Log trucks

[HeX0rz]

I tell ya, it seems at times, my firewood business will never get going. Then sometimes there are days where I feel good and think that yes, it can happen!

Well, I have always been on the lookout for log truck loads for firewood. I even have talked to a few boys driving some to the mill. Its not very promising to hear the news.

I saw an ad on CL a few days ago and gave the guy a call. What it is, he does land clearing locally and preps the wood for pickup. A buddy of his picks it up and delivers. The guy who clears charges $750 for 10 cords. Not bad, but now I also have to pay the trucker. He charges $100/hr! He quoted me 3 hours. That is $1,050 for 10 cords.

Or, $105 a cord! That leaves me no room for making any profit. Yet, he is the cheapest I have found so far...

He loads the best in the area, and I could get away with selling it for about $170 a cord. Thats $65 a cord. If I do 2 cord a day thats $130 a day. Minus about $10 in fuel and saw maintenance. $120 in about 10 hours of work if I'm not killing myself comes out to $10 an hour.

Now, take into account that business will not be consistent and I have anything but a full-time income. I would have to keep moving wood on a consistent basis to make a living and not to mention to be able to make enough to pay for the next truck load.

Going out and getting wood may be the next viable alternative. There is a few approaches I have thought of to make sure I come out on top...

The only way I can see it, is I need to be able to afford the equipment to get serious with it. But then again, if I did have the money for machinery, I probably would have been singing a diff. tune.

sigh, ode to being on the broke side!

 

[blackdogon57]

You need a bigger gross margin than $65 per cord to make money.

 

[Wolfcsm]

You are seeing that firewood as a hobby is a good thing. As a business, it takes a lot of wood moving every day to make it profitable to do for a living. I figured it would take $100,000 plus in equipment to do it right - processor, loader or tractor, 2 ton or larger truck, saws, other stuff. It would take two or three people working full time. I figured I would need to turn out 25 or more cords of wood each week at $200 a cord. That would make a business of firewood. Kind of hard to do.

Made $7k in three months selling as a hobby. Nice supplement. Bought my splitter and 066 with that money. But could not see how I could make it as a living.

Hal

 

[fletcher0780]

At $10/hr you might be better off just working at a gas station or something like that. That is just barely above minimum wage for some pretty hard work without a regular paycheck.

 

[1harlowr]

Only a couple ways to make much of an increase in your profit margin, raise your prices or reduce the cost of materials.
If you have to buy your logs, you'd better be able to crank out the firewood to make much money. If you don't have to buy the logs, you could be doing a lot less firewood to make the same money.

 

[indiansprings]

Locate logging firms in your area and get to know them, find out where they are logging. Many times the land owner will give you the tops for you sawing them up and piling all the small limb residue. Some will want 10.00 a cord, some will want to do it on the shares, like you get 2/3 of what you cut and they get a 1/3. Tops are easy to cut in most cases. Hope this helps you out.

 

[ryan_marine]

One thing I have done that has helped me out was find a firewood buyer. Yes I sell my wood cheaper to him but I can always move fire wood when it slowes down. Another thing is to space out your customers. I have some that buy in the spring, summer, and fall. That way I don't have to wait on my winter customers or for people to call me up in the middle of a blizzard to bring them wood.

I wish I could find some ont to cut tops behind me. That would make it alot easier for me to log.

Ray

 

[Wood Doctor]

You need a bigger gross margin than $65 per cord to make money.

+1. And, the best way to make a million bucks selling firewood is to start with 2 million bucks.

 

[CrappieKeith]

+1. And, the best way to make a million bucks selling firewood is to start with 2 million bucks.

:agree2:
talk about truth in jest!

 

[lfnh]

+1. And, the best way to make a million bucks selling firewood is to start with 2 million bucks.

Ahhh, jeez, and I was thinking that applied only to logging....

"tell me it ain't so Joe"


:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[HeX0rz]

In this case, I'm wishing that natural gas would skyrocket! :hmm3grin2orange:

Firewood would be better to buy and I could charge enough money to make sure I can come out on top and make a business. I think, I may just have to simmer myself down and just cut my own wood for me when/if I get a place to burn wood and sell enough on the side to pay for my wood, and all thats involved in processing it.

Yep, a hobby...

 

[STLfirewood]

All markets are different. I do pretty well with firewood because I'm close to a decent size city(St. Louis). But you also have to find the niche markets. I found a delivery driver for the local whole meat dealer. He delivers to a bunch or restaurants in St. Louis and the surrounding areas. He is making me a list of every restaurant he see that uses wood(either for cooking or for looks). I told him I would give him $50 for the list. I hope to be able to score come more business from other restaurants. Next year I'm going to try and target the people who mainly buy from gas stations. There are a lot of apartments around here that have fireplaces. There are a lot of Condos also. I'm going to talk to the managers and see if I can have a wood day. I'll flier each unit. I have dollies that hold 4sqft on the front. I plan on pricing one dolly at $20 stacked by their door or on there deck. Even if the deck or apt is on the 3rd floor. You'll get some tips also. Two guys can carry my dollies up the steps without a problem. That would make my firewood go for $480 a cord. I'll price the kiln dried at $25 a dolly. That would make it go for $600 a cord. I know that sounds like a lot of money for a cord of wood and it is. But you have to look at it like the people that live in the apartments. They are getting 5.33 cubic feet of firewood or $20. There is 7.1 gas station bundles (.75 cubic feet bundles) in 5.33 cubic feet. So if they bought it at the gas station it would cost them around $35 and they would have to carry it up. So to the person that buys wood for just a couple fires a year this would be a great deal. Think outside the box and you can make a decent amount of money selling firewood. If your in the right market.

Scott

 

[Wolfcsm]

All markets are different. I do pretty well with firewood because I'm close to a decent size city(St. Louis). But you also have to find the niche markets. I found a delivery driver for the local whole meat dealer. He delivers to a bunch or restaurants in St. Louis and the surrounding areas. He is making me a list of every restaurant he see that uses wood(either for cooking or for looks). I told him I would give him $50 for the list. I hope to be able to score come more business from other restaurants. Next year I'm going to try and target the people who mainly buy from gas stations. There are a lot of apartments around here that have fireplaces. There are a lot of Condos also. I'm going to talk to the managers and see if I can have a wood day. I'll flier each unit. I have dollies that hold 4sqft on the front. I plan on pricing one dolly at $20 stacked by their door or on there deck. Even if the deck or apt is on the 3rd floor. You'll get some tips also. Two guys can carry my dollies up the steps without a problem. That would make my firewood go for $480 a cord. I'll price the kiln dried at $25 a dolly. That would make it go for $600 a cord. I know that sounds like a lot of money for a cord of wood and it is. But you have to look at it like the people that live in the apartments. They are getting 5.33 cubic feet of firewood or $20. There is 7.1 gas station bundles (.75 cubic feet bundles) in 5.33 cubic feet. So if they bought it at the gas station it would cost them around $35 and they would have to carry it up. So to the person that buys wood for just a couple fires a year this would be a great deal. Think outside the box and you can make a decent amount of money selling firewood. If your in the right market.

Scott

That works great! If you can find the right places to work it. I put a wheelbarrow in my front yard ( on a busy street) with wood in it and a sign selling it for $10 (2001/2).

There were days where I or my wife moved 30 or more of them. That was in addition to the deliveries of 1/2 cord loads.

Hal

 

[Marine5068]

Hey Wolf.
Not to sound nosey, but Iraq has trees of Pecan and Oak?
I thought it was a lot of desert and palms and such.

 

[Wolfcsm]

Hey Wolf.
Not to sound nosey, but Iraq has trees of Pecan and Oak?
I thought it was a lot of desert and palms and such.

I have seen some that were 24-30 inches. There were at an old British Air Base,Habaniya - near to Al Taquadam. That is where the Marine MLG was headquartered.

The picture is from 2001 in Killeen Texas. Never would have thought I could do as much wood selling there as I did.

Hal

 

[savageactor7]

Around here there are co-energy plants that buy wood chips to make electrical power.

Lots of formerly firewood and log-load outfits are slimming down work force and simply chipping trees for $$'s rather than processing for firewood.

Yeah there's less money in it for them but the super way less hassle factor makes them all happy to be wood chippers rather than splitter/dealers.

You can't deny a basic law of economics ... competition is always better for the consumer.

 

[rustyolred]

Man your logging guys charge a bunch. My logger connection only charges me 2 cords per year to take as much of the "trash" as he can bring me. Butt ends he calls it. By "trash" I mean stuff that is always hickory/white and red oak/ash. The pieces that he brings me are ~3-5ft long and good sizes too. I love it and so do my customers. Wood always burns great.

 

[pook]

I tell ya, it seems at times, my firewood business will never get going. Then sometimes there are days where I feel good and think that yes, it can happen!

Well, I have always been on the lookout for log truck loads for firewood. I even have talked to a few boys driving some to the mill. Its not very promising to hear the news.

I saw an ad on CL a few days ago and gave the guy a call. What it is, he does land clearing locally and preps the wood for pickup. A buddy of his picks it up and delivers. The guy who clears charges $750 for 10 cords. Not bad, but now I also have to pay the trucker. He charges $100/hr! He quoted me 3 hours. That is $1,050 for 10 cords.

Or, $105 a cord! That leaves me no room for making any profit. Yet, he is the cheapest I have found so far...

He loads the best in the area, and I could get away with selling it for about $170 a cord. Thats $65 a cord. If I do 2 cord a day thats $130 a day. Minus about $10 in fuel and saw maintenance. $120 in about 10 hours of work if I'm not killing myself comes out to $10 an hour.

Now, take into account that business will not be consistent and I have anything but a full-time income. I would have to keep moving wood on a consistent basis to make a living and not to mention to be able to make enough to pay for the next truck load.

Going out and getting wood may be the next viable alternative. There is a few approaches I have thought of to make sure I come out on top...

The only way I can see it, is I need to be able to afford the equipment to get serious with it. But then again, if I did have the money for machinery, I probably would have been singing a diff. tune.

sigh, ode to being on the broke side!

offer a lesser price to all & when they respond tell the others so to further lower your price. Same goes for all assumptive salesmen who only wanna make a sale, by whatever means, so to $$$$$$$:yoyo:

 

[BPS. LLC]

You are seeing that firewood as a hobby is a good thing. As a business, it takes a lot of wood moving every day to make it profitable to do for a living. I figured it would take $100,000 plus in equipment to do it right - processor, loader or tractor, 2 ton or larger truck, saws, other stuff. It would take two or three people working full time. I figured I would need to turn out 25 or more cords of wood each week at $200 a cord. That would make a business of firewood. Kind of hard to do.

Made $7k in three months selling as a hobby. Nice supplement. Bought my splitter and 066 with that money. But could not see how I could make it as a living.

Hal

Agreed. I started doing it to provide wood for myself, and to give my son some business experience. I have found that it is beginning to supplement my business, since I already have the equipment. I could go big with a processor, but it still wouldn't be a "full time" job.

A "firewood business" will work best when it is a supplement to a small tree / lawn care / property maintenance type of business. This way you will have the equipment you need, and can produce firewood if you have winter downtime.

I'm sure there are people that do firewood full time, but I think it would be difficult. I will be putting out 5 to 10 k in logs and unseasoned firewood. I will have to hold onto it for nearly a year to be able to turn out a good seasoned product that people will come back for. Its so hard to get started, but once you do, its not too bad....as long as the government doesn't bankrupt me.

 

[Moss Man]

I've been processing firewood that I buy log length for 3 years now, I range between 40-60 cords a year. It doesn't even come close to providing income enough to live off from, but it does help me to diversify and have multiple income streams in case one business is slow. Out of the 3 businesses that I have it is by far the hardest in time and labor.......and I have a firewood processor.

STL has some real good ideas to squeeze the bucks out of each cord.

The logging truck for a hundred dollars and hour? Run away from that deal as fast as you can. The truckers here charge around 20 bucks a cord flat rate as long as the distance isn't unreasonable.