Advice needed re Chestnut Coppice

[Catweazle]

I'll be very grateful for some expert advice regarding my Sweet Chestnut coppice.

 

I have a wood of nearly 18 acres, 16 acres is good quality Sweet Chestnut between 12 and 25 years old. It was planted to supply hop poles to the Kent fields maybe 200 years ago.

 

I would like to cut up to 4 acres this year and have been told that there is good 100 tons per acre suitable for post and rail or selling to a couple of local companies at £50 per ton roadside.

 

I have been offered £500 per acre standing, my first offer, but this seems low considering the potential £5000 per acre if I can cut it and get it to roadside.

 

The recession has screwed my usual business so I might well have every other week off this year, is it worth my buying a tractor or quad and trying to cut and extract the wood myself ?

[slack ma girdle]

WE brought an old nuffield tractor 18 months ago for £800. The tractor is simple enough that we can fix most problems ourselves. We have improvised a skidding plate from an A frame with a 5mm plate welded across the bottom. This would work well for your chestnut poles and is cheap to set up. Once you have a tractor then the world is your oyster for attachments, which will speed up your output.

Good luck

Slack ma girdle

 

I can spot a tree at 100 yards

[Treeworld]

I would gladly come and fell it for you on a day rate and then you can sell the timber and keep the excess profit after my labour. £500 an acre is a brilliant price for you doing nothing! I could also arrange extraction to roadside for you if you are interested then pm me with contact details.

 

Dave

[Mr Ed]

If you have the experience, then give it a go, but you may find it much harder than you think.

A little tractor with a frame on the back will carry a tonne at a time out, Or if you have the dosh, buy a Japa skidding grapple for carrying out the bundles. At that rate, if you cut and extracted a couple of tonnes a day, you'll do OK. Just remember, timber dries and looses weight at roadside, so try and do your deal on a cubic meter basis rather than weight.

[Catweazle]

Thanks fellas,

 

As you can see, I'm not a pro, but recent events are making me look a bit more closely at maximising the money from the woods. I think maybe I'll get a professional in to cut an acre and watch closely. I know it won't make me an instant expert but I should pick up enough to muddle through, especially as time won't really be a problem for me. As Mr Ed says, a couple of tons a day will keep me going until I get up to speed. I might even split some on-site and sell the finished product.

[Catweazle]

I would gladly come and fell it for you on a day rate and then you can sell the timber and keep the excess profit after my labour. £500 an acre is a brilliant price for you doing nothing! I could also arrange extraction to roadside for you if you are interested then pm me with contact details.

 

Dave

 

Most of the Standard trees came down in '87, as a result the chestnut is straight as lamposts so £500 an acre isn't really too much. Have you cut and extracted chestnut coppice before ?

[Treeworld]

Yes, I am doing so at the moment as well and getting all the timber for far less.

[Catweazle]

Yes, I am doing so at the moment as well and getting all the timber for far less.

 

Blimey, that's going to be cheap per ton then . The fella that visited reckoned on 100 tons per acre useable, inwood are advertising that they'll pay £50 a ton roadside and this guy said he'll pay the same.

 

I'm seriously considering buying a 4x4 tractor and pulling out 3 acres myself, it'll pay for the tractor this year.

[Ian Leach]

Personally i would have a go yourself but first get someone in to do say an acre first to give you the experience. It will also be worth doing a chainsaw course it shows you different cuts to make as well, its not as easy as it looks many people who have been doing it for a long time make it look easy.

 

Are you thinking of splitting it post and rail yourself???

 

Most of all have fun and be safe:001_cool:

[muldonach]

Blimey, that's going to be cheap per ton then . The fella that visited reckoned on 100 tons per acre useable, inwood are advertising that they'll pay £50 a ton roadside and this guy said he'll pay the same.

 

I'm seriously considering buying a 4x4 tractor and pulling out 3 acres myself, it'll pay for the tractor this year.

 

We do this with firewood in neglected hardwood plantations, it is certainly do-able but don't underestimate the challenge.

 

If you have not already done some training then I would recommend getting some and also getting an experienced cutter in to give you a good start and show you how to work in the wood. If it isunthinned then mark out the extraction roads before you start felling and cut to a logical system.

 

You don't say what kind of groound you have but we find ourselves very limited in the use of tractors by wet and soft ground. Once you have started to cut the ground up it rapidly becomes a quagmire. A quad and a small forwarding trailer make a lot less mess if the timber is small enough to handle.

 

Mind you at 50/tonne roadside it makes reasonable sense.

 

Cheers

mac