Need advice on selling firewood

[Iowawoodguy]

Hello, first post on the forum! I've recently started selling some firewood while I'm unemployed. I have gotten maple and cottonwood logs so far and my father had some old pin oak laying around.

I'll start off with the cottonwood. I got it from a local campground. It had been cut down and laying on the ground (some was suspended on the pile) for awhile. All the bark had fallen off while laying on the ground but the wood seems like it's in good condition. I cut up 2 truckloads and split about half of it.It is still pretty wet. I was curious about how long it would take to dry since it's not a fresh, green tree. It seems like its partially dried on the outer layers. Ive read a lot of people talk bad about cottonwood, but I basically have unlimited access to it.
My maple logs (not sure which maple) were cut to rounds a couple years ago and were already dried and have been split.I've sold about half the maple already. I'll be cutting down some dead, standing maples tomorrow and I've read that dead trees can be kind of iffy but I'll have help.
The pin oak was hit and miss. Some was spongy in the middle, some was really dark and some was good.

I'll be selling mostly to people who will be using it for campfires so I've been splitting some of it into bigger chunks. I know this might be unreasonable but I'm trying to find firewood that I can cut, split, and sell this summer. Any advice on what wood type to target, and what's your take on my wood situation. Thanks!

 

[svk]

Standing dead elm or ash where the bark has fallen off are your best bets to get wood that’s ready to sell. Otherwise whatever wood you get should be split small and stacked ASAP in full sun. Full sun will dry small splits quite quickly.

 

[Cowboy254]

With standing dead trees, look at the tops. If there are leaves there, the trunk will be green as. If the leaves are gone but there are small twigs up there still, the trunk will still be fairly green. If all the small twigs are gone and you're down to the main branches then the tree is a good chance to be fairly dry. Bark falls off the tree partially as a result of the underlying wood shrinking as it loses water content so what @svk says is good. If the bark is falling off then it is close to ready to go. Cut hard, split small and good luck!

 

[Ryan'smilling]

Cottonwood does burn, but it smells terrible from my experience. Not what I'd want to sit around as campfire wood.

When trying to dry quick and in general for open fires, small splits are best. They burn much nicer than large chunks.

 

[old CB]

As someone who heats with wood, I will not bring home cottonwood at all (tried some once). However, I recall someone from Nebraska on this site saying that he sells camp-wood and his customers love the stuff mixed in with other stuff. So what do I know.

As others have pointed out, smaller splits dry faster and burn better if the wood is questionable.

 

[cumminstinkerer]

Cottonwood varies a lot around the country, I know the stuff in Colorado is way different than it is here in Iowa, our stuff burns good once it is dry, not super dense so it takes way more in volume than oak to get the same heat, my experience is its not very good in stove (burns up quick and hot) works good in a boiler especially one with a firetube heatexchanger

 

[Ted Jenkins]

I agree with the other AS people in that you need to get your wood split and stacked ASAP. If you are going to start a wood business right now because you do not have work you need to consider or speculate what it will be like in a year as things may change. As far as campers sell them what ever you can supply plentiful. Here I sell a haft of a pick up load for seventy five bucks. It is more wood than most will burn on one weekend. It is plenty of chunks and cedar as whatever I want to get rid of. Campers do not care what they burn they just want some fire and smoke. You live where there is no people so you need to develop a very efficient system to get the wood where it need to be cheap. Thanks

 

[Iowawoodguy]

Thanks for the replies. I got some more maple today along with some some stuff i believe is red elm. I think the cottonwood and maple will do just fine for campfire wood. Ill also split it into smaller chunks. I'll save any of the harder stuff I get for those that want to use it in their stove.

 

[moresnow]

Thanks for the replies. I got some more maple today along with some some stuff i believe is red elm. View attachment 827626I think the cottonwood and maple will do just fine for campfire wood. Ill also split it into smaller chunks. I'll save any of the harder stuff I get for those that want to use it in their stove.

Where are you located? Campfire wood can be about anything. If you get into selling stove wood you will here all sorts of story's from guy's who are not happy to burn lesser quality specie's. Most of which is baloney handed down through the generations. Modern EPA stoves are very capable of producing fine lasting heat on the lesser quality wood. Most of what we have in Ia. is actually pretty decent anyway. The biggest problem is getting stove users to understand they need to fully season any specie to get the best/safest efficiency out of it. I would recommend you research (properly seasoning firewood). Welcome to AS also.

 

[Iowawoodguy]

Where are you located? Campfire wood can be about anything. If you get into selling stove wood you will here all sorts of story's from guy's who are not happy to burn lesser quality specie's. Most of which is baloney handed down through the generations. Modern EPA stoves are very capable of producing fine lasting heat on the lesser quality wood. Most of what we have in Ia. is actually pretty decent anyway. The biggest problem is getting stove users to understand they need to fully season any specie to get the best/safest efficiency out of it. I would recommend you research (properly seasoning firewood). Welcome to AS also.

Thanks for the advice. I'm located in Shelby county, about 1 hour east of omaha off interstate 80.

 

[kyle1!]

You need an area with wind and sun to "bake" your firewood. I am fortunate to have an old concrete pad that heats up and most of my firewood is ready to go within 6 months besides the oak. People will keep coming back to purchase if the wood you sell burns well everytime.

 

[motoroilmccall]

Welcome to the site. You've got your feet under you.

Elm is great as it can be burned pretty quickly when it's standing and dead, but man is it tough to split... I see the top bit of a splitter in one of the pictures, so you should be alright.

Campers won't much care about what they're burning, so if you're close to campgrounds, just put out a sign and some piles, and you'll get plenty of takers for the garbage wood (cottonwood is certainly garbage to me, and as a bonus, they'll be back for more fairly frequently, because it doesn't last worth a damn). Ash is great firewood, medium burn rate, and is great for campfires when it's seasoned as it puts out a nice size flame which really puts out good light. Maple is excellent for cooking fires, as it burns down and holds coals for a long time (it also smells good, and adds a nice smokey flavor if cooking right over the fire/coals).

My little cousin used to sell camp fire wood at the farm, right across from a couple of camp grounds. He'd split it with his friends, and sell it with an honor box. When he got a bit older, he started labeling "Cooking wood" and "Fire wood"... people started knocking on the door asking for more cooking wood after a few weeks... he charged about double for the cooking wood.

 

[unclemoustache]

Heating wood - you want good stuff.

Campfire wood - just about any junk will do. Only one requirement - DRY!!!!

As others have said, split it smaller and give it as much drying time as you can. I would avoid the hard woods for campfire wood. Silver maple is my favorite. It's very plentiful, grows fast, splits easy, dries quick, burns well (and quick) and so the customers must burn more of it! Mix it with other woods if you have to, but I try and stick exclusively to silver maple for my bundles.

 

[Iowawoodguy]

I could use some help identifying this wood if possible. I'm new to trees and identification. My dad thinks they're both red elm but after I got it split I figured I'd get a second opinion.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

I could use some help identifying this wood if possible. I'm new to trees and identification. My dad thinks they're both red elm but after I got it split I figured I'd get a second opinion. View attachment 829010

It matter not what kind of wood you have. Is it hard or soft then take a couple of pieces and burn them carefully. Then there is the answer. Thanks