Campfire wood bundles

[Patrick62]

I built my bundler a year ago. Not real complicated device, 1/4hp gear head motor and a large pulley with arm to wind the wrap around the wood. Still "fine tuning" the tension system. It has wrapped almost 2000 bundles this year already. 12" blown stretch wrap 1500' rolls will wrap over 100 bundles. $10 a roll, so 10 cents max on wrap. And the end result is a nice TIGHT bundle. Quality sells!!! Mingo your wood to 16" and try and split it a little smaller. My machine and I can bundle 45 per hour easy. a bundle a minute is achievable if not loading truck at same time.

 

[CRThomas]

When it comes to bundling campfire logs, nothing is cheaper than bailing twine that you can buy at TSC or Farm and Fleet and a 5" long garden hose length that you cut from an old leaky hose than people give you for nothing. However, you have to know how to tie a Boy Scout knot and figure that 10 to 12 bundles an hour is your maximum output.

The alternative is to spend $3000 on a commercial bundle machine and buy a bunch of plastic. Figure on at least a 5-year payback and don't forget your truck, splitter, chainsaw, labor help, and fuel cost. I have never met a man selling firewood bundles who is serious about making a ton of dough while doing it.. Nice hobby, however.

My biggest gripe is that theft abounds and there is little that you can do about that.

You met one now (CRT) I make a very comforable living I have about $250.000.00 to $300.000.00 in our business bundled firewood paid for it all. I have tried other ways to sell firewood but I am back to bundled and will stay there. Just got back from delivering 450 bundles to a customer we agreed to meet half way between him and us 160 miles charges him $3.00 a bundle straight clear wrap and no handles. That was 3 days bundling had to go into my reserve wood all ready split and dried. I got a 40 bundle customer this after noon after he closes so don't block the door when unloading. Friday I have some at home customers to deliver it going to be about 40 to 60 bundles This is $5.00 a bundle they have to take mini 10 bundles. It depends on how much they drinking on that wine bottle. So I am dead series about bundled firewood. This year we are going to do 25 percent better than last year. We had to buy another truck paid cash for it out of company equipment fund.

 

[Guswhit]

I built my bundler a year ago. Not real complicated device, 1/4hp gear head motor and a large pulley with arm to wind the wrap around the wood. Still "fine tuning" the tension system. It has wrapped almost 2000 bundles this year already. 12" blown stretch wrap 1500' rolls will wrap over 100 bundles. $10 a roll, so 10 cents max on wrap. And the end result is a nice TIGHT bundle. Quality sells!!! Mingo your wood to 16" and try and split it a little smaller. My machine and I can bundle 45 per hour easy. a bundle a minute is achievable if not loading truck at same time.

Thanks, I was looking for this kind of input. For you to produce 45 bundles, are you wrapping yourself or do you have a helper? I do mark all my wood to 18" in length already, that way I can sell to my other customers the gnarly looking pieces and there cut to the right size. I don't have a problem spending money on a wrapper or paying someone to wrap, but I need to know roughly what can be done before taking the leap. I certainly can't cut, split, wrap, sell, work the full time job and the other 2 part time jobs; I'll have to find some help(kids are only 5 and 7, not quite ready).

 

[CRThomas]

I get my wrap from uline by the case 4 rolls to the box I can do a hundred bundles a day and not work at it. That comes to mini $250.00 not bad for me

 

[Patrick62]

It's not that hard.
Mingo your wood out, and split a BUNCH of it up ( do a cord or more at a time) then dump it by the bundler. Gather some pieces rattle them onto the holder, get it "about right" (not to big, not to small) and pointy junk inside so as to not tear the wrap. stomp the switch and grab the tail of wrap. Wind about 3 turns (4 if it is needed) and break the wrap, Viola. One bundle.
I figure I got maybe 60 cents in the wood
Plastic I figure at 10 cents per
Could pay maybe 50 cents to wrap (probably too high)
and sell them at the rate of 2.50 to 3.00 each and make a killing...

16" seems to be a nice length, but if you want 18... just make them smaller diameter. You are shooting for around 3/4 cu ft.
My operation literally started as a "one 5 gallon bucket" and tail gate system. It was workable, but slow. The bucket was a measuring device and the "clamp" to hold it while ya spun 5" shrink wrap on the exposed end. Yank the bucket off, and wrap the other end. I could still wrap 30 in a hour easy with that method.

 

[zogger]

It's not that hard.
Mingo your wood out, and split a BUNCH of it up ( do a cord or more at a time) then dump it by the bundler. Gather some pieces rattle them onto the holder, get it "about right" (not to big, not to small) and pointy junk inside so as to not tear the wrap. stomp the switch and grab the tail of wrap. Wind about 3 turns (4 if it is needed) and break the wrap, Viola. One bundle.
I figure I got maybe 60 cents in the wood
Plastic I figure at 10 cents per
Could pay maybe 50 cents to wrap (probably too high)
and sell them at the rate of 2.50 to 3.00 each and make a killing...

16" seems to be a nice length, but if you want 18... just make them smaller diameter. You are shooting for around 3/4 cu ft.
My operation literally started as a "one 5 gallon bucket" and tail gate system. It was workable, but slow. The bucket was a measuring device and the "clamp" to hold it while ya spun 5" shrink wrap on the exposed end. Yank the bucket off, and wrap the other end. I could still wrap 30 in a hour easy with that method.

I do the five gallon bucket for measuring, add one stick to make mine better than the other guy's, then I went high tech! An old computer case to hold the wood while wrapping with the small wrap....high tech I tell yas....

..of course, that version of high tech sucks, I'd like one of the winder dudes designed for that job.

 

[Patrick62]

Don't try and up the quantity. Up the quality!
Nice straight ends. Wood is real dry and easy to light. Wrap is tight and neet. Bear in mind that some of this is getting loaded into a Lexus... they want a clean easy load. When making with a 5 gallon pail, I would do the same thing with the extra stick... pull the bucket about half way off, and jam another smaller one in there. Then thump it to cinch it, then wrap it. Made about a 11" bundle Near perfect size!

I did notice that with the manufactured bundle machines that they are careful not to let ya into how the mechanism really works. I had to think about it a little bit, it is fairly simple really.

No recent pic's but this is the thing from when I was building it.

 

[sb47]

Don't try and up the quantity. Up the quality!
Nice straight ends. Wood is real dry and easy to light. Wrap is tight and neet. Bear in mind that some of this is getting loaded into a Lexus... they want a clean easy load. When making with a 5 gallon pail, I would do the same thing with the extra stick... pull the bucket about half way off, and jam another smaller one in there. Then thump it to cinch it, then wrap it. Made about a 11" bundle Near perfect size!

I did notice that with the manufactured bundle machines that they are careful not to let ya into how the mechanism really works. I had to think about it a little bit, it is fairly simple really.

No recent pic's but this is the thing from when I was building it.

Can I ask what you get whole sale for that bundle on the floor and what do they sell retail for?

 

[CRThomas]

Don't try and up the quantity. Up the quality!
Nice straight ends. Wood is real dry and easy to light. Wrap is tight and neet. Bear in mind that some of this is getting loaded into a Lexus... they want a clean easy load. When making with a 5 gallon pail, I would do the same thing with the extra stick... pull the bucket about half way off, and jam another smaller one in there. Then thump it to cinch it, then wrap it. Made about a 11" bundle Near perfect size!

I did notice that with the manufactured bundle machines that they are careful not to let ya into how the mechanism really works. I had to think about it a little bit, it is fairly simple really.

No recent pic's but this is the thing from when I was building it.

$2.50 whole sale $5.00 to $10.00 retail I sold 450 bundles wednesday for $3.00 abundled but I drove 80 miles

Can I ask what you get whole sale for that bundle on the floor and what do they sell retail for?

 

[blades]

Madison ,WI, cl ad, kiln de bugged, state certified, $3/.39cf bundel, yikes that works out to about $948 cord less costs of course, so bottom line being very generous on costs maybe $500/cord, .39cf vs 1 cord at 128 cf less 10% for air space= apx 295 bundels/cord= gross $885. And the service calls it kindling.

 

[sb47]

Madison ,WI, cl ad, kiln de bugged, state certified, $3/.39cf bundel, yikes that works out to about $948 cord less costs of course, so bottom line being very generous on costs maybe $500/cord, .39cf vs 1 cord at 128 cf less 10% for air space= apx 295 bundels/cord= gross $885. And the service calls it kindling.

I found that just use number don't work in the real world.
If I try and use numbers to calculate how many bundles are in a cord. then take a set cord and bundle it up. My numbers are off quite a bit.

 

[Samcronkite]

Are you selling mostly to c-stores or to private residences?

 

[CRThomas]

A rank the size we use a third of a cord I get around a 100 bundles out of a rank bottom dollar $2.50 a bundle thats comes to $250.00 a rank delivered

 

[hardpan]

You guys have your stuff together. Good thread.

 

[blades]

My apx numbers are not that far off based on CRThomas's last post - a full cord for him is grossing $750. But rank is a regional term means anything, then he states 100 bundles from a 1/3 of a cord (42.6 cubic feet) and we will pull out 20% for air space so that leaves about 34 cubic ft. He gets 100 bundles out of that(.34 cf ea.) which is just about what I was posting about with the Madison Craig's list ad difference being the selling price of $2.50 vs$3/ bundle ( that would be the wholesale side as retail is in the $5-8 range/bundle)
Got to use some sort of numbers to get a handle on weather you are making or losing profit wise- the numbers might not be perfect and I certainly am no flippin math genius but I have been in business for more than 40 years and I am still around ( no thanks to gov. entities). I am not in the firewood business but the math principals are the same across the board. I spent many years making service departments a profit center for small companies ( which always seemed to consider service as a necessary evil/ losing proposition) so I do have a bit of know how with numbers and the real world. There is a lot of truth to the old saying work smarter not always harder.
One more little tid bit- most ads I see say hardwood bundles - course technicaly hardwood is anything that is not a conifer such as pine..... think about that a minute and you will see where i am going with that thought. Another very popular service for tree firms is mulch again labled as "hardwood".

 

[user 122190]

read your post this morning and thought of you. just saw this at the gas station and thought this might work. the guy sells to campgrounds. the bags are 25 lb. onion bags. i ask him what the cubic foot amt. was but he couldn't tell me. he said they weigh about 10 lbs. failed to ask him his price. i know a guy that uses those bags for onions and will check on a price per bag.
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I seen bundles like that at Walmart. I joked with an employee about whether anybody ever buys them. He rolled his eyes and said you'd be surprised. I guess for some vacationer from afar, it's common to buy a small bag of wood rather then spend 2 minutes picking some up 10 feet off the road.

 

[CRThomas]

Bundled firewood is convent.

 

[cantoo]

As far as I know most campgrounds around here it is against the rules to take any wood even downed wood or branches and burn them. They leave the down trees for nutrients and wood critters. And they make money off the wood they sell.

 

[user 122190]

As far as I know most campgrounds around here it is against the rules to take any wood even downed wood or branches and burn them. They leave the down trees for nutrients and wood critters. And they make money off the wood they sell.

I live a mile from a 24 site campground, and branches litter the grounds. If campers didn't pick it up and burn it the place would be a mess. Last year the FWP thinned the trees out, cut and stacked the wood for the campers. It's been slowly getting used up by those that thought to bring an axe or a splitting maul.

 

[cantoo]

MontanaResident, that's the US, us Canadians are much cheaper and want everything for free. We will take the toilet paper from the toilets and burn it if we can. Just ask anyone from Florida what they think the spending habits of Canadian snowbirds are like.