SPECIAL FEATURE: FIREWOOD
Ever wondered what happens to the wood you harvest that isn’t up to scratch – the rejects, the poor-quality logs, those that don’t make the export grade? Well, much of it ends up in somebody’s fireplace, but it’s no simple journey to get there. The firewood industry is thriving, with both small- and large-scale operators. NZ Logger spoke to some of the biggest.
LOADERS ARE THE MEAT AND POTATOES of a forestry crew’s daily workload.
They’re not the hero machines that are out cutting or retrieving the wood. But if they aren’t up to the everyday task of fleeting and loading, the job site soon grinds to a halt.
On paper, this new, purpose-built Hyundai FX3230LLL appears to have all the ingredients needed to make a successful loader – right size and weight for most typical Kiwi logging operations, solid construction straight out of the factory, dependable engine and good hydraulics.
So it wasn’t really a surprise that the performance matched the paperwork when I put the Kaitoa Logging machine through its paces.
I liked the look of that straight boom and arm but wondered if the extra length would prove to be its Achilles heel when lifting some of the heavier wood coming out of this forest. Surprisingly, it never flinched during any of the lifting tests I put it through, even when I stretched out to lift two big stems. And I still had the power to bring them in and slew around. I had some big grabs with those KIs in the stack and that grapple hung onto them.
The Hyundai remained firmly planted, never rocked once and I couldn’t detect any change in power. Same with the trailer. I was expecting it to rock around a bit, no it didn’t. Even when I pushed the trailer out on the boom and arm, it was very stable and there was no fluctuation in power. I was surprised at how stable it felt.
Perhaps the only criticism is the slight dip in power when I tried several functions at the same time. But even then, it didn’t really make a lot of difference.
The FX3230LL has three power modes, like the standard R290LC-9H/C and Ben told me he leaves it on full power for most jobs. As with all modern machines, the operator can vary the amount of assistance through the computer screen. He turns it up to ten when shovelling, but otherwise leaves it on seven or eight on the skid. And that’s what I did, too.
In those settings I found it very responsive, perhaps a bit too touchy at first, but I got used to it. The lift is outstanding. There was plenty of walking power, even in that mud hole. The control patterns are standard Cat-type layout and for once, the grapple rotator was just the way I like it – hit the right button and it will rotate clockwise and hit left, it goes anticlockwise. It’s intuitive, I can’t understand why some operators prefer it the other way around.
The purpose-built forestry cab provides greater storage and better visibility than a standard cab, plus you know you are in a
safer working environment. Not having a tall riser wasn’t an issue for me, unless you are stacking logs really high, but these stacks were low, so you could see over everything.
I like to have a camera on the back to check for people and obstructions behind when I’m on a crowded skid site like this, although Ben says he doesn’t use it much because he can’t see the tracks, so the angle may need adjusting – easily done.
Loading is one of my favourite jobs in forestry. Sure it’s not glamorous, but it’s damn good when you are behind the controls of a nice machine like this.
NZL
EVER WONDERED WHAT HAPPENS to the wood you harvest that isn’t up to scratch – the rejects, the wood often left on the skid to rot away, poor-quality logs, those that don’t make the export grade? Well, much of it ends up in somebody’s fireplace, but it’s no simple journey to get there. At first glance the firewood sector may seem like forestry’s poor cousin, but it’s a thriving industry with both small- and large-scale operators. NZ Logger spoke to some of the biggest.
Christchurch-based City Firewood services a wide area, from Christchurch to Castle Hill up to Amberley and beyond. This family company began 35 years ago and was the first in NZ to start kiln drying firewood. With a staff of 25, including temporary workers, it sells over 50,000 cubic metres of firewood a year. General Manager, Robbie Harris, who took over from his father nearly four years ago, says the majority of the wood comes from managed forests in Canterbury working with names like Rayonier Matariki Forests, Laurie Forestry, Forest Management Group, Port Blakely and PF Olsen, as well as directly with logging contractors.
“It just depends what the relationship is between the forest managers and the forest owners. Sometimes they don’t want to deal in
the firewood side of logs… there’s not as much money in it, so quite often part of the deal is that the logger can deal with the firewood. Sometimes it’s the cartage company. So, we just basically work with everyone. We don’t harvest ourselves; we just work with people who harvest. We take the firewood grade logs and buy them at a landed rate into our site on the log truck,” says Robbie.
Auckland-based Ignition Firewood Director,
Carlos Ter Huurne found his way into the firewood industry when he was still studying a Bachelor of Commerce at Auckland University. He took his dad’s chainsaw and cut down some of the Pine trees on the family farm to make a bit of extra cash. It took off from there and he bought his first splitter in 2012, soon growing to be the biggest firewood company in Auckland, with 10 full-time staff and some pretty impressive production gear serving two main production lines, not to mention the loaders and diggers.
Carlos says, being big-city-based, unlike City Firewood, the majority of the company’s wood comes from land clearing companies within Auckland: “There’s a hell of a lot of tree clearing companies around Auckland – about 50 – and 10 of them are pretty big with big gear. The wood arrives in all
different shapes and sizes – from a logging perspective, nothing is really A Grade or Prune Grade. And we obviously get a huge variety of species.”
When the discarded wood reaches the processing site, it takes on new life as it makes its way through various hightech processes to transform into humble firewood. At City Firewood, four imported firewood processing machines take different sizes and grades of logs. A large, highstacking wheeled timber handling machine unloads the log trucks and sends them on their way back to the forest. From there the logs are stored on site, sorted and loaded for cutting and splitting. Close to 100 20-foot shipping containers converted into specialised firewood containers with mesh siding, take around 33 cubic metres per container. Between the four machines, seven to nine containers of firewood are cut directly in per day – that’s 200 to 300 cubic metres or 150 tonnes per day.
Carrying about 8-10,000 tonne of stock, Auckland’s Ignition Firewood’s speciality is processing different sized logs, says Carlos: “We’ve got one bit of machinery that does small logs. Then our main processor cuts and splits logs up to 900mm. Anything bigger than 900mm we cut up with a chainsaw and then feed through our big splitter.”
Boasting NZ’s largest firewood kiln, City Firewood’s 40-tonne forklift easily lifts the four containers the kiln can hold down the road to its kiln site. It takes between 24 and 48 hours to dry with the next load ready to go, allowing a two-day wood turnaround time from forest to fire.
“We backload. We take a green container there, we load a dry container back then we come back and we tip it off at our main retail site,” says Robbie.
“Kiln drying is a major part of what we do because it just allows us to control the quality so much better. Basically, it’s a result of how dry the wood is that’s the main factor in its burning efficiency. So, every drop of moisture that leaves, ends up improving the cost per kilowatt hour for the customer when they burn it. That’s what we base our business on. We spend a lot more on drying than anyone else,” says Robbie. Added to that, all the company’s waste wood is used as boiler fuel in the 2.5 megawatt boiler.
Sales are via delivery or the company’s pick-up retail area. As a final process the wood is screened to remove the “small, fine stuff” which tends to emerge as it’s moved around, dried and handled. It’s then delivered directly into the truck “as clean as it can possibly be” for transport. An office team handles orders, including aspects like customer preferences and driveway preferences, with 10 different vehicles depending on the size and fit of the order.
“While the drivers are out on the road there’s someone loading all the vehicles here, so when they come back, they just switch vehicles, already pre-loaded,” says Robbie.
Ignition Firewood either naturally seasons or kiln dries its wood, with a kiln on site, also using its own waste wood to heat it, and storage space for around 4000 cubic metres of wood.
The vast majority of deliveries for both companies are to homes as well as some pizza oven restaurants. “Christchurch has a lot of fireplaces,” says Robbie. “In Canterbury alone between 30 and 40% of homes have a fireplace.”
They’re not the only ones benefiting from cold NZ winters. Equipment supplier, Forestquip, has been selling firewood processors in NZ for a good 15 years. Managing Director, John Hansen, says buyers range from “the hobby, farmer-type, right up to the full-time professional”.
“The ‘farmer-type’ is quite often someone who’s got a little bit of plantation or loggers have been in and they clean up all the bin wood or waste and turn it into firewood.
“We also see a lot of people turning the chip logs into firewood. A cube of firewood is a cube of firewood. It doesn’t matter if it comes out of an export log or it comes out of a bent, crooked branch. The value of the firewood doesn’t change compared to what value of timber you’re putting in for it. I would say only 5 to 10% of people in firewood will be doing their own harvesting. The big scale operators don’t even look at harvesting themselves.”
The big processors are only for the bigger
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