I think most of you firewood guys are too cheap. The couple times I've had to buy it I was glad you were, but if it were me, $300 a cord minimum would be where I start. And that would be for mix wood.
Let's break it down.
Leave your house and head for the woods. Cut up a truck load. (let's say 1/2 cord)
Drive back home, unload, go back for second load, cut and load, back home.
BEST case I would say would be 4 hours for this.
Split up this cord of wood and stack.
2 hours
After seasoning
Reload this cord and head for your customer. Unload wood and head back home to get second half.
Let's call this 3 hours total.
I'm seeing 9 hours labor at BEST, per cord delivered.
Plus gas (truck, saw, splitter)
Plus a bit for wear and tear on equipment
Plus a bit for profit
Plug in the numbers you want and see where you end up.
Well, if I had to do it that way, I wouldnt sell a stick of wood.Nobody could or would afford my price.Here is the way you make money....
Hook the 16ft trailer to the back of the truck, stop by the shop and load saws and support tools.All pre-arranged,boxed up,fuel jugs full,and you are down the road in twenty minutes.Drive for 20 minutes to your wood source.Drive right up to the oak and hickory tops and fire your saw that has a freshly filed chain on it.
Fill the trailer with two cords and out of there in 2hours max.I get pissed if the clock says it took any longer than two hours to fill the trailer.
come back home,and pull the splitter up to the back of the trailer.Call the neighbor's kid while on the way home.He gets out of school at 3,and is slap happy to have a job waiting for him.I pay him $10 a cord to stack.I process a cord an hour if I am humping it.He goes home with $20 in his pocket and happy as a clam.
Winter time comes, I load a cord in the trailer in less than thirty minutes, and spend another 30 unloading.All told,I figure I have 4 hours total invested in a cord,which I sell for $180.Half goes into the bank for expenses,repairs, new saws,etc.The other half goes into my pocket.I roughly make $20 an hour doing what I like,and its tax free.
There is money to be made selling wood,but you have to have a few things first.
You gotta love what your doing.Period.Its hard work
You gotta have a good wood source.
You gotta have a plan.And stick with it.If you locate a source and its muddy,full of brush, miles from the house,etc either walk away or accept the fact that you arent going to make your goal of what you want for hourly wages.
You gotta have good tools.Fast saws, a winch to pull the big stuff in your trailer,etc.
You gotta maintain those tools.Spend the money on oil changes, air and fuel filters,etc or face some spendy repairs.
And above all, enjoy your time in the woods,meeting new folks, and take the time to talk with your customers.I hand out cards to anyone standing still for more than 3 seconds, and have made some valuable contacts this way.After delivering a load to a guy, I sat there talking with the guy for an hour.Sure,it cut into my hourly wage,but I walked away with a $3500 clearing job.Cleared the lot for him in six days,got my $3500, and hauled home 12 trailer loads of nice white oak and a nice 6 point buck that made the mistake of eating the guys fall garden while I was there.
