how much $ per hour should you be making doing firewood?

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Patrick62

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I'm just curious, because I am trying to figure out what my pricing really needs to be to keep this thing afloat.

Took a year or so off of doing any cordwood. Lost a lotta money the last time, I think it will have to be a one man show, if I can do anything. So, okay, what to set the pricing at, figuring between live trees, and a truck load of logs delivered to my yard.

dropping/limbing/blocking and then loading and hauling blocks, or
Calling the guy with a truck load of logs at $130 a cord or so...

Then the inevitable splitting and loading and delivering.
 
Actually, it is about even.
for years I was paying about 80 a cord for the stuff, but when it jumped to around 130 a cord, that makes a difference.

Problem I have is that it takes time to drop and limb, and then block the stuff up in the woods (yes, the area is FREE for me). Cutting area before this one I had a "cutter" hired. And was paying by the load for monkey to haul the blocks outta there. It was running 130 a cord getting it to the yard! and we killed a truck in the process!
 
Subscribing. My guess is either stay micro or go huge, no other viable options. Regarding hourly rates, I have a rather different view to most and I've been called darn near every colourful adjective and noun you can think of because of it, so will just wait and see what others come up with.
 
That not a simple question, it all depends. It's one of those jobs that people think is done by poor people that are on hard times so they think it should be cheap. So you end up competing with these kind of people. Firewood producers come and go for many reasons. People use firewood for many reasons but many do it as a cost cutting way to heat there home. So the price of heating by other means factors in as well.
The best way to make money at it is to find a free source and then find a niche market like a restaurant that cooks with it. They are gonna be the ones that will be the most consistent customers. Supply and demand is a factor. It also depends on location. Is firewood readily available and what the market will support. You also have overhead, labor cost and it's generally seasonal so it's kinda like a farmer or rancher that gambles on what the future market will support. You can put in a lot of time and work and money stocking up on inventory and getting it seasoned and ready for sales and hope the next years market will be good enough to make it worth doing.
Then there are the crack heads that sell cheap green wood on the side of the road and don't care if it will burn. They just want to make enough to make a little quick money to support there habit.
Good advertising helps a lot and quality of your product helps. People do read reviews and that can effect sales. It also takes awhile to build up a good customer base. One of the worst things is to run out of inventory. People will change firewood vendors at the drop of a hat. The last thing is to answer your phone. People these days want what they want now, and if you don't answer the phone or you wait to long to call back they will move on the someone else. People tend to wait till the last min and they always want it now.
Stay small or go big. staying small keeps overhead down, going big means gearing up and tooling up to produce a large inventory. Equipment cost can vary and high production processors are expensive. If you stay small you can avoid taxes, if you go big other cost come into effect.
 
There is no easy answer to your question. I do firewood on the side (usually 100-125 cords a year). I get 80% or so of my logs from a tree service. He dumps all sorts of sizes and lengths but it’s cheap- probably averages $60 a cord or so since each load varies. I hire out high school kids to help with splitting. Last year I kept track of every dollar in and out to confirm I was making money. I’m still doing firewood this year and plan on it into the near future.
 
Geographic location, supply and demand.

Not much money in it around this area due to abundant supply......logging is everywhere, wood for heating is cheap.

I help a friend with bills, he delivers a strong cord of Oak,Ash and locust for $120, split and stacked.

My brother runs a sawmill and will occasionally deliver wood to needy but doesn't mess with it otherwise.
 
Thank you sb47 that was a very well thought out reply!

Here is what's going on. 2017 was the last year I did anything of volume. Lost a lotta money with broken trucks and yard monkeys. I shut it down. ticked off everybody in 2018 by not doing my usual 200 to 300 cords. This year I got one delivery truck to run again, and got a 3/4 ton going that can haul blocks in from a wood cut. A customer was asking me about wood the other day. I said "everybody up here washin' dishes is making 12 or better an hour, you wanna throw 3500# of wood into a truck for twelve bucks?" I was paying a lot more than that...
The "cutter" was another problem, and I tried to be fair with this as well. His saw, his fuel, his chains and $28 a "tank". Almost worked if the logs were decked out in the yard. Sending him into a wood cut was a financial disaster. Tank after tank and more tanks. Now let's see what was produced? omg. And it could have been worse! He does know what he was doing. it was just a lot of cutting and slash work.

So, I'm trying to figure out how to charge for this, make a few $$ and be able to keep the equipment running. We were around $200 a cord split and delivered. I warned everybody that it would be a LOT higher if I can get it going again. I sold 4 cords of blocks out of the wood cut and got $200 a cord for the blocks. That seemed workable. So, could I split and load a cord for $50? Then a cord of my wood goes for $250. It's possible.

The one cord truck is pretty much dead. it's got a good engine in it, but the rest of the truck is really getting bad. So, I have to find another 1 cord dump truck.

I think there will be no more multiple cord discounts.

what do ya think??
 
I haven't sold any firewood in a few years, i just don't have the time anymore. I cut enough to heat mine and my dads house. I was getting $120 a face and $360 a full cord. I mostly went out and found places to cut and would pay $40 per cord. I measured by stacking the rounds on my trailer or stacking when i got home. I mostly used the money for Christmas presents for my kids, and once the wood was cut ,split and stacked it was like money in the bank. I enjoyed doing the work. I often thought of taking it to the next level with a dump truck, processer, ect. I did not enjoy unloading and stacking for the customers. It was really a 2 person job when just using a pick up truck. It was better than a part time job somewhere though. So I guess it is kind of up to you as to what is an acceptable hourly profit.
 
Am I the only one surprised to see someone who's done 200 to 300 cords in a year asking how much they should be making? It seems like with that much experience, you'd be the one telling people how much one can make. From what I've seen on here, and what I've paid for wood, it's closer to minimum wage than a living or succeeding wage.
 
part of the problem is my honest and soft heart. I don't like "taking a customer to the cleaners". I have to learn two things. How to say "no" and how to not be "mr. Niceguy"
I have learned how to say "no". I am learning how and when to turn off the emotional dogma and business is business.

When the logging truck could get here with loads of logs, and I had resonably decent help it was easy enough. However, when the adding and subtracting was done, best year was we "made" $250. However, the bills were paid. losing a couple thousand was just plain silly. running equipment into the ground in order to pay the fella's was really stupid. Ruining my attitude did not help matters, that was then. This is now.

No monkeys. And I might try it at $250 a cord.
 
There have been times when I averaged around $60 an hour, but that has not been the norm over the last 50 years. There are many times when $20 an hour seems OK. For a newbie $10 to $12 is likely average. This year I have been averaging about $35 an hour only because prices are going through the roof. When things are right and the right equipment is at hand $40 an hour is a good target. Thanks
 
I bought a stump grinder, and gave up selling firewood. It was more profitable and easier. Had a few "thousand dollar days" with it. I sold it last year for more than i paid for it. I miss it and will probably buy another one soon. I have just been busy at our farm, and managing rental properties. My dads getting older and I have to pick up the slack.
All you really need is truck , trailer ,stump grinder, and a good big saw for cutting off stumps, and rakes and shovels, and some insurance.
 
I bought a stump grinder, and gave up selling firewood. It was more profitable and easier. Had a few "thousand dollar days" with it. I sold it last year for more than i paid for it. I miss it and will probably buy another one soon. I have just been busy at our farm, and managing rental properties. My dads getting older and I have to pick up the slack.
All you really need is truck , trailer ,stump grinder, and a good big saw for cutting off stumps, and rakes and shovels, and some insurance.
Have been wondering if there is a good stump grinder for my tractor - it's always bugged me I leave a profit opportunity behind on clearance jobs. Got about 100 trees down a boundary line my neighbour wants 'disappeared', stumps included. Wondering how close to paying for itself it can get on one or two jobs, just in case I don't get any stump jobs for a while afterwards. Would hate to sit on a $10k attachment for a year or more before it gets another shot to pay for itself.
 
There have been times when I averaged around $60 an hour, but that has not been the norm over the last 50 years. There are many times when $20 an hour seems OK. For a newbie $10 to $12 is likely average. This year I have been averaging about $35 an hour only because prices are going through the roof. When things are right and the right equipment is at hand $40 an hour is a good target. Thanks
That seems very high for down here. I've come to realise NZ is about the lowest of the low when it comes to firewood profitability.
 
Have been wondering if there is a good stump grinder for my tractor - it's always bugged me I leave a profit opportunity behind on clearance jobs. Got about 100 trees down a boundary line my neighbour wants 'disappeared', stumps included. Wondering how close to paying for itself it can get on one or two jobs, just in case I don't get any stump jobs for a while afterwards. Would hate to sit on a $10k attachment for a year or more before it gets another shot to pay for itself.
I would like one for my tractor for around the farm and my house also. I had a self propelled vermeer sc252 with daul wheels 27 HP. I could get most places with it ,and with out damaging lawns, but was a bit underpowered for some of the jobs i did. would do a 30 inch stump in 10-15 mins . often took me longer to unload and get to stumps than to grind them. I sometimes did them slow if the customer was watching so it didn't seem like i was charging too much
 
That seems very high for down here. I've come to realise NZ is about the lowest of the low when it comes to firewood profitability.

Nobody around here is making anywhere near that, big, small, doesn't matter.

There's quite a few guys on this site who say they barely come out ahead and I believe them.
 
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