Travel, how far is too far?

[Donnie]

I’m self employed. 
The thing is, every woodcutter seens to accept the fact that this is the norm. 
 

Starting to think of giving it up to be fair as I would be better off back welding etc. 

 

I’d like to stay self employed though for flexibility for a little while. 

Edited August 27 by Donnie

[doobin]

You say your company pays for digs but the food is expensive. That's a poor reason to travel 100 miles if you otherwise like the job. Just go to Lidl and get some meat, gas BBQ in the back of the truck. Or find an all you can eat carvery place. Do two days rather than three and you'll have done the same hours as if you were stopping early to drive.

 

You're making this way harder than it has to be. It's unsustatinable the way you are doing it, I'm surprised you're not already burnt out. Just take the digs, hit it hard for a few days and then relax for a couple.

[GarethM]

Granted if they're paying for digs you usually get an allowance for evening meal, breakfast if it's not included in the digs plus lunch.

 

Think my lot gave £20 for evening meal and maybe a fiver for lunch and breakfast.

 

If you're only away for 2/3 nights that's not too bad, I had a lot that wanted us in Livingston for 10 days straight. We lost staff like flies, me included as there's only so many hours of netflix!.

[Big J]

12 hours ago, Donnie said:

Sometimes we are 1 hour from the house, around about 190 profit after fuel etc. 

 

Like 19 quid an hour if we do the full 8 hours on site…

 

@AHPP Just came from a small van and this pick up is only a 1/3rd more expensive to run than the small van. 
 

I’m 6 foot 6, small vans are grim to drive for me unfortunately. Did 45K in my last one and it was agony towards the end. 
 

Running a van in the woods is a bit of a gamble if you are doing it to ‘save’ money. 
 

The repair bill on mine was absolutely mental for a years worth of driving

 

I'm 6ft 8" and my best work van was a 2019 Citroen Berlingo. Huge amounts of space in the cab and much more comfortable than any pickup (I had a 2011 Navara for years, and have driven most of the rest of them).

 

The Berlingo was consistently 48-50mpg on the stupid little Devon lanes, and nudging 60mpg on longer journeys. And a lot more storage space in the back for tools too, with doors both sides for easy access.

I know they won't go everywhere that a 4x4 will go, but if you're routinely doing very long commutes, the cost savings on a van will outweigh the inconvenience of occasionally having to walk a little further.

 

These days I mostly work at a large sawmill that is 28km from home. It takes 23 minutes in the car (there is never any traffic) or an average of 45-55 minutes if I cycle. I have a 2007 VW T5 Caravelle 4motion that averages 36mpg, but we only have one car now so it needs to be versatile.

Edited August 27 by Big J

[Stere]

Maybe ideal would be a camper /van sleep in tha back  take your  own provisions park on site, as  mentioned 1 hrs travel from digs.

 

Would be quite nice in the summer if you had a nice setup maybe less so in winter with less daylight

 

 

 

[openspaceman]

2 hours ago, Donnie said:

Starting to think of giving it up to be fair as I would be better off back welding

indubitably

[peds]

19 minutes ago, Stere said:

Maybe ideal would be a camper /van sleep in tha back  take your  own provisions park on site, as  mentioned 1 hrs travel from digs.

 

Would be quite nice in the summer if you had a nice setup maybe less so in winter with less daylight

 

I did this a few times when I was planting for forestry, some sites were 2 hours away. Made more sense to camp out and do a few more hours, instead of planting 600 sitka straight into the fuel tank.

[Big J]

2 minutes ago, peds said:

 

I did this a few times when I was planting for forestry, some sites were 2 hours away. Made more sense to camp out and do a few more hours, instead of planting 600 sitka straight into the fuel tank.

 

When I was in the UK, an hour was my cut off. After that, I'd take the caravan. If (for example) you're 90 minutes from home (70 miles let's say), every day that you don't drive home, you can work 3hrs more and save £63 in vehicle costs (if we apply the £0.45 per mile value to the journeys).

So if you're a wood cutter on £25 an hour, you're a full £138 a day better off if you stay on site. It's lunacy to go home. 

 

These days, I try to condense my work into longer shifts (I have flexibility in my work programme) so that I minimise commuting time and maximise days off. And my commute is really short.

[Anno]

when I was teaching at Burnley College I did a 104 mile journey 5 days a week, it was a nightmare that became unsustainable and was affecting my health, although I did listen to lots of Audio Books!

My current job is different every visit I do is 30 minutes away, and at 60 it is just about right for me.

In a past life my exwife loved to drive but I have always hated it and always said its just a means to get me to places.

[Steven P]

You see a few caravans in the forest near us, especially at harvesting time - never parked up near each other though even if they are on the same job. I suspect there is a factor with age that your own bed is more of an appeal than roughing it every night. Hotel / B&B / Guest house every night sounds god, someone does the laundry, breakfast cooked and no dishes but that gets tiring after a few nights.

 

However if it is a job you like, the money is reasonable, a weekly commute might be a small inconvenience, especially if you can get home any night you need or want to