Firewood questions - both cutting and drying

[Kazpian]

First question is to do with sizing. How do all of you guys deal with wood that is cut to different lengths (It is going to be cut beforehand and I don't have control over it) - do you cut it all shorter to be consistent in length or just leave it as is when selling it ?

The second one is has anyone looked into making a wood dryer (basically a kiln) but a homemade version that runs off wood to dry more wood ? Looking for the hillbilly version until i can actually make enough capital from it to look into a real system for it.

thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[cjcocn]

First question is to do with sizing. How do all of you guys deal with wood that is cut to different lengths (It is going to be cut beforehand and I don't have control over it) - do you cut it all shorter to be consistent in length or just leave it as is when selling it ?

The second one is has anyone looked into making a wood dryer (basically a kiln) but a homemade version that runs off wood to dry more wood ? Looking for the hillbilly version until i can actually make enough capital from it to look into a real system for it.

thanks for all the suggestions.

1. Find a different supplier (or your customers will).

People buy wood for the convenience - they expect the wood that they purchase to be ready for immediate use. They require a certain length and if you cannot provide that to them, they will find someone who can.

With your current supplier, you are either going to provide your customers with wood that does not meet their needs (too long), or you will have to cut the wood yourself and waste some of it. For example, if you are buying 20" pieces and your customers want 16" pieces, then you will have to cut 4" off in order to provide what your customers want. That 4" is unusable and is waste - that means that 20% of the wood that you purchase represents wasted money. You must also factor in your costs to further process the wood.

Your other option is to seek out customers who want the lengths that you have and sell only to them.

2. There has been some discussion on this topic a few times, but I cannot recall exactly what was said or if anyone had successfully built their own dryer.

If you do a search on this forum and also on the www in general, you should get quite a bit of reading material.

HTH

 

[Kazpian]

You are assuming paying for the wood. I have no problem with it being different lengths. I should have clarified. Has anyone found an efficient method to get their logs to a uniform length ? I know they want convenient (and also cheap, as to most firewood isn't that convenient). I was thinking of possibly throwing them onto a wheeled track with a wall on one side and then have a guide to cut the other side. I know i have to cut the wood, it's simply a matter of finding the best way to cut it.

 

[cjcocn]

You are assuming paying for the wood. I have no problem with it being different lengths. I should have clarified. Has anyone found an efficient method to get their logs to a uniform length ? I know they want convenient (and also cheap, as to most firewood isn't that convenient). I was thinking of possibly throwing them onto a wheeled track with a wall on one side and then have a guide to cut the other side. I know i have to cut the wood, it's simply a matter of finding the best way to cut it.

Free, you say? That gives you a bit more leeway, then.

I use a mingo firewood marker most of the time, but I would not call that efficient, especially if you want to process large volumes of firewood.

You wheeled track idea sounds workable. I can't really picture it, but have seen similar set-ups based on the same principle.

Did you see <a href="http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=97248">this thread?</a> I sure wish I had one of those, but at $23K USD it's a bit much for what I do.

 

[Kazpian]

Free, you say? That gives you a bit more leeway, then.

I use a mingo firewood marker most of the time, but I would not call that efficient, especially if you want to process large volumes of firewood.

You wheeled track idea sounds workable. I can't really picture it, but have seen similar set-ups based on the same principle.

Did you see <a href="http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=97248">this thread?</a> I sure wish I had one of those, but at $23K USD it's a bit much for what I do.

I saw it but being in a city limits the amount of toys I can have. Is that for the attachment only ? If so I also need a bobcat which isn't the cheapest either.

Guess i will have to toy with some more ideas before I decide on something once and for all.

 

[Rookie1]

Its way time consuming but I use hyd splitter like a big vise. I put logs in sideways cut to length then split. I leave saw idling while I split so I get a pile of long ones ready to do at one time. I only split for myself so its not that big a deal to take extra time like that.

 

[oneoldbanjo]

I have an OWB - so log length is not a problem. If you get enough wood maybe you could just sort the lengths into similar sizes and offer 12", 16" etc. for those customers that want specific lengths.

The power company just had the power lines cleared on my property and they had about 8 different people cutting at the same time. My wood ranged from 12" in length to more then 4 feet and it was just dropped on the ground. I cut the long pieces in half, then just stacked the wood with the long pieces on one end of the row and short pieces on the other end - and just progressively stacked the inbetween sizes in the middle. This makes the stack in the wood shed taper from one end to the other, and then when I start the next row I just switch ends and it evens out the rows and squares things back up.

For your business you would just start throwing the rounds into piles of similar sized wood and when you process/split the wood you will be working with similar sized pieces. Ask your customer what length they want, and if they are OWB owners offer them the unsorted and odd sizes at a discount.

 

[hoot gibson]

mark your splitter for different length , then throw it in its ritefull pile after splitting . h

 

[Biker Dude]

You could use one of these.

It's called a Perfect Cut firewood guide and it's fully adjustable up to 18" I've cut probably 5 or 6 full cord with it attached to my saw and all my logs are within 1/4" of each other. The only sucky part is you can't cut the stumps off at ground level unless you take it off. PM me and I'll let you know where to get one.

 

[tomtrees58]

16 to 18" is the norm here on L I N Y 6 to 8 months to season it we sell 100 cords a year @ $250.00 a cord tom trees

 

[Crofter]

Every extra time you have to sort or re handle wood takes out half the fun and profit. You cant afford to do that if you are trying to make money selling it.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Has anyone found an efficient method to get their logs to a uniform length ? I know they want convenient (and also cheap, as to most firewood isn't that convenient). ... I know i have to cut the wood, it's simply a matter of finding the best way to cut it.

Here are some possibilities for you:


http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=35417

Pics are re-posted on the last page.


http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=68764

See the whole thread.



And another approach:

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=32840


This would be best for fairly short pieces, like 20" stuff that needs to be 16 or 18 or so.


Take a look at the pictures in those threads, and you might find something that will work for you.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

The second one is has anyone looked into making a wood dryer (basically a kiln) but a homemade version that runs off wood to dry more wood ? Looking for the hillbilly version until i can actually make enough capital from it to look into a real system for it.

I met a farmer who had built a dryer using solar heat. Not a hillbilly version, though. Cinderblock building and tempered glass roof. He makes all his own fence posts and boards, plus any other rough lumber he needs around the place. He says it works as well as a commercial dryer, but costs him zero fuel. He built it himself, and the only ongoing cost is some lighting for when they work late, and a fan to keep the air circulating.


I found a clear plastic painters drop cloth (heavy gauge) works pretty well. Wrap the wood so that you have some way for air to escape, and you very quickly see the moisture condensing on the inside of the plastic, as it gets baked out of the wood. You need the wood to be up on pallets, of course. Convection will move the air if you have a vent of some kind on top. Somewhere around here there's a thread where someone described doing this with a regular roof vent taped to a hole in the plastic. He said it worked quite well.