To get fuel every year from a coppice, divide the woodland into as many equal sections, called coupes, as the rotation has years, and cut one a year. A 10-year rotation therefore needs 10 coupes, and each coupe of a 2-hectare wood covers 0.2 hectares and has 10 years to regrow before its next cut.
Part of Coppicing & Fuel Management
How to plan a coppice rotation: choosing the cycle length, dividing the woodland into coupes and checking the yield.
The Planning Rule
If each stool needs R years to regrow, and you want some wood every year, you need R coupes. Every year one coupe is cut, and each coupe has R years to grow back. With a woodland of area A, each coupe is A ÷ R. This is the parent article’s logic: a 10-year rotation with 10 coupes cuts one per year.
Worked Example: The Parent’s Small Wood
Inputs: A = 2 ha; rotation R = 10 years; mixed ash and hazel.
- Coupes needed = 10.
- Area of each = 2 ÷ 10 = 0.2 ha = 2,000 m² (for instance 40 m × 50 m).
- Cut one coupe a year; each has 10 years to regrow.
The parent adds that each coupe yields about 4-6 tonnes of air-dried wood, so 4-6 tonnes a year for 2 ha, enough for one or two households. That works out at 4 ÷ 0.2 = 20 to 6 ÷ 0.2 = 30 tonnes a hectare per cut, or 2-3 tonnes a hectare a year over the 10 years. It is lower than the parent’s own yield list for hazel and ash (3-5 and 4-7 tonnes a hectare a year); the next articles (Yield Calculations, Acreage Requirements) show what that does to the acreage.
Method
Step 1: Choose species and rotation (Species Selection, Cutting Cycles).
Step 2: Divide the wood into R coupes of roughly equal area (Coupe Layout & Mapping).
Step 3: Number the coupes in cutting order and write the year each was last cut.
Step 4: Cut one a year, in the dormant season.
Step 5: Measure the wood each coupe gives and replace the yield estimate with your own.
Common Mistakes
- Fewer coupes than years. Stools are cut before they have regrown.
- Unequal coupes. The supply swings from year to year.
- Planning without a start-up gap. A new coppice has no fuel for years; bridge with other fuels (Combining with Other Fuels).
Safety
Plan the cutting around people and animals
A coupe being cut is a work zone: keep walkers and livestock out, and mark the boundary. Only one cutting team in a coupe at a time, with clear space between workers.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Cutting Cycles — fitting the rotation to the species
- Combine with: Coupe Layout & Mapping — drawing the plan