Are logs worth doing anymore ?

[Alycidon]

quote Alycidon

 

'Tree surgeon is getting his wood for nothing and basically getting rid of it for beer money. Chances are his logs are uneven in size and length as they will have gone through a splitter/chainsaw rather than a processor. They will also most likely be green.'

 

Bit of a bold statement to make in a sub forum on a tree surgeon website.

 

 

Agreed but this is a firewood sub section and most here do a good job of their firewood by the sounds of it.

 

Last I looked this site was called Arbtalk as in arborist / arboriculture…..

 

Not….’Disgruntledfirewoodmerchanttalk’

 

 

Your woes might I humbly suggest may be better fixed by looking inwards rather than outwards.

 

I have no issues or woes selling logs at all, apologies if my post was implying that.

 

By this I mean looking at getting yourself some industry standards especially with regard to volumes sold, along with the quality elements which you have listed.

I can at present see no point in an industry standard that I far exceed. Hetas ( and I am an approved Hetas retailer anyway) minimum moisture content is 25%. All they do is list you on their web site as an approved firewood supplier and come and have a look every year to make sure you are doing the job right, oh and charge for that as well. My sales last year were three times what they were the year before so I guess I am doing something right.

 

Its a bit like BS5750 when it first came out, everyone tryign to make a fast buck on selling people qualifications.

 

 

A

[gensetsteve]

I have to agree with most of the above posts. Having worked the figures out I came to the conclusion that 40 tonnes of free wood with an axe and chainsaw is worth doing for beer money. 1000 tonnes done with proper kit is worth doing if every other farm in the area does not have the same kit paid for with 1/4 million grants. People doing 300 tonnes a year are lucky to break even and are stuck in a sort of no mans land, the more time you spend on logs the less time you have to earn a proper living.

[Crazy Cutter]

I have to agree with most of the above posts. Having worked the figures out I came to the conclusion that 40 tonnes of free wood with an axe and chainsaw is worth doing for beer money. 1000 tonnes done with proper kit is worth doing if every other farm in the area does not have the same kit paid for with 1/4 million grants. People doing 300 tonnes a year are lucky to break even and are stuck in a sort of no mans land, the more time you spend on logs the less time you have to earn a proper living.

 

Steve you have hit the nail! We sat down last night to work out finances on both our businesses and the logs are producing me 9.67 before expenses thats less an hour than the wife pays for help on her livery yard!

[Alycidon]

Unfortunately some stove suppliers suggest that wood is free, I even saw one boiler maker advertising that you could get paid for taking timber off cuts:sneaky2:

 

 

 

I dont, I point them to the Nottingham Energy partnership web site so they get independant accuracte advise on costs and CO2 emissions which are of concearn especially to the ladies.

 

I also have my log price list on the wall,

 

A

[gensetsteve]

More money in selling stoves and wood processors

[Alycidon]

More money in selling stoves and wood processors

 

Certainly in stoves, I could not survive on log margins alone. Someone else may comment on processor margins but I imagine with only one distributor per brand per country they will be fine.

 

A

[Billy]

Isit just me or have log prices down this season a few people advertising by me now selling builders bags for £50 last year I was selling these for £75....that's a if big cut

[gensetsteve]

Isit just me or have log prices down this season a few people advertising by me now selling builders bags for £50 last year I was selling these for £75....that's a if big cut

 

Prices are always rock bottom until we have some frosts. Trouble is once people have bought their wood in september for £50 they wont want to spend £100 in December when its in short supply. As with everything its supply and demand we need to be harder when its in short supply and jack the price up. You cant get a flight for £30 with easy jet the day before? unfortunately if their is too many people doing logs we will be giving it away at cost again this year. Lets hope for a hard winter.

[StephF]

Me & partner turned over £35k firewood last year,(He cuts & I deliver) more now than the T/W and forestry ops I think. Buy in bulk cordwood, our Tree surgeon waste is a 'drop in ocean' to quanities required, it is definately worth doing if it is done for the long term, marketing ok etc, and a reliable product to back it up, word soon gets around that you sell rubbish if you do. I think the profit margins are ok, and enjoy doing it.

Biggest problem is space for storage and time to deliver, we can sell whatever we produce.

[Backpain]

It's a pretty sad story when all said and done. There's probably loads of others out there like me. I have enough customers to turn over about 50 tons which is far more than I get from arb waste so I have to buy it in at £50 tons delivered. By the time I've converted it and made the sale I can't see any profit once you take out wages (I don't account for this as it's my spare time). I think the sale price (mine is £75 per split cube) is far too cheap but there's too much competition. Most of the replies on here have really dampened my view of the future because operating on a medium scale doesn't pay. Its either small or big. I do it because its a good way to keep your house warm with a local renewable fuel and if we don't do something about it we'll all be burning foreign wood......must go I've just had an order for decorative logs...again:lol: