Birch Firewood

[nick channer]

in 18 months that i been moving timber i've sold 4 loads by weight.. that was 3 to geoff [alycidion] and 1 to farmer ben both on here and they were fisrt 4 loads that i did..

i soon learnt this was no good for me being the haulier as well as the buyer and seller of timber...

i buy some timber by the ton [ i have a staight of art weigher accurate to 50 kilos on trailer] but majority is bought by the load... and these by the load prices are always based on a 25 ton green weight... so they cut 100 ton put it in pile and theres 4 loads for me... that wood might sit there for over 6 months by which time theres no longer 100 ton, theres 93 ton..

like i've said before beech or oak will be cheaper to buy by the ton than ash,sycamore or birch.. so 99% of time ash or birch is sold by the cubic metre less air gaps or just by the load.. when ever i'm quoting someone for a "load" timber i tell them the species, how many bays on trailer and what length woods cut to.. and roughly what weight there will be.. although its never sold to them by the ton... i load every load to top of pins, and my pins are as long as you can get!!

i give you an all in price for load cord delivered obviously including the haulage... now for those that might buy their cord from someone by the ton then get a price per load to haul it that fine.... but i dont put a penny on any cord i buy... i buy £1000's worth cord at time and pay up front for it just to get haulage work from it.. so i cant afford to put a good full load cord on to find its only weighing 23.75 tons which means if i'm selling by ton i'm gonna loose 1.25 tons off haulage.. now if i'm buying wood by the load for £1000 and delivering it for £1300 theres no way i can loose neary £50 off the haulage rate of £300 just because theres plenty of ash or birch on load or its been cut a while and lost moisture.

it wouldnt matter to me if i was only gettin payed flat rate for haulage.

another way to get over it is to base my prices on 22-23 ton of cord on load and not 26.. that way i'd no for def that there wouldnt be less than 22 ton on load unless it was pure green birch...

all the cutters i deal with arent thick... far from it... they mix every bit firewood they cut with another species to make sure it weighs properly...

moved 4 loads earl this week bought from guy on here... mostly ash, and could of been pure ash if desired but mixed it with small amount oak to get weight...

another i buy from has lot birch mixed with alder and suprise suprise.... oak..

i'm guessing all these people who sell by the ton are putting flat haulage rate on top.. which is the only way it can be done without loosing out...

i'll stick with way i do it unless someone buys there own and just wants it moved...

3 days out in lorry last sunday to tues evenin.. inc 2 nites spent in lorry.. 6 loads cord bought and sold.. 1750kms traveled.. loading in pitch black in pissing rain at 9pm so i can get off early next morning.. on road at half 4 in morning.. over £1100 in diesel in 3 days and £80 for burst pipe to earn £750day after diesel... there aint no big profits in this timber suppling game that much i can tall u...!!!

[nick channer]

do you see any gaps on this load.... bought by the load and sold by load.. in fact he had over 15 loads like it... local brick works to fire his old fashioned kilns with.. he also had 6 loads bought by the ton and sold by the load... sme difference...???

[Chris Sheppard]

do you see any gaps on this load....

 

Yes, I do.

[Johny Walker]

2,bigens in the last bay

[Chris Sheppard]

2,bigens in the last bay

 

[nick channer]

that loads not good example to be honest. its all graded no bgger than 8inch.. few 12-14 inch lumps fill gaps nicely.

just as an example that wood was cut 10 months.. 22 ton on that load..

picked exactly same timber up few weeks ago fresh felled.. over 26+ tons on..

[gensetsteve]

Nice looking cord most of which would go through a 12" processor. A 3rd of the load is not 20" and another 3rd of the load 2" sticks. Makes me wish I still did logs only joking.

[Ben Ballard]

Hi Nick can you get 5 bays on yours if it cut at 2 m ?

[Chris Sheppard]

that loads not good example to be honest. its all graded no bgger than 8inch.. few 12-14 inch lumps fill gaps nicely.

just as an example that wood was cut 10 months.. 22 ton on that load..

picked exactly same timber up few weeks ago fresh felled.. over 26+ tons on..

 

Looking back at my previous posts, if they sound argumentative, I didn't mean for them to

 

I totally get that drier or less dense timber weighs less and won't get up to weight, I'm not debating that.

 

What I'm saying is that every single haulier/contractor/landowner/buyer/merchant/sawmill I've ever had anything to do with so far (other than for decent mill grade hardwoods) has been done by tonnage on presentation of weight tickets.

 

If you're able to work on a load basis then that's great - All I know is it wouldn't work round us.

[nick channer]

Hi Nick can you get 5 bays on yours if it cut at 2 m ?

yeah... not that i want to.. 2.4's are bad enough... can load in half time at 3m