Fryer's Forest Timber & Firewood

FRYERS FOREST SUSTAINABLE FORESTY
The common land at the Fryers Forest Community is being husbanded to encourage the growth of larger retained trees by thinning smaller and stunted trees. This provides yields of firewood and durable post and pole timbers. Wood is sold from the property to customers in the central Victorian and Melbourne region as part of a long term sustainable management which will improve both the ecological and timber assets values of the community land.

ROUND TIMBER CHARACTERISTICS
AND USES

SPECIES

DURABILITY
The box species are all "class one" durability. Consequently they are suitable for use in the ground with a resistance to termites and decay at least equivalent to treated pine. (Pine is treated with Copper chrome arsenate, a toxic preservative which will be progressively phased out of use in Australia over the next decade)

Durability of box species will vary somewhat. Red Box is generally the most durable and Yellow Box the least. However, species is less important than the age and speed of growth. Slow grown trees (larger or small suppressed stems from rocky upper slopes will be most durable. Fast, young growth from lower moist sites much less so. Much of the current harvest is 20 year old regrowth so is not as durable as posts cut from larger trees which have survived termites and fungal decay in local conditions for 80-100 years.

Red Stringybark is only moderately durable (class 3) but is ideal for above ground construction. In colder areas (Woodend to Daylesford) where termites are relatively inactive it is suitable for in-ground uses. Termite piping in living red stringy trees is common. Poles with this defect still retain most of their strength and durability for above ground use as rails and are also being trialed at Hepburn Permaculture Gardens as half rounds for bridge decking.

The sapwood (an outer band of 5-20 mm of living wood, which like all hardwoods, will decay in contact with the ground over 5-15 years. For posts in the ground sapwood should be removed to just above ground level. Alternatively it can be treated. Boron fluoride "chalk sticks" inserted into diagonal drilled holes is the least toxic preservative available .Charring of sapwood in a fire is reputed to give substantially increased durability .

For above ground timber susceptibility to lyctus borer can be important. This borer only attacks sapwood of hardwoods. Yellow Box is less susceptible than Grey or Red. Debarked Fryers Forest timber is painted with 2% Borax solution, a low toxcity treatments against Lyctus borer. This reduces the likelihood of secondary fungal attack of sapwood or annoying borer dust in interior construction. In exposed above ground conditions, borax treated sapwood can be expected to last for several decades

STRENGTH
Roundwood is generally much stronger than sawn timber because the integrity of the wood fibres. Although a cylindrical section does not make an ideal beam, a round pole will generally be stronger than a sawn beam of equivalent weight and volume.

Grey Box and Red Box are very strong species (strength group two) while Yellow Box and Red Stringybark are strength group three (same as Messmate the main structural timber from the Wombat Forest). For comparison Radiata pine is strength group 6).

All timbers increase in stiffness on drying. Stiffness is the primary attribute taken into consideration is classing timber for building purposes under the 'F' rating system.

Roundwood can be assumed to be at least as strong as number one grade structural timber (straight grained and free of defect) For green Grey and Red Box the rating is F22. Dried, these species increase in stiffness to F34. Yellow Box and Red Stringybark do not increase in stiffness as much. (F17 to F22). For comparison, most sawn pine is F5 and local green sawn hardwood F8 while kiln dried hardwood is F17 to F22.

How long poles take to dry adequately to gain these increases in stiffness is still being researched at Fryers Forest but at this stage 1 year should be allowed for small diameter spars and longer for large poles.

For use as posts, all box species have a high resistance to impact making it ideal for gate posts, stock yards, barn poles, vine yard end assemblies or anywhere where vehicles or heavy livestock pressure occur. This is one of the key limitations of treated pine which becomes increasingly brittle with age.

Fryers Forest round poles and rails have been used in a bridge guard rail engineered to withstand 100kph vehicle impacts.

WEIGHT
Box timbers are very heavy (1200-1300 kg/m3 when green) and do not reduce in weight much on air drying ( 1100 kg/m3). Red Stringybark is about 1100 kg/m3 green and dried is 900 kg/m3 making it the only local species light enough to float in water. Weight of timber should be taken into consideration when designing and ordering timber.

STRAIGHTNESS
Box species are rarely straight or cylindrical in section over long lengths but coppice poles from Fryers Forest are at least as good as any available in Central Victoria. Red Stringybark is much straighter and more regular in section than the boxes.

NATURAL AESTHETICS
Machine debarked green treated pine is increasingly being seen as an industrial material. Apart from being free of any preservatives, debarked Fryers Forest timber has an irregular but smooth splinter free surface which is aesthetically pleasing for feature poles in house , veranda and pergola construction. Although the irregular form can make construction more labour intensive it is the perfect complement to stone and earth building materials. while some irregularities can be used as features (e.g. Y tops).

Cracking or surface checking will occur as the timber dries. In some fast grown box major fissures can be a problem but generally a network of fine cracks is more common. Poles from slow grown timber cut in winter can be free of cracks.

FIRE RESISTANCE
The smooth surface of debarked poles combined with the high temperature required for ignition and the slow burning rate give Fryers Forest box timber a high fire resistance especially in comparison with treated pine or even sawn hardwood. This has obvious advantages in fencing but in exposed structural building construction in farm and residential building could make the difference between complete collapse and survival of the building in a major internal or bush fire.

ELECTRIC FENCING
The high impact resistance and high density of Fryers Forest box timber make it suitable for small section self insulating posts similar to Insultimber marketed by Gallagher Electric Fence Systems. Timber must be dried to be effective but once dry box wood does not significantly reabsorb moisture. Round timber can be used but useful life would be limited to that of sapwood durability unless this is cut off on a face used for fixing wires. Initial trials with slow grown high density small diameter Red Box (from stony ridges ast Fryers Forest) has proved as effective as Insultimber in electric tree guards against goat browsing at Hepburn Permaculture Gardens .

SUSTAINABILITY
All timber is harvested at the Fryers Forest Eco-village from regrowth forest as part of a thinning program to create an open forest of retained trees. This management is guided by a Land Management Plan reflecting permaculture principles of sustainable landuse and has been approved by the Mt Alexander Shire under the State Code of Forest Practice. Best practice environmental standards are used in felling, processing and moving timber on the property. The scale of all operations is small and closely monitored by resients of the Eco-village. Over time it is intended that Fryers Forest will serve as a model of scale scale labour intensive and environmentally sensitive private forestry.

Footnote1: Patented Boron fluoride pole preservative produced by Preschem Pty Ltd Cheltenham Vic

Footnote 2: See Bootle, K.R. Wood In Australia :Types Properties and Uses McGraw Hill 1983

Footnote 3: See Bootle

Footnote 4: David Holmgren co-originator of the Permaculture concept and designer of Fryers Forest Eco Village and Land Management Plan plays a central role in the forest management and harvesting.

  

ROUND TIMBER PRICE LIST
Prices are for straight (by box forest standards) with all side branches trimmed flush, none bigger than 20% diameter.

Specials available at same prices with Y tops for posts carrying large beam poles.

Discounted prices for bends, pipe faults, major surface defects and large branch stubs.

Prices in dollars for both bark retained/debarked round timber collected from the wood yard at Fryers Forest

Debarked poles are painted with a clear borax solution against lyctus borer and end sealed with log grease to reduce cracking during drying.

Sizes are by small end diameter. Large end diameter may be 10-25% larger depending on length. For poles in the ground with sapwood removed this larger diameter at the butt can ensure adequate cross section for long term durability.

On a cubic metre basis prices vary significantly to reflect the rarity and use value of the item

Prices marked in bold are only indicative with individual poles measured for an accurate price

LENGTH   -------------------   SMALL END DIA.	>1.8m	>2.1m	>2.4m	>3.0m	>3.6m	>4.2m	>4.8m	>5.4m	>6.0m
>75mm	3.00 5.00	4.00 6.00	5.00 8.00	7.00 10.00	10.00 15.00	14.00 19.00	19.00 25.00	25.00 32.00	32.00 40.00
>100mm	4.50 7.00	5.00 8.00	6.50 10.00	10.00 15.00	15.00 20.00	22.00 27.00	30.00 37.00	38.00 45.00	47.00 55.00
>125mm	7.00 10.00	8.00 11.00	11.00 14.00	17.00 22.00	22.00 27.00	30.00 37.00	39.00 46.00	48.00 55.00	58.00 68.00
>150mm	11.00 15.00	13.00 18.00	18.00 22.00	25.00 30.00	34.00 39.00	45.00 52.00	57.00 64.00	70.00 77.00	84.00 94.00
>175mm	15.00 19.00	19.00 24.00	25.00 30.00	35.00 40.00	45.00 50.00	55.00 62.00	68.00 76.00	85.00 95.00	100.00 110.00
>200mm	19.00 24.00	25.00 30.00	32.00 38.00	45.00 50.00	60.00 65.00	75.00 82.00	90.00 98.00	110.00 120.00	130.00 140.00
>225mm	24.00 30.00	31.00 37.00	40.00 46.00	55.00 61.00	70.00 77.00	90.00 98.00	110.00 120.00	135.00 143.00	155.00 165.00
>250mm	28.00 34.00	40.00 46.00	50.00 56.00	65.00 72.00	80.00 88.00	102.00 110.00	125.00 135.00	150.00 160.00	170.00 180.00

FIREWOOD PRICES

• cut to 300mm and split suitable for combustion stoves
• air dried for over 12 months

Box species: $70/cubic metre (loose volume) at the Fryers Forest woodyard.
Stringy bark and Apple box: $50/cubic metre at the Fryers Forest woodyard.