the hedge man

thats the kinda definitive answer I was looking for... cheers!

Ah yes, I guesss I missed a trick there with it being part of the EU, so yeah no worries I guess. Ive never done it before so i didn't know if I had to drive into a VOSA type depot to declare my goods?! And no, I definatley wouldn't be sneaking a MS361 into my hand luggage- haven't yet had a gun pointed at me, and I don't plan on it neither!

whats the deal on bringing in equipment from abroad? got my eyes on a jo beau chipper but it's in france. IMO it's worth getting it over but i'd have to pay tax on it yeah?

I hope they have insurance!

Thanks for the heads up Steve. And Jrose- thats an excellent price, it's not 'what you know' eh! Yeah I'll ask around local farmers then, that sounds like the best idea, cheers.

any body?!

thanks treeinbanbury, I'll let you know how i get on! like the profile pic btw, willows are are one of my favorites to work in- wood soft as a hot knife going through butter!

well i asked for advice , and ouch, I got it! I am aware that i'd have to be running a tight ship to make it viable business. Advice heeded doobin thanks, part of the reason I wanted to do it is because I literally enjoy working hard, and from doing research I thought a 1000 meters a year would be faily modest, ive seen some fire websites where they state moving 4000-5000 meters a year. I had wanted to take a different angle on sourcing firewood, however I guess the old saying if it ain't broke, don't fix it applies here. Firewood guys buy in timber because it's worth not losing time getting it, that I am aware of. I could perhaps answer ad's on here such as 'timber by roadside collection' etc. And Mesterh good advice thanks, Local authority would be a good port of call, I guess ive got to be carefull running around like a busy fool when I could source it closer to home. I think what i'll do is 'part and part' as I enjoy the graft on site, so that is something I still want to do. Also I'll plan on buying in perhaps half my timber so that I can put my efforts towards splitting timber and getting it out the door. By the way i didn't mean to offend when I said 'i don't want to waste time bagging the firewood'. its just that I feel I would rather sell it in bulk (split of course) so that I don't have to deal with taking orders for timber on a frequent basis. I'm aware of course that i'd lose part of the value of the finished product. Cheers guys

great thanks, im talking firewood. just gonna sell it it bulk, put it on the back of an artic and wave it off. I don't plan wasting time bagging it up for the customer, ive got better things to be doing!

not yet, but i plan on it. but in the meantime i'll enjoy a challenge!!

lord Alan Sugar started around the same age selling beetroot and look at him now, Your lad's going to go far

argh! emails lol. whats wrong with a good old fashioned telephone call, I think it's a fast disapearing skill! Now days when I get new customers I aways give them my landline and if they want to talk to me, they can phone me in the evening when my days work is done and I'll have a chat with them then! I dont mind talking to fellow trademen during the day however, they get my mobile number

that advice is heeded thanks. I have however been going for the last 5 years already, and having built up an exsiting client base I have plenty of private work to fall back on. But what got me thinking about this business plan in the first place is that private work can be a bit of a bind sometimes being messed about by customers and then there the waiting to get paid etc. I just fancy getting out there and doing the bigger sites and offering some of the larger firms a viable service in the process.

Thats the news i was hoping for cheers dude. doing my cscs tommorow morning and my work mate is doing it next week. it's the building sites that require it mostly well before the first foundations have gone in, which I think is a bit odd - hardly a building site! But then they want to have there backs covered if anything goes wrong I suppose. looking to contract for a few guys exclusivley, so here's hoping

All sized timber, any big stuff i'll split by hand- im getting married in april so I want to be ripped as Van Damme ever was, so a bit of hand splitting would do me good and yeah chippings too. cheers

Hi guy's , i've got a bit of a business idea and am after a bit of advice and hopefully a few bites on my line. I want to get into selling timber in a pretty big way (don't all groan at once ), well up to the £65k a year tax threashold anyhow. My idea for the service I want to provide is this..... I'd work for local'ish tree surgeons on on sub-contracting basis looking for site clearance work, or large jobs. I will provide myself, my employed groundsman (we're both NPTC qualified) and all the necessary kit including chainsaws, PPE, a chipper, and two trucks - one flatbed transit and one 4x4. in return for our good honest graft, I want to be taking away all timber, doesn't matter what kind (yes, even conifer for kindling!) and a small payment to cover our costs, or as much as you think we're worth. I want to be really busy, we leave the house at 6.15 every morning and don't get back till 6 so the company we work for would be getting a good day out of us. What do you reckon chaps, is it likely i'd get a thousand square meters of timber a year? By the way, we work within a 70 mile radius of Grantham, lincolnshire for anyone that may be interested in taking me up on the deal.

Blimey, my budget certainly couldnt stretch to that, a man's gotta eat!!

cheers for the info Woodpicker and Ben. I had the same thoughts in mind for the cost of a yard. Are there any guys on here that would go into sharing a yard??!! Or perhaps someone that already has use of of a yard that shares with me so that I pay them??!! LIke i said im fairly flexible on location, just so long as its close to the A1 roughly around grantham as thats where I do most of my work.

No replies?! am i missing something here? Being a new member is there some sort of strange hush hush initiation ceremony that I have to par-take in before other members will say hello?! Any info would be much appreciated guys.

nothing like a bit of reverse psychology

ah ha! it was the fridge that I was missing from the formula, i knew there was something. thanks for the info lol

Hi all, Im looking for a decent sized yard to keep my timber and chippings from jobs and plan on getting into selling fire wood. Could do with it being hard standing of some sort and maybe half an acre. fairly close to civilization- don't want timber disapearing overnight!! But i don't need alot of security as i won't be keeping power tools and plant there. Either Grantham, Newark, or Sleaford or somewhere inbetween with fairly decent main road links. Could someone please advise how much its likely to cost per annum? Many thanks.