managing a wood for the wood?

[mattyboy]

Ive got a woodland owner of a 20 acre broadleave wood and he would like it managed. I said I would coppice 1 acre a year in exchange for the wood. I dont have any machines. Lots of alder, birch, hazel, willow, bit of ash, oak.

 

Would you do it for the outcome of converting the wood into firewood and selling not this winter but next?

[mad matty]

depends on the amount thats being allowed to be felled,harvested?

[mattyboy]

everything apart from a few standards, the straightest with nice potential which are to be left.

[fatharrywhite]

Some people work that way, I was working for someone this year who cleaned up sites for the Forestry Commission just for the firewood & coppice material etc. The problem is if you spend a lot of time in there you won't see a return for 18 months & you have to sell the firewood.

[woodyguy]

Hard to say without knowing the wood and the density. One acre isn't much. Thinnings from one acre isn't going to earn you much so again depends on how far away it is, how long it takes you, the access and what else you could be earning with the time. Sounds pretty borderline to me.

[Chris Sheppard]

If it's to coppice, then I'd guess there's going to end up a lot of stuff being undersize for firewood, which you'll still have to cut even though you might not get anything out of it.

 

My limited experiences of coppicing have been that to make it viable, you need to utilise as much of each tree as possible otherwise you're felling a lot of stuff just to get it on the floor if that makes sense.

 

There's plenty of potential markets, it's just a case of having the time/inclination to go chasing them.

[Bren.]

Twenty year coppice cycle is very long.

You might want to think about doing 10%ish a year.

[eggsarascal]

Ive got a woodland owner of a 20 acre broadleave wood and he would like it managed. I said I would coppice 1 acre a year in exchange for the wood. I dont have any machines. Lots of alder, birch, hazel, willow, bit of ash, oak.

 

Would you do it for the outcome of converting the wood into firewood and selling not this winter but next?

 

You want to send mendiplogs on here a pm. He does similar on a few woods. He's a millionaire:001_rolleyes:

[mendiplogs]

You want to send mendiplogs on here a pm. He does similar on a few woods. He's a millionaire:001_rolleyes:

 

HI WISH i was a millionaire just like you my old mucker thanks jon

[TGB]

... There's plenty of potential markets, it's just a case of having the time/inclination to go chasing them.

As said, there's going to be quite a bit that's not worth the processing time but you'll have to clear it all the same.

 

You say you've not got any machinery, well not at the moment. So depending on level of access within the wood and proximity to points of final extraction, you could be spending most of your time in man-hauling stuff.

 

8-10 year cycle for some stuff, depending on market. A few more years for others. Firewood is good of you can get it to customer as ordered on time, in reliable quantity and at profitable cost to yourself. But try to find other markets too. Maybe there's a community pizza oven local to you, that could take the small stuff. If you've got canals close by, the boat owners like 2"-3" dia. small cuts and they're not fussed about straightness. Also, you could try your hand at small scale charcoal making.

 

Lots of time required to process charcoal but since you'll be getting shot of it anyway... plus, if you get a burn started early, you can be doing other stuff close by for the first few hours. Too much cheap charcoal available at the local DIY stores and petrol stations. You can't compete with those. But maybe you could get your charcoal out as locally produced in a local garden centre.

 

If there's any straight bits worth milling, that could be worth it. Ok, so it's not going to be an ongoing supply but oak makes great furniture fine or rough. If there's suitable lengths of hazel in any quantity, you could also look into making hurdles. A good use of time while the charcoal is cooking.

 

So firewood yes. But go after the local niche markets and utilise as much of the wood as possible. If you have a market, you can supply a product. But who's to say you can't make a product and create the market.

Edited July 9, 2013 by TGB