Starting a firewood business with a wood bundler.

[arlen]

I want to start a side business selling bundled firewood. I am going to order a wood bundler on the 15th $2300 dollars delivered. I have a new splitter on back order form Harbor Freight. Have you guys seen the 30 ton splitter with the log lift with a 9hp robins engine for under $1,500. dollars. I have a source of firewood eucalyptus a friend is cutting down 4 acres of euc and he says I can take all I want.
1] It is 5 miles from my home.
2]I have to pick up the dropped trees with my tractor put them in my pile,
3]cut them with my saw
4] load them in my small trailer that I tow with my mini van.
5] drive home 5 miles unload the trailer.
6] split the wood.
7] bundle wood.
8] stack bundled wood on pallets.
9] Load wood in trailer and try to sell.[ I am hoping for $7.- a bundle retail and $ 4.- whose sale.

If I can make some money on this venture I will buy a one ton dump truck. I have a 1 acre lot with about half I could use to cut split and stack. Do any of you sell bundled wood ? What do you guys think ? Have any suggestions thanks David

 

[aandabooks]

How much wood do you realistically have, as to # of bundles? Your numbers indicate that you'll need to sell 543 bundles to hit the breakeven point on the equipment you have purchased at your retail price. That does not include fuel and other overhead.

What are you going to do for wood once your supplies run out? Is your buddy going to want a piece of the action once he sees you making money on this trees?

As to where to sell, convienent stores and large chain grocery would be good places to start.

Just some things to think about.

 

[cjcocn]

aandabooks brought up some good points.

You may also want to consider making some initial contact with your potential clients before dropping $3800 on your equipment.

Some of the things that you may learn from making some contacts:

Would they be willing to switch suppliers? (they may have entered into a contract, they may buy from the store manager's buddy, etc)

How much are they actually willing to pay? If someone is selling them bundles for $3.50, they won't feel very motivated to make the switch to your $4 bundles.

How are you financing the purchases and how does that compare to the selling season for bundles in your area? I know that you have to purchase the equipment early enough to start using it and build up a supply of bundles, but if they aren't interested in buying bundles until the fall, can you afford to buy the equipment now and not see a return for about 6 months?

How much is a permit/license to conduct business in your area? Insurance? Can the retail outlets purchase from you if you do not have these?

Who is your target market and how do you plan on reaching them? (you can simply visit the retail outlets, but who else will buy your bundles? People with fireplaces in their houses/apartments/condos that only like burning for the effect/looks and not necessarily for the heat? What is the best way to reach these potential clients, how much will advertising cost, and when should you start advertising?

HTH

 

[jjett84724]

Congrats on making the jump to work for yourself.

I did not look at where you are from but out west your prices are high. I just talked to an owner of the only convenience store in town and he bought 50 bundles for $137. :jawdrop: I had been selling to him for $2.50 a bundle.


Check the local campgrounds. The other replies have good ideas and things to think about. You may not see a return on your money for six months, maybe longer. I am not saying this to disuade you in anyway. If you can stick out the first couple of months, not making any money, then you can make it. Its a good part time job.

Which firewood bundler did you buy?
Good Luck

 

[cjcocn]

Congrats on making the jump to work for yourself.

I did not look at where you are from but out west your prices are high. I just talked to an owner of the only convenience store in town and he bought 50 bundles for $137. :jawdrop: I had been selling to him for $2.50 a bundle.


Check the local campgrounds. The other replies have good ideas and things to think about. You may not see a return on your money for six months, maybe longer. I am not saying this to disuade you in anyway. If you can stick out the first couple of months, not making any money, then you can make it. Its a good part time job.

Which firewood bundler did you buy?
Good Luck

Great point about the local campground. If you can think of any other areas that may buy bundles, check those out too. Maybe you can get in as a sole supplier and help your numbers out greatly. For example, if there is a company in your area that specializes in fire pits, then maybe you can work something out with them and be able to sell your bundles out of their facility.

I would also like to echo what jjett said about us not trying to dissuade you. We are only trying to give you more info so that you go into this with both eyes open and eliminate the potential for any deal-breaking surprises once you've sunk money into this venture.

jjett

That 0.24 doesn't sound like much by itself does it? But when one considers that you were actually losing about 9% on each bundle - that number really grows! Hope you are able to keep selling to the convenience store for the going rate of $2.74 per bundle.

 

[Zodiac45]

It's a very labor intensive and high volumn business. I just don't see it happening without a large outlet for the bundles and large advance orders. With that you then need a processor that can blow through a cord or better an hour which your splitter is not going to do and then you've got labor cost of someone operating the bundler. Then you need a reliable supply of wood (after your buddys runs dry) and that's not going to be free. Not trying to be negative, and I wish you the best of luck. If it's just a side bizz then maybe you'll end out paying for your equiptment and you've got a splitter and you can resell the bundler.

 

[arlen]

How much wood do you realistically have, as to # of bundles? Your numbers indicate that you'll need to sell 543 bundles to hit the breakeven point on the equipment you have purchased at your retail price. That does not include fuel and other overhead.

I don't know wood volume very well, I have a friend in the wood business and he has arrangments with tree trimmers to drop off wood for free. I know a few more people with some wood and the tree trimmers cut it and stack it in the street sometimes so I could get more wood.

What are you going to do for wood once your supplies run out? Is your buddy going to want a piece of the action once he sees you making money on this trees?

As to where to sell, convienent stores and large chain grocery would be good places to start.
Thanks I was thinking of driving near campsites firepits at the ocean. convience stoars

Just some things to think about.

.

 

[arlen]

aandabooks brought up some good points.

You may also want to consider making some initial contact with your potential clients before dropping $3800 on your equipment.

Some of the things that you may learn from making some contacts:

Would they be willing to switch suppliers? (they may have entered into a contract, they may buy from the store manager's buddy, etc)

How much are they actually willing to pay? If someone is selling them bundles for $3.50, they won't feel very motivated to make the switch to your $4 bundles.

How are you financing the purchases and how does that compare to the selling season for bundles in your area? I know that you have to purchase the equipment early enough to start using it and build up a supply of bundles, but if they aren't interested in buying bundles until the fall, can you afford to buy the equipment now and not see a return for about 6 months?

How much is a permit/license to conduct business in your area? Insurance? Can the retail outlets purchase from you if you do not have these?

Who is your target market and how do you plan on reaching them? (you can simply visit the retail outlets, but who else will buy your bundles? People with fireplaces in their houses/apartments/condos that only like burning for the effect/looks and not necessarily for the heat? What is the best way to reach these potential clients, how much will advertising cost, and when should you start advertising?


I for advertising word of mouth, wrap a flier in the bundle that I sell,Craig's list bulletin boards. I would talk to small mom and pop stores to see if they would be interested in bundled wood.

I burn wood for my own personal use and give some away to some older neighbors. I like cutting and splitting I sure need the exercises. So the splitter will get used. The Bundler I don't know ? because I don't have a lot of space for wood I thought I would try bundled wood. Selling some euc and Oak. In cord quantity's or less. I don't know if I could make a living at this I just want to make some extra money.

HTH

.

 

[arlen]

Congrats on making the jump to work for yourself.

I did not look at where you are from but out west your prices are high. I just talked to an owner of the only convenience store in town and he bought 50 bundles for $137. :jawdrop: I had been selling to him for $2.50 a bundle.


Check the local campgrounds. The other replies have good ideas and things to think about. You may not see a return on your money for six months, maybe longer. I am not saying this to disuade you in anyway. If you can stick out the first couple of months, not making any money, then you can make it. Its a good part time job.

Which firewood bundler did you buy?
Good Luck

I am not going to borrow money for the equipment I will pay for it. I would like a return on the investment eventually. I know a person who sold bundled wood to a convience store for $ 4.- a bundle and he did not want to sell it any more. For Me that would be great. I haven't seen people selling bundles of wood on street corners like flowers but hey it could work if I had the right location. I think it is called the wood beaver it has an electric motor 4 drop through trays and a foot switch. I looke at the hand crank ones. I believe I could bundle wood all day with an electric bundler David

 

[cjcocn]

Well I'll tell you one thing - the return on a cord of wood sold by the bundle is huge compared to that of a cord sold as one load (there are a few threads on this subject on this site and IIRC it works out to approximately $950 per cord).

Good luck with it and let us know how it progresses (just be sure to try and find a use for your bundler before you buy it!).

 

[blackdiesel]

Well I'll tell you one thing - the return on a cord of wood sold by the bundle is huge compared to that of a cord sold as one load (there are a few threads on this subject on this site and IIRC it works out to approximately $950 per cord).

Good luck with it and let us know how it progresses (just be sure to try and find a use for your bundler before you buy it!).

With this kind of return on a cord, and you have the bundler on it's way. You might want to buy a cord or two of seasened wood, and check out your market. Your going to pull the guts out off your van, and a splitter like that is SLOW. By the time you get to sell some of the wood you have cut, you might lose intrest. Get you a splitting maul and bust what you've bought smaller, it will be alot faster. JMO

 

[arlen]

With this kind of return on a cord, and you have the bundler on it's way. You might want to buy a cord or two of seasened wood, and check out your market. Your going to pull the guts out off your van, and a splitter like that is SLOW. By the time you get to sell some of the wood you have cut, you might lose intrest. Get you a splitting maul and bust what you've bought smaller, it will be alot faster. JMO

I have a few seasoned cords at home and I could buy some if I need it. I asked my friend who sells wood it he thought there was a market for a bundler in San Diego he thought there was. His friend has a homemade crude hand crank bundler he said I could use it and make up some bundles and see if I have luck selling them. I may try that this weekend. It it did work out I could make some money I would probably buy a supersplit to process the wood or buy wholesale from my friend to make bundles. David

 

[abohac]

Arlen

I have a few seasoned cords at home and I could buy some if I need it. I asked my friend who sells wood it he thought there was a market for a bundler in San Diego he thought there was. His friend has a homemade crude hand crank bundler he said I could use it and make up some bundles and see if I have luck selling them. I may try that this weekend. It it did work out I could make some money I would probably buy a supersplit to process the wood or buy wholesale from my friend to make bundles. David

Sounds like you have the wood bug like all the people who are responding. My advice (for what it's worth) is to go for it. You are not spending alot (I'm assuming you have a job and the $3800 isn't taking food from your kids mouth). Like some other guys I question where the rest of your wood is going to come from. But there must be other sources in califournyyeh. Make what you can, Break even working your ass off, and move on to the next project with paid for equipment (of course then something will break down or you will need the next new and great thing associated with wood like the rest of us). I would suggest that if you need your mini van for something other than hauling wood to get something else to haul wood with (it'll be junk when you are done) and get a dump trailer to eliminate one handling.

 

[abohac]

Zodiac45

It's a very labor intensive and high volumn business. I just don't see it happening without a large outlet for the bundles and large advance orders. With that you then need a processor that can blow through a cord or better an hour which your splitter is not going to do and then you've got labor cost of someone operating the bundler. Then you need a reliable supply of wood (after your buddys runs dry) and that's not going to be free. Not trying to be negative, and I wish you the best of luck. If it's just a side bizz then maybe you'll end out paying for your equiptment and you've got a splitter and you can resell the bundler.

Zodiac, I have talked to you before and have appreciated your advice, but I have to tell you that thing you have next to your name is a creepy looking dude. Got anything else other than that thing?

 

[blackdiesel]

Zodiac, I have talked to you before and have appreciated your advice, but I have to tell you that thing you have next to your name is a creepy looking dude. Got anything else other than that thing?

X2

 

[KsWoodsMan]

Zodiac, I have talked to you before and have appreciated your advice, but I have to tell you that thing you have next to your name is a creepy looking dude. Got anything else other than that thing?

HUH ?! You don't recognize the commander ? Forget the show now , even forgot the network it was on. Probably Comedy Central. Ahhhh the memories ....

Have long since faded into my daily routine. Cheers Zodiac45


More on topic : Go for it. ...better to have tried and failed then to not have tried at all. If it comes down to it you can recoupe some of your costs from the sale of the equipment.

+1 make sure your supply of wood doesnt run out before you get established.

And don't give away your product/service or they will expect to be free everytime.

 

[arlen]

HUH ?! You don't recognize the commander ? Forget the show now , even forgot the network it was on. Probably Comedy Central. Ahhhh the memories ....

Have long since faded into my daily routine. Cheers Zodiac45


More on topic : Go for it. ...better to have tried and failed then to not have tried at all. If it comes down to it you can recoupe some of your costs from the sale of the equipment.

+1 make sure your supply of wood doesnt run out before you get established.

And don't give away your product/service or they will expect to be free everytime.

Thanks for the advice on the wood David

 

[arlen]

Sounds like you have the wood bug like all the people who are responding. My advice (for what it's worth) is to go for it. You are not spending alot (I'm assuming you have a job and the $3800 isn't taking food from your kids mouth). Like some other guys I question where the rest of your wood is going to come from. But there must be other sources in califournyyeh. Make what you can, Break even working your ass off, and move on to the next project with paid for equipment (of course then something will break down or you will need the next new and great thing associated with wood like the rest of us). I would suggest that if you need your mini van for something other than hauling wood to get something else to haul wood with (it'll be junk when you are done) and get a dump trailer to eliminate one handling.

I would love a dump truck 1 to 5 ton. I do own a one ton cargo van. I can pull wood with. The one ton van gmv savana with a 350 gets 9 mpg the mimi van gets about 20 mpg. I don't have a large trailer at this time and it is hard to back my cargo van and a large trailer into my back yard. A dump truck or an old sturdy pick up truck would work better. Maybe a one ton truck with a dump box inside the bed would work. David

 

[JerryNycom]

I want to start a side business selling bundled firewood. I am going to order a wood bundler on the 15th $2300 dollars delivered. I have a new splitter on back order form Harbor Freight. Have you guys seen the 30 ton splitter with the log lift with a 9hp robins engine for under $1,500. dollars....... thanks David

Did you get the Harbor Freight log splitter? How is it? Whats the cycle time? Got any pics or videos? Anyway good luck with your venture, I am looking for a log splitter and $1500.00 for a 30 ton splitter and log lifter caught my eye....

Thanks!

 

[arlen]

Did you get the Harbor Freight log splitter? How is it? Whats the cycle time? Got any pics or videos? Anyway good luck with your venture, I am looking for a log splitter and $1500.00 for a 30 ton splitter and log lifter caught my eye....

Thanks!

No it is on back order I ordered through harbor freight Internet sales. I have heard good things about the harbor freight 30 ton splitter with the Robbins engine. I have not seen any with a log lift before. I was told that it comes unassembled, and need to be put together. The freight was pretty reasonable about $90.- I will post about it when I get it. David