My firewood Setup

[cycledude232]

its great to see another young guy out there working hard. i too do firewood, i don't have the nice trucks that you do but i am working on it. im 19 and i have done over 100 cord of firewood this past month, i log the wood i do, i work for my uncle doing firewood, and thats where the bulk of the 100 cord have been done, he has the "real" equipment. i love it, im going to get a plow as well this year and use the "days off" from firewood to plow. i do some landscaping but am very limited on customers in the very rural area i live in. i too have been given zero from my parents except a good home growing up. i have payed my own way for some time now, and love being able to see all the work i accomplish, i have a close buddy who has a very well established landscaping business in brockton mass, and he has done it the same way you have. work hard and reap the benefits. keep up the good work.

Oh and what are you going to school for? im also going to college from home.
best of luck!

 

[Petr51488]

its great to see another young guy out there working hard. i too do firewood, i don't have the nice trucks that you do but i am working on it. im 19 and i have done over 100 cord of firewood this past month, i log the wood i do, i work for my uncle doing firewood, and thats where the bulk of the 100 cord have been done, he has the "real" equipment. i love it, im going to get a plow as well this year and use the "days off" from firewood to plow. i do some landscaping but am very limited on customers in the very rural area i live in. i too have been given zero from my parents except a good home growing up. i have payed my own way for some time now, and love being able to see all the work i accomplish, i have a close buddy who has a very well established landscaping business in brockton mass, and he has done it the same way you have. work hard and reap the benefits. keep up the good work.

Oh and what are you going to school for? im also going to college from home.
best of luck!

Its good to see another kid out there doing good for himself! I'm going to college for general business. I think i have 1 more year left.

 

[John D]

John, nice trailer, but my only concern with it is how low it is to the ground up front. Looks like something can break easily

Yes, I was concerned too at first,but after almost 3 yrs,and many trips off road,thru ditches,and carrying a lot more than 14K,it hasnt been an issue. When i tow with my GMC 2500HD,it does get close to the ground,but when i use my Dodge/Cummins as i usually do,the truck doesnt squat nearly as much,so the front stays nice and high.The trailer is very well built,with twin 9 ton hoists,and it easily dumps 15K in it,+ the 4500 is weighs empty.The top rail is thick,ive tapped it by accident with my skid steer pretty good,and it didnt budge at all. I am using it for firewood now mostly,I load it with my homemade splitter on my Cat 246,split and load at the same time.

 

[Petr51488]

Yes, I was concerned too at first,but after almost 3 yrs,and many trips off road,thru ditches,and carrying a lot more than 14K,it hasnt been an issue. When i tow with my GMC 2500HD,it does get close to the ground,but when i use my Dodge/Cummins as i usually do,the truck doesnt squat nearly as much,so the front stays nice and high.The trailer is very well built,with twin 9 ton hoists,and it easily dumps 15K in it,+ the 4500 is weighs empty.The top rail is thick,ive tapped it by accident with my skid steer pretty good,and it didnt budge at all. I am using it for firewood now mostly,I load it with my homemade splitter on my Cat 246,split and load at the same time.

Thats wierd. Do you grab the log with the skid and split it over the trailer?

 

[John D]

Thats wierd. Do you grab the log with the skid and split it over the trailer?

Yes, I am not selling wood,it is only for my own use.I have an outdoor boiler,it will take 16" logs easily,about 33" long.So I homebuilt a 30" long splitter for just the big stuff.most of the wood im splitting is to big to handle efficiently.I just finished it a few weeks ago,Ive since painted it,but havent had time to take pics yet.You pick it up ,and load /split it in one operation.My 13 yr old daughter split,and loaded a cord of oak,and locust in 30" long sections easily,as does my girlfriend.It saves me time,I can be bringing the wood to the pile,and delimbing it,cutting it in 30" lenths,while they handle the splitting/loading without the backbreaking labor.I wouldnt want to split your typical load of firewood with it,while you could,it doesnt pay between the time,and machine hrs,chasing little pieces of wood with that ,Id rather use a small unit,and do it by hand.

 

[Petr51488]

Yes, I am not selling wood,it is only for my own use.I have an outdoor boiler,it will take 16" logs easily,about 33" long.So I homebuilt a 30" long splitter for just the big stuff.most of the wood im splitting is to big to handle efficiently.I just finished it a few weeks ago,Ive since painted it,but havent had time to take pics yet.You pick it up ,and load /split it in one operation.My 13 yr old daughter split,and loaded a cord of oak,and locust in 30" long sections easily,as does my girlfriend.It saves me time,I can be bringing the wood to the pile,and delimbing it,cutting it in 30" lenths,while they handle the splitting/loading without the backbreaking labor.I wouldnt want to split your typical load of firewood with it,while you could,it doesnt pay between the time,and machine hrs,chasing little pieces of wood with that ,Id rather use a small unit,and do it by hand.

True, but splitting really doesnt take much. My brother sits in a chair while he splits. Personally it just looks easier for me to split, and throw it into the trailer rather then grabbing each piece and splitting it over the trailer. What if you need to cut a piece in half more then once? I'm not knocking your setup or anything, its just that i havn't seen anyone doing it like that.

 

[John D]

If I was handling small logs,I'd agree with you,but most of my stuff is 17-24" around x 30 long.Very heavy stuff,and not easy to load a few cords of it.The skid steer makes that back breaking work easy,and allows my help(kids,and girlfreind) to do it for me ,when otherwise I'd be the only one capable of loading and splitting logs weighing 50-200 lbs.
My younger brother uses a conventional wood stove,and he used my SS to break up the huge oak logs,then switched to a 35 ton huskee from TS to do the rest of the splitting,since he needs pieces no bigger than 18" long,and 8" in diameter.
For what I do,my splitter works perfectly.Ill try to get more action pics when i get a few minutes time.I have already cut/split 90% of what i need for the yr,so im not sure when ill use it again.

 

[shamusturbo]

Peter,
Im a 19 year old college student that has an operation similar to yours outside Pittsburgh. Like you, I started it with my brother and no more than a pat on the back from our parents. During the summer he works on a farm and I am a boilermaker apprentice so we cut, split, and delivery wood for pocket money and a truck payment. However I can't find a tree service supplier to simply drop wood off. I pay quite a bit for a tri-axle worth of 20-26ft lengths of hardwoods. We handle between 175-200 cords a year along with the delivery and stacking the wood where the customer wants it. I sell it by the half cord but 90% of my customers buy an entire cord. My brother(16) helps me much like your brother( splitting while I drive and sitting while splitting from time to time)and we have been at it since before I could drive the wood myself (4 years). Do mind me asking what you charge for a cord of wood and how much you charge for delivery? how did you find someone to drop wood off for you to split? I will try to get a tree service to allow me to remove the wood when they are done but I have tried this before unsuccessfully.

 

[Petr51488]

Peter,
Im a 19 year old college student that has an operation similar to yours outside Pittsburgh. Like you, I started it with my brother and no more than a pat on the back from our parents. During the summer he works on a farm and I am a boilermaker apprentice so we cut, split, and delivery wood for pocket money and a truck payment. However I can't find a tree service supplier to simply drop wood off. I pay quite a bit for a tri-axle worth of 20-26ft lengths of hardwoods. We handle between 175-200 cords a year along with the delivery and stacking the wood where the customer wants it. I sell it by the half cord but 90% of my customers buy an entire cord. My brother(16) helps me much like your brother( splitting while I drive and sitting while splitting from time to time)and we have been at it since before I could drive the wood myself (4 years). Do mind me asking what you charge for a cord of wood and how much you charge for delivery? how did you find someone to drop wood off for you to split? I will try to get a tree service to allow me to remove the wood when they are done but I have tried this before unsuccessfully.

I hope you charge extra for stacking, otherwise its a waste of time. I used to stack, but then realized it took forever doing it myself, and it just wasn't worth it so i stopped. Now i only drop it in the driveway and leave. I charge 140 for a half cord, and 240 for a full cord delivered. Its tough up there because i could burn a 1/4 tank in the same distance it would take me here to do the same distance. There are no hills around here, and highways make it easy to transport, plus you dont get as much for wood. I guess what i'm trying to say is that you have more overhead then me just due to location. I also don't split the profits with my brother. I "treat" him as an employee and pay him generously by the hour.

We have a house up in the poconos, and there was a guy taking down a tree. I told him that my house is down the road and i would like the wood. He looks at me like i had 3 heads, and told me 100.00 bucks. Then i'm thinking to myself... i have to pay for this wood?! are you crazy?? I must be spoiled, because around here the tree companies pay big bucks to get rid of their wood. Its not like out there where you can just dump it in the woods.

 

[shamusturbo]

Peter,

I get 150 for a half cord and 300 for a full cord. I would really like to cut out the stacking but no one else does it and older folk love it! I agree with you that word of mouth is the best advertising! I have a few neighborhoods where i have delivered to 7 or 8 houses in a row. I am looking hard for the same exact trailer you have and i want to fab a dump on 2004 chevy d-max 3500 crew cab. I use a 8x20 carmate 5 ton that sucks to unload by hand!! i also agree with you that buying new is the best way to go because you know who used it (just you)! I live just north of Pittsburgh but go to Mercyhurst college is Erie pa and wanna start pushing snow here(in the snow belt). Like you I have had only one customer feel shorted and she called back to apologize months later. When I deliver to new customers I find that they are surprised to see how much a half or a full cord is inside of a truck. I wish people were more educated about how much they are getting for there money.

Ill get pictures post up as soon as I can!!

Cycledude,

If you don't mind me asking how much are you getting per cord and are you delivering it?

 

[Petr51488]

Peter,

I get 150 for a half cord and 300 for a full cord. I would really like to cut out the stacking but no one else does it and older folk love it! I agree with you that word of mouth is the best advertising! I have a few neighborhoods where i have delivered to 7 or 8 houses in a row. I am looking hard for the same exact trailer you have and i want to fab a dump on 2004 chevy d-max 3500 crew cab. I use a 8x20 carmate 5 ton that sucks to unload by hand!! i also agree with you that buying new is the best way to go because you know who used it (just you)! I live just north of Pittsburgh but go to Mercyhurst college is Erie pa and wanna start pushing snow here(in the snow belt). Like you I have had only one customer feel shorted and she called back to apologize months later. When I deliver to new customers I find that they are surprised to see how much a half or a full cord is inside of a truck. I wish people were more educated about how much they are getting for there money.

Ill get pictures post up as soon as I can!!

Cycledude,

If you don't mind me asking how much are you getting per cord and are you delivering it?

Thats alot per cord. Is that including stacking? How long does it usually take you?

 

[shamusturbo]

Stacking takes the two of us about 20 mins for a half or forty for a full (typically) some places are harder to unload and stack and back the trailer and truck into. Did you simply just call around to find a tree service that would dump the wood off for you?

 

[Petr51488]

Stacking takes the two of us about 20 mins for a half or forty for a full (typically) some places are harder to unload and stack and back the trailer and truck into. Did you simply just call around to find a tree service that would dump the wood off for you?

Yea, but i'm willing to bet that they won't do it down there. You'll prob have to meet them at their jobsite.

 

[cycledude232]

im getting 225 green and 350 seasoned, but i don't have any seasoned right now. i log all my wood myself and with my set up its pretty cheep to do so. i can log about 5-6 cord a day and i can only cut and split up to 4, so a few days logging a few days splitting and delivering. works out for me.
when i log it, i cut it to 4 foot length so i can easily stack it to cut and split close to the splitter. tree length is a pain in the butt.
i will try to post some pics but im pretty lame when it comes to that kind of stuff:greenchainsaw:

 

[Petr51488]

Anyone else seeing that firewood sales are slow? I don't remember from last year, but i was flying through the wood last year. Maybe it's still to early? I only sold about 5 cords so far. I know last year i was delivering in December, maybe people are waiting for it to get cold?

 

[John D]

Anyone else seeing that firewood sales are slow? I don't remember from last year, but i was flying through the wood last year. Maybe it's still to early? I only sold about 5 cords so far. I know last year i was delivering in December, maybe people are waiting for it to get cold?

I think the oil prices being lower than last yr affect it as well. #2 heating oil can be had for 2.29-2.59 here now.It was cold for a week or so last week,but its very warm right now.

 

[Petr51488]

I think the oil prices being lower than last yr affect it as well. #2 heating oil can be had for 2.29-2.59 here now.It was cold for a week or so last week,but its very warm right now.

Yea, but i figured even with lower fuel prices, its still cheaper to use wood. Alot of people around here use gas too

 

[John D]

Yea, but i figured even with lower fuel prices, its still cheaper to use wood. Alot of people around here use gas too

Cheaper would depend on how efficient there oil fired setup is,as well as there wood stove.If you have to buy your wood,it isnt not much cheaper than oil now,doesnt a cord of wood replace about 100 gallons of oil? Seems with wood being about $225 a cord,if my math is close,oil is just as cheap,and no mess,or labor.

Anyone heating with electric should be still by buying lots of wood,our electric rates are very high yet,they went thru the roof this summer,and havent went down one bit.

 

[Petr51488]

Thought i would post an update. As of 2 weeks ago, my firewood has sold out. I've nearly doubled my selling pile from last year so maybe thats why it went slow. This year was slow, but it all went. Had i still been selling, i'm sure i would have sold atleast 10 more cords. I just dont want wood that has been seasoning for more then a year in storage pile. In a few weeks i'll start splitting for next winters wood. I'll post pics when i get a chance.

 

[John D]

Im glad to see you sold it all,and could have sold more.Sure beats getting stuck with a bunch of wood and not making the $$. By all reguards you should be having a good snow season,we are here,just gotta get paid now..