Year Round Firewood Business

[iamryan]

I apologize in advance if this question has been asked before.

I was interested in learning some information about how I might be able to run a year round firewood business, especially pertaining to the Southern part of the country (Texas).

Should I expect to only cut wood in the summer, let it season and only be able to sell it in the winter?

Are there opportunities to get wood sold during the summer? My grandfather has said many restaurants use the wood, obviously, but I would be sitting on a lot of oak. I'm not sure what type of wood they use.

Right now, I am just a one man deal. However, I am weighing my options with 600 acres of land that has trees (90% oak) to be readily taken down and in close proximity to the Dallas / Ft Worth.

Thanks for your time. Feel free to lay it all on me. So, far I love being out and working hard, but I want to know what the possibilities are from more experienced fellas out there.

Ryan

 

[RAYINTOMBALL]

Welcome aboard AS iamryan. Just my two cents to a fellow Texan. Trying to cut firewood in the summer here is a very tuff. My son and I have tried and when it's close to 100 degrees and 85 to 90 percent humidity it can get down right dangerous. I do my cutting and splitting from Oct. to about April. And sell in between. I don't know about the restaurant route but firewood selling for me is from about Nov to end of Feb.. Seems like people in Texas always wait till it gets cold to start buying. I'm very small time sell about 30 cords a year . Well good luck and I'm sure you'll get some much better answers than this.

 

[woodsmoke]

I live in south east PA and firewood is year round. I cut for my own needs, 7-8 cords or so, in March and then cut commercially beginning in April or May. In the summer it gets mighty hot, upper 80's and 90's, humid, so I work from 7 AM until 11 AM. Big jug o'water is real important. i start selling wood by Sept 15.

 

[matt9923]

600 acres, if you have the demand get a skidder/tractor/dozer and a possessor. Depending on terrain one of those options will be great.

See what will get you more money selling it to a mill or fire wood?

 

[cuznguido]

Ryan, there is a saying used in business that has an acronym: NHUSSS.
Means: Nothing Happens Until Somebody Sells Something. Your firewood business will live or die according to your ability to sell the product. This old fart would like to impart the following advice: Many a good business venture has died a horrible death because the manager jumped in too deep too quick. Take your time and stay out of debt. It is far better to make a little money on a regular basis than to try to make a lot real quick and end causing yourself a lot of unnecessary pressure and frustration. A one-man operation with basic equipment can turn out a lot of firewood. A couple of good saws, a good old farm tractor and a dependable wood splitter is a really good basis for a business. It sounds like you are in a good location, and a good situation to succeed.

 

[iamryan]

Yeah. That's all I have right now. I've been splitting and splitting and splitting recently.

I would never put myself into debt over it. If anything I would buy as the money comes along. Put money from the work, into the work blah blah blah.

However, I was wondering if I should hire a helper or whatnot.

I don't have any big equipment. I guess I will just take it slow and see what happens; talk to some people and see if I can network or anything.

Thanks a lot.
Ryan

 

[lone wolf]

you will need a helper thats the best way to go. and we cut all year round so it dries, people dont want green wood also you will get a lot of wood this way.

 

[iamryan]

Well. I run a small time lawn maintenance company during the winter. Strictly mowing. I hate landscaping.

I think what I'll do is keep up with that, and spend some extra days of the month cutting wood. I don't have the monetary means to just cut wood all summer. Gotta have an income.

Once I start to realize how much of a demand there is, then I might be able to gauge how much I might need to cut during the summer as a full time deal.

Oh, and as far as the heat goes, I'm screwed in 100+ temps either way. At least cutting trees, I get to be in the shade

 

[R Walter]

Well, talking about buying 600 acres sounds like some debt associated with that. Unless you're paying all cash, in which case I wouldn't think you'd be planning a business around firewood. But I could be mistaken.

Where I am, the firewood selling occurs from late Sep until mid to late Feb. Most folks don't plan ahead and buy their firewood during the off season when it's 90 degrees or better. As far as a helper, find a neighborhood kid to load. He can load your trucks or trailers for delivery to customers on an as needed basis. Letting him run a saw or drive for you could expose yourself to liability.

Cut, cut, cut and split, split and more splitting. Trying to stay ahead is tough when you're small. Try roadside sales and hand out business cards. After a year or two you will develop repeat customers who call you up. Check with the commercial operations and make sure you add value somewhere in the chain that they do not address. Watch their prices and stay competitive.

I've found I cannot beat the prices of these bigger firewood processors. They use illegal Mexican labor over the summer with guys camped on ranches for weeks at a time filling up 53foot flatbeds every other day with 25 cords of wood. But I can offer personal touches that they cannot.

 

[iamryan]

The 600 acres is actually family land that we want cleared out over time. I've invested nothing in it

I've just been given permission to clear out most of it. I know my situation is a bit different than others.

 

[lone wolf]

thats a lot of wood you will need all the help you can get.

 

[iamryan]

thats a lot of wood you will need all the help you can get.

Wanna come help? lol

Looking at it, I think there will never be a day that I actually finish it off. As far as I know we aren't in a hurry either.

 

[lone wolf]

you will have all the help you need in this bad economy but make sure they have some experience.i am in nj by the way.how much does a cord of wood sell for in your area?

 

[iamryan]

you will have all the help you need in this bad economy but make sure they have some experience.i am in nj by the way.how much does a cord of wood sell for in your area?

For delivery and stacking, I've seen em going for $200 to $290 based on Craigslist and local web sites.

Only one or two ads have been for $200. Most people will say $200 and not mention the delivery and/or stacking fee until the person calls.

I have been keeping busy selling at $260.

I actually got so busy that I couldn't split my wood fast enough. I had 8 cords last week but I was splitting by hand. I've got my hands on a 30 ton splitter now though.

How about up there?

 

[lone wolf]

they sell about 200.00 a cord are you near a large city that would bring a bit more?

 

[iamryan]

they sell about 200.00 a cord are you near a large city that would bring a bit more?

The Dallas/Ft Worth metroplex.

 

[lone wolf]

The Dallas/Ft Worth metroplex.

good area to sell firewood i say cut as much as you can

 

[iamryan]

Awesome. Hope it works out. Thanks for the info.

 

[forestryworks]

try to handle the logs as few times as possible.

and i wouldn't sell in DFW for less than $225/cord.

I ain't far from ya and have sold a few cords there.

 

[Steve NW WI]

On hiring help, be careful how you do it. "Cash on the side" could become a huge liability if there is an accident, and the wood business is dangerous work. I'd sit down with your insurance agent, accountant, and/or attorney and discuss your plans with them. I know this won't sound real popular to some here, but it needs to be considered in this era when there is a lawyer behind every rock.

One other option would be hiring a logging company to handle the cutting, and focus on the blocking/splitting and selling end of things. If you have some good timber, some saw log sales this way as well would put more capital into your business.

Another person to talk to would be your county forester/extension agent to get their ideas on how to achieve the family's goals on this land, and maximize the profit on it at the same time.

I'm probably gonna dip my toes into the firewood business this winter, but I'm just gonna buy a truckload of log length, then block, split, stack, dry it, and resale it down the road. It will tie up some money for quite a while until I have good dry wood to sell, but there should be a pretty good return on investment at the end.