Buyer's Guide: Firewood production and handling solutions

WHEN it comes to commercial firewood production, Austrian manufacturers Posch are a very well-established name for quality construction, high output potential and reliability.

Distributor Jas P Wilson has decades of experience as the sole UK supplier of Posch, and now offers the full range across the UK and Ireland. This spans from quality domestic units to industrial firewood factories. For most commercial firewood producers, their needs will be easily met with the Posch S-375 Turbo.

This high-quality, joystick-controlled, circular saw firewood processor has proven itself highly capable within the UK market. It’s the latest incarnation in an evolutionary line including the hugely popular S-350 and S-360 models, which together have sold in the hundreds across the UK.

Users are met with a machine which can easily accept twisted lengths thanks to its wide infeed area, something which any UK firewood producer will know to be a huge advantage when processing typical UK firewood timber. By owning a machine which can utilise difficult, twisted and knotted lengths, owners can take advantage of a wider variety of timber, which in turn allows them greater flexibility to find good margin. 

Once the timber passes through the powered infeed area, it reaches a 900 mm tungsten-tipped circular saw blade, which, thanks to the Turbo upgrade over older models, works as rapidly as the splitting chamber below to ensure operators and those loading the optional log deck are kept busy with this high-production machine. 

The Turbo setting also allows users to swap between two splitting modes, the first of which brings the splitting ram out the full length of the splitting chamber, which is ideal for longer lengths up to 50 cm for biomass production.

The second mode is the half-stroke setting, which only brings the splitting ram out 50% of the way. This is ideal for increasing production on firewood logs.

This setting combined with a quicker saw return has increased the production speed on small-diameter logs by 25% over the S-360 model. 

For existing firewood producers, using your current processor as part-exchange is an attractive way to get into a new machine. Jas P Wilson aims to make this process as simple as possible and can also combine this with a competitive finance offer, subject to status. Jas P Wilson customers also benefit from its ‘Advanced Service Commitment’, which in recent months has seen the employment of three additional regional service engineers, which join a national sales and aftersales network to ensure you get the most from your new or existing machinery.

For full details, please call 01556 612 233 or visit www.jaspwilson.co.uk.

BIOEQUIPMENT
HALVERSON FIREWOOD PROCESSOR

THE Halverson firewood processor is a unique processor that can be mounted on skid steer, excavator, wheel loader and tractors with fore-end loaders.

Manufactured in the USA for a number of years and many with hundreds supplied, the Halverson processors have been well liked and highly praised by major firewood producers. A significant factor in the Halverson’s success is the high integral safety of a firewood processor that is operated from a machine cab with no manual intervention by the operator. 

The Halverson can process up to 16-inch-diameter round-wood and can process at speeds similar to an industrial firewood processor. Two models of Halverson processor are available. The model 140B is a heavy-duty firewood processor capable of processing six cubic metres per hour. The model 120 is designed as a medium-duty version with a slightly lower specification and lighter weight and has a processing capacity of up to four cubic metres per hour. 

The Halverson has distinct operational advantages over its competitors: no manual handling – self loading and unloading; no discharge conveyor required, can load directly into trucks or stillages with no manual handling; no log decks required therefore compact working area; low power consumption with low running costs; and continuous high-output performance, no operator fatigue.
Control of the Halverson processor is from the machine cab with either a joystick control or a button control system that provides five-way movement.

The operator can select two-, four- or six-way splitters. These are changed in minutes, and the height of the splitter can be adjusted from the machine cab ensuring perfect logs every time. The log length can be set by a simple sliding lock system.

The rugged and heavy-duty design and construction of the Halverson processor, with simple and logical control and easy maintenance, really makes firewood production a pleasure and highly productive.

For more information, contact BioEquipment on 01685 810 148.

HOME FORESTRY
RABAUD XYLOG 420

THE Rabaud Xylog 420 firewood processor, which is produced in France and distributed in the UK through Home Forestry, has a cutting diameter of up to 420 mm. It has quick and easy adjustment of the cutting length from 150 mm up to 500 mm and is adaptable onto tractor three-point linkage or three-phased electric engine.

The splitting power of the Xylog 420 is automatically adjusted from 15-tonne on low speed/9.5 ton on fast speed, giving optimum performance. Two splitting wedges are available; either 0/2/4/6 or 0/2/4/8, with hydraulic height adjustment.

The discharge/unloading conveyor swivels on +/- 20°. The conveyor is hydraulically controlled for movement and to fold into the transport position. All controls are well laid out in front of the operator and the machine can be operated with one hand.

The conveyor belt is made up of metal bars and individual belts between the bars so that the maintenance is easy and replacement of a short section of belt, if damaged, is cost effective.The Xylog 420 can be fitted with an automated wood scaling system called the Xylometer, allowing measuring the exact volume of produced wood.

Wood is cut with the .404 chain and 54 cm-harvester bar and the logs are side-shifted into the splitter with the V-shaped canal for a better wood alignment. Splitting of the logs can be changed from manual to automatic by a simple switch on the control panel. 

The Rabaud Xylog 420 has safety sensors on all opening panels to stop all functions, with a reset button on the control panel. There is a range of log decks and wood-loading equipment available, from simple manual decks to 3.00 m or 5.00 m hydraulic log decks, all controlled through the operator panel.
For more information or to book a demonstration please contact Nathan Home at Home Forestry, Willowdene Farm, Chorley, Bridgnorth, Shropshire, WV166PP. Tel:  01746 718 456 or 07966 365 157.
www.homeforestry.co.uk.

BERCON ENGINEERING
LOG SPLITTER

LARGE rings of timber always presented a challenge because of their weight and size to handle. It would take three to four men working together to stand one of these rings on its side so that it could be cut in half and then quarters with a chainsaw to reduce its weight, so that it could be lifted onto a log splitter to be made into firewood. This work is very dangerous with regard to modern-day health and safety requirements.

This invention was designed to split large rings of timber up to two metres and above in diameter, 200–400 kg in weight, into manageable pieces of timber of 15–20 kg without any manual intervention from the operator.

This machine works from over or above the timber as it catches, manoeuvres and splits. It feeds itself and in doing so it mimics the motion and the dexterity of the human hand. It uses the slew motion of the prime mover (digger) to move these large rings from where they are lying into a pile of manageable pieces. Because of the way it articulates, it quickly follows the position of the ring of timber to become parallel to it and split it in any position, from horizontal to vertical. In doing so, it speeds up the process as it is neither a vertical nor a horizontal splitter in the conventional sense; rather it is a multiple-position splitter that hovers over the timber in the clear view and control of the operator at all times. 

With the addition of hand controls, it quickly converts into a manual horizontal splitter with safety interlocks, two handed controls and automatic return to split these manageable pieces into firewood.

What used to be a physically strenuous job for 3 - 4 men can now be done safely by one person.

There are currently machines working in Ireland, England, Scotland and New Zealand.

For Irish sales and hire, please contact 00353 872 533 101 or email info@berconlogsplitter.com.

View online at www.berconlogsplitter.com.

KILN SERVICES
LOG DRYING KILN SYSTEMS

KILN Services manufactures a large range of kiln drying systems for all sectors of the timber Industry. In recent years, with the emphasis of climate change and renewable fuels, the company’s range of firewood log drying kilns has been used by both large and small producers of firewood to obtain a top-quality dry product.

Kilns can be connected to either small wood-burning gasification boilers or automated woodchip boilers. Kiln Services has been designing, manufacturing and installing kiln drying plants for over 40 years and says it is now the only manufacturer of commercial timber drying kilns in the UK. All of its experience and knowledge gained over the years has been incorporated into its special log-drying programmes. Features such as reversing air flows, with high air velocity and accurate control of temperature and relative humidity, produce fast drying times with minimum fuel consumption.

Freshly split logs can be dried to an average moisture of 15 per cent in just five days. All of the kilns are multiple air pass systems, meaning the air in the kiln is only vented to atmosphere once it has achieved its correct humidity and temperature. Its multiple air pass kilns will only use around 13 per cent of the volume being dried as fuel; therefore 100 tonnes of wet logs can be dried using 13 tonnes of fuel at 20 per cent moisture. These high efficiencies can be understood when you understand the moisture-carrying capacity of air at various temperatures. A cubic metre of air at 20 degrees centigrade and 100 per cent relative humidity will have 14 grammes of water vapour, whereas the same cubic metre of air at 70 degrees centigrade at 100 per cent humidity will have over 400 grammes of water. This is why multiple air pass dryers that only vent wet hot air are dramatically more efficient than single air pass systems that typically use 45–50 per cent of the volume being dried as fuel. Many of these single air pass systems are shipping containers not designed to dry logs efficiently.

The company recently carried out three projects where customers swapped single air pass systems (shipping containers) for modular kilns, keeping their existing RHI Registered boiler plant. These conversions have resulted in an increase of 300 per cent log production with only a 50 per cent increase in fuel use.

Please contact Kiln Services for more information. 
E-mail: kilnservices@btconnect.com. Telephone: 01621 785935. www.kilnservices.co.uk.

FUELWOOD
JAPA 365

THE all-new Japa 365 14 inch firewood processor is now available in the UK through Fuelwood.

Available with tractor PTO, three-phase electric, dual powered, or Honda petrol engine powertrains, in three point link, static or road-towable variants, there is an option to suit all requirements. The .325 inch chainsaw on 15 inch bar makes quick work of cutting timber and splitting is effortless through two-, four-, six- or eight-way splitting knives. The machine is controlled effortlessly via hydraulic joysticks, controlling feeding of the timber, cutting, positioning of the splitting knife and timber deck/log lift controls. The conveyor can also be slewed round into five positions, enabling multi bag filling and/or uniform loading of trailers.

This all-new, cost-effective and hugely productive machine fits neatly into the rest of the Japa range as its mid-size processor.
To see the whole range of machines, visit www.fuelwood.co.uk. For further information or to arrange a demo, call Fuelwood on 01926 484 673.