Pricing guidance for buying trees for firewood etc.

[BackoftheWoods]

Hi guys,

 

I am looking for some guidance on pricing up timber for sale. Local landowners have trees which have failed and are mostly lying on the ground (Hardwoods of varying diameters) and they are looking to sell them for the best price they can get.

 

I'm thinking the average roadside price for hardwoods is roughly £45 tonne/m3 at the moment? but I would have to take my processing time into consideration to get the timber into what would be a normal roadside marketable form.

 

Has anyone had any similar experiences and how did you price the timber up? Also the trees are dotted all over various woodlands and fields, so forwarding won't be a quick drive by job.

 

Thanks

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

That's a tough one! If it's all higgeldy-piggledy locations and situations you may be lucky to achieve a break even point given the time / work in extraction, transport, processing, seasoning then delivering. Maybe even take a hit and lose money. And then take into consideration that the owner is expecting to get paid handsomely. A dilemma for sure! Can't offer advice on how to price other than to say if you work out how much you might be able to sell it for, take away the cost of your time and equipment to get it back to the yard, the bit that is left (wether that be + or -) is what you'll potentially make and part of that has to go on "buying" the privilege of tidying up the landowners estate. Not very scientific, but doesn't sound too promising from what you describe??

[BARNSLEY BOB]

well put kevin,

 

simply charge the tree owner on a day rate for removing the timber.

 

have you tried it, have you tried breaking big timber down into logs,??

[log on tommy]

Hi guys,

 

I am looking for some guidance on pricing up timber for sale. Local landowners have trees which have failed and are mostly lying on the ground (Hardwoods of varying diameters) and they are looking to sell them for the best price they can get.

 

I'm thinking the average roadside price for hardwoods is roughly £45 tonne/m3 at the moment? but I would have to take my processing time into consideration to get the timber into what would be a normal roadside marketable form.

 

Has anyone had any similar experiences and how did you price the timber up? Also the trees are dotted all over various woodlands and fields, so forwarding won't be a quick drive by job.

 

Thanks

 

We've been doing that type of work all winter in our own woods and even without paying for the timber its only just worth doing. it does however tidy the place up and leave it safe. I would recommend you offer to leave the landowner with a token amount of firewood in return for the wood rather than pay for it by the ton

[Mortimer Firewood]

I had a couple of lads clearing timber from wind blown and bringing it to the yard in grain trailers they soon started selling logs and after a couple of seasons stopped as there was no money in it.

Big timber is no fun to move or process

 

I would not pay for it even with no cost in the timber it's going to be tight

[Logsnstuff]

this is why I'm amazed some of the prices mentioned for billets I find producing 1m3 billets quite a bit slower than a cube bag of cut logs so why sell at half the price. I pay £4 a ton to the farmer here for the timber we take out but we have to cut it and extract, any mill wood we charge £20 a ton + 5% sale price he gets the rest.

[R5log]

Simple really, pay £20 for it if you do 2 tons an hour to roadside and roadside price is £45 average you on £50 an hour, less any one else's labour.

[Mortimer Firewood]

you would have to be simple to pay £20 for what he describes.

 

Forestry trees nice straight lengths 100s to go at yes

[big chris the log]

Hi guys,

 

I am looking for some guidance on pricing up timber for sale. Local landowners have trees which have failed and are mostly lying on the ground (Hardwoods of varying diameters) and they are looking to sell them for the best price they can get.

 

I'm thinking the average roadside price for hardwoods is roughly £45 tonne/m3 at the moment? but I would have to take my processing time into consideration to get the timber into what would be a normal roadside marketable form.

 

Has anyone had any similar experiences and how did you price the timber up? Also the trees are dotted all over various woodlands and fields, so forwarding won't be a quick drive by job.

 

Thanks

 

Hi as the others have said clearing up fallen trees and getting to roadside is going to be a labour intensive job,then you have got to transport back to your yard and process them,and there has been plenty of questions on here of hows best to process this sort of material,generall answer is, a lot of work.

Roadside price of £45 is for forestry grown timber stacked at roadside that will go straight throug a processor all day with out messing around with a chainsaw. Why not offer a small amount of money and try it then you only have your time to lose,then buy a lorry load of good stuff and see the difference.

Hope this is of some help Chris.

[Wood wasp]

Forget doing it to get firewood quality timber to roadside, as Chris says above the £45 price is for artic loads of straight processable timber. If the timber is millable and you can get loads together in same area then you could make it work with any firewood simply a small extra