Just Firewood

[andy26]

I think this year will be harder to make a living as cord wood prices are rising, it all depends how you source your wood. I process firewood incl kindling part-time at the moment and am hoping to go full-time from Oct 2011

 

If you put your retail sales up by the same percentage as the cordwood is rising, won't you be making more money? (the answer is yes, by virtue of the value added for processing, seasoning and delivering).

 

Actually strong cord wood prices will make it more available in the future as more woodland where it previously was not economic to extract timber, will due to the rise in price become economic to bring back into management.

 

The consumer accepts energy prices are on the rise, it wasn't long a go that the thought of paying £1/litre at the pumps was unpalatable... now its accepted and people just get on, making cut backs in what they perceive as unnecessary expenditure.

 

Quality sells, but you have to inform the consumer and tell them the difference so they can make an informed decision.

[nick channer]

i bought a large amount of cord wood in last year, think it was 16 artic loads. and sold the lot and more besides.. over 600 truck loads from this time last year till now. most of which was done in the month before xmas. but since march every little bit wood that i can get my hands on is split. havin a 12/14 inch chipper doesnt help as its very easy to put big lumps cord through chipper. now anything over 4 inch is kept. takes longer to do tree work but i just remember that every ton costs me £50+ so a transit load is £100'sworth.. also i go out now to other peoples jobs and pick there wood up. takes no time to go out with 2 trucks and i have a 30 yd hookloader bin that goes behind fastrac, i take that to other peoples jobs and leave it there. so far i reckon i got over 250 loads wood in shed all split and dryin nicely and they cost me peanuts.. my 2 lads that split them normaly split at the end of the day for few hours as and when they can so labour is basicaly nil. i plan on havin at least 600 loads in shed by september all split and ready to go out.. so if i was a one man band and could live on £1000 a week and i had stamina to sit on processor and splitter all summer i could spend all winter delivering and obviously carry on sawin/splittin in spare time. i also no someone who does 3 loads a day 6 days week with little petrol splitter through winter and he lives comfortably off that and collects lot wood in summer in his spare time. so yes i think you can live off just firewood..

[Yeti]

Location dependant I feel,I doubt every firewood merchant togeher up here even made that kind of turn over haha.if I had to live of My year round log sales I'd be dead of starvation by now or living like a hobo.And our familys been doing it since 30's lol

[nick channer]

Location dependant I feel,I doubt every firewood merchant togeher up here even made that kind of turn over haha.if I had to live of My year round log sales I'd be dead of starvation by now or living like a hobo.And our familys been doing it since 30's lol

 

yea i guess it does depend on area. down here we have a lot of chimmney pots to supply. through winter every other truck you pass on road has logs on back.

[Yeti]

Everyone up our way is tight as crabs buttocks Also massive level of unemployment,add in a few old guys wanting to top up there pension selling logs for peanuts and it equals a grim profit for us sadly.I'd love to live of firewood tho I enjoy logging and splitting

[andy26]

Everyone up our way is tight as crabs buttocks Also massive level of unemployment,add in a few old guys wanting to top up there pension selling logs for peanuts and it equals a grim profit for us sadly.I'd love to live of firewood tho I enjoy logging and splitting

 

I think if you wanted it as a full time business then given suitable investment and a professional outlook, those odd jobbers and pensioners wouldn't struggle to compete.

 

You just need to mechanise every process and eliminate as much handling as possible. I'd say an efficient outfit would not physically touch or manhandle any wood at all.

 

Labour is the biggest cost you face (you might think your labour is free, but this is what you're fighting against). In general captial machinery is cheap pro rata versus labour.

[Billy68]

as above spot on

[barry ayres]

you can earn a living just from firewood and a good one. my family have for many years then my dad lost it all though drinking and gambling. ive started from scratch but i think i will be able to earn a living just from firewood by next year and my uncle has be doing it for 30 years

[Dave Martin]

you can earn a living just from firewood and a good one. my family have for many years then my dad lost it all though drinking and gambling. ive started from scratch but i think i will be able to earn a living just from firewood by next year and my uncle has be doing it for 30 years

 

I think that just about concludes this thread.... Firewood will drive you to drink:001_smile:

[andy26]

I think if you wanted it as a full time business then given suitable investment and a professional outlook, those odd jobbers and pensioners would struggle to compete.

 

You just need to mechanise every process and eliminate as much handling as possible. I'd say an efficient outfit would not physically touch or manhandle any wood at all.

 

Labour is the biggest cost you face (you might think your labour is free, but this is what you're fighting against). In general captial machinery is cheap pro rata versus labour.

Is editing posts not possible on this forum?