renewablejohn
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Everything posted by renewablejohn
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Only talking from experience wanting to finance a 250kW wind turbine even with guaranteed Fits income most banks refused point blank and the only bank who offered finance wanted asset cover of twice the value of the asset. You have done very well to get any finance and your the first farmer I have heard actually get an increase in overdraft many farmers around me are in dire straights because overdrafts have been reduced. Fortunately I dont have an overdraft so can hopefully ride out any recession.
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Grants are out there at the moment unfortunately only to a maximum of 40% which still means 60% to find from your own savings as despite assurances from banks that there lending to small business in reality there not.
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advice on some woodland i have my eye on..
renewablejohn replied to Dr.Green's topic in Forestry and Woodland management
I now dont bother with land which has an uplift. Why should you go through all the aggravation of securing planning permission and then have to give money back. Some of these uplift clauses are very vague. I nearly got caught out with some land which I was going to purchase to plant woodland on. The planting of woodland would have triggered the uplift clause and I would have been stung for another 300k. -
Would not be concerned about a bagging off chute so long as the bench was high enough to fit an IBC container under each side and the table long enough on each side to fill the centre of the IBC.
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Looks very good. Fancy making another one and if so how much would it cost.
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I sell by the m3 IBC container but got fed up with customers saying they could get a m3 builders bag cheaper when it was in fact only .65 at the most so I now also do half m3 bags .8x.8x.8 which competes directly with the builders bag. The full m3 IBC is £100 and the half m3 bag £55 with nearly all customers opting for the IBC which I want because there easier to handle mechanically.
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Its worth however much somebody is prepared to pay thats why it is at auction. That said it looks very much like my Kesla with the 3 point crane which is handy as it can be used separate to the trailer and must be worth 6-7k if in good working order.
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I think for biomass working to a G30 spec requires a chipper if you shred it it could block the biomass feed systems due to bridging and strands in the auger.
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Brilliant
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Fenching material is difficult. As for brash we use it all but we need to dry it below 25% MC
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really depends on what the biomass plant has been approved to burn. A plant I have done quite a bit of work at near Doncaster is WID compliant and burns mainly kitchen units which includes MDF and formica and a lot of other nasties. They have to burn at very high temperature and the smokestack is monitored 24/7 with automatic shutdown if it breaches the parameters on a regular basis. Major problem occurs if you want to claim ROC's as it needs to be virgin timber although a very small percentage of other material is allowed but subject to approval and testing.
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Just noticed a Unimog snow blower on the list might be useful for some of the Scottish guys. I dont think I could justify it for the dusting of snow we have had today in sunny Lancashire.
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This Saturday 17th Burnley Auction are selling 4 Stihl saws and a timber trailer with crane if anybody is interested or had items go missing recently.
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both a m3 and dumpy bag are to heavy to lift by hand (yes some young tikes on here throw them about but as they get older they will regret it.) Have you looked at barrow bags which can be used with a standard 2 wheel sack truck which most farmers have. Could be your easiest solution
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You cant beat a good old MB Trac
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Just put your bulk bags on a pallet and then get a 3 point pallet fork to fit on the back of your tractor.
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Is there much call for chipper and operator hire?
renewablejohn replied to mikecotterill's topic in Business Management
I get the occasional hire for big take downs requiring a larger chipper than the normal tree surgeons chipper but its more for biomass which will include hiring the forwarder as well. -
Chipper Hire Worcs/Hfds/Shrops border wanted
renewablejohn replied to WorcsWuss's topic in Large equipment
Are these rates chipper only or chipper and operator as I normally hire my Heizohack out at a minimum of £250 per day plus vat plus fuel but that does include operator. -
Customers would put there tree outside the front door after christmas ready for collection and once collected I would just put a £10 note in an envelope and give to the customer or if the customer was out post it through the letter box. It really was all done on trust. All the rouge company did was collect the tree and if caught taking the tree would hand over £10 if not it was just stolen leaving me with lots of unhappy customers demanding deposit refunds on trees that had been stolen. As I said it worked perfectly well for 4 years with very happy honest customers who really appreciated a green alternative and looked after the trees really well. In the final year I should have put my prices up as I had more customers who did not buy into the green aspect of the rental scheme but just saw it as a cheap alternative to normal cut off christmas trees resulting in trees not being watered. I still think there is a market but I dont as yet have the answer on how to do it without being ripped off.
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We did this for 5 years hiring out trees and built up to 2500 per year a good little business. We came unstuck as we gave a £10 deposit refund when we collected the tree which worked fine for the first 4 years but then a rival company set up and went round collecting our trees and handing over the £10 deposit in effect getting a £30 tree for £10. I could not take legal action against the company as I could not prove that they were my trees. They even had the audacity to turn up at the local agricultural show with a stand full of my trees.
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Forgot to mention it does help if you put down a small acreage to a woodland grant scheme as it is very difficult for the council to argue that you are not in forestry if you are receiving payments from the Forestry Commission.
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How long have the polytunnels been up. If in excess of 4 years you will have a better case. Do you have your own woodland if not plant some quick as it will show diversification into woodland operations. Have you spare room for plants in the polytunnels if so buy a sawdust burner and install in the polytunnel then diversify into growing plants. Make sure you have all the environment agency exemptions for burning plant matter, storage of waste, etc etc. I have about 10 exemptions just to operate the farm legitimately. As others have said you will have been reported by a "lovely" neighbor unfortunately once it starts its very difficult to stop. My best advice is to find a good land agent so at least you can find out what is really behind there "innocent" enquiry.
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Have you considered a drawbar trailer such as the cheap one below or even a skeletal on the same ad. JOHN WHITING LTD Or you could push the boat out and go for the trailer with the crane already attached
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Unfortunately buying a machine is the cheap easy bit. What you then need is suitable material of the right size and moisture content to process in your new machine. In our case a chipper to get G30 chip and a hammer mill to further reduce the chip to a size for the briquette machine. Add to that a 3 phase generator to run the briquette press and hammer mill. Fortunately my solar kilns produce timber dry enough to briquette. Once you have your briquettes you then need a bagging line and approved weigh scales to keep trading standards happy. Finally you need to sell to people who realise it is a dry product and needs to be stored dry not left outside on pallets. I only make briquettes to dispose of my reject kindling wood waste and lucky if I can achieve £5 for a 10 kg bag of briquettes. Local competitors are selling at £3.50 for 10 kg but there rubbish compared to mine, thats the sort of competition I am up against.
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Terrible stuff. Just to help you all out I will take it off your hands FOC I agree with Farmer Ben its all in the drying. Once you get it below 20% MC make sure you keep it below 20% MC as it does seem to act like a sponge if stored in damp conditions. I sell all my timber as solar dried guaranteed less than 20% MC and do not tolerate customers being snobbish towards a particular species or hard versus softwood. They pay top price for a mix and thats what they get.
