Firewood business ? Could we make it profitable in the first 2 years

[gobbypunk]

You vould always buils your own kiln my mate in Wales used a shipping container not sure how it works we dont talk any more he is totaly hen pecked and me and his old Hag never liked each other

[trigger_andy]

Trigger Andy, the way around the issue is to do what we do, become a registered self supplier, you need to kit yourself up to be able to process store and dry your timber down to below 20% moisture.
It’s costs a fair bit of money to do, but if you have access to a reliable supply of free timber it’s worth it. My out lay was the bio mass boiler and installation, a new steel watertight open fronted structure to store logs in, a telescopic loadall, two wood processors and 200 ibcs.
It’s been burning for over two years and provides heat and hot water for 3 properties.

Sounds like you’ve got a cracking set up! Well jealous.

I can see how what you’ve set up will work when you’re providing heat for three households but bring it will just be for my home I could not justify the huge outlay to emulate what you’ve done.

[MattyF]

Sounds like you’ve got a cracking set up! Well jealous.

I can see how what you’ve set up will work when you’re providing heat for three households but bring it will just be for my home I could not justify the huge outlay to emulate what you’ve done.

Rhi payments will be making more money than the log business on that one!
That’s the thing if you got on a good tarif... missed the boat now though.

[Dan Maynard]

If your barn is rent free then you have potential to run the business on very low overheads part time, personally I would be thinking of start small because you need to build up a customer base. Maybe you can do it as a Saturday job this winter rather than both rely on it for income.

I see three parts: timber source, processing, and selling. People have mentioned the first two, but you also need a good customer base in the local area looking for firewood as you want to minimise time spent driving it around in the van.

I think you need to get started to find out, selling might or might not be your thing. Advertising and word of mouth spreading will probably take several seasons to build up unless you are brilliant at that, in which case just buy in wholesale and move it on.

I am thinking of thevillageidiot, he has a plentiful supply of wood which he splits and dries but chooses to sell wholesale rather than deal with the public and all the delivery. It's not wrong, just a different emphasis on the business.

[trigger_andy]

Rhi payments will be making more money than the log business on that one!
That’s the thing if you got on a good tarif... missed the boat now though.

Having looked into it a bit it seems like the RHI payments for a single home use are not related to fuel consumption. I could be wrong though? It seems like I’d get £12,000 back over 7 years, on a system that would cost £20-23,000.

[arboriculturist]

Don't forget the planning permission for industrial use. Not a pleasant day a year or 2 down the line when the powers that be turn up and start asking questions.

You may be lucky and be granted change of use.

 

You need to be prepared to spend a large part of your life gaining the expertise to produce sub 20% MC Firewood and significantly more investment than you anticipate.

Much easier ways to earn an hugely better income if you are a practical person and like using your hands for example : by moving towards the building trade - Electricians, builders, plumbers 25 - 40 / hr/ day rate  and potential to increase that significantly when eventually you start pricing jobs.

Ever tried getting a decent plumber, heating engineer or an electrician to do a job for you without a long wait.

[the village idiot]

8 hours ago, Dan Maynard said:

I am thinking of thevillageidiot, he has a plentiful supply of wood which he splits and dries but chooses to sell wholesale rather than deal with the public and all the delivery. It's not wrong, just a different emphasis on the business.

This year I have been selling the split firewood green. As soon as we have 50 bags ready to go my buyer arranges a lorry to come and collect. This is a lot more space efficient and means I don't necessarily need covered storage space.

 

If the OP is buying their wood in as cord, wholesale is probably not an option. It would be difficult to turn a profit.

 

Has anyone done the sums on what percentage of their selling price is taken up with the delivery side of things, vehicle/fuel/time?

[topchippyles]

I have a few customers who take a couple of ton a year which is the outside of the trees i mill,Makes up around 15/20 ton a year at most but gets rid of the unwanted wood and pays for fuel and a few beers along the way.Need a decent setup to go at it full time or access to free timber to turn a good profit i should think.

[monkeybusiness]

If you have a barn that big for free I reckon you could make easier money out of it subdividing it for storage...

[MattyF]

Having looked into it a bit it seems like the RHI payments for a single home use are not related to fuel consumption. I could be wrong though? It seems like I’d get £12,000 back over 7 years, on a system that would cost £20-23,000.

No your right .. in those circumstances I would not bother , we get rhi for ours and to be honest the log boiler has been a massive pita right from the start and I’ve difficulty in restraining my self from visiting the person who persuaded my father to install it.
Being off grid it was not compatible with any of the renewables already installed to make it run properly ... the parts are virtually none existent and it requires quite a bit of maintenance... on the plus side it’s pretty amazing when it is sub zero...