Another Firewood buissness in Kent

[arboriculturist]

Trying to keep things positive and be helpfull also, is not making it easy to reply.

 

2 main points come to the forefront:

 

You need to consider the Planning aspect of running a Firewood business from any premises.

 

In addition, wether you can guarantee that your Dry Firewood you eventually offer for sale will meet the sub. 20% MC Regulations that will effect all producers of all size scales in May 2021.

 

When the legislation kicks in,  those who are tasked with enforcing the new Regulations will amongst other things be carrying out roadside checks on vehicles carrying Firewood and be issuing 'fixed penalties' to those offenders who do not comply. A bit like VOSA roadside checks. Repeat offenders can expect escalating penalties. 

Rather depressing state of affairs for many I would suggest.

[Doug Tait]

8 minutes ago, eggsarascal said:

I set up from scratch many years ago, there is money to be made but you'll work for it unless you've got the equipment to handle everything. I lasted four seasons before I jacked it and sold all my gear.

 

There are plenty of easier ways to make money.

What's the minimum gear Liam might need to start off with eggsarascal? I know nothing about 'doing logs'

[eggsarascal]

26 minutes ago, Doug Tait said:

What's the minimum gear Liam might need to start off with eggsarascal? I know nothing about 'doing logs'

That would depend on what wood he plans to process, to get to his £30k he's going to have to buy in round wood, the first thing he will need is a lot of space to store the timber, get 4 artics in and 100 ton takes up a lot of space. I started with saws, processor,  splitter, a tractor to run the processor and a tractor loader to handle the round wood and  load the split wood, tractor loader wasn't  ideal for handling round wood but I got by with it.

Edited January 10, 2021 by eggsarascal

[skyhuck]

2 hours ago, mixedangased said:

Yeah but your only doing your own wait till you get loads of orders in to do ! Get tedious after a while even with a processor !

Yes the "self-employed" myth or "running your own business" does not always go the way you think. In reality no-one employs themselves, you are in a way employed by all your clients/customers and they can be very demanding. And its very easy to find your business is running you, not you running the business.

 

Don't get me wrong, I've been self employed most of my adult life (over 30 years) and don't imagine I'll ever be employed, but it takes some getting right and is by no means a "land of milk and honey"

[Liam Outdoors 89]

lots of insight lads!

 

It's all appreciate, I don't think any one has said any thing 'negative'. I'd rather some people on here with some experience in the industry say the truth and point out the pit falls and struggles. It's also good to see how much kit, space & resources you actually need to make the money. Perhaps my exception of earnings is too high for the in-come I'm expecting.

 

I'm tempted to look at it from a different angle.

 

Potentially still create our small holding as a 'tip site', split and dry the wood I can get from local firms and build it up over 24months. Marking and organising it correctly so it's seasoned for 24months and if I get enough to pay for some of the kit it's a winner then build up gradually. Doing the tree work part time to cover the basic bills.

 

Is that a more reasonable expectation?

 

In my last industry I was self employed for 5 years. I don't think it matters what industry your'e in if you run a business or are a sub contractor you are slightly at the mercy of your clients. But you can also turn work down, which isn't as easy to do when your'e employed.

 

 

[eggsarascal]

5 minutes ago, Liam Outdoors 89 said:

lots of insight lads!

 

It's all appreciate, I don't think any one has said any thing 'negative'. I'd rather some people on here with some experience in the industry say the truth and point out the pit falls and struggles. It's also good to see how much kit, space & resources you actually need to make the money. Perhaps my exception of earnings is too high for the in-come I'm expecting.

 

I'm tempted to look at it from a different angle.

 

Potentially still create our small holding as a 'tip site', split and dry the wood I can get from local firms and build it up over 24months. Marking and organising it correctly so it's seasoned for 24months and if I get enough to pay for some of the kit it's a winner then build up gradually. Doing the tree work part time to cover the basic bills.

 

Is that a more reasonable expectation?

 

In my last industry I was self employed for 5 years. I don't think it matters what industry your'e in if you run a business or are a sub contractor you are slightly at the mercy of your clients. But you can also turn work down, which isn't as easy to do when your'e employed.

 

 

I would say you can make it work, keeping a part time job to cover the bills is a spot on idea. Does your smallholding make any money?

[gdh]

It's a hard time to start doing firewood with new regulations and a shortage of wood but it's possible to make it work. I would say that you either want to invest in a lot of wood and machinery or stay small with cheap arb waste or similar. Trying to be in the middle is hard work.

 

It's also basically two businesses. The sourcing, processing and drying is completely separate to the marketing and delivery so you need to concentrate on both which is easier said than done.

 

The two hardest things, I think, are buying in timber and drying. If you can solve those it's only the customers to worry about. 😉

[Liam Outdoors 89]

25 minutes ago, eggsarascal said:

I would say you can make it work, keeping a part time job to cover the bills is a spot on idea. Does your smallholding make any money?

No it hasn't been a proper small holding for about 30 years. It became a scrap yard and garage for a while. Its the late father in-laws, who was a landscaper & unfortuantley a horder........... So I've spent a while tidying up the scrap etc.

 

I'm trying to get it back to it's former glory & tidy it up.

 

And the log wood was one way of getting it back to what it could be used for.

We've got lots of storage, including a soft sided artic body, a 8mtr x 28mtr canopy along with a few containers. All currently full of 'crap'.

[Will C]

Firewood has been described as “selling the unprofitable to the ungrateful” that said if you get decent arb arisings for free you can earn from it. If you start buying in timber you need big quantities to make it worth the investment in timber and kit.

[AndyChalmers]

If I had my time over again I would not start a firewood business.  I own my own woodland, own machinery, have some good local customers however find it a struggle to make it pay.  Im self employed and do a have a couple of jobs.  I only do 1 full day a week plus a few hrs here & there for deliveries.  I sell approx 150bulk bags a year.  I own a delivery truck with crane, processors, dumpers, tractors, diggers with grabs, fork lifts, buildings, etc etc.  I employ a lad a day a week, insurances to pay etc.  Im lucky if I make any money in all fairness as I keep buying more machinery.  I do like doing it tho.  My advice would be do it as a sideline with equipment you have and earn some good beer tokens out of it.  Then grow it slowly and see where it takes you.