Why is there no money in firewood?

[Stereo]

I write this as a bloke who has a wood of my own, a couple saws and some safety gear and heats my house with wood as far as I can, hopefully fully at some point. At the mo I run a standard woodburner and an Esse W23 which does cooking, ambient heat and adds heat to the heat store tank.

 

The gas bill is still nearly a grand a year though.

 

I was thinking that loads of people, especially those with Audi's and BMW's on the drive are having stoves installed. They have the money.

 

Chaps on here sell them logs and yet all I hear is how there is no money in logs.

 

Now this is not an attack of any kind. I have the utmost respect for anyone who works hard for a living (as I do in a different way). But, I was thinking. Here's all these guys who are happy to spew a few grand over anything which takes their fancy but the people who are supplying the fuel for their ultimate lifestyle accessory are pleading poverty.

 

How can this be? It got me wondering what the answer is. Or what the question is.

 

My view is this. You guys take some arb waste or cord or whatever and make it into logs. You dry it to 25 odd percent, load it into the hilux and dump it on their drive for £80 or whatever. From this you don't make much and yet it's a lot of hard work.

 

Is there a better way of supplying wood fuel to your customers? Would 10% more input yield 100% more income? What if the logs were cleaned of moss / ivy etc and stacked at the customer's premises?

 

I dunno, just a thought. Most people who supply services to bankers and accountants charge plenty. I like nothing better than to see these lovely people pay transfer a little wealth to us commoners.

 

Is there a debate in how log sellers can 'add value' to their product? To not be the smelly farmer who turns up in a rusty truck and dumps logs on the drive but actually be a proper pro service? I speak as a smelly farmer with a 91 Hilux who doesn't sell logs.

 

I suspect many of you will come back with the argument that there is always some plank who will do a transit load for fifty quid but this is the same in any industry and in any industry there are some people who get the top deals at the top money all the time.

[Alycidon]

Add value by selling DRY logs not seasoned and charge a higher price. Just need seasoning a bit longer. If people want to buy cheap wet seasoned wood let them, they will sooner or later come to quality.

 

A

[Johny Walker]

thers money in firewood ,believe me. i do most of my own f/w, & only have help when we have an earl finish , or had a good wk to justfy it for a day or 2,

[MattyF]

I don't sell Arb waste.. I don't have any nearly all my customers bow keep there logs because they a friend or friend of a friend has a log burner, I only sell hardwoods I have harvested, I have to pay for the timber my time felling it storage then splitting and then deliver... Do the maths most fire wood merchants have to buy timber in or harvest it , yes there is a great demand and Market but try running the gear and pay the wages to needed to make it profitable and then no it's not that profitable it's a living... I do it because I like spending a month or so a year in the woods harvesting timber more than anything plus it provides me with an income when weathers to bad to do anything other than split logs!

[mendiplogs]

HI STEREO thats not good mate grand a year for gas ours is £240 we run a euro heat 16kw all winter its good you need my stove mate all the best jon

[Johny Walker]

I don't sell Arb waste.. I don't have any nearly all my customers bow keep there logs because they a friend or friend of a friend has a log burner, I only sell hardwoods I have harvested, I have to pay for the timber my time felling it storage then splitting and then deliver... Do the maths most fire wood merchants have to buy timber in or harvest it , yes there is a great demand and Market but try running the gear and pay the wages to needed to make it profitable and then no it's not that profitable it's a living... I do it because I like spending a month or so a year in the woods harvesting timber more than anything plus it provides me with an income when weathers to bad to do anything other than split logs!

 

ther isnt such a thing as arb waste ,its arb arisings ,remember that mi boy ,

[tommer9]

Nowadays it about the economics of scale. Not that long ago I used to sell logs from arb waste. (until about 3 years ago). I had a good little round that cleared most of what I took home. (I tried to leave as much cord as poss on site, which in a rural area is very easy, and milled all the big stuff.) Me and my mate would split it all by hand, sell a level landrover tipper load for about £60 and make good beer money, sometimes a decent wage. It was definitely a sideline, but it WAS profitable. Nowadays if i sell the same load for £100 (which is the most i can get for it round here- split, seasoned hardwood), I MIGHT break even. Due to the increased costs everywhere (living, banking,rent, fuel etc etc) there is no money in it as far as i am concerned. Part of the problem is the public's perception of the industry...they see it as free waste that just needs chucking in the back of a truck and delivering. Until you have split a large amount of firewood by hand or machine (not so much processor I mean) then it is impossible to understand.

If you have a processor, and buy in lovely straight cordwood, and do little or nothing else, then you can make money nowadays, but you have to go big to succeed,which involves loads of very pricey kit, and the majority of arborists are working flat out to make any profit at all, let alone be splitting crappy bendy awkward knotty rubbish that is arb waste on top!

Does that go any way to answering your question?

[Stephen Blair]

You must of put a lot of research into this before starting such a fact filled thread:001_rolleyes:

[Johny Walker]

tommer, we prep all are f/w on site ready for the proseccor when we get bk to the yard its all ready ,im getting paid to prep it @ the job ,doesnt take any longer

[mendiplogs]

HI TOMMER MATE your right there mate the cost of cord is all the best jon