FORESTRYJOURNAL.CO.UK AUGUST 20 19 79“This means the
operator is in the
cab, which moves
in line with the
crane, preventing
the constant turning
and straining of the
operator. Also, being
high up on the crane
means the operator can see
exactly what is going into the
chipper. This helps the quality of
the end product coming out, but also helps
to prevent breakdowns from non-wood
products being fed in.”
Richard described the Loanhead site as
a windy one and good for drying timber.
However, the fact that it can take a year
before air-dried timber can be used to
produce woodchip made investing in a
drying floor an urgent requirement.
Pentland Biomass put in two drying floors,
handling construction and installation itself.
The floors are heated by an 800 kW Herz
Biofire boiler and Lauber L-ENZ 370 dryer,
which is a high-performance fan and heat-
exchanger system.
“We have found out through a bit of trial
and error how long it takes to dry woodchip.
As we have expanded into firewood logs, we
have had to work out the moisture content
we require to create a great product for our
customers. Oak takes a
little longer to dry than
other species.”
Pentland Biomass
produces around
15,000 tonnes of dry
chip a year, supplying
hotels, estates and
farm businesses as
well as others. All of the
wood that it uses is sourced
within an hour’s drive from the
Edinburgh base. It sources through supply
contracts with companies such as Scottish
Woodlands, Euroforest and Agriforest. This
normally involves collecting at the roadside
using its own fleet of trucks. Some comes
through project prices and some through
fixed supply contracts, from things like
wind farm site clearances. Standing sales
are sometimes used as Pentland Biomass
has the capability to manage this through
gaining felling licences and doing the
necessary planning and paperwork for the
timber site owners.
“We can do everything for them and then
we subcontract out the actual felling. We
can remove the timber ourselves with our
own transport. The amount of timber we
source this way is small scale in comparison
to the other methods but it allows us to plan
when we do it to suit our own needs.”Far left: Richard Spray.Above: Ilmers, one of the
Pentland Biomass team,
using remote control to
operate the Posch LogFix
XL Log Cleaner while
Richard watches on.Left: Case tractor and
Brougham Hi-Speed trailer
dropping chip.Below inset: Log piles are
dated on arrival.Pentland Biomass currently operates a
fleet of Scania R450 trucks. Richard said:
“We operated DAF trucks previously but I
feel the Scania truck is the truck for timber.
We have had good backup from them and
leasing means that we have a fixed cost
per month and a service contract for each
of the trucks. We replace the trucks every
four years. Our latest truck, a Scania S500,
arrived with us at the beginning of May.”
The company had two turntable Robinson
timber trailers, each with a Loglift 120 crane.
They also have two Knapen fixed-side-wall
walking-floor trailers.
“The Knapen walking-floor trailers have
real heavy-duty floors, extremely robust,
and ideal for what we want to use them
for. We can chip directly into them without
any issues. They are also lighter than other
trailers in the market. This, allied to the
Scania tractor units, which are also lighter,
means we can haul up to one and a half
tonnes more chip when we operate both of
them in tandem.”
Having these trucks also means that
Richard has to ensure they are kept fully
utilised. This is achieved by transporting
timber for other companies including
Euroforest and Hi-Line. The walking trailers
are used to backhaul pallets of wood pellets
from Land Energy at Girvan after having
delivered woodchip into them, wood pellets