Any advice welcome

[Briar012]

Hey all,

I'm new to the forum, and new to wood harvesting. My name is Beau Moody I'm from Locust Grove OK (sound like a great place to split wood huh?) and im an industrial painter by trade. I'm 23 have a beautiful wife and an amazing 2 1/2 year old son. My wife is going to school full time to be a nurse, so in the meantime were broke, lol.

Anyway now that you know a little about me. I've started splitting firewood for some extra cash. I've ran saws a little bit and split a little wood but haven't done enough of either to be very good, so I would love some tips and tricks from the guys and gals on this forum. I've been reading quite a bit on this forum about questions I've had and y'all are great!!!! Just wanted some more general info to help me get started and to help me get better a little faster. Also, some what not to do's would be awesome I'd far rather learn from y'all's mistakes before I make them.

Any and all info is greatly appreciated even the most basic tips. Again I'm just getting started and don't know a ton. I'm running an echo CS400 18'' stock bar and chain, I'm splitting with a husky 3.5 pound splitting axe and have my grandpa's 8 pound maul as backup.

Thanks again sorry I rambled so long.

Beau Moody

 

[Briar012]

Hey guys I put this in the wrong forum I apologize. I was on the firewood forum and forgot I switched over to this one. So if y'all have a tip on how to move it that would be a good first tip, or if one of the moderators could move it for me, that would be a good first favor lol. I would like it to be moved to a different forum if there's a better place to put it then the firewood, heating and wood burning equipment just whichever is the best forum for this thread.

Thanks in advance.

 

[madhatte]

I moved it for you.

 

[Marshy]

Man with tight pants like cheap hotel, no ball room.

Man who stand on toilet, high on pot.

Need more?

J/k, welcome to the site. Your best bet it to start reading. Most of the info is already out there so get use to the search function. With such an open ended question one could fill a book with advice. The more specific your questions are the more specific the advice will be.

In general, cut more wood than you think you need, stack it as ASAP, and dry it for as long as you possibly can. One season is standard practice though. Best of luck.

 

[svk]

Welcome!

Here's a few thoughts in no specific order of importance:

Learn how to sharpen your own chains.

Start a slush fund as sooner or later your saw(s) and other tools will break and you'll need to fix or replace.

Try to find repeat customers who want a good reliable wood source rather than those looking for the cheapest deal on a cord.

Don't do anything that will lose money.

Advertise like crazy until you get enough buyers.

Find a reliable wood source. Didn't see if you are cutting from your own land or scrounging.

Seasoned firewood will sell for a significant premium from December through February. If you can afford to stockpile until then, do it.

Not sure how a Husky 3.5 stacks up against a Fiskars X27, but that is highly regarded as the best performing affordable splitting axe. For $45 you may be able to significantly increase your productivity.

Well that's a start. I'm sure I'll think up a few more after I hit the post button.

 

[Briar012]

Yeah I know it was really open, and that's what I wanted. Any specific question I have I just look up and there it is. I was hoping for maybe some stuff that guys picked up on that really helped them, really just things you wouldn't think about asking. Thanks for the reply, and thanks for moving it madhatte

 

[Briar012]

Thanks svk that's what I was looking for. I wanted the fiskars but everyone in tulsa that carries that axe was out of stock so I figured I would give the husky a try. And I've got about 6 acres of family land that's nothing but oak, it's mostly small trees (8-12'') but it will do until I find more land.

By the way I'm not sure how the x27 is but when I have to split a larger round the husky sticks bad like a felling axe does, but for smaller stuff it works pretty good, you can sure swing it all day long without getting to the point of passing out.

 

[jhoff310]

talk to the tree companies in your area, explain your situation. They may be able to supply with you some good leads on where to get logs or even have you come pick up when they are done.

Look for good hardwoods---locust oak hickory mulberry ash etc..mix them if you can

save your split garbage..toss an ad on craigslist for smoking chips ...stores sell them for 6 bucks for a half pound bag

Echo is a good saw...should serve you well

check with local real estate agents, someone who just bought a house might be looking for wood...great way to build your customer base

Jeff

 

[Briar012]

Thanks 310 never thought about any of that especially the splitting scraps I always just throw them in the burn pile. The little echo saw has impressed me I couldn't afford a pro stihl or husqvarna so after a lot of research I went with the echo, so far it's been a great saw.

 

[zogger]

Ya, I have a good tip, don't waste time on real gnarly chunks hand splitting them. noodle them. Pick you up another saw, 60-70 cc for larger wood and noodling. Noodling is cutting long ways with the grain, perpendicular to a normal across the grain bucking cut. Your round is laying sideways, supported so it doesn't roll or grab and pull back to you. Saw goes in flat right down the middle through the bark, then into the wood, or a slight angle, work with it, see what works best for you.. It throws long strings, called noodles.

 

[flotek]

Buy the highest quality equipment you can afford. Cheap tools are seldom good and good tools are seldom cheap .

 

[Hinerman]

If you want a good reputation forget about selling any wood this year (not enough time to season). Cut, split, and store/stack it now for next year. When I ran out of seasoned wood last year, I had people wanting to buy my green wood but I wouldn't sell it. I told them that is for next year.

I had people (PO'd) calling me last year saying they bought some wood from XYZ and it won't burn. I told them you bought green/unseasoned wood. I could have sold 30 cord of seasoned wood if I had it.

Unless you do it full time with a lot of equipment, you will not make much money per hour of labor. It is a labor of love for me. I enjoy doing it and find it very therapeutic. If I needed money I would find something else that paid better for a lot less work. I'm not trying to discourage you, you can make money. I'm just letting you know what/what not to expect, especially if you are trying to put food on the table.

FYI, I am from Muskogee.

 

[zogger]

Thanks 310 never thought about any of that especially the splitting scraps I always just throw them in the burn pile. The little echo saw has impressed me I couldn't afford a pro stihl or husqvarna so after a lot of research I went with the echo, so far it's been a great saw.

Well, here's another tip. Sell your good wood, the pretty good species dry uniform length, and burn your uglies. The offcuts, the shorts, the longs, the crotches, the "off" species and the splitter scraps. I burn tons of my scraps in the fall, slows down when I have to start pulling from the stacks. Some years I have gotten two months worth of heat from them! Planning on eventually, that's all I will burn, just need to cut more to get to that point. Heap up your good scraps up on pallets, let it dry, won't take long, and just bring them to your stove in buckets. I do my small sticks I can hand break as kindling, then once that is going, splitter scraps, then an ugly or two. That builds great fires for the shoulder seasons, fall and spring.

And don't avoid pine, it's great fuel, just get it good and dry first. I have about..dunno..sneaking up on three cord of pine for myself here, along with various hardwoods, all the way to real dry oak and hickory.

My wood burning philosophy is "if I have to touch it, I stack it".

Sell the grade A for your best bucks, you burn everything below that.

 

[stihly dan]

Do you burn also, only cut for yourself if you want to save/make money. With what you have for equipment, like the rest of us, you will be acquiring more equipment spending the money you make. Then when your ready to make a profit, wifey will be done school making the dough.

 

[cantoo]

I've never used a Fiskers or a Husky axe, I swear the Zogger 1000 is the best splitting axe ever made. Conveyor could hardly keep up. It took me awhile but I got a little pile of wood done. And some advice, Consider bundle sales to make most money from least amount of wood.

 

[zogger]

OK, for illustration, here are some pics I just took

First one is uglies for the future, short elm rounds or "shorties". You can see how I cut the knots out, because elm sucks to split anyway, and with knots, why bother. These are going in a stack (middle row where I throw all my oddballs) for three or four winters from now. They'll be plenty dry by then. Second pic is pine! It burns just fine! Burning some of this tonight, with a few hardwood uglies.

Last pic is my growing ugly stack the first pic is related to. I have regular splits of differing species, uniform, will go on the outside two rows, uglies, small diameter branches (I cut down to one inch), assorted anything and everything that doesn't take to stacking well, goes in the inside row, I just chuck it in, the outside stacks hold it. Three rows wide on pallets, pallets up on old railroad ties. This is what I burn, anything that isn't "pretty" wood.

What goes out to other folks, in segregated pure stacks, is bark-on uniform length splits of oak and hickory, this is bulk load, cord or fractions, and heartwood with no bark, the best of the best, oak bundles for heating or bags with hickory cooking chunks.

Tell ya whut else moves just as good, but you can only get half price, bundled thin split DRY pine. People buy all this half dry oak and stuff from CL and the $^%^$% don't burn, so, sell them GOOD dry kindling. I took a chance last polar vortex and made some up, dang if it didn't do better than the oak! I mean all went, but had to keep making more pine thin splits. Find pine blow downs with the bark already off, get it cut to size and split real small now, won't take long if you keep the rain off of it to get it into the low teens for moisture, then wrap it up! I'm shooting for a lot more of that this year, because no way in heck does anyone (but me around here) have any two year old oak for sale, all got sold last winter, so people will want something to get that stupid wet stuff going. Dead tulip poplar will do the same if you have any of that, split it small now, and make sure all the bark is off.

Good luck man! Honest work is honest work, doesn't matter, keep expenses down while small scale, you can make honest pay, while at the same time heating your home, it is a win/win.

 

[zogger]

I've never used a Fiskers or a Husky axe, I swear the Zogger 1000 is the best splitting axe ever made. Conveyor could hardly keep up. It took me awhile but I got a little pile of wood done. And some advice, Consider bundle sales to make most money from least amount of wood.

And when you gonna get them semi mass produced so I can get one? Farm it out to a hungry shop, get a design patent, I think those are much cheaper than regular patents. Well, they were last I looked, way back when I built a prototype "mountain bike" before any of them were for sale or that name existed. I mean I'll pay for one of those 4 way-ers. For years I kept thinking a hand splitter like that would be slick, I am just too much of a tard with a welder to make one. My welds make my stumps look like pro beauties... HAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

[epchief]

I started out just like you when I was 18. Almost 40 now and still doing it but not on a scale that swinging an Axe would keep up to. If your going to do it for a living prepare your self to work hard and once your tired work some more. Those first few years where rough as heck but I loved it and it smoothed out its got its emotional and financial roller coaster ride. Two years ago was the worst year I had in 15 years if it could brake it broke and sales where low due to a warm winter. As previously stated definitely work towards banking as much as you can for when it goes bad and it will, the following year was the best season I ever had.
When I started I got hooked up with a few gas stations selling bundle wood it's worth checking into. I remember my dad laughing at me about that and now it's a family joke, to this day I still sell bundles to 10 gas stations and 3 campgrounds. The gas stations sell out all year.
I never bought anything I didn't have cash to buy, if I wanted it I worked my butt off till I could get it from the first Axe to the first hydraulic splitter to the first processor. No debt means no one knocking at the door when it rains. I know some won't agree with that but it worked for me.
The best advise I can give though is be safe. Where your PPE. Especially if you cut alone ya can't make money if your hurt and it always happens when you least expect it and it happens quick trust me been there done that.

 

[mn woodcutter]

My Dad always told me "There is no replacement for hard work". Best advice I've ever gotten!

 

[Zale]

If you don't already have them, buy a pair of chaps (chainsaw protection for the legs).