Beer Money Firewood Set-up

[Luckyeleven]

I'll shortly be moving somewhere with bit of land, and I'll be installing a log boiler to make use of unwanted timber from jobs.

I'm thinking of using the extra space and trailer/equipment to process and sell a few cube of arb arisings on the side, mainly for beer money and occupation as I don't tend to work much more than 3 days a week at the moment.

 

The questions really are;

1. Does the going rate of around 200€ a cord (seasoned oak/beech) allow any margin for profit?

2. What would be the best way of going about it without a load of machinery? Loose trailer loads? Vented barrow bags? 

 

Any thoughts / ideas appreciated 

Cheers

[Alycidon]

Unless you are getting your cord very cheap there has not been a lot of money in logs when you take your time and delivery costs into consideration.   

 

Most of my customers now take stacked crates that I buy in from Europe,  however some want smaller quantities so I break some crates into smaller bags.  I have very few customers who only want barrow bags,  but with little in the way of handling gear its probably worth thinking about,  but,  you dont get maybe half your bags back,  and after a year or two they give up the ghost due to UV sunlight.   I had one fail last night and dumped its contents on teh customers garage floor,  that could have bene far worse.  

 

Check your local competition for prices,  then you will have a better idea.  Be aware that the tax man is onto people advertising logs.

 

A

[benedmonds]

If its beer money, just use an axe on "free" arb arisings..

[Luckyeleven]

yea it will be arb arisings from my company that I will have charged to cart away so the front line cost of cord will be covered.

my maths makes it around 15 barrow bags to the cord, the price of bags alone soon adds up....

[Luckyeleven]

is poly strapping a viable solution? or will the seasoning cause too much shrinkage and make them useless?

[djbobbins]

Unless you have got a loader / telehandler / similar equipment already, I would have thought it needs to be either barrow bags or loose trailer loads.

As far as splitting and storage are concerned:

- a few pallets for a base plus either more pallets or HERAS panels for edges then tarps and weights to keep the rain off
- depends on how much volume you want to do and how much time you want to spend on it. If you are going to start only doing a few cube per year then a decent splitting axe (Fiskars X27?) will be a nice place to start. You could then upgrade to a splitter - it'll depend on whether you have got an electricity supply, also situation with neighbours, as to which way to go.

[Mick Dempsey]

Speaking as someone who comes from further south, I can only say that competing against farmers with their own woods, tax deductible tractors, processors etc. plus the space to store I reckon you’re up against it.

 

The only answer may be small logs, smaller quantities, quick deliveries. Many log burners only take 30 cm or less, and many only deliver in 1mtr lengths, lots of peeps don’t want to cut up their wood.

 

Just my thoughts.

[benedmonds]

18 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

Speaking as someone who comes from further south, I can only say that competing against farmers with their own woods, tax deductible tractors, processors etc. plus the space to store I reckon you’re up against it.

 

The OP doesn't need anything tax deductible except an axe.. Split the wood yourself whenever you get a spare hour.  Leave it to season for 2 years, don't spend any money, sell small quantities (sacks possibly barrow bags) at a relatively high price to local people. Hand ball everything.  How much "beer money" do you need.

Edited March 4, 2018 by benedmonds

[Stere]

 

200euro a cord?

 

Cord is  a US measurement

 

In the UK its sold loose by the hilux back,  builder merchant dumpy bag,transit tipper or ivor trailer "measured" load volume.

 

Edited March 4, 2018 by Stere

[Luckyeleven]

http://zurrbind.de/epages/b9928fb7-d64f-4636-a2b3-48fcacdab713.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/b9928fb7-d64f-4636-a2b3-48fcacdab713/Categories/"So funktioniert´s"

 

This system looks a winner to me, I can simply roll the packages onto and off my trailer saving loads of time.

I'll have the space no doubt and I'll be doing a certain amount for my own use anyway so thought why not just do as much as possible and sell the remainder? The ruthless business man in me thought it may be an idea to only sell late in the season.....when normal sources have been exhausted.