arboriculturist

Are you using hushpower cartridges? They function reasonably well in an unmoderated gun being a lot quieter, but wont cycle in a Browning Maxus. There is not much pleasure in using the Mossberg 3 shot it like a blunderbuss! Bought soley for general vermin control, odd magpies, crows Jays etc, not crop protection.

Personally I decided that the fact that they send an auto email reply for my applications, damage was being caused to crops and there was Section 4 of the Act in place, put me in a comfortable position to carry out the protection. It is a personal choice though.

The revocation to be honest made little difference. Applied for about 5 individual licences to control Pigeons, Crows, Rooks and Jackdaws, never heard a thing back so I used the exemption in the Act and carried on as normal, so was I able to continue protecting crops and wildlife. Then this Friday an individual licence - 'Preventing serious damage' licence turned up, that allows me to control Crows, Rooks and Jackdaws until the end of 2019. So I am very happy with that aspect of the shambles.

The ones I have spoken to say they know nothing else and/or don't have other skillsets and cannot afford to upskill due to financial commitments.

That is a very truthfull answer. Those are certainly the rates for a lot of the country for those that do regular work for others. Knowone is saying the rates are good or reflect the rigours of the work it's just the way it is. When a lot of firms can only charge £200 / man day including all the gear to keep everyone employed, I can see why the rates are at the level they are. I don't think I know anyone who does the job for the money.

Ah, that's really interesting. I am upgrading the vehicle to take 4m3 but to be honest there are not enough customers to be quite that busy. However the way things are going we may be the only ones left. All the Tree Surgeons just are not interested in Firewood any more as their staff demand a decent wage so the boss doesn't want to pay them to stand at a splitter and gone are the days of plenty of space to run your business from. Loads just work from home and have zero space. We have to deliver up to 20 miles at present to find the demand. Sourcing decent timber of the right spec. is getting more of a challenge, as to keep the margins up we need a process rate of 10m3 / hr very minimum.

2000 cube is that for 2 people? What level of Income would you anticipate each from kiln drying your own rather than importing if you could produce and sell 2000cube ? Thanks

Previous generations sourced all their timber locally, carried or moved by horse and cart, cut, split and stacked. That should be the starting point. Moving forward in time - all our roundwood used to come from within 20 mile radius with no shortages. Further forward - retailers are importing Kiln dried from Russia, Latvia etc. etc. We all need to be endeavoring to take a few steps back in time!

Yes, I've seen some pubs we supplied switch to coal. I think the whole imported kiln dried market will not find it easy in the next year or 2, exchange rate, Brexit and the fact that more people are buying with environmental conscientiousness!

The original poster said: 'My main job is landscape gardening etc but wanting to do less of this and focus more on the firewood instead but is it worth the switch due to running cost and the price of timber increasing if you can find it?' Surely to move from Landscape Gardening to Firewood is madness if you live in an area where people have money. It seems that the general consensus on this thread is that even on a large scale, retailing Firewood is not an attractive business as far as profit margins go, even when you become a 'large' producer. A huge investment is required in machinery, running costs are high due to the amount of labour required, fuel, maintenance, delivery costs etc. etc. Those that kiln dry the wood are now faced with the recent spate of timber price rises, which has dramatically increased the cost of the drying even those on the RHI tarriff. Timber price rises have also reduced our margins, as most of us have been unable to increase our prices in line with the rate at which the timber price has risen. Actually finding timber is getting harder and harder as we all know, most that is harvested is now going to the biomass electricity plants. You start to wonder if due to the cost of firewood now, people are starting to burn less of it. I havn't heard of anyone new starting up new Firewood businesses for years now in our region of the country, but plenty throwing in the towel!

GDH is correct, a lot depends on sales. Last Winter was poor compared to the previous year and as some fixed costs don't alter, the Profit Margin was reduced due to less sales. We have almost reached critical mass - i.e. no further investment is required to increase turnover, however being in a rural area we are able to saturate the market and therefore it is very hard to increase sales. It is not as though we can introduce other products to grow sales, the demand is Firewood and anything with lower value is not viable to deliver free. Always open to ideas though.

A profit of 27% would be diabolical were you an Electrician with just a van full of tools but when you talk about the timber / forestry sector it is of course a whole different ball game. With machines and equipment costing 10s of thousands then the figure of 27% net profit is looking much more realistic. Taking a look at your accounts generally demonstrates how the business is running and I know in the past our net profit has been well below that figure!

In addition that 4 year rule has been 10 years for some time now for buildings or house alterations, still 4 years for dwellings as far as I am aware.

Generally arb arisings are all shapes and sizes and don't lend themselves to a processor and in reality there are very few mobile setups around. I think the 'get in a contractor' is great for domestic customers and the bloke doing a small amount to sell, but without a log deck output is down by at least 50%. If you have bought in roundwood to handle without a grab of some sort it's murder. Having started the hard way and built up the equipment, I can say with certainty that even with all the gear making a significant PROFIT is hard to achieve. With 2 people, given the right spec. timber we can load deck, process and stack 15m3 of crated 10" logs per hour and keep the setup tidy. Even with this level of production making a worthwhile PROFIT is still a challenge. We never handle the logs during any part of the process, so how anyone doing a few 100 metres manually can survive is beyond me and in reality they must be just surviving. The Firewood sector is surely going the same way as farming, we will see far far less producers, as the larger setups will be the only financially viable standalone businesses. Talking to the timber Hauliers, at least 6 producers within 75 miles of me have ceased their Firewood businesses in the last 9 months.

Mossberg recommend fibre. The issue with plastic is when passing the ports plastic is sheared from the outer surface of the wad which then builds up in the moderator. A few is ok but I wouldn't make a habit of it unless you strip the moderator really regularly.

Sorry to hear it's all come to an end, I don't think you are the only one as the market has radically changed recently. Good luck with your next enterprise. ?

Where are you located in the UK and how are the timber prices for you? Somerset prices for hardwood have reached 80/t delivered. Talking to Haulers it seems like more and more suppliers have had enough. If you are in an affluent area gardening businesses I know of are doing really well, whereas firewood suppliers are barely ticking over. Landscaping is an easy business to expand in areas where people have money as they rarely want to lift a finger. I've seen one man bands expand to 4 teams of 2 with vans.

Ist choice spares - That's your best bet.

Do you normally keep a borrow under the screener? I used to just tipped the screenings to naturally decay but given the timber prices now I'm thinking of keeping it and screening into a mesh lined IBC and using myself.

Fair comment, I have compared the specs. for 1.5 v 2.7 so didn't realise the 2.7 was 3x digging force. I think the original poster needs compactness though. We have always transported our steel tracked 1.5t on transits and Ivecos same as our 1.2 Yanmar tracked dumper, loaded on the ramps.

Having used micro's they seem a large investment for what is essentially a toy ex. Tiny reach, bucket capacity, power etc. but maybe ok if you a full time landscaper. They are similar money to a 1.5 t, which is a far more versatile machine with a ripper tooth, grip tallon and other attachments. Horses for courses I suppose. Hire in for the rare occasion the access wont allow for a 1.5t.

If this is a house for life, as far as anyone can ever foresee, get the basics right. Sagging undersized floor / ceiling joists leading to sagging upstairs studwork and door linings etc. is not a structural issue you want to re-visit later down the line. If they are questionable have it all out and upgrade the ceiling joists at the same time so you can convert the roofspace at a later date, even better get the roof stairs in now. Stairbox will make you any flight of stairs for about 25% of the cost of top notch joiner made stairs and for the money they are unbeatable. As I said if you plan to stay get as close to a 'passive' level of insulation that you can. Yes that is around 500mm Celotex at rafter level and insulation below ground floor slab also. Buy the insulation from the following link, I have used loads of times and sheets are like new. https://www.secondsandco.co.uk/ Rafters can be ventilated so don't panic about that. Energy is a major annual expense and is only going to cost more over time. The above will be costly but it will never cost less than today and you will look back in the future and be able to think that you acted wisely rather than having any regrets. Good luck ?

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Test it with a multimeter - its a quick easy task ?