forestry advice pleae

[paul_]

Hi All

 

Had a customer get in touch with us to do some arb work. Not a problem as thats our bread and butter.

He also has 100 acres of woodland he wants us to help manage as it's been neglected for years. Larch, Beech, Ash and a general mix of well established trees.

We are keen to do the work over a 3/5 year period which the client has agreed to as and when funds allow.

We are hoping to offset some of the felling works with the sale of the timber. Anyone give me advice on price for standing timber or stacked at roadside etc etc.

Work is in Buckingham and we're in Manchester so we'd have to stay away.

Interested to know peoples thoughts!!

Thanks in advance!

Paul

[Mark Bolam]

Have you got any heavy kit?

Roadside prices, which would be good for ash and beech especially, would rely on lengths being wagon-friendly, not 2' handballed lumps.

 

 

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[TimberCutterDartmoor]

Unless you've got credible forestry contracting experience, I'd walk away. Enthusiasm won't make profit. Suggest to the owner he gets a well established forestry contractor, not an arb firm.

[doobin]

We are hoping to offset some of the felling works with the sale of the timber.

Paul

 

Your client could do more than offset some of the cost with 100 acres. He could get paid for the trees- that's how forestry works.

 

It will depend entirely upon the age, state of the woods and the FC license that can be obtained as to what it's worth to a forestry contractor.

[roseyweb]

Selling timber should make money not offset some of it.

 

Forestry and woodland management is a lot different to tickling apple trees and lovingly embrassing saplings, you need to know timber markets, produce, haulage, harvesting systems ecology, grants etc

[AlexB]

Unless you've got credible forestry contracting experience, I'd walk away. Enthusiasm won't make profit. Suggest to the owner he gets a well established forestry contractor, not an arb firm.

 

 

Nail/head.

 

If the work is yours, great. But when they learn it should cost at most £20t to get the wood to road side and it's worth £40t roadside not including any subsidies that might be available. You might not get any repeat work from them.

 

 

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[TGB]

... and if possible, have found a buyer for the trees before they're dropped. Also, since it's mixed & neglected, extraction will most likely be a problem. You might well have to first clear working areas and extraction routes through non profitable growth, just to access saleable timber.

 

If you didn't have to travel so far it would help. But even with living away, the transport & living costs are going to mount up fast. I was talking to someone yesterday as it happens. And he was saying about improving outdoor amenity attraction to one of his hotels. "Now you can spend £25-35,000 and say it looks nice. But if it's not going to pull in custom and make more money, what's the point.

 

Ok, you're not landscaping a terrace and improving wheelchair access but the principal is the same. You spend money to make money. If you start spending it but not making it back with a profit, you're going to go bust. It won't cut it with the bank manager, when you say, "It almost made a profit."

Edited May 22, 2014 by TGB

[Stephen Blair]

Cut them down, put them in a pile and let him sell the timber.

[treequip]

Clearly the timber has a value but we don't know what the owner wants from this woodland.

 

If could well be that the "management" involves more than extracting a crop.

[paul_]

Thanks all

 

Some interesting points there that ill take on board and some shite ones which I'll ignore:biggrin:

Had a call from a chap who seems keen to work alongside us so looking forward to getting it all up and running.

Will keep you posted.

Off to tickle some apple trees now....