Firewood length?

[Swamp Yankee]

16 to 18 inches is the norm

Regular customers with special request lengths are cut per specification. Some want 22 to 24, some want 12 to 14 inch. No charge for longer length, shorter wood has a lot more handling involved so I ask $20 more per cord. As all my wood is cut and seasoned split I only put up special lengths for those customers that have bought before or come highly recommended from existing customers.

As to storage. I loose pile it out in the open for a year where the sun can do its thing.

Take Care

 

[spike60]

16 to 18 inches is the norm

Regular customers with special request lengths are cut per specification. Some want 22 to 24, some want 12 to 14 inch. No charge for longer length, shorter wood has a lot more handling involved so I ask $20 more per cord. As all my wood is cut and seasoned split I only put up special lengths for those customers that have bought before or come highly recommended from existing customers.

As to storage. I loose pile it out in the open for a year where the sun can do its thing.

Take Care

A friend asked me about this yesterday. Had a new customer call him based on a referral from another one. Wanted to buy a cord at the same $200, except that she wants 12" wood, where as the existing customer burned 18" wood. My buddy figures he needs to get at least another $50 to make it worthwhile. Even going from 16" to 12" requires 4 face cords rather than 3; a third more work involved. So if it's 33% more work, shouldn't the price go up accordingly? How do most of you guys charge for small wood?

 

[Swamp Yankee]

A friend asked me about this yesterday. Had a new customer call him based on a referral from another one. Wanted to buy a cord at the same $200, except that she wants 12" wood, where as the existing customer burned 18" wood. My buddy figures he needs to get at least another $50 to make it worthwhile. Even going from 16" to 12" requires 4 face cords rather than 3; a third more work involved. So if it's 33% more work, shouldn't the price go up accordingly? How do most of you guys charge for small wood?

Spike, you're absolutely correct!!!!

Unfortunately I've found that once over that magic $20 increase price point, customers think you're ripping them off and go elsewhere, along with the inevitable "don't buy from that guy he's a cheat", comments. People seem to understand the extra delivery cost for gas if you ask for it because they are out a ways from the normal delivery area, but additional labor and time increase requests tend to be met with statements such as, "it's no big deal you have a splitter don't you?"

Sometimes it's just better to pass on an order knowing you're going to have to eat the loss upfront.

Take Care

 

[banshee67]

i had one guy last year say only 16-18" pieces, i said thats fine, all my peices are 16-18".. you MIGHT find a couple freak pieces that are a bit longer, and left it at that
.. his response was "well ill just put those pieces off to the side and you can come back and swap them out with some shorter pieces for me..."

true story

i was also doing landscaping work for this same guy, monthly projects/pay on one of his properties... for about 3 months or so..
.. well the relationship went south quick after his wife wouldnt stop calling me with ridiculous requests.
she didnt seem to understand that me and her husband agreed on work each month, then a price, and that was that. she had a very hard time comprehending the fact that she couldnt call my cell phone at 7pm and ask me for "favors".
it was probably my fault for complying with a couple "favors" in the first place, she probably saw that as a sign of weakness, when really i was just trying to be nice and build a relationship with them and their richy circle of golfing friends.
you wouldnt believe the stories she made up about me and told her husband - which he emailed to me, of course, confrontation in person or even on the phone is much harder than an email full of crazy accusations and lies.

ps: i met them on craigslist

 

[avalancher]

i had one guy last year say only 16-18" pieces, i said thats fine, all my peices are 16-18".. you MIGHT find a couple freak pieces that are a bit longer, and left it at that
.. his response was "well ill just put those pieces off to the side and you can come back and swap them out with some shorter pieces for me..."

true story

i was also doing landscaping work for this same guy, monthly projects/pay on one of his properties... for about 3 months or so..
.. well the relationship went south quick after his wife wouldnt stop calling me with ridiculous requests.
she didnt seem to understand that me and her husband agreed on work each month, then a price, and that was that. she had a very hard time comprehending the fact that she couldnt call my cell phone at 7pm and ask me for "favors".
it was probably my fault for complying with a couple "favors" in the first place, she probably saw that as a sign of weakness, when really i was just trying to be nice and build a relationship with them and their richy circle of golfing friends.
you wouldnt believe the stories she made up about me and told her husband - which he emailed to me, of course, confrontation in person or even on the phone is much harder than an email full of crazy accusations and lies.

ps: i met them on craigslist

Maybe Im just a perv,but there were a few words that kept jumping off the page for me.
Favors
7pm
relationship
ridiculous requests
crazy accusations
craigslist
:biggrinbounce2:

 

[banshee67]

Maybe Im just a perv,but there were a few words that kept jumping off the page for me.
Favors
7pm
relationship
ridiculous requests
crazy accusations
craigslist
:biggrinbounce2:

to be honest- i thought it was going in that direction for a little while there - she wasnt half bad, and her husband was an overweight "panda bear" as he called himself
they were about 5,000 miles away while these requests were being asked of me though, or i might have handled the situation a bit differently

 

[woodpick]

15 inches gives you 5 rows in a short box and 6 rows in a long box

 

[gwiley]

24-40"

My rule is that each piece must be a safe lift weight for me and my boys. Always make it as long as possible - my goal is to reduce the number of times I have to handle each cubic foot of wood. One piece that is the same length of 2 shorter ones requires 1/2 the "touches".

Seasoned pine is great at about 40", 8-10" diameter doesn't get split - the log just goes in as is.

One big advantage to the OWB is its ability to digest large pieces of wood. I really love being able to feed a crotch in rather than bother with splitting it.

 

[MJR]

I only cut for my own use. I can have anything from 6" to 20". I have ugly stacks but the stove doesn't seem to mind at all.

 

[2FatGuys]

For those who cut and sell firewood, that's the preferred length? When cutting green wood for the next season do you just chunk it in a big pile, or go ahead and stack it(corded)??

I think it's funny reading all the responses here. The OP asked for the preferred length for those that SELL.

We find that it's easier to meet the majority of our customers' needs with 16". It's easy to show that (3) 8' rows, 4' high is a cord. It's a consistent size, so it looks neat stacked. There really is a big difference in word of mouth marketing when the wood that is delivered stacks neatly and "looks good".

We season it all stacked. We have found that piled wood doesn't season nearly as well here in NC. We get too many afternoon thunderstorms that tend to wet down a pile which has a tough time drying.

 

[D&B Mack]

I sell the "package" deals, and I cut those in 16". But my customers are looking for a short term solution. They are burning for campfires or ambiance (sp?). 16" works for majority of fireplaces and is easy to handle.

 

[TXTreeSurgeon]

I am cutting my firewood in 16" ($200 cord) and 24" ($180 cord). That is simple because you get either 3 rows or 2 rows to a cord, but the stack is still 4x4x8 or 128 cu ft. You would be amazed at how many people still get confused.

16" is the most common, but I know a lot of people (like myself) who like to burn 24" if it fits in their fireplace because you can get more cubic feet of wood in the fireplace and thus get more heat.

 

[banshee67]

You would be amazed at how many people still get confused.

i bet!

 

[mercer_me]

16" is the size that moste people want. I cut my personal fire wood 24".