thinning woods for timber

[MattyF]

have been offered the chance to thin a semi mature beech wood in exchange for the timber.......is this considered insanity or worth while considering the demand for logs these days:confused1:

can get a winch for extraction so hopefully skid it road side and make a proper mess of his rides but thinking it could be a fun job for the weekends

[gensetsteve]

I dont know if this is viable but would this be any good to you

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

Dunno how much you're thinking of extracting but I would avoid skidding a serious quantity out. You'd be better off using a long-reach forwarder to keep the wood clean (you'll appreciate it later!), and for the simple ease of it as opposed to skidding. Unless of course this is on a big slope?

[Andy Collins]

The FC recently sold a plot of beech wood for 30quid/tonne standing!! So if you havent got to pay for it, its a bonus.

[Steve Bullman]

The FC recently sold a plot of beech wood for 30quid/tonne standing!! So if you havent got to pay for it, its a bonus.

 

thats insane!

 

but as andy says matty. if you can get the wood out in good time you're onto a winner.

[tommer9]

I reckon go for it- like you say, beer money for messing around in the woods at the wekend, and beech is great timber.

[Steve Bullman]

even better idea matty. take the job then sell it on to someone who wants to pay you £30 a ton for the privelege!!

[Mark T]

Sounds like you could have quite a nice little deal there, I'd want to consider a number of things first though, e.g:

 

# What is the site access like? How far will you have to haul it to your conversion site?

 

# Is there enough volume to make it worth it? How will you sell it? Converted to logs or rideside? Is there a market locally?

 

# Will you have to remove suppressed vegetation in order to get to the crop? Probably not as its Beech.

 

# Skidding could coat the timber in dirt and make conversion more problematic, how about either getting a contractor in to extract or cutting to shortwood and using hydra-tongs - they're nice and cheap.

 

If you can make it work, its really useful to have a site like that to fill in the quiet days. Seasoned Beech is awesome as well!

[Mark T]

... of course, don't forget the felling license as well if one is required!

[Buzz]

Be careful if you skid beech out and you haven't alot of prior experience. The clients won't be happy if you damage the remaining crop.