Scouse Lee

Hi again, had a few replies regarding this, thanks to those that answered, (I will put some work your way as & when),but could do with some contacts a bit closer to me,Bude/North Devon way, as so far most will have to travel a fair distance, obviously it would be good if I could call on someone at relatively short notice, climbers & groundies. Anyone interested send me an e-mail, ([email protected]), as I've started looking at jobs now.

Hi guys, I've just moved from a village that in the main was a designated conservation area, (so most jobs had to have an application filed with the local council), to a place in the middle of nothing but farm land. This got me thinking about the regulations regarding tree/hedge work on farms, everywhere I look hedges have been flailed or layed, & trees seem to just get knocked down here there & everywhere. I know you have to apply to the Forestry Commission to fell areas of woodland etc. but what about the odd tree or two? Cheers Lee

I use the best bits as kindling, usually gets the fire going a treat.

Hi guys, I've just relocated my business from Dorset to near Holsworthy & could do with having a climber & maybe a groundy or two to call on for the occasional bit of work in the surrounding area, preferably self employed & fully qualified with own insurance. E-mail me at [email protected]

Hi guys, just moved to North Devon but all my wood is stuck in Dorset,(will get it once this weather clears up), so need some for personal use as what I've got has nearly run out. Anyone know anywhere I can buy some hardwood lengths I can cut & split myself, I can collect Cheers

Ok fellas I'm sure I'm gonna get ripped to bits for this but hey ho. Not been on for a while, just moved house etc. and just trawled through this thread. I know that a there are a lot of log suppliers who class themselves as professional but aren't we getting a bit an*l, I mean if you want to sell by weight or cubic metre or whatever then feel free,(personally I sell a truck load but tell the customer that it is 8' x 6' x 1', it's never caused me any problems, then again I'm probably what you would call an amateur ), but pence per kilowatt:huh: do me a favour, if I find a customer who asks me that then I will tell them to burn a load & if they're not satisfied then they can give me it back lol. Not trying to put anyone down here just think it's going a bit far after all do any of you run a log supplying business that's a multi million pound operation like the oil & gas companies, no, selling logs is small time compared to these guys so no one wants to know how much it costs to burn a log. I sell a truck load,(& as I've explained I tell the customer what that is and I've never had a knock back yet), for £75 & have done for 3 years now, loads of regular customers, though granted now I've moved I'll have to see how that goes round here, but I was getting that price while others near me were charging less, quite simply because my wood was spot on while theirs was crap, although another guy was getting £100 for the same quantity as me. I feel that there will always be a difference in price from one seller to the next but if you're happy with what you get then stick with it. Is there really a need for going into p per kw or are you all just sitting around with nowt to do at the moment, (or maybe I'm just missing the point). Right just give me time to get in the Anderson shelter b4 you all start throwing logs at me,(just make sure it's oak or ash fellas as I'm running out lol).

I'm burning the same as I always have, lots of seasoned conifer supplemented by crap bits of Ash & Sycamore that I wouldn't sell to my customers, keeps us nice 'n' warm.

My local garden centre are selling builders bags of logs for £65, I had a quick rifle thru one & the wood didn't seem nearly as good as mine yet they are selling loads of them by the looks of it. I got a bag of the same size, filled it with my logs then emptied it onto the back of my hilux pickup, just about filled half the truck. I sell a full truck load at £80 and it is all ash at the moment from trees I felled over a year ago yet I'm not selling a lot this year in fact it's almost at a standstill, the last 3 years I haven't been able to keep hold of wood. Just can't figure it out, maybe I should start selling wood in plastic Asda carrier bags for £20 a throw as people seem to want to pay good money for poor wood.

Well it looks like I could be moving to Broughton in Biggar by the end of November and as I've posted elsewhere I will be looking for a bit of work in the area. At the moment I run my own tree surgery business down in Dorset carrying out all aspects of tree work as well as hedge/grass & brush cutting & employing climbers & groundies as & when needed. If anyone has a bit of work going for when I get up there let me know. You can contact me at the moment on 01308 482543 or pm me. Cheers Guys

Hi fellas, hoping to move up to a place near Hawick soon and was wondering what the opportunities for Tree Surgeons are like in the area. At the moment I run my own business in Dorset carrying out all aspects of tree work as well as hedging & grass/brush cutting and I also sell logs, but I am thinking about possibly getting back into Forestry work if general tree work is in short supply. Now I don't intend to tread on anyone's toes up there so please be as honest as you can and obviously if anyone up that way has a bit of work they need a hand with don't hesitate to contact me. Cheers Guys Lee

Hi Guys I'm looking for a climber to carry out occasional work in the Bridport/Dorchester area, must have necessary qualifications.

Graham - not sure which type they are but a customer of mine who lives next door says he's never seen it happen to them in all the years he's been there. Stephen - yes defo noticed lots of unaffected species nearby, & I agree with the snow & frost theory. Dean - as a northerner living down south I'm staying out of that one lol They have defo not been cut back too much so that is out, must be the weather. But the big question is will they survive, I've never seen conifers die off that much & come back again.

Elder is about the only wood I don't bother with, I cut 2 big Poplars down year before last & have been burning it on my logburner since september, I like it, even had a few customers asking for it after I threw a bit into a load for free, you have to split it quite quickly though if you leave it in rings it never seems to dry.

some are but the 30m one affected is alongside a private drive

Hi Guys, recently I have noticed a lot of hedges turning brown in the area of Dorset I live in, mainly conifer hedges including one of about 30 meters long x 3.5 meters high, but there are also some privet, box etc. doing the same thing although these are putting new buds out. Now we have had a cold winter for this part of the UK, like everywhere I suppose, but it seems quite unusual to see this happening. Anybody have a possible explanation? The conifer hedge mentioned looks pretty far gone although the owner says it only started happening quite recently, is there a chance it could recover? To be honest I've recommended that the conifer be removed although I think every conifer in the world should be obliterated lol. Cheers Fellas

Cheers Rupe I have found lots of cases that involved agricultural ties but none that involved a tree surgeon, in most cases I've looked at the council have backed down.

Thanks guys, I knew you would come up trumps. Gonna follow some of those links now & get myself a plan. Cheers Lee

Hey Guys I need help desperately. I have lived in my house for 5 years now, it is agricultural tenancy which means the occupier has to work in agriculture or forestry. All the time & have lived here I have worked for various companies as a tree surgeon & now run my own business, (just me & 1 or 2 helpers as required), and everything has been fine until some idiot I fell out with,(you'll love the story about it, when I have more time), decided to leave the village because he couldn't get his own way on a certain matter involving the council. Anyhow as a parting gesture he has informed the council that the tenancy of the house is not being complied with because I am a tree surgeon not a 'forester', result being the council are investigating with a view to throwing me & my family, (me, the missus, 6 kids, 1 grandson, 4 dogs, 6 chickens & 3 goats lol), out of our home. My business involves carrying out private work on trees, hedges, grass cutting etc. but also entails hedgerow & woodland management on a few of the local farms including my landladies who has miles of hedgerow & a nice bit of woodland that I manage on an ongoing basis. To add to this one of my stepsons has worked on local farms for the last 2 years & still is. To cut this short does anyone know where I stand, I have tried in vain to find information regarding section 221(1) of the town & country planning act 1962 to which the tenancy agreement refers, stupid thing is when I 1st moved in I was more of a groundsman, (ie cutting grass & tending to shrubs), than a tree surgeon & the council ok'd me! Please guys I'm desperate on this 1, I'm sure someone out there will give me good advice. Thanks in advance Lee:thumbup1:

erm, anybody?

I know this is an age old question but all the threads I've searched seem to end up going off in a different direction or quoting prices for a ton rather than a cord. I sell split logs not cords & a mate wants me to sell a load of beech for him, only been down for a few months so not ready till next winter. Diameter ranges from about 3" to 20" so a bit of a mixture really. Down in Dorset so price would be different than that up north I'm sure. Cheers

Sold 17 loads in the last 10 days & another 41 in the last half of 2009 which is fine by me as logs are just a sideline, we've had hardly any snow down in the valley where I live & work either so I'm really happy about it.

To throw my pennies worth in, I have been starting my woodburner in the morning with conifer & poplar for years then after an hour I mix it up with hardwoods, works great for me. As for selling, I store all my ash, oak & beech seperately from sycamore, birch, thorn etc. as I get a better price for a load of ash etc. on it's own than for a mixed hardwood load, I also store the likes of conifer & poplar seperate & sell a load a bit cheaper. It is really easy to store the species seperately as they come into the yard & are piled up ready for splitting seperately, I have certain areas for certain woods. If a customer thinks a load of hardwood is too pricet, (£75 for a hilux pickup full), then I'll offer them a mixture or a load of softwood cheaper & always get a sale. Makes no odds to me logs are just a sideline & I love spending a day up the yard with the missus splitting, (can't get near the splitter actually when her indoors is with me, she loves using it).

I was delivering to a regular customer the other day when his new neighbour came out asking how often I delivered to him to which I replied, 'well as often as he needs logs'. She then proceeded to ask how much for a load, how much do you get, are they seasoned,(the cheek!), etc etc. The best bit though 'how long will they last'. Hmmm let's see now, all usual factors aside ie open fire/log burner/how big the fire is/how well it draws etc. how about years if you don't burn them haha.

I burn poplar on my wood burner all the time & throw a few pieces into my loads for customers, nowt wrong with the stuff despite what people say.