…such as this little number which is a tipper for bulk loads as well as having a hoist to lift in bulk bags. As you can see, it’s just perfect for getting into tight spaces when delivering firewood.
Category: timber treatment centre
Our permanent war on waste
Here at Ransfords we ensure that no part of the timber taken into our yards (often from our own forests) is wasted. If any of the timber isn’t good enough to be cut as Great British Timber because of damage or its size we leave it to dry then chip it to run the boilers… Read more »
Bishop’s Castle timber for a Bishop’s Castle school
Bishop’s Castle Community College is one of our home town’s most important assets and one which as a business we’ve been pleased to support over the years. Many of the team who work at the Mill attended the school, as have their children and in some cases grandchildren. We were especially pleased to help… Read more »
There’s tidy for you
Many of our customers never get the chance to visit the mill (although those that do always enjoy the experience) so we like to post pictures from time to time to show how things are. These shots were taken from a cherry picker undertaking some maintenance work, Above we see the area around our Timber… Read more »
When the cobbler’s busy…
…his childrens’ shoes have holes in them. It’s the same for us with fencing: we’ve been so busy making acoustic fencing panels for customers that it has taken us literally weeks to finally get round to making and installing the final section of fencing round our new Timber Treatment Centre. The fencing is designed to… Read more »
The finished colour of treated timber
We’re often asked about the different colours of treated timber and these two packs illustrate things nicely. The posts in the two packs are of the same timber cut the same day but treated two weeks apart. The pack on the left goes a warm honey colour in the sun exactly as it is supposed… Read more »
Within sight of our sawmill and home town
Here’s another sight to lift the spirits. It’s taken at Bury Ditches, home to one of the best-preserved hill forts in the country which dates from around 500BC. It’s located within sight of the mill, deep in the beautiful Shropshire hills. Bishop’s Castle and the Mill are at bottom left, then following the hills round… Read more »
Lovely morning, lovely load!
Maybe we should get out more but some days just start perfectly: a cracking, bright frosty morning here in Bishop’s Castle and a trailer load of treated timber ready to leave us for the customer. What more could anyone ask for?
Air dried Larch
Here’s another benefit to increased storage capacity at our mill: 3.6m larch boards kept in the dry ready and waiting for swift delivery. Larch of course is incredibly durable and has become very popular for use as cladding as well as being a traditional material for fencing. Delivered in bundles of 160, there’s plenty more… Read more »
A picture perfect acoustic installation
As the very last of the concrete storage area around our Timber Treatment Centre is poured (above) we’re cracking on with the installation of the acoustic fencing barrier which will reduce noise which might drift over from our long-established sawmill to the relatively new homes nearby. Panels like these are used throughout the UK near… Read more »
Investment continues apace at our Bishop’s Castle sawmill with timber drying timber
We’ve just completed an upgrade on our kiln (pictured here) which included changing the heat source from electricity to biomass. The fuel is woodchips which come from the flare at the base of the logs which is removed at the very start of the milling process to allow the log to go into the mill… Read more »
No post-brexit supply log-jams with Great British Timber from Ransfords
Even now the exact terms on which the UK will be leaving the EU are still unclear, so there’s a great deal of uncertainty about delays to imported supplies of a whole host of goods including timber. Great British Timber from Ransfords is grown here, felled here, and milled here so there will be no… Read more »
Look what we did
There aren’t many sawmills with the skills and ability let alone the willingness to cut posts like this: 200mm square post with a tenon cut at 100mm square. The mortise is in the support for the roof of a car port so precision was the order of the day. Whilst most of our production is… Read more »
It’s all about teamwork
One of the features of our business is the close relationships we have with other family businesses in the area. One such is David Ford Transport Services who regularly haul logs from the forest to us and finished product from us to the customer. When things get busy we’re not averse to using our Terberg… Read more »
Strength in numbers
Our mill is laid out in such a way that unnecessary movement of product is avoided. The material flows from one stage to another in the most efficient way possible. Of course some movement is unavoidable and, in the end, trailers have to be loaded for the despatch of finished product. These three beauties join… Read more »
500th load goes through our new Timber Treatment Centre
Less than 6 months since it became fully operational, this is the 500th load of timber being sent into our new fully automated Timber Treatment Centre, one of the most advanced of its kind in the UK. Built at a cost of £2.75 million, the new facility has dramatically increased the efficiency of our treatment… Read more »
Independence day? We have our own anniversary to celebrate!
It is 41 years to the day since the Evans Family of Bishop’s Castle stepped in to save the sawmill from bankruptcy. Alan Evans and his older brother Brian bought the mill for just £100 but along with the mill came £1.5 million of debts to the bank and trade creditors. Every penny of that… Read more »
A closer look inside our new Timber Treatment Centre
This sequence shows untreated timber being loaded outside the new Centre then being moved across the floor towards the autoclave. As the untreated timber enters the autoclave a treated load which has been ejected earlier and left to drain is moved back across the floor to exit and then be stacked prior to delivery to the… Read more »
The forestry century
This year sees the centenary of the passing of the first Forestry Act which established the Forestry Commission and, in the immediate aftermath of the First World War, recognised the strategic importance of forestry and home grown timber. Confor will be marking the centenary throughout the year and has produced this logo to mark it…. Read more »
Beating those dreary wet winter Sunday blues
We’ve all experienced those dreary wet winter Sundays which seem to stretch on for ever. Our Operations Director beat one like that yesterday by visiting our forestry holding near Aberhosan which we are currently harvesting with MG Harvesting and Euroforest. The rain stopped just long enough to take these pictures.. and then down it came again. Even… Read more »