cotoneaster yew tree, cypress tree, prunus tree, walnut tree 8 - 12 trees to fell & sell

[Tim Bucks]

Hi,

We have 8-12 very large  trees (Cotoneaster, Yew tree, Cypress tree, Prunus tree, Walnut tree) which need felling & stumps ground out. 

We are in Buckinghamshire HP17 0XH. We're looking to have them felled and any useable trunk will be for sale.

 

Looking on this forum for someone to fell them both & grind out the stumps, remove branches from site & offer us a decent price for the trunks etc.

 

I'll try & put up some pictures & sizes later.

 

Thanks

Edited February 9, 2022 by Tim Bucks

[twistedhicap]

 

[Mark Bolam]

Get someone to price the felling and make your fortune selling the trunks yourself.

[muttley9050]

Hi,
We have 8-12 very large  trees (Cotoneaster, Yew tree, Cypress tree, Prunus tree, Walnut tree) which need felling & stumps ground out. 
We are in Buckinghamshire HP17 0XH. We're looking to have them felled and any useable trunk will be for sale.
 
Looking on this forum for someone to fell them both & grind out the stumps, remove branches from site & offer us a decent price for the trunks etc.
 
I'll try & put up some pictures & sizes later.
 
Thanks

Be interested to see pictures

[Mike Hill]

Have you considered calling the finest London gunmakers in order to sell that Walnut?

[agg221]

Hello Tim,

 

It might help to clarify why you have some of the reactions above if you break things down a bit.

 

Yes - wood can have a value. How much value depends on various factors, including what type it is, the size, quality and how much effort (hours) is involved in getting it to that condition.

 

Of the trees you mention above, walnut and yew are the two which are most commercial. Cypress and Prunus are too vague to offer any useful comment - Prunus includes plums, cherries and various other things so it's not possible to be clear on what they might actually be. Size should become clearer once you have some dimensions and photographs but bear in mind that 'very big' to you in a particular setting may not be that big compared with what is considered commercial size. Quality covers things such as how long and straight, how many side branches and (particularly for walnut) how much dark coloured heartwood vs. how much pale coloured sapwood. Effort is influenced by factors such as location - can you drive right up to them and pick them up with a grab lorry, or is someone going to have to extract them through a terraced house? Can you actually fell them without hitting anything, as if they will have to be cut down in sections that pretty much wipes out any value unless they are absolutely huge (which those species are unlikely to be - I'm talking about giant redwood huge). Also relevant to both quality and effort are factors such as nails - if someone has nailed fence wire or a bird box to them then that can damage the chain on the saw, which reduces margin on the job. Nails, internal rot and the colour of the timber cannot be seen while the tree is still standing, so you have to make the assumption they will be bad. Another factor is transport costs, so sending in a lorry pick up a full load of timber costs about the same as picking up a single tree. That means the cost per tree can be multiplied by up to x10.

 

From the above, you can see that there are a lot of variables. A lorry-load of clean, straight walnut trees by the roadside is worth something in your pocket whereas a load of cotoneasters in the back garden of a terraced house will cost a whole lot more to cut up than the wood would ever be worth, even ringed up as firewood.

 

Another factor is that people whose job is tree work often are not the same people who run sawmills (although a few are). There is another market for single trunks to people who mill small amounts of timber, mainly for their own use and may not want a lorry-load (I am one such person and could potentially be interested in the walnut and the prunus - others may also be interested in those and the yew). They will pay less per trunk though. Bear in mind that the reason milled timber is expensive is the effort of milling it, the time spent seasoning it and the losses in yield from the round log to the finished article - it doesn't amount to much when you work it out.

 

In your situation, I would put up pictures of the trees, with dimensions and an indication as to access. You are then likely to get useful comment as to whether any of them may have a value. I would then look to have the felling/grinding done as a job by quotation, including the removal of all material except anything in which there is clear interest. Based on good photographs and dimensions of the logs, you may then get takers for them. Do not expect much - think tens or low hundreds at absolute best, and you may decide it's not worth the hassle, but you may be lucky with quality and meeting someone's need.

 

Alec

 

 

[peds]

22 minutes ago, agg221 said:

Hello Tim,

 

It might help to clarify why you have some of the reactions above if you break things down a bit.

 

Yes - wood can have a value. How much value depends on various factors, including what type it is, the size, quality and how much effort (hours) is involved in getting it to that condition.

 

Of the trees you mention above, walnut and yew are the two which are most commercial. Cypress and Prunus are too vague to offer any useful comment - Prunus includes plums, cherries and various other things so it's not possible to be clear on what they might actually be. Size should become clearer once you have some dimensions and photographs but bear in mind that 'very big' to you in a particular setting may not be that big compared with what is considered commercial size. Quality covers things such as how long and straight, how many side branches and (particularly for walnut) how much dark coloured heartwood vs. how much pale coloured sapwood. Effort is influenced by factors such as location - can you drive right up to them and pick them up with a grab lorry, or is someone going to have to extract them through a terraced house? Can you actually fell them without hitting anything, as if they will have to be cut down in sections that pretty much wipes out any value unless they are absolutely huge (which those species are unlikely to be - I'm talking about giant redwood huge). Also relevant to both quality and effort are factors such as nails - if someone has nailed fence wire or a bird box to them then that can damage the chain on the saw, which reduces margin on the job. Nails, internal rot and the colour of the timber cannot be seen while the tree is still standing, so you have to make the assumption they will be bad. Another factor is transport costs, so sending in a lorry pick up a full load of timber costs about the same as picking up a single tree. That means the cost per tree can be multiplied by up to x10.

 

From the above, you can see that there are a lot of variables. A lorry-load of clean, straight walnut trees by the roadside is worth something in your pocket whereas a load of cotoneasters in the back garden of a terraced house will cost a whole lot more to cut up than the wood would ever be worth, even ringed up as firewood.

 

Another factor is that people whose job is tree work often are not the same people who run sawmills (although a few are). There is another market for single trunks to people who mill small amounts of timber, mainly for their own use and may not want a lorry-load (I am one such person and could potentially be interested in the walnut and the prunus - others may also be interested in those and the yew). They will pay less per trunk though. Bear in mind that the reason milled timber is expensive is the effort of milling it, the time spent seasoning it and the losses in yield from the round log to the finished article - it doesn't amount to much when you work it out.

 

In your situation, I would put up pictures of the trees, with dimensions and an indication as to access. You are then likely to get useful comment as to whether any of them may have a value. I would then look to have the felling/grinding done as a job by quotation, including the removal of all material except anything in which there is clear interest. Based on good photographs and dimensions of the logs, you may then get takers for them. Do not expect much - think tens or low hundreds at absolute best, and you may decide it's not worth the hassle, but you may be lucky with quality and meeting someone's need.

 

Alec

 

 

The above should just be copy-pasted whenever this kind of thread pops up. 

[Stubby]

2 hours ago, muttley9050 said:

4 hours ago, Tim Bucks said:

Hi,
We have 8-12 very large  trees (Cotoneaster, Yew tree, Cypress tree, Prunus tree, Walnut tree) which need felling & stumps ground out. 
We are in Buckinghamshire HP17 0XH. We're looking to have them felled and any useable trunk will be for sale.
 
Looking on this forum for someone to fell them both & grind out the stumps, remove branches from site & offer us a decent price for the trunks etc.
 
I'll try & put up some pictures & sizes later.
 
Thanks

Read more  

Be interested to see pictures

What ? Of the pile of money from the trunks ? 🙂

[Stubby]

41 minutes ago, agg221 said:

Hello Tim,

 

It might help to clarify why you have some of the reactions above if you break things down a bit.

 

Yes - wood can have a value. How much value depends on various factors, including what type it is, the size, quality and how much effort (hours) is involved in getting it to that condition.

 

Of the trees you mention above, walnut and yew are the two which are most commercial. Cypress and Prunus are too vague to offer any useful comment - Prunus includes plums, cherries and various other things so it's not possible to be clear on what they might actually be. Size should become clearer once you have some dimensions and photographs but bear in mind that 'very big' to you in a particular setting may not be that big compared with what is considered commercial size. Quality covers things such as how long and straight, how many side branches and (particularly for walnut) how much dark coloured heartwood vs. how much pale coloured sapwood. Effort is influenced by factors such as location - can you drive right up to them and pick them up with a grab lorry, or is someone going to have to extract them through a terraced house? Can you actually fell them without hitting anything, as if they will have to be cut down in sections that pretty much wipes out any value unless they are absolutely huge (which those species are unlikely to be - I'm talking about giant redwood huge). Also relevant to both quality and effort are factors such as nails - if someone has nailed fence wire or a bird box to them then that can damage the chain on the saw, which reduces margin on the job. Nails, internal rot and the colour of the timber cannot be seen while the tree is still standing, so you have to make the assumption they will be bad. Another factor is transport costs, so sending in a lorry pick up a full load of timber costs about the same as picking up a single tree. That means the cost per tree can be multiplied by up to x10.

 

From the above, you can see that there are a lot of variables. A lorry-load of clean, straight walnut trees by the roadside is worth something in your pocket whereas a load of cotoneasters in the back garden of a terraced house will cost a whole lot more to cut up than the wood would ever be worth, even ringed up as firewood.

 

Another factor is that people whose job is tree work often are not the same people who run sawmills (although a few are). There is another market for single trunks to people who mill small amounts of timber, mainly for their own use and may not want a lorry-load (I am one such person and could potentially be interested in the walnut and the prunus - others may also be interested in those and the yew). They will pay less per trunk though. Bear in mind that the reason milled timber is expensive is the effort of milling it, the time spent seasoning it and the losses in yield from the round log to the finished article - it doesn't amount to much when you work it out.

 

In your situation, I would put up pictures of the trees, with dimensions and an indication as to access. You are then likely to get useful comment as to whether any of them may have a value. I would then look to have the felling/grinding done as a job by quotation, including the removal of all material except anything in which there is clear interest. Based on good photographs and dimensions of the logs, you may then get takers for them. Do not expect much - think tens or low hundreds at absolute best, and you may decide it's not worth the hassle, but you may be lucky with quality and meeting someone's need.

 

Alec

 

 

This all day long . It should be chiseled on a piece of granite and mounted in every village in the land . 🙂

[Tim Bucks]

17 minutes ago, peds said:

The above should just be copy-pasted whenever this kind of thread pops up. 

Thanks Alec, that was really helpful.

I will post some pictures but i am not sure if that will do it justice.