farmer_ben

Evening all, After the excellent advice arbtalk offered a few months back regarding a funny old customer of mine, I now have a more awkward one that I dont know how to tackle. To cut a long story short, a well known chap in the village asked for a load of wood from me, we discussed his requirements, I told him my standard load was 1.2 cube, he wanted the logs 14" and we agreeded on a 1.2 cube load of 14" 18month seasoned ash. I explained all of this fully, dropped wood off next day and he gave me cheque straight away. That was 4 weeks ago, I open the local newsletter today to find in his monthly column he has, I feel, attacked me and my firewood business. I am the only firewood guy around here and the only one who advertises in the newsletter so readers will know he is directing his comments at my firewood business. The guy is making some wild claims which are completely untrue. I never mentioned anything about what my wood weighed, I never have or will sell by weight, only by volume. And I have reciepts to prove the Ash I said him was month then 18 months seasoned so he has lied about that too. I haven't spoken to the guy yet as I am to angry and don't want to loose my rag with him...yet. This column and his view on my logs is likely to loose me customers and I'm not over happy about that. What would you guys do in my position, I know some of you will just say get on with it and move on etc, but I have to much pride in my firewood to let this prat do potentially a lot of damage to my business. Thanks

thats what I do, free delivery within 7 miles, 8-12 miles tenner delivery and 13+ i quote for the individual. I'd say soft wood per bulk bag is still worth £55, with the running around delivering and the time processing i'd say £45 is not worth doing regardless of soft or hardwood. I sell my bulk bags at £65 a pop and sell them no probs. all the best

Essex Tool Sharpening just outside of Ridgewell is the place you want, I take my mcconnels there and quick service and cheap

If this is the same stuff I had off you Basil, then I can only say good things about the timber and haulage service. I'd love to have a few more loads off you matey, maybe if you still have some left come harvest tim,e I will.

I picked up a l200 king cab, much better then single cab in my opinion, 07 reg 68k for £6500. took a while to find one but there are some reasonable ones out there.

Theo, I absolutely love your set up my friend, exactly what aspire too, but right now i dont turn out enough firewood to justify a processor. Instead I'm looking at a saw bench with conveyor, how much did you sell yours for in the end? Also, your trailer with crane, what does it weigh empty and how much do you normal load onto it? What sort of money do them trailers retail at? could be just what im looking for

I could help you put no worries. My contact details are on the Arbtalk Firewood Directory. Look forward to hearing from you.,

cheers Wally

Awful news, and yeah i think timber is becoming the new scrap. A biggish dead Elm came down on our neighbours land next to a tiny b road, within hours the village hoarder was out there with a bow saw logging it up, I asked if he had the farmers permission and I was 'politly' told he didnt need permission as fallen wood is free wood?!?! Is this a general public opinion? Also, how are these thieves stealing 5m lengths? If they are stealing them whole then I presume a lorry and grab is needed? Surely there cant be that many timber hauliers about that you cant narrow it down to a possible couple of culprits? And if they are using chainsaws surely someone must hear something in the dead of night? My wood yard is pretty remote and I live 4 miles away, but I can hear when someone is up there with a saw. All the best with recovering your timber

65p and has been for ages

Thanks very much for that PAul, i will check the book out. Do you mean Tim Gurton? I've only got a 60m run of post and rail lined up, but woud like to know how to do it properly and then may look for more to do. Tim's photos I have seen of his work look very good Where abouts are you Paul?

couldnt agreee more with this. im 29 and have worked bloody hard last few years so im hoping my 30s will have more direction and the work will come easier and i'll be more efficient in what i do so leaving more time for family and fun

now we are talking, love them chocolate weetabix!! have 4 big ones every morning YUMMY!!

Can anyone point me in the right direct of fencing and hedge laying courses in East Anglia, preferably Suffolk. I have some fencing coming up and possible hedge laying next winter, and im not having much luck finding any training via the internet. Thanks

I dont doubt this story one bit...but, i has sky fitted recently and the guy did none of this. He wizzed up his ladder, good 25ft in a safe but normal manner, no harnesses etc. Was a real sound chap, I think there is a difference in the sky employed engineers and subbies sky use. That said, he was telling me about working fdor sky and sounds good, free tv, van, personal mileage, loads of training, clothing, flexi hrs etc

thats a lot of brash, is there any half decent timber in there that could be saved for firewood?

seems like it has but i was selling logs daily well into april last year so hopefully march will be bloody cold and wet and horrible

I have started using Twitter a fair bit now, for personal use and I am finding it a great way of communicating with like minded farmers I would have never of spoken with before. I am going to set up a twitter account for my firewood business soon.

i think the speed of a blade is what majority of farmers like, but the ones that appreciate wildlife and a job done well, no that this kinda work needs to be done by hand and by people that care.

we like to do a nice tidy job, even if the brash is just going to be heaped up and burnt! We do sometimes take a grab full and put in a field corner or somewhere for wildlife. I think doing this job by hand is much much better all round then the animals who do it with saw blades on tractors. they butcher the trees and hedge most of the time and dont tidy up very well either

Its mostly all Elm. The Elm have self seeded from a thick hedge running along one side of the wood. Shame they werent controlled earlier as most of the oung Oak, Ash and Limes have died, presuming from over crowding and lack of light. But the farmer loves his Elms and is very pleased with our cutting selection and with the Elms we've left. Anyone know if them lovely straight Elm's we've cut and stacked can be of any other use then firewood?

YEah still lovely outside, shame i've got shite loads of house work to do now

Thanks Andy, brother and I have worked hard on these jobs but really enjoyed the work And yeah its lovely round here, I'm very lucky to live and work around here!

Had a lovely walk round the farm this morning, nice to walk around and look at our work at leisure. Just thought I'd share some photos. We've had a great few weeks, thinning out a young small wood and hedgerow coppicing. Still got a 500m stretch to do, we're starting that stretch tomorrow. Its as thick as hell (see 2nd last picture!) The Hazel in the Deer fenced area were coppicing 15 months ago, amazing how quickly the shoots have grown without any animals feeding on them. Hopefully photos may be of interest. Cheers:thumbup1:

thank you very much, i'll have a look at that now. we'd love to start making a few things ourselves, but just dont know where to start. hoping someone will take some wood off us and in return show us a few crafts techniques etc