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!
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!