Are logs worth doing anymore ?

[gensetsteve]

I enjoy producing logs for easy going friendly folk. But the more I look at the process and the figures the less sense it makes as we go on. Especially buying in cord wood. With pellets and chip all subsidised with grants it is making logs an expensive fuel. Logs take along time to season. the end product is more difficult to load and the sizes are more difficult to control. The customer accepts his heating bill will be £1200 for the year but only wants to spend £60 on his load of logs. The cost of log processing equipment is getting so expensive the cost of large chippers looks more reasonable. It takes hours to convert an arctic load of timber in to pellets or chip rather than days to turn into logs. I doubt chip customers run at you with a moisture meter screaming theres birch in there

[Dave Martin]

Always looking on the positive side eh Steve If you are only getting £60 a load then logs are definitely not worth doing.

[Goaty]

I'd say yes if you are a small producer with low running costs, the wood being waste from yours or someone elses business. Saves disposal costs. Locally wood waste is £30 per tonne to dispose of. (then the resell it!)

But to buy in on a small scale is hard work with low returns.

Biomass has shaken things up. With imported chip from forest rich countries and biomass barons, buying cheap selling high, depleting timber stocks and backed by grants and subsidies, which always unsettles things and moves goalposts to the advantage of fewer. Remember the grain mountains the EU had 20 years ago whilst LIVE AID was trying to feed them. Now its energys turn to be messed up again.

[gensetsteve]

Always looking on the positive side eh Steve If you are only getting £60 a load then logs are definitely not worth doing.

 

Realist dave. £60 is top money for a load of logs after all what is a load of logs ? . I have wife and children to support so need to earn a wage. I cant run it as a hobby business in my autumn years just yet

[difflock]

John, or Steve?

I reached this conclusion over this past few years.

Despite having 40 acres of Sitka/Lodgepole forestry at my disposal for "free"

(i) If I work it alone I can not justify the equipment required, nor any semblance of a ret on investment.

(ii) If I employ staff to run on a business footing, I will soon run out of timber, plus we do not have the population density to make a firewood "round" cost effective.

So I will lose money even faster.

It is exactly the same as I told a farming Uncle.

Both in farming and firewood the market has polarised

Either (i)

on a hobby basis for satisfaction and beer money. (no income tax no VAT!)

Or

(ii)On on a suitably large industrail scale to be efficient, and milk the grants.

Cheers

Marcus

[Michael C]

John, or Steve?

I reached this conclusion over this past few years.

Despite having 40 acres of Sitka/Lodgepole forestry at my disposal for "free"

(i) If I work it alone I can not justify the equipment required, nor any semblance of a ret on investment.

(ii) If I employ staff to run on a business footing, I will soon run out of timber, plus we do not have the population density to make a firewood "round" cost effective.

So I will lose money even faster.

It is exactly the same as I told a farming Uncle.

Both in farming and firewood the market has polarised

Either (i)

on a hobby basis for satisfaction and beer money. (no income tax no VAT!)

Or

(ii)On on a suitably large industrail scale to be efficient, and milk the grants.

Cheers

Marcus

 

I couldnt agree more, and I have a similiar acreage of Sitka/Ash/Sycamore.

We cut extraction racks and thinned out the ash and sycamore last year and I paid the guy with me a fair chunk of wages to cut it and get it stacked along the racks. Alas, due to the wet 'summer' this year, most of it is still lying in the forest. It would be lovely to have a 3 ton mini with a nice grab or other nice machinery to extract it, but it simply wouldnt pay.

 

As regards buying cordwood, I think it would need to be a LOT cheaper (or firewood be a lot dearer) for a firewood merchant to make a decent profit, unless as said, it is at a massive scale.

There is just too much machinery needed imo for it to be viable on a small/medium scale.

Just my experience after dipping my toes in the water!

[tree monkey]

Always looking on the positive side eh Steve If you are only getting £60 a load then logs are definitely not worth doing.

 

how big is a load?

 

 

Im fed up with competing with people that convince customers that cheap softwood thats straight from the forest it as good as seasoned hardwood but they are offering it cheaper because they arent gready

[ecotreecare]

IMO for what's its worth there are only two ways of doing firewood and make it pay. 1) Get your wood for free, minimal gear, do it for a bit extra- low overheads. 2) Buy your wood in... Have the gear, turnover a large volume of timber.

 

We've just split 300 cube, with the same again to do when we get chance. Not sure how much we're going to sell this year but aiming for 4000 cube.

[gensetsteve]

IMO for what's its worth there are only two ways of doing firewood and make it pay. 1) Get your wood for free, minimal gear, do it for a bit extra- low overheads. 2) Buy your wood in... Have the gear, turnover a large volume of timber.

 

We've just split 300 cube, with the same again to do when we get chance. Not sure how much we're going to sell this year but aiming for 4000 cube.

 

I am thinking you have alot of chopping to do but then your seasons are different to ours. Thats alot of logs

[Stubby]

I am on the small scale here . The only wood I get is from work when the customer does not want it . I have ash syc and holm oak . and some bay . More than I need per winter but not enough to sell on a commercial basis .I do a load for the farmer whos land it is stored on and the rest is for me . There is one neighbor who asks for a load of "granny " logs as she has a small stove and to be honest the £50 she gives me is not worth the hassle . So no I don't think its worth it at all .