Is it worth it?

[firewood]

it may be a good thing just selling hardwood logs but think of the posibilitys with softwood..

imagine if you only did one wood of the other,,, and a customer asks for softwood.. (sorry sir i dont sell it) thats all £££££ lost..

advisable not to burn your bridges at both ends...

i think softwoods a good burner and seller...

1000 softwood nets a month going out + kindling, softwood cant be that bad..

just keep your options open:thumbup:

 

 

 

 

you have to be flexible and keep your options open

[firewood]

I don't want to run down the poor yuppies but i got called out to some last week to show them how to light the wood burner as they could not. A week later and they still can't get it going. I am taking them some firewood this week it will go then:thumbup:

 

Well im sure if they asked you too manage there share portfolio you whould know what to do?

 

 

Yes we all would!!!

 

A chimp with a pin and a copy of the Financial Times share prices can match the investment performance of 95% of investment managers:

 

see here: Of astrologers, experts and random stock picks

 

[Mike Hill]

Over here the people that burn Firewood prefer Birch.Its traditional,dries fast and dosn't Coke up the Chimney's as much as Pine or Spruce.Most of the wood stoves have small diameter Chimney's that can contain some pretty absurd angles.

 

Birch is the dearest wood to buy,thats more to do with demand rather than quality.Most of the Firewood is Trucked in from Lativa or Estonia as its more cost effective than producing it locally.The quality of the Wood is pretty poor,its normally small diameter stems split in two.The moistier content is also pretty dubious.

 

The cheapest wood in town is green Spruce,it sells for about £4 a bag and the guy can't keep in stock.We have dropped off 20 ton or more of logs to him this year alone.The low price is peoples motivation to buy his product.

 

We are going to sell Firewood on a limited basis next year.We will sell Ash,Sycamore and Maple.We hope that the higher quality product sold at the same price as Birch will prove popular.If we could sell just Birch then we would,however most people keep that.

[Quickthorn]

Do you think it is possible to make a full time living from doing logs?

 

At the moment, yes..but so many people are jumping into it now, thinking they are going to make a fortune..

 

In the future, margins will be a lot thinner, so the only outfits that will make money will be the ones turning round huge volumes. My 2p.

[Joy Yeomans]

At the moment, yes..but so many people are jumping into it now, thinking they are going to make a fortune..

 

In the future, margins will be a lot thinner, so the only outfits that will make money will be the ones turning round huge volumes. My 2p.

 

 

to get back to the thread - I agree with quickthorn - its going to get difficult - and also if you only sell hardwood - where are you going to get it after all the thinnings and other bits harvested? - there will soon come a time when you wont be able to buy hardwood to turn into firewood it will be uneconomic surely - demand will outstrip supply - we have to fell all our own so we have 1,000 of tonnes from FC - but what about the companies who buy in? youll have to go down the softwood route - but softwood isnt a swear word - thats all I and family burn - the stuff the customer doesnt want! the stove sellers and internet experts have alot to answer for - true old fashioned firewood burners know any wood is good - I have to cook on my stove and heat our house, I try and explain to customers but it is difficult -

 

back to thread, margins will be tight and some will fall by the wayside, only tree surgeons selling their arisings and foresters selling their own produce and firewood merchants will have to sell mix loads or softwood in a few years time

 

thats my opinion anyway!

[Michael C]

Well i do have a lovely "pine" table

 

You could also have bought an oak table for sustantially more money.

 

Whether its tables, firewood or indeed anything, choice is good

[Mesterh]

I only sell hardwood but that is ONLY because I dont have a yard big enough to store both and keep them separate.

 

Ideally I would sell both either mixed or separate, sell the hardwood at a higher price and watch how quickly the softwood would sell

[skyhuck]

IME, a boom in some thing is NOT a good thing, as lots of people jump on the bandwagon and drive down prices.

 

In a previous life me and my dad had a bike shop, we were doing OK, then mountain bikes appeared on the scene, we thought great this will increase trade nicely.

 

How wrong we were, lots of other shops in our town started selling MB's and other cycle stuff and the mail order firms went into it big time, our profits fell.

[firewoodman]

i could be the only one on here who just does firewood and nothing else,( correct me if wrong) so yes it is possible.

 

but

 

i sell everything, no matter the tree species, it is turned into firewood.

 

why? better to get heat out of it than to have it roting away in land fill or have a massive pile of wood chip.

 

this year i am really pushing softwood, i have to as hardwood is very difficult to get now (the bandwagon syndrome) and i have customers coming back for more as they cant tell the difference

 

SAM i dont sell anything without trying it first, just like a chef tastes the food it cooks before serving, and if i am given somthing new, then i try it,

there is no room for negitivity with this.

 

if we carry on like we are we will run out of hardwoods and go the way of the Easter island tribes and the Mayans.

 

wood is valuable, utalise it and dont waste it, it can all be burnt, so use it.

 

SAM, i started off like you on only the best......then "I" got "educated"....larch dude, try it

[samtheman365]

Ithink i will process all my hardwood then get some softwood in and see what happens