on-site sawmilling and timber conversion information ... - The Chilterns
on-site sawmilling and timber conversion information ... - The Chilterns
on-site sawmilling and timber conversion information ... - The Chilterns
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ii<br />
Total value<br />
Woodl<strong>and</strong> management has to be c<strong>on</strong>cerned with more than trying to make a profit <strong>and</strong><br />
must look at the total value of utilising <strong>timber</strong> from your wood. By beginning to manage<br />
the woodl<strong>and</strong>, it can be brought out of neglect <strong>and</strong> develop a use for the future. Many<br />
woodl<strong>and</strong> owners feel pers<strong>on</strong>ally satisfied to initiate work in their woods <strong>and</strong> ‘make<br />
things happen’. It can be satisfying to produce practical items like gateposts or cladding<br />
for your own use <strong>on</strong> your l<strong>and</strong> from your own trees. It can bring improvements to the<br />
l<strong>and</strong>scape <strong>and</strong> produce locally manufactured <strong>and</strong> sustainable materials. It can educate<br />
local people about woodl<strong>and</strong> management. Utilising trees for milling opens up areas<br />
within the wood thus letting in more light for both ground flora <strong>and</strong> naturally-regenerating<br />
trees. By-products are generated like sawdust which can be used as a fertiliser or pet<br />
bedding material if clean <strong>and</strong> bagged. It can stimulate the local ec<strong>on</strong>omy by using local<br />
forestry c<strong>on</strong>tractors.<br />
6. Case Study:<br />
Plate 12. Dem<strong>on</strong>strati<strong>on</strong>s like this <strong>on</strong>e at Horseleys Green,<br />
Bucks can encourage woodl<strong>and</strong> owners to c<strong>on</strong>sider the use<br />
of mobile sawmills in their woods.<br />
J.Morris, Chiltern Woodl<strong>and</strong>s Project<br />
Mobile Sawmilling Dem<strong>on</strong>strati<strong>on</strong> – 02.12.99.<br />
A mobile <strong>sawmilling</strong> event was held in December 1999 to dem<strong>on</strong>strate to woodl<strong>and</strong><br />
owners the practicalities of using mobile sawmills <strong>and</strong> to generate interest in adding<br />
value to woodl<strong>and</strong> products.<br />
Twenty-six people attended the event at Horseleys Green, near Stokenchurch,<br />
Buckinghamshire to watch c<strong>on</strong>tractor, John Ayres dem<strong>on</strong>strate the use of his Woodmizer<br />
sawmill to c<strong>on</strong>vert <strong>timber</strong> into saleable material. A three metre l<strong>on</strong>g oak log was<br />
c<strong>on</strong>verted into a square beam for c<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> use in less than<br />
ten minutes. Four cuts of the saw increased the value to this<br />
item from firewood worth £2.00 to a new value of £40.00. Beech<br />
planks were sawn for flooring for the owner’s use.<br />
Costs for machine hire tend to be around £35 per hour plus the<br />
labour costs for an operator <strong>and</strong> their assistant. John Ayres uses<br />
a hydraulic lifting arm <strong>on</strong> a <strong>timber</strong> wag<strong>on</strong> to load the logs <strong>on</strong>to<br />
the saw bed.<br />
John Ayres was pleased to provide answers to questi<strong>on</strong>s <strong>on</strong> mobile<br />
<strong>sawmilling</strong> after the dem<strong>on</strong>strati<strong>on</strong>. Half of the people attending<br />
the dem<strong>on</strong>strati<strong>on</strong> were students from Buckinghamshire Chiltern<br />
University College Forest Products degree course whilst half were<br />
local woodl<strong>and</strong> owners <strong>and</strong> managers interested in the use of<br />
mobile sawmills in their woods.<br />
<strong>The</strong> event was arranged by the Chiltern Woodl<strong>and</strong>s Project as<br />
part of the Trans-nati<strong>on</strong>al Woodl<strong>and</strong> Industries Group (TWIG)<br />
project.