Ideas for timber transport

[sjalloq]

Hi,

I'm clearing out my dad's workshop and need to transport some Iroko from Aberystwyth to Cambridge. I can hire a van to move it but was wondering if there might be alternatives that are cheaper. I'm going to need to cut most of the boards to lengtht to fit in a van but the larger boards are as follows:

4" x 11" x 4.6m
2" x 15" x 5m
1 1/2" x 12" x 2.7m
1 1/4" x 8" x 5m (2 boards)
assorted narrower boards

I can probably shift it in a day so a SWB van from Europcar is going to be about £80 + fuel + insurance = £180-200.

I just called up someone to get a quote and they recommended www.anyvan.com. I'll try that. But have I not thought of anything else? Pallet delivery is probably out as there's limited access to the house and I'm not sure I have the time to palletise it all.

Cheers, Shareef.

 

[marcros]

i suspect that the cheapest way, certainly if you dont put the cost of your time in is to rent a van and do it yourself.

 

[scholar]

Shareef

speaking from experience (!) the problem with cutting the timber up before you know what you're going to use it for inevitably involves cutting something too short.

I am not sure that pallet delivery will help as you have to fit everything onto a certain footprint (thus cutting the boards even shorter).

I am sure that self-hire is the best solution - it might be worth getting a larger van so you can maximise the length you can get in - a Luton van would probably just about get the 5m lengths in (I am guessing). You would need to look at the economics of it though.

I have used Shiply to get bespoke loads moved, although these have been one off bits of furniture - I found a really good polish main in a van who did a couple of jobs - he had a lwb Merc I think (with about 250,000 miles on the clock!). You submit the details of the consignment to Shiply and then the operators submit their bids to you.

Hope you get it home alright


cheers

 

[sitefive]

Shareef

speaking from experience (!) the problem with cutting the timber up before you know what you're going to use it for inevitably involves cutting something too short.

I am not sure that pallet delivery will help as you have to fit everything onto a certain footprint (thus cutting the boards even shorter).

I am sure that self-hire is the best solution - it might be worth getting a larger van so you can maximise the length you can get in - a Luton van would probably just about get the 5m lengths in (I am guessing). You would need to look at the economics of it though.

I have used Shiply to get bespoke loads moved, although these have been one off bits of furniture - I found a really good polish main in a van who did a couple of jobs - he had a lwb Merc I think (with about 250,000 miles on the clock!). You submit the details of the consignment to Shiply and then the operators submit their bids to you.

Hope you get it home alright


cheers

250k miles is nothing for them, I had a neighbour who used to get those vans from poland/germany with like 500-600k+ miles , cleaned them up really good , changed seats/steering wheels/knobs if needed so you don't see as much wear , clocked them to around 150k miles and sold them off for like 2 -2.5x profit

 

[Wouldchuk]

I have had very good experiences with using www.anyvan.com - for those not familiar this is essentially a web-based system on which you post your delivery job - the item, location for collection and delivery, and you then receive quotes back from private van operators.

It has a full referencing system and online protected payment for reassurance.

My understanding is that private couriers use it to build up a sensible workload, taking jobs so that they are never driving around empty and are always on the clock.

I had a double bed collected from Manchester and delivered to Oxford, including two blokes who loaded it and unloaded it - including putting in the bedroom upstairs! All for £50. The diesel alone would have cost that, but because they had other bits in the van and were travelling this way it was cheaper. I had a similar experience with a sofa - not only is it often cheaper than the combined fuel/hire costs, it is also a significant saving in your own time spent behind the wheel on the M4.

If you have a bit of time to wait for the quotes to come in (I waited a week) then it could be worth a look?

I guess the challenge is the length of some of those boards.

 

[dickm]

Shiply or similar is probably the best, but if you were to do it yourself maybe a pickup with ladder rack would be better than a van? Those boards ain't going to flex much even if only supported at two points.

 

[sjalloq]

Thanks for all the advice here, very useful.

scholar, yeah I agree, chopping it before I know what I want to do with it is a definite downside but I don't have time to plan this better. I'll have a look at anyvan and also see how much more an LWB van might be - that would help a bit.

Cheers.