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.

“We can do up to 25 bags an hour with the Bagwiz,” explains Strawson. “It will pay back its cost very quickly.”