Why is there no money in firewood?

[Johny Walker]

I'm not trying to teach granny how to suck eggs. It wasn't intended to sound that way anyway.

 

I've sent out over 1500 letters to my customers that have wood burners offering a summer discount so it's not too hard to get booked up every Saturday for 3 months. I'm sure if anyone did the same you'd have the same result.

 

The only reason I decided to go into firewood was because there are a lot of poeple that have jumped on the firewood band wagon and are selling wet wood. This leaves us having to unblock tar clogged flues due to wet wood being delivered which is a nightmare.

 

I'm not really in it to make a fortune as i have a business already that earns me a good living but as it turns out we're not doing bad and it will save me a lot of hassle cleaning messed up stoves. We've sold a fair bit of wood already and have plenty booked in.

 

I'm sorry if what i said has upset anyone.

 

 

summer deals ,ha,ha my mate tryed that & my god did he get cought ,just make sure you have enough timber to cover your sen ,egg on the face etc

[Fahrenheit]

Egg on the face was a possibility but it was either send a few letters out and don't sell any wood or send loads out and risk not being able to meet demand. If i was spending money on a truck and insurance i'd rather it be too busy than too quiet though. It seems to be holding steady at the mo which is lucky.

[gensetsteve]

I'm not trying to teach granny how to suck eggs. It wasn't intended to sound that way anyway.

 

I've sent out over 1500 letters to my customers that have wood burners offering a summer discount so it's not too hard to get booked up every Saturday for 3 months. I'm sure if anyone did the same you'd have the same result. I'm sure the big firewood sellers on here are still doing plenty anyway. People are still suing their fires as it's still a bit nippy on an evening.

 

The only reason I decided to go into firewood was because there are a lot of poeple that have jumped on the firewood band wagon and are selling wet wood. This leaves us having to unblock tar clogged flues due to wet wood being delivered which is a nightmare.

 

I'm not really in it to make a fortune as i have a business already that earns me a good living but as it turns out we're not doing bad and it will save me a lot of hassle cleaning messed up stoves. We've sold a fair bit of wood already and have plenty booked in.

 

Our stove fitting service is more expensive than most around here but we still get the jobs due to our service, standard of finish and reputation. Just had a guy book in today who said we were £300 dearer than the other quotes he had but he still wanted us to do it. I thought i'd try and do the same with firewood....that's all.

 

I'm sorry if what i said has upset anyone but it wasn't intended to do so.

 

I dont think it was your post on its own but a combination of three others which came together to cause a problem.

[gensetsteve]

Egg on the face was a possibility but it was either send a few letters out and don't sell any wood or send loads out and risk not being able to meet demand. If i was spending money on a truck and insurance i'd rather it be too busy than too quiet though. It seems to be holding steady at the mo which is lucky.

 

If you have plenty of supply and u dont need the time to cut it up the worlds your oyster. If I could find loose loads of logs around the south for that sort of money seasoned or not its what I would be doing. The only thing that limits my business is raw material customers we are definately not short on.

[Fahrenheit]

Yeah well i may not be able to keep up when winter rolls on so i'll have to try and get something sorted before then! I'll worry about that when we get a bit closer. I could get a bigger vehicle and get storing it up over summer maybe.

 

I'd still like to get a processor and buy in cord eventually but the current setup is quite nice at the moment as i have no overheads other than a truck.

 

I bought a load of softwood lately and i' more than happy with how it burns in a stove.....nice flame, plenty of heat and lasted pretty well. I may move completely to softwood as my customers are 99% wood burner owners rather than open fires. There seems to be plenty of softwood about.

[Stephen Blair]

Softwood burns great, conny is awesome. Keep doing what you are doing, as little kit as possible is key BUT it is an excuse to have some cool toys

[Dave Martin]

We're currently buying 1.2 cubic metres at £55, cut, split and seasoned.

 

I`m sorry but I am still struggling with this. Do you mind me asking what type of hardwood it is? If quality seasoned hardwood is available at £46 a cube cut split and seasoned I may as well sell the tractor splitter and processor.

[gensetsteve]

Yeah well i may not be able to keep up when winter rolls on so i'll have to try and get something sorted before then! I'll worry about that when we get a bit closer. I could get a bigger vehicle and get storing it up over summer maybe.

 

I'd still like to get a processor and buy in cord eventually but the current setup is quite nice at the moment as i have no overheads other than a truck.

 

I bought a load of softwood lately and i' more than happy with how it burns in a stove.....nice flame, plenty of heat and lasted pretty well. I may move completely to softwood as my customers are 99% wood burner owners rather than open fires. There seems to be plenty of softwood about.

 

So the £55 for 1.2 cu metres is for softwood. Your paying roughly what you would pay for hardwood cord. It will cost u about an Extra £30 a tonne to process. If you are getting £110 a cubic metre I would carry on as you are and forget about cool toys.

[Michael C]

So the £55 for 1.2 cu metres is for softwood. Your paying roughly what you would pay for hardwood cord. It will cost u about an Extra £30 a tonne to process. If you are getting £110 a cubic metre I would carry on as you are and forget about cool toys.

 

Out of interest, how does the £30 a tonne break down, and what approx is a each cubic metre of firewood costing to process?

Edited May 13, 2011 by Michael C
Added another bit!

[gensetsteve]

Out of interest, how does the £30 a tonne break down, and what approx is a each cubic metre of firewood costing to process?

 

2 cu metres of loose logs takes

 

£75 of cord wood

3 hrs labour at £10 and hr incl delivery and some machine main and clearing up

£7 in diesel to deliver

£5 in cherry or petrol if doing rings

£1 in bar oil and wear

So far thats £118

 

Then u need to add vehicle main tax ins depreciation

Machinery cost £10,000 a chunk

Rent rates electric

liab insurance

 

Round here I charged £180 last year if I break the £200 barrier things will be slow.