Hawke’s Bay firewood merchant working overtime to meet demand

John Caulton has enough wood to keep Hawke's Bay's fires burning this winter. Photo / Paul Taylor

It pays to plan for a rainy day - especially in the firewood business.

John and Chrissy Caulton own both Donovan’s and Woodstocks Firewood and have not been impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle nor the shortage of stock in Hawke’s Bay.

John Caulton described the lack of dry firewood in the region as a “crisis”, not helped by other merchants leaving the business.

The Caultons have a vast amount of their own timber. But, such is demand, they have trucked in 13 truck and trailer loads of dry, seasoned wood from central North Island suppliers, having forecast that Hawke’s Bay would experience a paucity of supply in the wake of February’s weather event.

“That’s supplementary. That’s because of the crisis,’’ John Caulton said, as the latest truck and trailer load was delivered to his premises.

Start your day in the know

Get the latest headlines straight to your inbox.

Please email me competitions, offers and other updates. You can stop these at any time.

Email address

Sign Up

By signing up for this newsletter, you agree to NZME’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

“That stuff’s crispy now and you can burn it straight away.’’

The latest load of dry, seasoned firewood was trucked into Dononvan's on Friday. Photo / Paul Taylor

He established relationships with suppliers outside Hawke’s Bay some time ago, for wood that had either been through a kiln or stored in yards for at least two and a half years.

“If you don’t season your wood, you lose all that goodness, which is the resins,’’ he said.

An approved Hawke’s Bay Regional Council approved Good Wood merchant, Caulton has been busier than he expected as demand outstrips supply in Hawke’s Bay.

“Unbeknown to us, two other wood merchants closed down last year,’’ he said.

Another fell victim to flooding, caused by February’s cyclone.

Read More

• 'Buyer beware': Hastings mum shocked at wet $600 firewood ...
• Wet wood complaints dampen mood of Hawke's Bay firewood ...
• Hawke's Bay firewood merchant: Time to make wet wood ...
• Rush for firewood as winter starts to chill Hawke's ...

“We’ve been involved with Good Wood for 10 years now. We were basically the instigators of the scheme and we’d like to see it through the country. We’d also like to see everyone registered, because there are so many cowboys out there selling wet wood.’’

As a result, the Caultons are “inundated” with orders from people eager to have dry firewood delivered.

“Rest assured, we can supply good seasoned, dry wood. But people have got to be patient,” John Caulton said.