Logs, what does the future hold?

[theflyingscotsman]

very cost effective if yr woods for free .

 

Very true: the big boys in my area who buy in and invest thousands in equipment are selling for £45 per cube madness...

 

My woods all free/waste or labour/skill exchange for it. Makes me have a nicer life throughout the worst of the scottish winter... I sell at £80 per bag no over heads and a very realistic view on growth...

 

I also have access to around 400. Customers through my other parts of the business. The ones with stoves/fires only buy from me so it's a no brainer.

 

 

I plan to simplify the firewood next year and pre sell the wood before the winter and store/ deliver the logs once the customers paid the full amount up front.

 

That means I can have a stock but not sell out and stock to order.. Easier to keep customers happy..

 

For example: 10 customers taking 10 bags per winter on pre pay would be £8000 going in to the winter.. I have 6 pre pay customers already and stock for

Next year to take on about 30 customers.

 

Good luck to everyone if there is a wood apocalypse...log war or perhaps a giant bun fight

[Goaty]

 

I plan to simplify the firewood next year and pre sell the wood before the winter and store/ deliver the logs once the customers paid the full amount up front.

 

That means I can have a stock but not sell out and stock to order.. Easier to keep customers happy..

 

For example: 10 customers taking 10 bags per winter on pre pay would be £8000 going in to the winter.. I have 6 pre pay customers already and stock for

Next year to take on about 30 customers.

 

Good luck to everyone if there is a wood apocalypse...log war or perhaps a giant bun fight

 

 

I have encouraged customers to buy in the summer unseasoned to ensure not only do they have seasoned wood but they have it in stock when they need it.

 

As for the apocalypse comment. Go like the oil producers with an escalating fixed price market. Which seems to be illegal in fair competition unless you deal in oil or energy:confused1:

[gensetsteve]

I have encouraged customers to buy in the summer unseasoned to ensure not only do they have seasoned wood but they have it in stock when they need it.

 

As for the apocalypse comment. Go like the oil producers with an escalating fixed price market. Which seems to be illegal in fair competition unless you deal in oil or energy:confused1:

 

I think the oil industry does better because they are able to do a spread sheet or at the very least add up.

[Mortimer Firewood]

I've found that I can put price up year on year by £7.50 per cube so only covering rise in cost of cord and fuel this year I am getting £110 or if they want half cubes it £60 plus delivery new log merchants popping up round us all the time buy an article load and a hp37 then realise cord is hard to get hold of and as there selling for £80 a cube there is no money in it.

You could tell most log buyers that it was any type of wood and they would not know. When a new customer rings now they get a 50%hard and50% soft mix and not one has complained yet. The old boy that delivers our cord told me to aim to get out of the log game in 5 years as by his reckoning that's how much timber there is left to cut before we run out,if he is right or not I don't know but he has been spot on with other things he has told me.

[tothby1]

just done a work through on price as buy by the ton and have own cert weigh bridge.

first of all logs only a side line as mainly arable farmer / contractor and do concrete ground work as well i use timber to keep my two men busy in winter.

i buy cord in at £60 a ton and season in 1.7 potato box and sell as 1.5 cube weight of logs inbox green .640 add 15kg sawdust which i bag and sell to horse trade so cost of green logs in box is £39.60 with transaw we average nearly 4 boxes a hour . cost of tractor saw and forklift and two men £80 hour forklift and tractor not working hard say 3 boxes £30 puts cost of box to £70 box overheads advert and free 15 mile delivery £30 i sell for £110 including 5% vat

[doobin]

just done a work through on price as buy by the ton and have own cert weigh bridge.

first of all logs only a side line as mainly arable farmer / contractor and do concrete ground work as well i use timber to keep my two men busy in winter.

i buy cord in at £60 a ton and season in 1.7 potato box and sell as 1.5 cube weight of logs inbox green .640 add 15kg sawdust which i bag and sell to horse trade so cost of green logs in box is £39.60 with transaw we average nearly 4 boxes a hour . cost of tractor saw and forklift and two men £80 hour forklift and tractor not working hard say 3 boxes £30 puts cost of box to £70 box overheads advert and free 15 mile delivery £30 i sell for £110 including 5% vat

 

Are you saying the total cost of a box of wood to your business is £100 and you sell for £110? That's nuts, surely you can get your blokes to make improvements to your farm over the winter- that will at least pay dividends to your business. Why have them doing something that makes no money? Or have I read you wrong? It was a little convoluted, I was struggling to follow your thoughts as you wrote them down!

 

An 0.7m vented bag costs me £30 to fill including timber, labour, electric and wear/tear on machines. I sell for £60 collected or £70 delivered. If delivered, I use a spreadsheet to work out the max distance I can go with X number of bags, and still keep the profit per bag to £30. That's with timber costing me approx £40/t delivered to the yard (we're in a timber rich area)

 

The furthest I can deliver 1 bag and still make £30 profit is 4.5 miles. For two bags, I can go up to 12 miles. For three bags as far as 20 miles is OK, but I don't often go this far.

 

If anyone else wants to do it for less (and there are plenty of them out there!) then good luck to them. If it doesn't sell before Christmas, it probably will after. If not then, it can wait till next winter!

[doobin]

I think the oil industry does better because they are able to do a spread sheet or at the very least add up.

 

:thumbup:

[gensetsteve]

Are you saying the total cost of a box of wood to your business is £100 and you sell for £110? That's nuts, surely you can get your blokes to make improvements to your farm over the winter- that will at least pay dividends to your business. Why have them doing something that makes no money? Or have I read you wrong? It was a little convoluted, I was struggling to follow your thoughts as you wrote them down!

 

An 0.7m vented bag costs me £30 to fill including timber, labour, electric and wear/tear on machines. I sell for £60 collected or £70 delivered. If delivered, I use a spreadsheet to work out the max distance I can go with X number of bags, and still keep the profit per bag to £30. That's with timber costing me approx £40/t delivered to the yard (we're in a timber rich area)

 

The furthest I can deliver 1 bag and still make £30 profit is 4.5 miles. For two bags, I can go up to 12 miles. For three bags as far as 20 miles is OK, but I don't often go this far.

 

If anyone else wants to do it for less (and there are plenty of them out there!) then good luck to them. If it doesn't sell before Christmas, it probably will after. If not then, it can wait till next winter!

 

Man after my own heart if does not add up on a calculator its not going to work as there is always something else you have not allowed for. Just because old ned down the road sells for £60 a cube does not mean he makes money.

[tothby1]

i am saying at that price i am making money as hire rate of tractor forklift etc is what i would price out contracting . all these wet days the men have work in dry shed then on good days we get on with other jobs . other than that they would be sent home short hours rather than make a mess ground working .

also most times we are processing 4 boxs an hour and above i only costed three

I am not losing money as they are not working hard.

i believe in a fair price for the right product . I am charging more money than most round here but my logs are dry .they are stored in boxes for about a year three high with sheet on top. i have supplied three new customers this week that have had logs delivered by others in the last week that were too wet to burn .

[oldwoodcutter]

I was talking to one of the biggest,if not the biggest harvesting contractor in east anglia a few weeks ago and he is selling ash, as harvested, at ride side for £70 a ton,and his opinion was that it will be more next year.

So any get rich quick log seller who buys his roundwood in, and is running around chucking cubes off for £80 a throw now,will soon have to double his prices,or go out of business.