{"id":13491,"date":"2021-06-12T08:46:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-12T05:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hakkipilke.fi\/?p=13491"},"modified":"2023-04-11T08:50:39","modified_gmt":"2023-04-11T05:50:39","slug":"klapioperaation-raaka-aineen-hankinta-milloin-puut-kannattaa-kaataa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hakkipilke.fi\/en\/2021\/06\/12\/klapioperaation-raaka-aineen-hankinta-milloin-puut-kannattaa-kaataa\/","title":{"rendered":"SOURCING RAW MATERIAL FOR A CLAPPER OPERATION: WHEN TO CUT DOWN TREES?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A sufficient amount of high-quality raw material is a prerequisite for your firewood business to be able to produce firewood and serve customers reliably. Therefore, the sensible and efficient procurement of raw material is one of the key factors for a successful firewood business.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the wood does not come from your own forest, it is worth using multiple suppliers. In this case, for example, delivery difficulties from one supplier will not decisively affect your business operations. We have previously written about this and other important factors for a firewood business in our blog post.\u00a0How to make a firewood business successful?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This time in our article, we focus on what to consider when choosing the timing for tree felling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many things affect when it is best to harvest timber. For example, weather conditions, tree species, soil load-bearing capacity, and the condition of forest roads are factors worth considering when choosing the right time for timber harvesting.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Finland, the first frosts are generally the best time for felling trees.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Finland, the moisture content of trees is usually at its lowest in August and September. Winter frost makes moving in the forest easier, as the ground is not wet and supports weight better. In early winter there is not yet much snow, which also makes felling trees easier, and generally this is indeed the best time to fell trees. Transporting is also best done when the temperature is below freezing and roads are not suffering from the spring thaw.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the onset of freezing weather, it is also a suitable time to start making firewood. Before the arrival of freezing weather, it is generally not advisable to start making firewood, as there is a risk that the firewood will get moldy. In Finland, the best time to make firewood is generally in March and April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also advisable to source the raw material during the autumn-winter period because the best weather conditions in Finland for traditional natural drying occur in spring. Suitable conditions for natural drying in Finland last on average from April to July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If logging has been done in the spring for one reason or another, the trees can be made into firewood as early as autumn. However, natural drying is then extremely slow and difficult. The firewood will only dry properly during the following spring, unless mechanical drying methods are used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If trees are felled in the summer, it is a good idea to leave deciduous trees unpruned for a few weeks. In this case, moisture is effectively removed through the drying leaves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the trees have been processed into firewood, they continue to dry for even years. If the firewood is stored for a long time, it is advisable to ensure that the storage has sufficiently good ventilation. However, storage lasting several years may lower the calorific value of the firewood. Therefore, it is not worth keeping too large a stock, but rather ensuring an appropriate turnover of the finished wood to customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can read more about firewood drying and its effects on the entire production process in our previous blog post\u00a0How to dry firewood efficiently?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What kind of trees should be felled?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Finland, the primary raw material for firewood is deciduous trees, primarily birch. Deciduous trees account for about two-thirds of the wood felled for firewood. The remaining third of Finnish firewood is coniferous wood, practically pine and spruce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Birch is often considered the best raw material for firewood, and it has not earned this reputation without reason. When properly dried, other wood species also work quite decently as firewood and have their own good qualities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coniferous wood has a lower energy content than birch, but it is exceptionally well-suited for fireplaces with doors, for example. One of the advantages of coniferous wood is that it does not soot the firebox and chimney as much as birch. When it comes to conifers, decaying, standing dry, or wind-fallen trees can also be utilized as firewood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the firewood entrepreneur should note that the price of other wood species is often more affordable than birch firewood. Therefore, it is often possible to achieve a better profit margin with birch firewood than by using other wood species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about wood heating and firewood plots from the energiaa.pks.fi website<\/a>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timber harvesting and wood transportation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When harvesting trees, they are felled, delimbed, and cut to length. This can be done manually as forestry work or with a harvester. Damaging the tree bark significantly enhances the drying of the trees, which in turn improves their storability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If logging is done manually as forestry work, it would be good to bark or peel the tree on three sides. A harvester, or moto, does this barking or breaking of the tree bark automatically. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If timber harvesting is done during the unfrozen ground period, it is advisable to place base logs along the skid trail and pile the harvested trees on top of them. This prevents sand or moss, for example, from freezing onto the surface of the bottom logs. This keeps the timber cleaner and also makes transporting it easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If it is possible to cut the trees to a suitable length for the firewood processor even before transport, it is worth doing. Operating this way also makes transporting the wood easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TIP!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The moisture content of freshly felled wood is typically 45\u201355 %, which varies depending on the season. The moisture content of logs felled with a chainsaw decreases from 50 % to about 30 % during the first summer. Covered logs are about 10 % units drier than uncovered ones, so it\u2019s worth protecting your logs!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can find more information on, for example, how bark and tree storage affect the drying process and the effectiveness of different drying methods From the research by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Riitt\u00e4v\u00e4 m\u00e4\u00e4r\u00e4 laadukasta raaka-ainetta on elinehto sille, ett\u00e4 polttopuuyrityksesi pystyy tuottamaan polttopuuta ja palvelemaan asiakkaita luotettavasti. Raaka-aineen j\u00e4rkev\u00e4 ja tehokas hankinta onkin yksi menestyv\u00e4n polttopuuyrityksen avaintekij\u00f6ist\u00e4. Jos puut eiv\u00e4t tule omasta mets\u00e4st\u00e4, kannattaa k\u00e4ytt\u00e4\u00e4 useampaa toimittajaa. T\u00e4ll\u00f6in esimerkiksi yhden toimittajan toimitusvaikeudet eiv\u00e4t vaikuta ratkaisevasti yrityksesi toimintaan. T\u00e4st\u00e4 ja muista polttopuuyrityksen kannalta t\u00e4rkeist\u00e4 tekij\u00f6ist\u00e4 olemme aiemmin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":5003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[197],"class_list":["post-13491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uutiset","tag-klapivinkki"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hakkipilke.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hakkipilke.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hakkipilke.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hakkipilke.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hakkipilke.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13491"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hakkipilke.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13492,"href":"https:\/\/hakkipilke.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13491\/revisions\/13492"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hakkipilke.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hakkipilke.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hakkipilke.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hakkipilke.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}