Free logs wanted

[Steve Bullman]

9 hours ago, Doug Tait said:

Don't be ridiculous 

I’ve now removed trigger from the conversion so the adults can carry on 

[peds]

... for ever?

[sime42]

1 hour ago, Steve Bullman said:

I’ve now removed trigger from the conversion so the adults can carry on 

Great, but do we really need a conversion?

 

[Mick Dempsey]

Like many of us, I find the logistics of tree removal one of the challenges.

I always compare it to the fox/chicken/grain puzzle.

 

So for instance, I cannot really tow a chipper (even a 750kg) behind a already overweight transit. Or I cannot bring the loader home on the trailer when there’s already two tonne of waste wood on there, thereby lengthening the working day, or even pushing the job over to the next day.

So if I can get rid of chip or wood locally, saving me fuel, time, and wear and tear on vehicles I’m very happy, I’m certainly not going to ask for more than a bottle of wine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2022 by Mick Dempsey

[Doug Tait]

This is the problem with sweeping statements about the arb industry. It covers everything from a couple of guys using a small trailer based on the driveway at home with no capacity to store a log, to the national business with all the kit/space and hundreds of workers.

 

The firefighter that does arb part time has no interest in producing logs etc, their preferred job is where the client wants to keep all arisings and they minimise the hassle of disposal. For us with cranes, timber trailers, processors and lots of yard space we really need to maximise what we bring back to produce saleable products.

 

So many horses for all kind of courses.

[Steve Bullman]

7 minutes ago, Doug Tait said:

This is the problem with sweeping statements about the arb industry. It covers everything from a couple of guys using a small trailer based on the driveway at home with no capacity to store a log, to the national business with all the kit/space and hundreds of workers.

 

The firefighter that does arb part time has no interest in producing logs etc, their preferred job is where the client wants to keep all arisings and they minimise the hassle of disposal. For us with cranes, timber trailers, processors and lots of yard space we really need to maximise what we bring back to produce saleable products.

 

So many horses for all kind of courses.

even for a big company who processes and sells their timber, at what point does it become more profitable to just give it away for free? If you’re faced with an hour long round trip back to your yard, plus the possibility that you’re leaving a couple guys on site with not much to do as they have no vehicle to chip into or load with wood…well that also makes giving it away for free more attractive 

[Puffingbilly413]

11 minutes ago, Steve Bullman said:

even for a big company who processes and sells their timber, at what point does it become more profitable to just give it away for free? If you’re faced with an hour long round trip back to your yard, plus the possibility that you’re leaving a couple guys on site with not much to do as they have no vehicle to chip into or load with wood…well that also makes giving it away for free more attractive 

Also depends what the wood is. Some nice straight hardwood is going to be worth more effort perhaps than big knotty lumps of softwood.

 

But even then like you say, if a free local drop or even leaving it on site frees you up quicker and with less fuel used etc for the next job then it makes sense to do that.

[Steve Bullman]

There’s also some people who just hate the idea of giving something away for free and will quite happily go out of their way to keep something for themselves even if it actually ends up costing them more 

[Doug Tait]

5 minutes ago, Steve Bullman said:

even for a big company who processes and sells their timber, at what point does it become more profitable to just give it away for free? If you’re faced with an hour long round trip back to your yard, plus the possibility that you’re leaving a couple guys on site with not much to do as they have no vehicle to chip into or load with wood…well that also makes giving it away for free more attractive 

As Mick said earlier, logistics are the key to it.

 

It helps a lot in our case that we have a couple of lads based at the yard who can deliver an empty trailer to site and take a full load away without it interfering with productivity on site.

 

It's also helpful that there are stacks of timber stored in the yard so when we're quieter with contract work there's milling, processing or kindling production to keep everyone busy. It is obvious though by the pressure to be productive when we're all processing that the margins are a lot tighter than when doing contract work!

 

I can see that for a lot of people it's a far easier option to avoid all the hassle by offloading the arisings to someone for a small donation. 

[neiln]

58 minutes ago, Doug Tait said:

This is the problem with sweeping statements about the arb industry. It covers everything from a couple of guys using a small trailer based on the driveway at home with no capacity to store a log, to the national business with all the kit/space and hundreds of workers.

 

The firefighter that does arb part time has no interest in producing logs etc, their preferred job is where the client wants to keep all arisings and they minimise the hassle of disposal. For us with cranes, timber trailers, processors and lots of yard space we really need to maximise what we bring back to produce saleable products.

 

So many horses for all kind of courses.

Indeed, trigger seems unable or unwilling to understand those differences