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Rockenhaus

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La Jara, Colorado
I am not sure this is the place for this topic, but here goes.

I have a piece of property in Southern Colorado that needs thinning. I have tried to locate someone who is in the firewood business. I placed adds in a local paper, contacted both the Colorado State and National Forest services for contacts. Everyone who has responded does not seem to really want to work. I am willing to give the wood away, I have cut many trees down limbed them, and still no one is willing to come and take the wood. They all seem extremely undercapitalized; I have better saws, truck, etc. With the cost of natural and/or LP gas, the market should be good for them.

Am I marketing in the wrong place? Any suggestions?

PS, the state forester estimates that there is about 150 - 200 cords to take during the thinning.
 
I would come and get the wood but I don't live close at all. Darn!!:bang: :bang: Good luck!!
 
Here in Maine, almost none of the big firewood dealers go in and cut their wood. They buy their raw materials from the timber cutters. The timber cutters are much more interested in taking the white pine and other marketable sawlogs, and the firewood is just a side product. When we did a timber harvest in '03, I would have been paid $10 a cord for the firewood if the cutter had sold it to a firewood dealer. Instead, I paid $30 a cord to have it yarded (cut, limbed, and stacked in the landing zone).

I've had calls about cutting and taking the firewood from private lots, but I have always declined. First, the cost of the insurance for working on other peoples property is just not worth the effort. Second, we have some very severe penalties for cutting timber on the wrong property. :chainsaw: Most people don't have a clue where their property lines REALLY are. :laugh: :buttkick:
 
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i live in west central colorado, and have on occassion people calling me to "offer free wood". what kind of trees do you have? what is the terrain? are you expecting someone to come in and clean up your property for free? the value of the wood if it is all firewood, doesnt offset the cost of cutting. i would be happy to come in and clean up property (my business), but my other business (firewood), is only beer money when the logs are on my property and the payment is cash. being in southern colorado i am guessing that you have pinon and juniper. there is alot of overhead in firewood, and its not the cost of the wood. pj make good firewood, but around here i get paid to thin it.
 
SpencerHenery thanks for the information. The land is mostly Douglas/Ponderosa with some White/Aspen. The terrain is rolling, although the road to the property is rough in one spot (about 150yards). I am cutting the trees, trimming, burning the slash, and still cannot find someone to come and take the logs. 75% are in the 8" at the base size, the rest are 24" and up base size.

I know this is a very hard way to make any money. I am not sure what a well equipped operation, truck, saw, splitter can make. It is very seasonal; the market is from Oct to Feb. These conditions do not lend to a high profit business.

All this said, it still surprises me that I cannot find someone who is interested; (beer money being BEER money).

I am in the process of stacking the wood. I will burn it when the snow flies.
 
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Beetle Kill....

Hi,
My cousin is up in Winter Park and had 75 trees taken down(Beetle Kill)...He is dealing with the same problem, Nobody wants them!!!!!! He tried local(down to Denver) mills,firewood dealers etc...The problem is there is to much supply so unless he brings the trees to them they are not interested.
 
WhiteIndustries this is as I suspected the supply exceeds demand. Unless you are very close to a large city, and areas available to cut wood scarce, there is very low demand.
 
wood

Rockenhaus said:
I am not sure this is the place for this topic, but here goes.

I have a piece of property in Southern Colorado that needs thinning. I have tried to locate someone who is in the firewood business. I placed adds in a local paper, contacted both the Colorado State and National Forest services for contacts. Everyone who has responded does not seem to really want to work. I am willing to give the wood away, I have cut many trees down limbed them, and still no one is willing to come and take the wood. They all seem extremely undercapitalized; I have better saws, truck, etc. With the cost of natural and/or LP gas, the market should be good for them.

Am I marketing in the wrong place? Any suggestions?

PS, the state forester estimates that there is about 150 - 200 cords to take during the thinning.[/QUOTEare you wanting to still have someone thin your wood? [email protected]]
 
SIS,

More than anything I am looking for someone to take the wood. I am in the process of cutting into small lengths logs that have some commercial value. Are you a commercial logger or thinner?
 

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