Importing firewood

[Compost Charlie]

Good morning guys, I've finally plucked up the courage to ask a question after many years of viewing the forum from afar. 

My stocks of dry firewood are running low and I have noticed that people are starting to import firewood from the baltics and Eastern Europe. I'm pretty green about this subject so I'd like some friendly advice on importing and suppliers which are legitimate. I looked on the Internet and it was pretty overwhelming the amount of suppliers looking for business. 

Many thanks in advance for your help 

Cheers ? 

[bigbaddom]

Hello Compost Charlie

 

I would say don't import at all - burning wood is sort of carbon neutral only if you're using a local source otherwise the energy involved in shipping firewood means you're producing more CO2 than necessary. Ie. its no longer a green source of energy. Apparently the coal/biomass power station Drax, which is a huge power station, is importing American and Canadian woodchip as fuel - it boggles belief the way the powers that be are trying to fool us that we are going green. 

 

Get your wood nice and local no matter how crazily "cheap" and "green" importing appears to be.

[MattyF]

In my opinion it’s unethical, there are no guarantees about its sources and with vast swathes of Eastern Europe’s last primeval forests disappearing to meet our demands for timber I would not support any one selling it unless they could one hundred percent guarantee it came from renewable sources.

[MattyF]

In my opinion it’s unethical, there are no guarantees about its sources and with vast swathes of Eastern Europe’s last primeval forests disappearing to meet our demands for timber I would not support any one selling it unless they could one hundred percent guarantee it came from renewable sources.

[Rough Hewn]

Yep. Go local.
For all the above reasons.
[emoji106]

[BowlandStoves]

Its a shame that after years of hovering on the side lines you decide to post on a topic which many people have strong opinions about. There is a huge push to go "green" as we all know and importing wood might be seen to play into the hands of those who continue to criticise stoves as enivornmentally unfriendly.

 

The truth is that no combustion process is ever fully green but putting stoves (often 80%+ efficient) in the same category as open fires (max 30% efficient) seems bizarre to say the least.

 

I noticed during the election that ALL political parties promised to plant literally millions of trees in the UK going forwards. While the new stock will take some time to mature, there is still more than enough wood supply in the UK to go around. I think I read somewhere that the UK also exports wood which is strange when we also import to fulfil our own demand. Its a strange world that we live in!

[Alycidon]

On 21/01/2020 at 09:17, Compost Charlie said:

Good morning guys, I've finally plucked up the courage to ask a question after many years of viewing the forum from afar. 

My stocks of dry firewood are running low and I have noticed that people are starting to import firewood from the baltics and Eastern Europe. I'm pretty green about this subject so I'd like some friendly advice on importing and suppliers which are legitimate. I looked on the Internet and it was pretty overwhelming the amount of suppliers looking for business. 

Many thanks in advance for your help 

Cheers ? 

Several of us here import from Latvia and Lithuania, I was forced to as I am unable to source decent timber in the UK,  must have ordered 500 tonnes over the last few years and none has ever turned up.      I would strongly advise that you seek references for anyone you are looking at using as there are a lot of crooks sending wet wood, only part of a container etc and as its paid for in advance then you are stuffed.    What I would say is that a 40 foot container is usually 24.5 tonnes, and you have 3 hours to unload it before fines start kicking in,   so you need handling equipment and a concrete yard,  crates are 8 foot high,  on a telehandler they will topple off the forks on less than flat concrete. so ideally a telehandler and someone who is competent at using it.   Prices at this time of year ( High season) are about 10 Euros a crate higher than if you buy it in May/june.  If you need a name pm me.  But with a mild winter and maybe 6 weeks left do you really want around 20 tonnes sitting around until October ?.

 

A

[Alycidon]

On 30/01/2020 at 15:32, BowlandStoves said:

I

 

I noticed during the election that ALL political parties promised to plant literally millions of trees in the UK going forwards. While the new stock will take some time to mature, there is still more than enough wood supply in the UK to go around. I think I read somewhere that the UK also exports wood which is strange when we also import to fulfil our own demand. Its a strange world that we live in!

So many trees that it would be impossible to plant that amount in the time scale promised, and where is the land coming from to put them on ?.  We already have more trees than at anytime since the 1400s.      My issue is being able to source suitable cord at sensible price levels,  it all goes for chip.  Since my supplier packed up  6 or 7 years ago I have ordered cord in 100 ton batches from 5 or 6 suppliers, all assured me they had ideal stock yet not a single stick has ever appeared,  none.    So rather than upgrading my processor etc to take 400mm plus stuff I imported instead but still sell some seasoned timber that comes from the family farm and farms next door, usually storm damaged timber. 

 

A

[CutterSy]

I was forced to as I am unable to source decent timber in the UK, 

Really?!
Everyone is cutting 1000s on tons of Ash each year. We are having a mild winter as you say. There seems to be plenty around, where are you based?

[trigger_andy]

15 hours ago, CutterSy said:

 

Really?!
Everyone is cutting 1000s on tons of Ash each year. We are having a mild winter as you say. There seems to be plenty around, where are you based?

 

I think he forgot to add at a price he's willing to pay.