Tuesday 12 September 2023

Log splitting and stacking at Formby on Sunday 10th September 2023

Today, Adrian, Daniel, Gaynor and Jenny travelled to Formby and spent the day log splitting and stacking with ranger Chris.

Unusually we got to use a piece of machinery, Mr Japa, who at the start of play was wheeled out of his garage, fed with diesel and hydraulic oil then set to work.  Chris gave us a comprehensive safety talk before any sawing and splitting began!

Five of us was an ideal number for the task because it took four people to operate Mr Japa - two to feed logs in at one end, one in the middle to operate the chainsaw and a fourth to fill the wheelbarrow with the split logs - and one to stack the logs.  We all wore ear defenders as a precaution which meant communication was by sign language!  



The split logs were about a foot in length and it was possible to stack three logs across each shelf then build the rows up.  The shed was positioned in such a way that the prevailing wind blows through it from side to side and all logs stacked so far have dried quickly.  The logs have to have less than 18% moisture to be sellable and Chris said that recent moisture readings were 0%!



We finished work at 3pm at which time all the readily accessible tree trunks had been chopped and the woodshed was almost full.  The next job will be to bag up the dried logs ready for sale.

Thanks to Chris for organising an interesting day's work and for telling us at break times about the plans for the Formby estate.

Daniel


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