New Way To Bag Wood Fast

New Way To Bag Wood Fast WOODLOT EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous Bagwiz makes selling quantity firewood wood chips shredded bark or even sawdust fast and easy The new bagger from Great Britain can be mounted on any front-end loader or skidsteer
Antony Strawson of Stourton Forestry explains how the bagger was developed “One of our employees came up with a stationary bagger but that meant tipping loads of wood into a hopper with a forklift and a second forklift underneath holding a bag It required too many people with too many machines doing too few bags an hour ”
Strawson sells firewood to individual homeowners and wholesale markets as well as anyone else who burns or sells firewood As oil prices have increased in Great Britain demand for wood for fuel has seen massive growth However it’s a cost-conscious market with many competitors selling by the truck or pickup load Bags bring a premium but not enough to justify more expensive bagging systems on the market
Strawson adapted the stationary system to use on a loader The Bagwiz lets one person fill more bags faster The loader-mounted hopper is driven into the load of firewood or other material A heavy-duty rubber flap protects the bag The operator then “flips” the Bagwiz back to toss material into the bag until it’s full The loader is then driven to a loading area and the full bag is replaced with an empty one
The hopper has a gap large enough that wood chunks don’t bridge up The bags are woven polypropylene and come in a variety of sizes
“The 1 8 cu meter bags we use can hold up to a ton of material ” says Strawson “Our retailers and home customers alike appreciate them We can deliver them to a garage or drive without leaving a mess The bags also keep water off the wood ”
In addition to firewood Strawson also markets bark compost landscape chips and mulch The Bagwiz handles these equally well
The Bagwiz is just entering production and Strawson says he hasn’t even considered export to North America yet He expects to sell it for under $3 150 in Great Britain There the bags sell for about $3 each He estimates bagging adds at least $15 to the value of each bag of firewood
“We can do up to 25 bags an hour with the Bagwiz ” explains Strawson “It could earn us at least an extra $375 an hour It will pay back its cost very quickly ”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Stourton Forestry Top Yard Farm Baumber Horncastle Lincolnshire UK LN9 5PB ph 011 44 1636-674863; antony strawson@stourtons co uk; www stourtonforestry co uk

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