midland counties of England. The village of Markfield, a few miles north of the city of Leicester, was the location for a timber-harvesting demonstration provided by the new Kubota mini-excavator and Exac-One tree lopper of Native Forests Ltd. Processing the cut produce was the Heizohack 8-500K woodchipper of Milner Forestry.
Ed Milner welcomed delegates and visitors to the National Forest Company (NFC) Forestry Forum at Lodge Farm, Markfield. The location was able to provide a demonstration of biomass harvesting from start to finish; with the Kubota first reducing the well-branched willows growing to the north of the Lodge Farm biomass facility.
The Kubota U55-4 excavator has a width of only 1.96 m and ultra-short tail swing so is well suited to operating in confined stands of timber. The low weight of only 5.4 tonnes is an added advantage; not only when working in young plantations but also for inter-site movements. A 46 hp 4-cylinder 2.6 litre diesel engine supplies power for handling the medium and small timber normally associated with early thinning operations.
Worcester-based engineering firm Exac-One manufactures a wide range of attachments for the forestry, construction and recycling industries at Upton upon Severn. The designs are sturdy, simple and well adapted to use on compact carriers. The TL series tree loppers, for example, are constructed from 26 mm high-tensile steel and use a single moving shear to sever material up to 450 mm in diameter. Serrations on the fixed jaw ensure a firm grip for moving and manipulating cut produce.
Milner Forestry’s Ashley Cooper was operating the Kubota excavator and presenting cut material to colleague Shaun Jervis in the Valtra/Heizohack chipping combination. Shaun explained that normally Ashley is running at least a week ahead with the harvesting. This system allows Ed Milner considerable flexibility in planning machinery and operator rostering. Even a short delay before chipping hardwoods felled in full foliage assists the chipper in dealing with the greenery.
Teamwork is the key, according to Shaun, when coordinating work across different sites. Coming in a week or two behind Ashley Cooper, he knows the produce will be presented perfectly for the Valtra/Heizohack. Everything will be within reach of the double-extension Kesla loader and he will feed in a full grapple-load at each pass. Untidy felling, he adds, can be an absolute nightmare and production suffers very badly.
The Heizohack K-Series fuelwood chippers have been designed by the German manufacturer as relatively lightweight and mobile producers of quality woodchip fuel. Towable by agricultural tractor, various braking options are available to comply with different national road traffic regulations. The chips produced by the K-Series machines are a match, in quality terms, for the fuel produced by larger units.
For its size, Milner Forestry’s HM 8-500 chipper is surprisingly productive – an important consideration when trailers have to be loaded on site. Automatic load-dependent feed control and a 1,000 kg flywheel ensure optimum presentation of material to the chipping drum, which can be fitted with Heizohack’s quick-change blade system. The height-adjustable rotating ejection chute, with hydraulically adjustable delivery flap, ensures that chips can be evenly distributed in the waiting skip or trailer.
A woodchipping system that can guarantee both quantity and quality is a prerequisite for fulfilling contract commitments for biomass supply. Nevertheless, in the National Forest, many of the opportunities for sourcing the raw material are found in small woodland holdings undergoing early thinning operations. The comparatively light weight (6,900 kg) of the HM 8-500 augments its envelope of operations. The maximum feed height of 500 mm is ample for almost all the material likely to be encountered and the feed width of 708 mm will rarely limit the throughput of stems to the chipper blades.
Chipped material was, in the case of the Lodge Farm demonstration, travelling the short distance to the auger bin supplying the two woodchip boilers supplied by ETA Heiztechnik GmbH of Austria. The system also supplies heat to an underfloor drying facility where woodchip material bound for contract supply has its moisture content reduced, prior to delivery.
With the trees of the National Forest now forming an integral landscape component of the northern English Midlands, local government authorities and regional agencies have been keen to take advantage of the timber resource now becoming available. Biomass heating units, unsurprisingly, have been the headline projects spearheading the region’s shift towards sustainability. Milner Forestry has chosen to deliver woodchip to public facilities with a unit built by Buckinghamshire trailer builder K Two.
The engineering firm’s Roadeo Compact & Push series trailers have made their name in the agricultural sector for increasing efficiency in silage harvesting. For woodchip delivery to locations where there is a high public presence – such as schools – backing up close to the chipstore entrance with the ejector trailer reduces the risks of tipping bodies. The Compact & Push range is available from 31–42 m³ capacity, with the compression facility increasing the payload according to the produce transported.
The popularity of the event was very encouraging, with around 100 attendees registered. It is no exaggeration to claim that the 2019 Forestry Forum marked a landmark stage in the development of the National Forest. Woodland owners who invested in the early years of the 1990s are finally seeing their woodlands producing timber; those who established plantations later are now able to visualise the potential of their woodlands.
NFC chief executive John Everitt explained to attendees that the next 25 years would see a changed phase in the life of the National Forest. Woodland owners and managers had together succeeded in bringing 75 per cent of the woodlands under active management. Future challenges in generating sustainability would need to focus on balancing supply and demand. Facilitating networks between owners, managers and contractors would be a key element for a successful outcome. The National Forest area encompasses parts of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire. Tree cover has expanded from six per cent to 21 per cent since the project was initiated, and it could be an exemplary ‘greenprint’ for the whole country, according to John Everitt.
Daniel Small, NFC woodland management officer, outlined the basic principles of thinning in woodlands for those owners that were still unfamiliar with silvicultural practices. First thinning operations are unlikely to be profitable, he warned, even when there is a demand for the timber. On the other hand, 100–200 ha of National Forest woodland is coming into management annually, attracting grants and expanding the area’s forestry framework. While the NFC could help with grants and offer expert advice, it could also provide contacts with a wide variety of timber producers and users, he concluded.
The ultimate aim of the project is to achieve woodland cover on around one third of the land in the National Forest area. The peak planting years were at the turn of the millennium, when around 500 ha of woodlands were being established annually. Over recent years the rate of establishment has been very steady, but considerably below this figure. It appears very unlikely that the target will be reached within the next half-century.
Nevertheless, NFC woodland business manager Dave Garner was able to present a very encouraging picture of the success of the project – and an upbeat economic forecast for both woodland owners and forestry contractors. Harvestable timber quantity available from NFC plantations in 2019/2020 is estimated to clear the 10,000-tonne mark. About a quarter of this quantity will be second thinnings from the earliest planting schemes.
While the first thinnings from the big plantings established around the turn of the millennium will creep up the production over the subsequent few years, Dave Garner forecasts a major leap forward for 2024/25. Production will clear the 20,000-tonne hurdle and 60 per cent will be in the form of higher-value second thinnings. Third thinning operations will start significant production of valuable timber shortly thereafter.
Collaborative tendering, according to Dave Garner, was a possible solution to optimise the use of local contracting resources. After all, he pointed out, Milner Forestry and Native Forests Ltd had joined forces at Lodge Farm to harvest the timber, process it and deliver the product to the end user – in this case, the ETA biomass boilers.
On another point, he wondered whether the awarding of grants was the best use of available funds. Many stakeholders may apply, but only a proportion benefit from the system. Local accreditation of produce from the woodlands of the National Forest may be a more equitable and efficient means of distributing the financial resources. If National Forest firewood producers were to conform with a few basic standards – such as a moisture content parameter to distinguish between ‘green’ and ‘fire-ready’ logs – they may be able to benefit from local market advantage.
On the floor, local farmer Nick Wright pondered the idea but was non-committal. In the boom years of National Forest planting, he forested 100 acres of his holding. Now in the first thinning stage, he himself harvests the timber and converts it to firewood for his own use and for sale. Assisting him in the task are his brother-in-law Simon Brookman and his friend Brian Carter.
Brian, in a way, epitomises the success of the National Forest. A keen walker, a few joint problems and surgeries curtailed his sporting activity. However, he can still manage a full day with Nick and Simon harvesting timber in Leicestershire’s new woodlands. What is more, after 40 years in the schools of Leicester, at the age of 68, Brian is prepared to be tested. He will present himself before a chainsaw trainer, less than half his age, who will judge if he is fit and competent to use a chainsaw safely.
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