Commercial production of chopped firewood

The aim of the reseach project was to improve the competitiveness of chopped firewood by producing information that can help to reduce production and distribution costs as well as increase the quality of chopped firewood produced. The sub-project 'New logistics solutions for the chopped firewood production process' studied current production and distribution efficiency of commerical chopped firewood and tried to find cost saving methods. The sub-project 'The current situation of the firewood trade in Europe' surveyed firewood trade volumes, operational methods and the firewood production equipment found on sale in European countries. Information about the chopped firewood trade and chopping device market was for the most part an estimate. This is because there is no research and statistical information available. Indicative information was obtained from Denmark, Germany, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Finland. The sub-project 'Productivity, costs and development targets of new chopped firewood machines' researched ten new firewood processing devices suitable for professional and domestic use by means of work-study methods. The research studied productivity and chopping costs, and analysed the quality of chopped firewood manufactured by the firewood processing devices. It also analysed the occupational safety and ergonomics of chopping work and suggestions were made for the device manufacturers on how to develop chopping devices. Sub-project 'The artificial drying and storage management for chopped firewood' carried out field tests on different types of cold and warm air dryers being used by chopped firewood entrepreneurs. The aim was to find the most promising dryer type according to its cost and operating efficiency. In addition, the suitability of resistance based electronic wood moisture meter for measuring the moisture content of single chopped firewood pieces was also studied. (orig.)