What's this worth please?

[Big J]

The issues with these single garden trees are many. The main two are getting it out and loaded onto something and metal.

 

It would most likely require some pretty robust trolleys and a couple of enthusiastic chaps to move, or it will need to be chainsaw milled in situ. Both are fairly unpleasant undertakings. Secondly, garden trees are rarely free of metal, which causes upset and cost when milling and can stain and devalue the timber.

 

For someone with a chainsaw mill who can get it converted in a morning, it might be worth £40. If you had a customer lined up to take it (bare in mind, there isn't much more than 10 cubic foot in it) it might be £60. That being said, I'd personally not offer anything by way of cash and perhaps offer to leave them a plank.

[spudulike]

IMO, very little if anything. I would certainly not want to be taking its value into account when quoting. It it only worth to me the hassle of taking it away.

 

 

Yeah, that was pretty good, the dead pan voices add a sort of extra humerous dimension to it:lol:

[agg221]

The issues with these single garden trees are many. The main two are getting it out and loaded onto something and metal.

 

It would most likely require some pretty robust trolleys and a couple of enthusiastic chaps to move, or it will need to be chainsaw milled in situ. Both are fairly unpleasant undertakings. Secondly, garden trees are rarely free of metal, which causes upset and cost when milling and can stain and devalue the timber.

 

For someone with a chainsaw mill who can get it converted in a morning, it might be worth £40. If you had a customer lined up to take it (bare in mind, there isn't much more than 10 cubic foot in it) it might be £60. That being said, I'd personally not offer anything by way of cash and perhaps offer to leave them a plank.

 

I know you don't like chainsaw milling much, having become addicted to the speed of your mill, but I'm quite happy doing it, either in back garden situations or anywhere else for that matter (although I will try to avoid repeating my recent experience of CO2 poisoning...!) Production rates are of course way lower, but so are overheads, and if you are contract milling on a day rate that doesn't make any difference anyway.

 

I have milled quite a few back garden trees and have hit very little metal. I also find it is fairly predictable which trees will have it and where it will be, so I generally don't have problems. Old hedgerow trees are, in my experience, far worse.

 

For me, the usual issue with small single trees is justifying the travel and set-up time, and the travel cost, against return. It will take me just as long to get the mill together and loaded (and put away again at the end) whether I am milling for an hour or a day. I make that tree 8.25 Hoppus feet, which would yield about 6cu.ft after milling. Assume buying at about £4/Hoppus, selling at about £15/cu.ft green, you get a gross return of £57.

 

Hypothetically, imagine the tree is half an hour (20miles) away from me. Allow half an hour for loading up the mill, half an hour for unloading. Milling time, including set up and dismantling, plus loading up the timber, could probably be done in 1.5hrs on site. That's 3.5hrs (even if it's on the doorstep it will be 2.5hrs). Allow for £5 of Aspen and chain oil, and if travelling use the standard mileage rate of 41p/mile. In my example above, it would be £36 profit for 3.5hrs work, ie £10/hr if all goes well. This looks reasonably respectable, but don't forget it this figure makes no allowance for wear and tear or repairs on equipment and leaves you owning the risk of a ruined chain which would wipe out the whole profit in one nail. If it was on the doorstep the economics are more attractive - a total of £52 leaves a more attractive hourly rate and enough to cover the cost of a ruined chain if it should happen. Compare this with normal daily milling rates of £300, minus around £100 in costs and £50 in contingency/wear and tear and it is not so attractive.

 

There is, as always, a matter of supply and demand. As stock, this tree is a bit short - cherry standards often allow 6' of clear board which would be preferable and there is enough wild cherry around in even longer lengths (there was some advertised on here in Essex earlier this year). This would be better for general stock. However if someone has an immediate use for it, where either they want it for their own use, making it much more attractive than buying timber in, or they are adding value (e.g. Steve's drum) the initial purchase cost becomes a much smaller part of the overall equation. I am on the lookout for plum to make my bedroom furniture - it is tricky to find clean butts in decent lengths/diameters and I once drove to Buckinghamshire to fell one for my own use. Similarly, I want some 7' walnut to make a set of high bookshelves and don't mind travelling a fair way for it, but obviously the further I travel, the less I would pay for it.

 

Not sure whether the above ramblings help at all, but perhaps they give a perspective. In summary, if they can sell it for £40 they are doing well, but if you are prepared to ring it up into firewood lengths for a nominal sum and they don't count their time splitting it, they will end up with more value in firewood by the time they have seasoned it.

 

Alec

Edited April 12, 2015 by agg221

[rapalaman]

Thanks for all the replies guys! As I thought, and told the customer when I quoted for the job - but I promised them I'd ask on here and now can tell them the general consensus of opinion. It matters not to me whether I ring it up or leave it as is - it's too heavy for me to move in one hit anyway.

I'll keep a couple of smaller pieces for turning as my bonus:thumbup: