Big blow, how different would things be today??

[skyhuck]

With all this talk of a big blow, even references to 87 on the radio today.

 

I very much doubt we will get anything on the scale of 87.

 

But if we did, how different would things be??

 

1000's of tonnes of timber was just bonfired back then, with timber prices now I don't think much would be wasted these days.

 

Also there are so many more firms today and all the weekend warriors wanting timber, things would be very different.

 

TBH I'm not sure these sort of events actually do us much good long term.

[Shane]

One of the local guys in Worthing went out first thing the morning after the 87 hurricane and bough every chainsaw in the town!

The diy warriors couldn't find any so what could they do?

 

After he had earned a fair wedge 'helping' everyone out he then sold chainsaws to them so they could cut up the timber for burning.

 

So - set your alarm clocks, credit cards at the ready.

[Gerbutt]

I went into Charlie Hills stihl shop earlier and they were making loads of chains and getting saws ready for sale. They said that last time we had a bad storm, 2002 ish, folk rushed in a bought all the saws within a few days, and they stock quite a few!

[gensetsteve]

In 1987 I had a new 3 day old transit running around sorting generators a tree fell on the bonnet. Got the disc cutter out and cut it off drove round for 5 days with no bonnet. Cant afford a new transit this time round so should have no problems

[Brushcutter]

Lots of timber= prices go down

 

Lots of trees blown down in garden people want them logged up, tree surgon working a few doors down needs somewhere to dump so logs as his yard is full mr blogs up the road will have them. Then nobody will be buying logs.

 

Less trees around after the clear up. More tree firms around now means more competition for work more firms out of business. Less demand on training industry, less demand for further ed, less tree officers.

 

Maybe a month of boom but after that it could be a whole load of bust.

[openspaceman]

Lots of timber= prices go down

 

Lots of trees blown down in garden people want them logged up, tree surgon working a few doors down needs somewhere to dump so logs as his yard is full mr blogs up the road will have them. Then nobody will be buying logs.

 

Less trees around after the clear up. More tree firms around now means more competition for work more firms out of business. Less demand on training industry, less demand for further ed, less tree officers.

 

Maybe a month of boom but after that it could be a whole load of bust.

 

Drag the timescale out to 5 years and that's about what happened after 87.

 

I was selling to 13 of many sawmills in surrey then , none left now apart from mobile ones and a subsidised effort.

 

Timber was more valuable at the beginning then too, in real terms it's a fraction of the value now.

 

I'm staying in bed this time.

[Rob D]

I reckon down here in the south there's a good chance of seeing something like in 87... wet ground, trees in full leaf and consistent forecasts for very very strong winds.

 

 

 

If it does blow to that extent then there will be a lot of timber available for milling.

 

 

Also good for retailers selling gear.

 

 

A lot of the trees will be big uns - weekend warriors will cut what they can but still have to call in someone to saw the main butt up.

 

 

And further in the future - more awareness so more people wanting trees pruned, inspected, worked on because - remember what happened in 2013... etc we don't want that coming through the house.... could be a boost to the industry.

 

 

[Mesterh]

Sounds like a lot of work on the horizon, I think ill turn off my phone and just look at the nasty weather through the window.

 

Theres a lot more men with a lot more chainsaws this time around so probably not the scope for profiteering that the was in 87.

 

Plus there are probably a lot more wiser insurance companies now

[codlasher]

The sheer volume of timber being cleared gave a much needed boost to the timber industry at that time. Yes it was cheap and yes it had to be cleared but it created a market where there wasn't one.

I look back and there really wasn't the firewood demand or the modern processors to cope if there was either so the brash was simply pushed up or burned where it lay. Most was simply left in piles and had rotted down three years later. The stumps had rotted by 1997 and all that remains in the woodlands that I was involved with are the mounds of soil that were left under the stumps in amongst the young trees that were planted in 1988 and now 25 years old. Some of the original holes were big enough to loose a tractor in and the first mechanical weeding needed a person walking ahead of the tractor to warn the driver of these holes!

There was also a big change in outlook on the large blocks of similar aged monoculture that existed too. To continue to make use of the newly created timber market there was a considerable felling and re-planting programme put in place that continued until the 1991 gale and beyond.

The gulf war stopped this abruptly and things then went into decline. The local sawmill that had been milling considerable amounts of the poorer timber found that their market simply wasn't there, laid all fifteen staff off and shut for good. Several others did the same and later discovered that their land was worth ten times what it was for housing development and are now under mock Georgian brickwork!

codlasher

Edited October 26, 2013 by codlasher

[hedgesparrow]

i think back at all the stuff we cut up and threw in hedge as did not have the transport to move it. and that just rotted away. so a lot of timber just went to waste. now with the gear a lot will be taken and processed so could be a glut of firewood not so much working timber. as in 87 lot of the timber was unable to be milled as had the shakes.