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This sounds too good to be true but there is a guy on ebay selling 3 year seasoned ash and oak split firewood for £75/2m3 delivered free within 20 miles of his base. If I were within 20 miles I'd take all 200m3 he has on offer for resale. So, if you are you close by to him, you may want to grab a bargain. Save all that storage and splitting waste of time, effort and money. FIREWOOD LOGS.APPROX 2 CUBIC MTRS.UPTON UPON SEVERN. on eBay (end time 05-Jul-10 17:50:12 BST) Amazing really or should that be really amazing?

The suppliers I've used haven't got any hardwood available at the moment. Does anyone have any trade contacts in the Midlands they can recommend - I'm looking to pull in 100 tons of firewood standard hardwood cord (diameter 6 to 12 inches for the bulk of cord) in July/August. Thanks

A useful forum to raise and have any non wood business related questions answered is located at http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/. There are lots of threads on Yell as an advertising medium, almost exclusively around how poor value for money it is. It's a good site for all things relating to running a business covering all areas.

I was wondering why concrete railway sleepers are the norm these day, too many derailings I guess from the missing wooden ones!

Delivered pricing around Shropshire way is around £50/m3 for loose mixed loads. A lot of bad quality wood comes out at that price, I'd be looking for £70 to £80 per m3 delivered so mid table on the rates mentioned here for my dry and clean 100% hardwood. Although price is key to obtaining customers it all comes down to quality and service to keep them and pricing then should become less of an issue. I think I'll look at internet sales, no haggle plus no delivery cost so less hastle and pricing seems pretty standard around the £100/m3 plus freight.

That looks to be a great piece of kit but expensive. Like you I think I'll look to progress to that rather than start off with the extra capital outlay. I'll look into chain sawing into rounds and finishing on a tractor mounted splitter. Several are listed on e-bay for around the £500 mark so I guess if it halves the time taken after the first 50 tons of oversized logs into split wood it'll have paid for itself. Thanks for the input guys - helped me decide which is the least worst or most favoured option dependant one whether you are of a half full or half empty persuasion. I'm all for less hard labour so it has to be the most favourable every time .

Having started to lay down stocks of split wood for the first time I was wondering what people find best practice with their oversized (to processor capacity) logs? We have been wedge splitting but this takes an age, is a ball ache and I recon it adds £20/m3 to the cost through labour relative to a straight process run of logs that meet the processor demands on size. Also, the half rounds don't mate well with the processor cutter and we have had some big kick backs. My question to those in the know is:- Should I ..... a/ Carry on swinging the sledghammer and suffer the financial penalty and reduced production capacity by the amount of time taken with this activity? or b/ Look to store oversized logs (between 12 inches and 16 inches) and sell them on when I have a full 25T load? I've calculated it's a close run thing on losses incurred on selling on a load of oversized logs relative to labor cost at around £500 incurred in splitting them so I'm erring towards selling them on. A final question - is it much easier to split seasoned logs with wedges compared to recently cut logs? If it is I can segregate the large logs and wait for natural shrinkage cracks to form which may make wedge splitting easier.

The first m3 bagging off the production line. Splitting oversized logs to suit the processor has proved to be endless hours of fun.

If only, it's like trailer load, tipper load, pickup load and ton bags, all available but none of standard quantity. It's amazing how many people sell ton bags of wood containing probably 300kg around here.

I've gone through the who for bags process in the last month and there are lots around but most require large minimum order quanities. Below is an extract from a post I made a couple of weeks ago - worth checking them out as they don't have large minimum order quantities and pricing is good also, two ticks in my book!. Im buying bulk 1m3 vented and 06m3 builders bags from them - first lot arriving this Wednesday. "A tip I can share is that I talked with a few bag suppliers for both bulk delivery bags and vented storage bags and have ended up going with Bulkbag Containers Ltd. Gent there is called Hamish (01382 823824) who is very helpful and they don’t have large minimum order quantities that others apply."

It seems the thread has fallen from sharing gems of experience to one verging of pure pessimism about returns available, or lack thereof. I still think a good product backed by a top level of service will always find it’s niche be it in wood or any other commodity. If too many get into the market then it should be the inconsistent suppliers that fall first. That’s never a bad thing unless it affects you. Anyway, I'm moving forward at a fast pace, I’m all set to roll out and lets see if my new processor, being delivered next week will end up in the classified section next year. I’ve gone for a PTO driven Japa 700 that my vintage Ford tractor will be coupled to. Last weekend, I went out and purchased an ageing but very tidy Manitou MTL 523 that’ll be equally as useful around the homestead as it will be moving the wood around. There are 200 reclaimed pallets arriving tomorrow at a good price. A tip I can share is that I talked with a few bag suppliers for both bulk delivery bags and vented storage bags and have ended up going with Bulkbag Containers Ltd. Gent there is called Hamish (01382 823824) who is very helpful and they don’t have large minimum order quantities that others apply. Pricing is pretty fair too so for anyone buying bags they are well worth talking to if you haven’t already. The bags will be coming week of the 17th along with 4 bulk loads of wood from 2 suppliers for the initial supplies. At least with a years seasoning in the pipeline, I’ve got plenty of time to plan my retail strategy.

I started this time last year with huge amount of support and info (and timber) from arbtalk. Already had L200, spent less than £10k and have everything I need to hopefully sell up to 200 cubic metres/year for the next 3 years, if that works I may look at expanding.......and if it doesn't work out that way I won't be in financial trouble It is imperative with any business venture to watch your costs be they capital investment, overheads or in labour and materials. I've run some spreadsheets and firewood doesn't look a money maker at all but I'm in the fortunate position I have free days for my staff to throw into the venture. So, effectively their labour is already covered by another business and is waste to that business. I'm just turning what would presently be their non productive time (in quiet trading periods) into a saleable comodity (firewood). If you look at ROI then with interest rates what they are specualtion on anything is better at the moment. I prefer to look at covering depreciation and costs then anything on top is a bonus - basically pay day or dividends. At least I wont be running out of wood for my own home fire this winter. Thanks everyone for their input, it's been tremendously helpful. I'm really quite excited about doing something new so will go into it with a great amount of energy. 200 tons later it may be different but I'll find that out in a few months.

I've already got one vintage tractor, not quite from the David Brown era but close, a nearly 30 year old Ford 4100. That will busy driving the processor so I do need a second vehicle with forks to move things around. A telehandler will allow for double or possible triple height stacking of bags. Depends on the stability of pallets on bagged wood. Has anyone regularly triple stacked safely, I've seen a few examples of double stacking? My barn has a 30 foot rising to 45 foot roof space so height isn't a problem and it's use will allow me to maximise upon the use of space available to store processed wood. I wouldn't really have much use for a second tractor on my farm but a telehandler opens up all sort of possibilities, including painting the eves which is a scary thing that I do every 10 years from ladders. Standing in a large grain bucket and being raised up as an alternative means of getting there is quite appealing. We move a lot of round bails in the winter also and the 2 wheel drive tractor does struggle at times on damp terrain. I think I'm talking myself into a telehandler - moving wood around being only one reason.

[quote name=Arran Woodfuels;286726 I would consider getting an old transit tipper for the same money as an Ifor' date=' which will safely carry 2 m3 fairly flat and stable. Put a divider across the center of the load if you want to tip off individual 1 m3 loads at a time. Transit is nippy and easy to reverse into tight driveways.:[/quote] Thanks for the helpful advice. I'm looking at bulk vented bags but will then need a telehandler also to move them around. I have started looking for a telehandler but it has to be at the right price and there aren't many good ones around under £10k at the moment. I will start with the tipper trailer option and if things take off then the transit or sprinter tipper would make a sensible purchse. Big advantage of the trailer option for starters is it doesn't depreciate, need an MOT, tax or insurance beyond theft cover and I have a pick up truck for towing up to 3T loads.

I agree that every man with a chainsaw and trailer seems to be seeing logs as a good thing to do. Customer service is lacking as is a consistent quantity and quality of logs supplied by the same person. So, I'm going into it eyes open and with high principles borne from decades in business with a quality first ethos. I'd much rather not supply than sell crap. Without exception, my local suppliers are more than content to supply crap and inconsistent quantities of crap. I've had 10 2m2 (very nominal) deliveries in one year from 5 different suppliers. I've had waterlogged wood, green wood, a whole batch of willow (cricket bat offcuts) and the scrapings off the floor with almost as much dirt as wood. All dumped, grab the cash and run. Imagine consistent, clean and dry wood with a stacking service. Firewood heaven, there has to be a market for that.

Hi Sam, Looks like you are running off into bins. I've tried searching online for bin options for ease of storage and stacking but can find anything by googling. So, I'm presently looking at running the conveyor into a grain trailer and hand staching from that if I can't locate a suitable storage bin option.

Excellent point guys, seeing the trailer purchase is a way off I hadn't got around to considering towing weights. Looks like it'll be the lighter and smaller TT85 model or similar with max 4cubes load will be better suited to my truck. I'll hopefully be able to post some pictures in the summer when me and the gang get to grips with the first few deliveries of logs which I'll look to start moving on in the autumn of 2011.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to my first ever post where I was putting feelers out into the firewood world without the desire to get burned. The replies I received were most helpful and made the transition into putting the plan into action. I have located a few local suppliers of wood and hauliers with trailer grabs. Looks like I'll be able to secure bulk soft and hardwood at good pricing to get me on my way. For processing I originally planned on starting with a tractor mounted hydraulic splitter but decided to go for a processor. I have plumped for a new Japa 700 that will be delivered in a couple of weeks time. Not that I think the Japa is the best machine out there from the research I've done but at 500kg it's the only one my old Ford tractor stands a chance of lifting. I know it struggles with a 500kg spinner load of fertilizer. I'll be storing and splitting logs this year in a barn which has 150m2 concreted area I've set aside for the storage and processing. The next main purchase will be a tipper trailer for deliveries. I'm looking at the Ifor Williams TT105 which has a massive 6m3 loading capacity with the mesh siding. I then plan to offer logs in 2, 4 or 6m3 deliveries. I wont decide finally on the trailer until ready to start markeing seasoned wood. One more basic question for those in the know. Is it best to season logs and then process cut to the size required for a specific customer order or process into 2 sizes, say 12 and 6 inch, and store the split wood? I can forsee great advantage in cutting to order as the processor can run straight off into the trailer ready for delivery and be cut to the size requested. The only possible downside is that seasoning logs will presumably take longer that seasoning of split wood. Does anyone have a relative time ratio guide for this?

Hi treebloke, I'd be very interested in knowing more. I'll private over my contact number so we cab chat, As for the other responses thanks for the input. I will be looking to process, store and retail probably 350 to 500 tons per year. I think any more would be slogging myself. Will look to sell by m3 as all suppliers locally do. Pricing is keen here abouts at 35m3 delivered for mixed loads so economics come down to cost and effort put in. I did find some useful discussions that gave me the info on tons to m3 ranging from 1.7m3 to 2.6m3 per ton dependant and species of wood.

Thanks for the message Ben, always useful to know and I have found a lot of information within discussion threads here; primarily of import for me is how many m3 of logs come for a ton of wood. I can see sourcing will be the main issue to start off with - anyone have any input on who is best to talk to regarding securing bulk deliveries of wood ready for processing?

Hi - very much a newbie here so please bear with me. I happen to have a very large barn that has roughly 60M2 rectangular area with concrete floor that is truck accessible and is ideal for firewood processing plus seasoning. If anyone knows of good Forestry or trade sources local to Shropshire that supply bulk timber (to 25T deliveries) then please do pass them on. I'd be looking for mixed hard and soft wood (though majority soft as this predominates the local market and is reflected in pricing) and recon I could process and store around 250 tons per year initially with ease and 500T if I wanted to dog myself. I think beyond 1000T (allowing for 1 year seasoning) the barn space may start to be cluttered. I will not be able to process trunk sizes larger than 12 inches (without upgrading splitter) so preferably looking for trunk sized on the smaller size from telegraph pole thickness to 12 inches thickness. If anyone has quantities available ready to load in good manageable lengths then let me know pricing roadside or delivered. I have plenty of haulier contacts so arranging grab trailer pickup myself isn't a problem though distance from Shropshire may be for cost. Any words of wisdom on retailing firewood also welcome. This will be a sideline enterprise for me basically inspired out of the mediocre quality and questionable quantity delivered relative to advertised firewood available from several local suppliers.