McCauley Wood Fuels is owned and run by father and son team Brian and Kenny McCauley in Mohill, Co Leitrim. Brian started out cutting garden hedges which worked well during the summer months but slowed up over the wet winter days.
McCauley Wood Fuels is owned and run by father and son team Brian and Kenny McCauley in Mohill, Co Leitrim.
Brian started out cutting garden hedges which worked well during the summer months but slowed up over the wet winter days.
300hp Case IH Magnum chips away in Leitrim.
To keep himself and his workman busy over the winter, he bought a Pallex timber processor and his first load of timber.
The processor took in lengths of timber, cut them and split them uniformly. All the timber was bagged and sold locally. This process is still a part of the business today.
Different size screens determine the size of the chip.
Over time, stacks of timber that were either too large or not suitable for the processor began building up. Kenny, Brian’s son, suggested chipping this timber.
So a Heizohack 4-300 chipper was bought in 2009 and was used for nine years, driven by a Case IH MX 170 and Kesla crane.
Over the nine years the McCauleys found an increasing demand for chipped timber for burning in power plants, factories and in the poultry industry.
The majority of the timber chipped goes for burning in power stations and large boilers.
As the annual tonnage being chipped increased, the father and son team needed a larger-capacity chipper.
Having looked at multiple chipper brands both here and in the UK in 2017, Kesla stood out. Kenny liked how the Finnish manufacturer made the crane, chipper and chassis itself.
Other brands only make the chipper unit and buy in the chassis or crane, for example. Kenny felt the Kesla system was built so that crane and chipper complemented each other.
The chipper is fitted with a 570mm drum which is fitted with six knives.
The heavy-duty construction of the chipper, especially around the chipping drum which is built with 25mm thick steel, reassured Kenny that the chipper was built to last.
The overall liking for the brand swayed the lads into buying a Kesla machine.
The older chipping outfit consisted of a Heizohack 4-300 chipper and Case Ih MX 170.
Brian and Kenny opted for the C645T-II model which arrived in March 2018.
Its modular design made it easier to spec the machine to suit customer needs, so they went for the 305T 8.9m crane and the shortened chassis which sees the chipper unit seated directly on the tandem axles.
Kenny said this gave him a more compact unit with increased height which is needed for blowing into high trailers.
The Kesla C645T-II has its own onboard hydraulic system for powering the chippers intake rollers, jacks and chute.
He opted to spec the chipper with an autogreaser that greases both the crane and the chipper.
He also opted for a camera on the spout to see into tall trailers from the cab, which he said is a great feature.
One thing Kenny would change in hindsight would be to go for a larger-capacity hydraulic pump on the chipper.
The tractor's pto drives the far lower pulley, which further distributes the power to the other pulleys.
The C645T-II is pto-driven. A pulley system powers the chipper unit and a hydraulic pump controlling its feed rollers and chute.
The crane system oil supply is taken from the tractor’s load-sensing hydraulics, which Kenny said is optional and can be set up to run off the chipper’s own pump.
The chipper unit has the same operating principle as a forage harvester. The drum rotates at 800rpm and is driven by the main pulley rotating at 1,000rpm.
There are two shear bars in the chipping drum along with interchangeable screens (30mm, 50mm, 75mm). These screens determine the size of the chip.
Two horizontal augers rotating proportional to the chipping drum transfer the chipped timber to the blower unit, which consists of four paddles that send the chip up the chute.
The chipper has an intake opening of 600 x 450mm.
In 2017, plans to move to the bigger chipper meant more hp was required. Having owned Case IH tractors and being particularly fond of their engines, Kenny had a good idea what he wanted.
The opportunity came up to purchase a 2009 Magnum 310 with only 2,500 hours on the clock.
The Magnum has a 8.9L FPT engine churning out 310hp boosting to 345hp. Kenny said the Kesla chipper requires in the region of 280hp, so his Magnum runs it comfortably.
Kenny installed an additional engine temperature gauge which is visible once the tractor seat is rotated and facing the chipper as he was initially afraid the tractor may get a little hot running for hours in a stationary position.
He noted how the Magnum never overheated, with its large cooling pack doing an impressive job. Running the chipper at 1,000rpm the tractor burns 50l/hr of diesel on average, according to Kenny.
The large rear window leaves good visibilty when operating the chipper.
When chipping, the seat is turned to face out the rear window. From here the whole process is controlled.
Two joysticks, three foot pedals and a touchscreen terminal control the functions. Kenny can adjust the chipping drum rpm at which the infeed conveyor will stop and allow the chipper to process what’s in the drum before it begins to feed in again.
He can control his conveyor speed from the terminal also. Foot pedals control the opening distance of the in feed roller and reverse of the conveyor.
The business
The McCauleys chip in excess of 10,000t of timber annually, with the capacity to increase this. Roughly 7,500t of this is what’s known as fresh timber.
With a typical moisture content of 45-50%, this timber enters the yard and is chipped straight away.
The McCauleys chip over 10,000t of timber annually.
The remaining 2,500t has a moisture content of 25-30%. This timber is left in the yard to season for up to 12 months, drying out naturally.
Kenny operates the chipper alongside his day job, usually spending up to 12 hours on the chipper at the weekends. The Kesla C645T-II will easily fill an artic lorry load in 45 minutes, roughly 35t/hr depending on the timber and screen size.
The chipper folds up compactly for transport.
Naturally enough, the drier chippings command a higher price, although larger burners can deal with wetter chip. Brian and Kenny organise the haulage of chipped timber, with several loads often leaving the yard daily.
Kenny sees the business growing given the recent introduction of the Support Scheme for Renewable Heat (SSRH), whereby the Government will support the adoption of renewable heating sources such as biomass boilers.
The chipper is built by Kesla, a Finnish forestry equipment manufacturer.
Kesla is a family-owned company established in Finland in 1960 that makes forestry and material handling equipment.
It employs more than 242 people. Kesla has three core areas of operation – tractor equipment, harvesting machinery, and vehicle-mounted and industrial cranes.
The spec
Model: Kesla C645T-II
Weight: 8,200kg
Power requirement: 240-280hp
Drum diameter: 570mm
Intake opening: 600 x 450mm
Height of chute: 5.3m
Crane reach: 8.9m
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