What is a fair price?

[Flip Flop]

Hi,

 

I have a number of trees that need felling/have been felled. I have a number of people offering to buy the wood off me. The trees are large and mature and suitable for milling into planks rather than firewood. If the tree has been felled but needs to be extracted (not an easy route) and transported from site what would be a reasonable price for:

 

Oak

Beech

 

£/cube

 

I appreciate this is a hard one as it will depend on the labour involved for extraction/transport but some indication would be useful

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

I'm guessing you're trying to find a price range somebody might pay you to fell and remove your trees?

 

Like any sale, there will be many variables - you say some need felling and it's a difficult extraction.... It's not sounding like an arrangement that is attractive.

 

You may be lucky to give it away...

 

You may even have to adjust your expectation and actually pay someone.....

 

Pictures, dimensions, qty, location might help. If there is someone nearby that just happens to need or want what you have, you might get lucky.

[treequip]

Its worth nothing until its been felled, milled and delivered, the better question is whats it gonna cost to get it to that point

[biggarlogs]

when it is felled,transported to roadside,in a lorry friendly place,and in 3metre lenghts,graded so the big stuff is separate to the small stuff ,it might be worth £30-35 a ton.that is if there is at least 25 ton in the stack.

[agg221]

Sawlogs will vary widely on price depending on quality, size, location and demand. Standing price will also be lower as there is more risk of hidden decay.

 

Assume they are felled and cleaned up but left long as first and second lengths, the oak if around 2 to 3' mid girth and minimum 3m first length may reach £6/Hoppus but go down from there depending on the above factors. If the beech has been left lying it may now be worthless but even at best £4/Hoppus would be unlikely. If you can make up a full load then it may pay you to have the lot viewed by a local sawmill and get an offer cut to their spec on length. You could then extract to roadside and let them pick up, knowing how much you will get back.

 

Alec

[Shane]

Wood, as we know if unbelievably valuable these days. We, as tree surgeons are lucky to be in such a lucrative business.

 

Most of us already have loads of equipment which means we have no overheads at all.

Because our work is easy the Insurance companies don't charge us, they PAY us.

Local garages give us fuel and the guys who work for us don't expect wages.

 

We mostly use banks which provide loans with negative interest. The money just comes from nowhere.

 

On this basis we are always happy to pay people to let us cut down their trees, and even get really rich in the process.

[54gka]

Ha nice one

[tractorboy1]

Wood, as we know if unbelievably valuable these days. We, as tree surgeons are lucky to be in such a lucrative business.

 

Most of us already have loads of equipment which means we have no overheads at all.

Because our work is easy the Insurance companies don't charge us, they PAY us.

Local garages give us fuel and the guys who work for us don't expect wages.

 

We mostly use banks which provide loans with negative interest. The money just comes from nowhere.

 

On this basis we are always happy to pay people to let us cut down their trees, and even get really rich in the process.

 

Great advice in the homeowners section.

[gdh]

I think you would be better off getting it extracted first if you want a decent price. Hardwood for firewood is 45-50 a ton /cube roadside assuming it's a decent amount then any tidy pieces, (large,no rot and straight) you could sell separately or possibly hire a saw mill in for and sell or use the planks.

[Flip Flop]

I think Shane has missed the point. I have already agreed a price to pay the tree surgeon to fell the trees. I was going to use it for firewood but he has stated that some is of such good size and quality that he would rather buy it off me. I have said make me an offer. He needs to extract the timber and transport it to the mill.

 

Obviously it is impossible for people on the forum to understand the effort needed to extract and transport it so for simplicity sake what price could he expect from the mill or what would he get if he milled it himself? I am thinking of oak and beech.

 

I appreciate it is tough to make money in any business and especially forestry so I fully accept that he needs to make a reasonable profit but I don't want to be ripped off

[Mick Dempsey]

I think Shane has missed the point. I have already agreed a price to pay the tree surgeon to fell the trees. I was going to use it for firewood but he has stated that some is of such good size and quality that he would rather buy it off me. I have said make me an offer. He needs to extract the timber and transport it to the mill.

 

Obviously it is impossible for people on the forum to understand the effort needed to extract and transport it so for simplicity sake what price could he expect from the mill or what would he get if he milled it himself? I am thinking of oak and beech.

 

I appreciate it is tough to make money in any business and especially forestry so I fully accept that he needs to make a reasonable profit but I don't want to be ripped off

 

 

 

 

That's fair enough, there are so many variables though it's very hard for anyone on here to be precise.

If you've spoken to a number of people and they're all in the same ball park then you should be ok.

I do a few clearance jobs a year and I bring in a sawmill to take the trunks away.

I remember him telling me that one rather ordinary looking ash with a straight knot free trunk of 15mtrs was worth more to him than a lorry load of knotty old firewood.