Loading Net sacks with Firewood

[Rob D]

I worked out last year I was getting the same amount for delivering a cubic meter of logs as delivering a cubic meter of bagged netted logs....

 

 

 

... won't be doing them this year!

 

Great if you have a direct outlet.... not so great if you're getting £2-50 a bag.

[Chilterns]

Hi,

 

I note that Homebase are selling very empty / light net bags of firewood for £6.99 and hence selling the equivalent for £2.50 / bag seems to be far too low a price unless you are dealing in massive bulk.

 

I was thinking more about charging about £10 / bag for hardwood and £8.00 / bag for soiftwood sold at kerbside.

 

Chilterns

[Robied]

My net sacks fit exactly over a square 25l drum cut the bottom out fill with logs put the net over turn upside down grab the handle and pull drum out perfect every time easy to make and can have as many as you want I have 10 made up one person filling one person netting can do loads in a day

[mikey10]

Hi,

 

I note that Homebase are selling very empty / light net bags of firewood for £6.99 and hence selling the equivalent for £2.50 / bag seems to be far too low a price unless you are dealing in massive bulk.

 

I was thinking more about charging about £10 / bag for hardwood and £8.00 / bag for soiftwood sold at kerbside.

 

Chilterns

 

If you try and charge that much you wont sell any, £5.00 i would of thought would be max for hardwood, and still give a good profit:thumbup:

[eggsarascal]

Hi,

 

I note that Homebase are selling very empty / light net bags of firewood for £6.99 and hence selling the equivalent for £2.50 / bag seems to be far too low a price unless you are dealing in massive bulk.

 

I was thinking more about charging about £10 / bag for hardwood and £8.00 / bag for soiftwood sold at kerbside.

 

Chilterns

 

What size are your bags/nets and how many logs are in them ?

[gensetsteve]

I worked out last year I was getting the same amount for delivering a cubic meter of logs as delivering a cubic meter of bagged netted logs....

 

 

 

... won't be doing them this year!

 

Great if you have a direct outlet.... not so great if you're getting £2-50 a bag.

 

Ditto you need to double the cost to cover the hour or so it takes to fight them into a net. £5 a bag minimum wholesale or retail.

[Treemon]

If you try and charge that much you wont sell any, £5.00 i would of thought would be max for hardwood, and still give a good profit:thumbup:

 

We sell them for £4.50 minimum of 10 delivered

[Chilterns]

Hi,

 

I have trial loaded some Medallion 52 x 85cm bags with both hard and softwood with the bag uniformly packed (i.e. all logs laid parallel across the bag) with small round and split logs to create a 7" x 13" x 26" pack that weighs about 20 Kg (hw) and 17 Kg (sw).

 

I will take a digi pic today and try uploading later.

 

I very much doubt if full costing is being worked out and applied to sell a bag of firewood for £5.00 and would speculate that this price is established and driven more by what it is perceived that the market will stand. Fuel prices are rising dramatically and so too should firewood prices move in line with general energy market prices. A customer who burns firewood to stay warm will buy firewood by the tipper load but the person who buys firewood in a bag does so to stay cheery and might never even light that firewood.

 

The activities needed to create firewood are as follows :-

 

Buy / Rent land

Plant / Grow Tree

Fell Tree

Delimb Tree

Buck tree to chord wood length

Extract / Carry to vehicle

Drive vehicle to yard

Stack chordwood

Cut chordwood into firewood logs

Split logs

Stack logs / pile

Retrieve logs from pile & load Net Sacks

Tie & label sack

Stack Net sacks

Load vehicle with sack(s)

Deliver firewood to customer

 

and then there are capital cost overheads to consider :-

Chainsaw & Consumables, Protective clothing, Vehicle & Trailer, Firewood storage / drying shed, Yard

 

This an awful lot of effort for a fiver !

 

To increase the price of firewood the product needs to be differentiated i.e. a hierarchy of prices applied for different types of firewood, so for example :-

 

Hardwood (top grade)

e.g. oak, ash, beech, cherry, apple, pear, hawthorn

 

Hardwood (lower grade)

e.g. elm, willow, birch, chestnut (?), holly, poplar

 

Softwood (top grade)

e.g. Larch, Douglas Fir

 

Softwood (lower grade)

e.g. Pine, Western Red Cedar

 

In terms of value for money all that really matters is the weight of seasoned (dry) firewood being sold however it would appear that currently firewood is being sold by volume in a non price discriminatory fashion e.g. mixed hard / softwood and of varying dryness.

 

It's difficult to comprehend how Trading Standards continue to allow this non comparative and unmeasurable practice for the sale of firewood to continue since for example in the sale of almost every other product the control of sale by "weights and measures" is extremely tight.

 

Regards

 

Chilterns

p.s Robied - what kind of 25litre container are you using - sounds like a cost efficent and effective solution.

Edited August 14, 2011 by Chilterns

[Michael C]

Hi,

 

I have trial loaded some Medallion 52 x 85cm bags with both hard and softwood with the bag uniformly packed (i.e. all logs laid parallel across the bag) with small round and split logs to create a 7" x 13" x 26" pack that weighs about 20 Kg (hw) and 17 Kg (sw).

 

I will take a digi pic today and try uploading later.

 

I very much doubt if full costing is being worked out and applied to sell a bag of firewood for £5.00 and would speculate that this price is established and driven more by what it is perceived that the market will stand. Fuel prices are rising dramatically and so too should firewood prices move in line with general energy market prices. A customer who burns firewood to stay warm will buy firewood by the tipper load but the person who buys firewood in a bag does so to stay cheery and might never even light that firewood.

 

The activities needed to create firewood are as follows :-

 

Buy / Rent land

Plant / Grow Tree

Fell Tree

Delimb Tree

Buck tree to chord wood length

Extract / Carry to vehicle

Drive vehicle to yard

Stack chordwood

Cut chordwood into firewood logs

Split logs

Stack logs / pile

Retrieve logs from pile & load Net Sacks

Tie & label sack

Stack Net sacks

Load vehicle with sack(s)

Deliver firewood to customer

 

and then there are capital cost overheads to consider :-

Chainsaw & Consumables, Protective clothing, Vehicle & Trailer, Firewood storage / drying shed, Yard

 

This an awful lot of effort for a fiver !

 

To increase the price of firewood the product needs to be differentiated i.e. a hierarchy of prices applied for different types of firewood, so for example :-

 

Hardwood (top grade)

e.g. oak, ash, beech, cherry, apple, pear, hawthorn

 

Hardwood (lower grade)

e.g. elm, willow, birch, chestnut (?), holly, poplar

 

Softwood (top grade)

e.g. Larch, Douglas Fir

 

Softwood (lower grade)

e.g. Pine, Western Red Cedar

 

In terms of value for money all that really matters is the weight of seasoned (dry) firewood being sold however it would appear that currently firewood is being sold by volume in a non price discriminatory fashion e.g. mixed hard / softwood and of varying dryness.

 

It's difficult to comprehend how Trading Standards continue to allow this non comparative and unmeasurable practice for the sale of firewood to continue since for example in the sale of almost every other product the control of sale by "weights and measures" is extremely tight.

 

Regards

 

Chilterns

p.s Robied - what kind of 25litre container are you using - sounds like a cost efficent and effective solution.

 

I like your realistic attitude to costs:thumbup1:

Of course it will differ for everyone, a lot of people just buy in cord etc.

[Robied]

Yea it's just a 25l oil drum the square ones 20l will do it but 25 is fills the nets just about full it works very well especially with the handle left on