Finally downloaded some pics of work.

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The night time...is the right time

My trucker is double shifting his straight job, trying to get things picked up before the road bans.
So, he came to my job tonight @ 8 PM..
Some pics of the job in there too. Free pine.

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Thanks for sharing the pictures, I wish we had some of that snow here in NY. I am battling mud and can only wonder how long I will be able to work before the town shuts down the road I am working on down for spring mud season. I left today with a load of fire wood and the road is already starting to break up
 
The town has already shut us down here, and the fire wood logs a soaked in mud. Gonna make the 660 work a little harder and make the sharpening more frequent. Nice job oldtimer
 
Nice pics. I know your trucker. Nice guy and does a super job hauling wood.
 
Oldtimer, was that you cutting on rt16 in wakefield/sanbornville area last summer? Looks like a job well done.
 
Yes. Took forever because I decided to work most of the HW pulp into firewood. A mistake.
Looks pretty good driving by though. Some small hardwoods have tipped in the wet soil and winds, but over-all I am pleased and so is the owner. Took 50K of pine, 20K of oak, and 400 cords of firewood off 34 acres.
 
Great pix Oldtimer. Looks like NHLogga knows who you are. What would you have done different on the firewooding job to make it not a mistake? (keen to learn from oldtimers)
 
Great pix Oldtimer. Looks like NHLogga knows who you are. What would you have done different on the firewooding job to make it not a mistake? (keen to learn from oldtimers)

Nope. Never met oldtimer. Had i known it was oldtimer working on 16 last summer i woulda stopped in and said hello as i drove by there every day all summer. :cheers:
 
Cut split and delivered firewood takes a lot of time and effort. If I managed to get 2 cords done and delivered in one day, that's a good day. (Using a maul, faster than the spiltter I own)
So say there was $360 made on 2 cord of green firewood. Sounds OK, right?
Well, I didn't do it alone. My man Dennis did the splitting. So give him his cut, call it $150.
That leaves $210. Fine, but now take the cost of the skidder out- $20 for fuel alone.
Now the cost of saw gas and bar oil- $5.
Now the cost of fuel in the truck to get to work, deliver 2 cord- 1 at a time- and get home..$50.
Now the cost of paying the landowner for the wood- $30.
Now the chain and files, figure it like it was depreciation- $2.

That leaves $103 for the day for me.

Now, do the math on a 9 cord load of firewood delivered on the log truck:
$900 delivered.
Subtract $200 for the trucking.
Subtract $150 for Dennis.
Subtract $20 for skidder fuel.
Subtract $30 for saw gas, chain, files, and getting to and from work.
Subtract $135 for the landowner.

Leaves $365...and it was less labor for both of us...and my trucker got a piece of it.

See, after doing firewood for a while, there's no check waiting for me from logging...I did firewood..
Well, now I am sort of stuck doing the wood: I need the money right away because I haven't been making what I should have and there no wood sent to the mills- so no check coming..

Make any sort of sense?
 
Cut split and delivered firewood takes a lot of time and effort. If I managed to get 2 cords done and delivered in one day, that's a good day. (Using a maul, faster than the spiltter I own)
So say there was $360 made on 2 cord of green firewood. Sounds OK, right?
Well, I didn't do it alone. My man Dennis did the splitting. So give him his cut, call it $150.
That leaves $210. Fine, but now take the cost of the skidder out- $20 for fuel alone.
Now the cost of saw gas and bar oil- $5.
Now the cost of fuel in the truck to get to work, deliver 2 cord- 1 at a time- and get home..$50.
Now the cost of paying the landowner for the wood- $30.
Now the chain and files, figure it like it was depreciation- $2.

That leaves $103 for the day for me.

Now, do the math on a 9 cord load of firewood delivered on the log truck:
$900 delivered.
Subtract $200 for the trucking.
Subtract $150 for Dennis.
Subtract $20 for skidder fuel.
Subtract $30 for saw gas, chain, files, and getting to and from work.
Subtract $135 for the landowner.

Leaves $365...and it was less labor for both of us...and my trucker got a piece of it.

See, after doing firewood for a while, there's no check waiting for me from logging...I did firewood..
Well, now I am sort of stuck doing the wood: I need the money right away because I haven't been making what I should have and there no wood sent to the mills- so no check coming..

Make any sort of sense?


The profit margin in cut/split firewood is so small it seems almost not worth doing unless you can do it in volume. I would much rather put it on a log truck and be done with it.
 
Excellent reply OT. Thank you. Quite understandable now that it is easier and more profitable to pulp it due to your machinery. That's a kick as skidder. Gonna get me one of those when I grow up:D
 
Great pics! What part of nh are you in, sure looks like fun, wish I could come over and cut for you! VT seems to be yielding plenty of mud now. Keep up the good work.
 
I hear you about the pain firewood can be at times vs pulp. We've been sending our hardwood pulp to ny state this fall/winter in 16 foot lenghs which works out nice. Adds up better and faster then 8 footers.
 
Ok . Thanks O T ..
I've been wondering what I was doing wrong . But my figures are similar to yours . Today I fell 10 trees . Logged 5 . 3 went to 1 customer who came and got his own .so I didn't have to buck , load or deliver it . I had logged some yesterday so that was on the landing . I bucked and loaded the truk . Delivered and bucked to stove length. A 400$ load . Just under 2 cord .i burned almost 14 gal of fuel @ 4.03 $ a gal . Plus a gal saw gas. The other customergot his cord for 110$ .plus I turned in an hour of loader time to the land owner for putting in roads . $ 120 I draw the line at splitting wood for people . . I work alone so I don't need to split the $$ with anyone . But I only put out about 3 cord this week so far . 2 work days .
 
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