Harvesting idea?

[terrabamboo]

What if.....

you wait until an acre is fully "mature" (let's say from a #15 pot that would be 12 years).

then, you cut the entire acre.

now wait four-five years.

then harvest the entire acre (all the culms are 4 years).

wait four-five more years.

repeat.....


thoughts?

[jd.]

then harvest the entire acre (all the culms are 4 years).

So after year one, you plan to harvest all the shoots for three years straight so all the culms will be the same age?

[terrabamboo]

then harvest the entire acre (all the culms are 4 years).

So after year one, you plan to harvest all the shoots for three years straight so all the culms will be the same age?

ah, ok, I knew there was a hole in my logic.. Right.. years 2,3,4 would muddle things. doh!

[Alan_L]

This is why I mentioned sorting culms after cutting. I think you've got the right idea -- it's just knowing which canes are what age, and having a use for the younger ones so they're not wasted.

[foxd]

This is why I mentioned sorting culms after cutting. I think you've got the right idea -- it's just knowing which canes are what age, and having a use for the younger ones so they're not wasted.

The younger ones could be chopped up, bagged and sold as mulch.

[needmore]

What am I missing, how is it that he will be harvesting year 1 shoots?

And, wouldn't you get the same yield if you cut say 1/4 each year = 1 acre every 4 years?

[terrabamboo]

What am I missing, how is it that he will be harvesting year 1 shoots?

And, wouldn't you get the same yield if you cut say 1/4 each year = 1 acre every 4 years?

I just want to try and come up with a way to 1) not selectively harvest and 2) easily determine the ages of the culms being mechanically processed by a logging machine (maybe by some weight sorter, etc).

[needmore]

If you clear cut a 1/4 acre when mature enough, then the following year it would be obvious where to start cutting the next 1/4 and so on each year, you would easily be able to see where you stopped cutting the prior year. So then the extent of marking would be really to find a point at which you start to cut straight from front to back of the grove and same where you want to stop the clearcut and I think you could eye that up or tie some flagging tape on a culm or two marking the stopping point no? For example start on the leftmost end of the grove, walk off about 1/4 of liner distance of the grove going to your right and mark that, then clear the 1st 1/4 acre you just flagged. Next year start where you left off walk off another 1/4 etc...Am I not thinking correctly about this? I'd do it before shooting season each year and I believe that by the time you got back to the original cut it would be 4 years old again as would the next section the next year.

BTW-I'd research the market for chipped bamboo for bamboo particle/chipboard and see if the market is there yet, I've seen photos of commercial truckbeds and other stuff made from it. If there is a viable market that would eliminate selecting culms for size and minimize drying to some extent, it would also probably be fine to just include all material in a clearcut swath without concern for age/size.

[terrabamboo]

BTW-I'd research the market for chipped bamboo for bamboo particle/chipboard and see if the market is there yet, I've seen photos of commercial truckbeds and other stuff made from it. If there is a viable market that would eliminate selecting culms for size and minimize drying to some extent, it would also probably be fine to just include all material in a clearcut swath without concern for age/size.

I have read that the strength of bamboo really needs to 1) keep its fibers length-wise and 2) "criss cross" layers to an odd number. In a nutshell, just like the typical plywood industry at 3 ply, 5 ply, 7 ply etc. they lay one strand north-south, then another layer west-east, and stack it over and over like that to build its strength. But where bamboo really gets its strength is to keep the fibers as long length-wise as possible. It probably would be serve its purpose by just particle/chipping/compressing/glueing but if you wanted to market a superior plywood and then take the waste and then compress that into particle board for a lesser product, that would be even better!

I am actively looking for an old out of business sawmill to purchase to do this and sell bamboo plywood to the Southeast. My ideal situation would be to get it set up on my piddly 100 acre plot, prove that it works, and then accept bamboo by the $/ton (just like pulp wood) and have a large swath of loggers in the area simply keep on the lookout for stands of bamboo and offer the owners money to harvest the bamboo every year. Just one of many ideas in the hopper at the moment....



Kyle