User story: Farm diversification sees renewable energy used to dry logs

“Because the wood is sourced throughout the year, the incoming moisture content varies greatly, from very high in fresh spring wood when the sap is rising, to relatively low in timber that has been cut and stored for a while,” explains Mr Mayer. “We use biomass to dry the logs down to 15 per cent moisture,” he adds.

The drying process revolves around a Heizomat 990 biomass boiler fed with sustainably sourced wood chip from a local supplier. Five tonnes of woodchip is used each week. Heated water passes through a heat exchange, warming fresh air which is blown through ducting.

To make the most of this warm air, the firm has developed a novel way of drying batches of wood, which results in a more consistent end product than a shed with a drying floor. This is thanks to the use of hook lift bins.

“The bins have a perforated false floor in them,” says Mr Mayer. “We load 30cu.m of wet wood into them, the equivalent of 15 tonnes. Over the course of 12 days roughly five tonnes of water is extracted, leaving us with logs with 15 per cent moisture. We have 10 drying bins, enabling us to have 300cu.m drying at a time.”

Unfortunately, this is still the bottle neck in the whole system, adds Mr Mayer. “We are looking for ideas to speed the process up or make it more efficient. One idea we are looking at is to build a shed over the drying area and recover the warm air, however, the air will still be damp and may need need drying. Regardless, we estimate a saving of 25 per cent by using pre heated air.”

Getting the logs to the right moisture is imperative to the business, explains Mr Mayer. “While the incoming legislation says under 20 per cent, we go to 15 per cent as it creates a better product. Logs burn hotter, producing less gas and soot that dirties glass in stoves, they require less air to facilitate combustion, making for an effortless burn that lasts longer and is heat easier to regulate.”

Once dried, wood is tipped out of the bins and stored until it is needed. Bins are then refilled and the process repeats.

Once an order is placed, logs are tipped onto a cleaner which removes any loose small pieces and bark, that would sully the driveways of customers when tipped. A fleet of pickups and trailers are used to ferry logs throughout Shropshire and surrounding counties. Customers buy per logs per cubic metre, with one cube weighing approximately 310kg and equating to about 280 logs.

Mr Mayer’s truck is equipped with a custom made tipping rear box, capable of holding 2cu.m. While the company has an Ifor Williams trailer capable of carting 8cu.m, he says with narrow accesses and tight streets to navigate, the trailers of choice have a 5cu.m capacity, with five internal divisions each holding a cube of logs.

Just five per cent of the business’ trade is wholesale with only one local retailer supplied with logs in dumpy bags. In total, the business processed and sold 5,000cu.m last year, says Mr Mayer, its highest total to date.

While the business has come a long way since its start, he says the price of the raw wood has more than doubled compared to the first load the business bought. This is put down to increased global demand for wood, coming from all sectors, including building and biomass industries.

However, demand for logs last year was strong, says Mr Mayer. “When lockdown hit in March, we had an unprecedented influx of requests. We ended up tripling the order book that month, compared to the same month in the previous year.

“Traditionally, December is our busiest month, but we broke all our sales records in the October just past, selling 15 per cent more than our next best, which was December 2019. Both these months were put down to government’s coronavirus regulations and not unseasonably cold weather,” he adds.

Going forwards, Mr Mayer says the business will be looking at improving its drying capacity, the major bottleneck in the process. It will increase the operational efficiency and ensure the business is well within new legislation and continuing to supply a premium product to an increasing number of customers.