being another woodfuel that Pentland
Biomass offers.
Richard was keen to talk about the
purchase of the Tajfun (Typhoon) RCA
480 JOY firewood processor from Kilworth
Machinery. This joystick-controlled machine
is the largest in the Tajfun range, is able to
deal with timber up to 45 cm diameter and
has a 25-tonne splitting force. The processor
is fed from a log loader, which pulls timber
from a timber deck and the logs exit via a
discharge conveyor.
“We have had the Tajfun for around
eight months and it is a great machine. To
increase the flexibility of it we have made
it mobile, so we can hitch it up and tow
it off site. The cut logs sit in a tray, which
can then be opened to move them up the
conveyor. There is a great uniformity to the
logs produced as well as a great-quality end
product. From the processor we take the
split logs directly to the drying floor before
they go through a log cleaner to be dropped
into bags or directly into a trailer for their
onward delivery.”
Pentland Biomass has a drying floor
which is split into two areas, allowing
woodchip to be dried on one side and logs
on the other. To dry a 90 m³ artic load of
logs takes around two and a half days.
Firewood is dried to less than 10 per cent
moisture content and around 28 per cent for
woodchip. Part of any firewood processing
throws up chaff and fines, which the end
user doesn’t want in their firewood delivery.
To ensure it is purely good firewood logs
80 AUGUST 20 19 FORESTRYJOURNAL.CO.UK
that Pentland Biomass supplies, Richard
invested in a Posch LogFix XL Log Cleaner.
“Jas P Wilson had the log cleaner up at
our site taking part in the Wood-Mizer Open
House event back in April. Having seen it
operating and how good it was getting the
waste material away from the logs, I knew
that I had to have it.”
This investment in new machinery has
helped take Pentland Biomass to an annual
firewood production total of 1,500 tonnes
per year and Richard would like to see that
move on to 2,500 in the coming years.Close to the company’s main site,
Pentland Biomass rents an area of land
which it has turned into a log yard capable
of carrying 14,000 tonnes of wood when full.
On arrival, the logs are dated and placed in
rows to allow tracking of how long they have
been there. In the past – before the drying
floor – wood would have stayed there for a
year; now it can be used as required.
“We have a couple of storage bays where
we can chip at the yard and in the near
future the idea is to move our firewood
production operation to this site where thereAn aerial shot of the log yard.
Below: Logs being loaded into
one of the Knapen walking-
floor trailers.
BIOMASS