rovers90

Thank you for clarifying that Quickthorn:thumbup1:

I am VAT registered,that's why I mentioned it:001_smile: I volunteered for VAT registration to claim back the money I have outlayed on machinery and stock. "hi rovers90, the 110 hicap is more like 1.5cube for a level load if you count the wheelboxes and the fuel triangle but thats being really picky because i measured mine lastweek" Nothing wrong with being picky, I had forgot those bits! Glad to know I'm not the only one going round measuring pick up beds!! As far as I understand the VAT rule, you charge 5% if you are supplying domestic customers but if its a commercial customer you have to charge 17.5%. (Haven't figured out how to quote more than one reply in a post!)

Hi every body. I have just set up a firewood business this year and made a couple of small deliveries. Have been asked to give a price for a pick up load. This is where it is difficult to compare - the guy buying it did not know if it was hard or soft wood he was buying (it was mixed)and had no idea what size pick up delivered it. I supply mixed hard/soft wood at 20% moisture content and can use my mates Land Rover hi cap pick up. We have measured the capacity of the load bed at 1.6 cubic metres so I was guessing a load should be approximately £130 including VAT and delivery. (its a pub I would be delivering to so I believe VAT would have to be at 17.5%?) Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I have found this site to be a real gold mine of information and entertainment!

I recently purchased a Palax KS35 Ergo after much research and I am very pleased with it. You don't say where you are but it might be worth having a trip up to Caledonian Forestry Services, Jim and his tean were very helpful and the set up service was excellent. I saw the Hakki Pilke at the APF and didn't feel it was of the same build quality.

People definately want convenience - stove sales are going through the roof and more of the new purchasers are your "Marks and Spencers" type customers who are used to the retail experience:you want something, you go to the shop, pick it up, pay for it and take it home. You certainly don't want it dumped in a dirty great heap on your drive and left for you to sort out. They've spent a lot of money at the stove shop who have told them they need to burn hardwood at under 20% moisture content so that is what they will go out to get in the first instance. They will then explore their usual retail haunts for logs - garden centres, the DIY barns, etc - because this is where they are used to shopping and getting what they need. Hence B&Q are shifting pallets of plastic bags of logs at £7.48 a go - its clean, its convenient and its from somewhere customers know and trust.

I paid £40 plus VAT per ton delivered in July for firewood grade,mixed hardwoods. A friend of mine has recently paid not much less for softwood.

As far as I am aware the chip has to be dry. A friend of mine supplies G30 chip to commercial users and the moisture content has to be below 25% (I think) so he usually seasons soft woods for about 18 months. The cost of installing such a system I believe is quite prohibitive and you may not see any savings for a considerable time.

See what you can find at lunch time on e-bay.....forestry ford county 1164 m reg crane , winches , on eBay (end time 02-Nov-10 19:06:15 GMT) AEC MATADOR DIESEL 4X4 CLASSIC FORESTRY CRANE LORRY on eBay (end time 20-Nov-10 03:38:20 GMT)

So sorry to hear of your loss, at least your mums suffering is now over. From an experience I had some time ago I would say it is important to talk about your feelings, do not let them bottle up inside;posting the thread on here today is the first step.

Thanks Tom but I do not own a tractor! The processor is kept at my friends farm and as it was part funded by a grant I need to prove it is insured and I presume that insurance would have to be in my name to match the grant application.

Having recently taken delivery of a Palax firewood processor I want to ensure that I keep it. I have received a quote from TRUST for £530 per year. Local NFU stated they did not cover firewood businesses and Tree Surgeon Insurance Services do not cover processors. So, two questions: 1) Who do you insure your processors with? 2) Has any body fitted a tracker, tagging or marking device to their processor and if so which one and how much?

A friend of mine has a waste reception site where he takes in the garden wheelie bin collections from the local councils. They pay him £20 per ton to take it in. However, as per previous comments you need a very large investment in machinery to actually take in green waste and end up with compost (it is excellent compost mind you - my allotment certainly thrived on it this year). You will also receive a lot of complaints from local residents. The locals have even formed an action committee against my friends company - even though the Environment Agency state his is the best run site they have in the area! Complaints range from smells (even on still days) to the reversing beeper on the loading shovel (even at times when the site is shut). The site is on an industrial estate but it seems the blame for anything unpleasant gets dumped with my friend. And then there is the Environment Agency. They have new rules in force and as I understand it up to 500 tons per year you do not require a permit. If you take in between 500 and 75000 tons per year you need to apply for a permit. The price for the initial issue is a five figure sum followed by a four figure sum annually. Now if you are taking in 50000 tons per year the fees are affordable. If you only take in 3000 tons per year, it makes it uneconomical. Why they have such a big range without a graduated scale nobody knows. If you can find someone locally with a green waste site who would charge you £20 per ton to dump it and you can charge £40 per ton to remove it, you may make a bit but I certainly would not consider processing it yourself.

It must be quite common as the symbol is on my Freelander, my wifes Focus and it was a relative who told me and she has it on her Micra, her husbands VW and every hire car she has had , here or abroad, has had it apparently.

I only found this out today after 24 years of driving....how do you know when sitting at the steering wheel which side of the vehicle the fuel cap is on? (assumung it's your first time in the vehicle) On your dashboard there is a picture of a fuel pump and it has an arrow pointing to the correct side!! Have a look the next time you get in the car!!!

Have heard this about Wilsons before. Speak to Jim at Caledonian Forestry about the Kesla cranes he supplies

Decent for India standards or Uk standards. A lad who ran a shoot I was in last year bought one - he was a bit miffed when I pointed out the Bf Goodrich all terrains it had on where worth more than the car!!!

So if we were to summarise: Land Rovers are uncomfortable, cramped, uneconomical and unreliable Nissan Navaras eat clutches Ford Rangers also like to eat clutches and the dealer support is rubbish Toyota Hi luxes (or should that be Hi Luxi?) have poor towing capacity and if you work them hard the chassis snap So does anybody build a good four wheel drive, ie economical, powerful, reliable, reasonable parts prices, good towing ability, comfortable, etc?

The case the kit is in looks either like a Peli or a Storm case in which the majority of the cost is in the case itself. Peli cases are crush proof, dust proof, water tight, will float, were used on the Camel Trophy,etc etc so they are not cheap.

For tea last Saturday we had wild (wild..it was livid when I shot it!) Northumbrian duck breast with a blackberry sauce (blackberries picked from the hedgerow of course) accompanied by roast potatoes and cauliflower, both of which came from my allotment. And the wife still had to put brown blumin' sauce on it!

Don't get me wrong, I've been driving Land Rovers for 22 years so know what they can be like. I know they can have their problems - I've been warned by a competent mechanic who has had five Discovery TD5s to watch out for their usual faults - oil down the wiring harness, front hubs, leaks etc. I went to view a Mitsubishi L200 single cab last week and it must have been the first time I've looked under a four wheel drive and its been dry,no oil anywhere! But the cab felt small, even compared to a Defender and had naff all storage space. I suppose after 22 years my heart belongs to Land Rover.

Anybody got any worthwhile views on a Discovery TD5, 2001 -2004 vintage as I am thinking of buying a commercial type? My mate who used to do all the servicing and repairs on my Defender swears blind they are a pile of rubbish - but he has never owned or driven one! I would use it for carrying tools, carrying bagged logs and cut rings, as well as using it as my everyday car for going to my other "employed" work, going on hols and shooting. The ability to tow a decent load on a trailer would be useful as well.

Our local NFU said they would not cover a firewood business with regards to liability and processor insurance and my friend who has all sorts of insurance with them saved over £2000 on his annual liability policy by moving to Arthur Marsh and has now just got a renewal quote in for the family Discovery at £1100 - T reg TDI probably only worth £3000 max! Needless to say he is looking to change that now as well!!!

I was just going to pose a similar question as I am due to take delivery of a firewood processor that will be stored at my friends premises. Trust have quoted £530 for the processor and log deck whilst the local NFU office said they would not cover firewood businesses at all.

Sorry to hear your sad news John. I don't have a dog of my own but got really attched to a friends collie that had to be put down earlier this year. It sounds like your obviously a dog person so do get another,not to replace Sky but to be a new friend who will repay the time and effort you put in when it is a pup by being at your side to make you smile and feed good about life when it is older (if that makes sense!?)

Could be useful for you Unimog owners out there UNIMOG TRAILER on eBay (end time 08-Oct-10 20:42:54 BST)