anybody sell firewood on the side? i'm talkin small timers.

[Gypo Logger]

^^^^ Ha Ha Ha ... Your getting rep for that!!! That's beautiful.

Ya, but nobody sells a nice pile like that unless their getting 400/crd or keeping it for themselves, or simply they like making nice cute piles. Lol
It looks really nice though. I've done that too, but never for resale, unless I was down to my last nickel. Lol
Ok, I'm just jealous of that nice neat pile that only the owners gonna get! Who obviously doesn't care if he gets a big cord or not. lol Nice 15" wood!
Gypo

 

[Michael M]

Ya, but nobody sells a nice pile like that unless their getting 400/crd or keeping it for themselves, or simply they like making nice cute piles. Lol
It looks really nice though. I've done that too, but never for resale, unless I was down to my last nickel. Lol
Ok, I'm just jealous of that nice neat pile that only the owners gonna get! Who obviously doesn't care if he gets a big cord or not. lol Nice 15" wood!
Gypo

I have to confess, not all my firewood is stacked quite that neat. Pretty darn close though. Thats what I call "Premium Firewood".... Funny thing is I have seen adds before and seen the word premium used and thought that was stupid. Now I use it. lol. However my "Premium" is 100% Oak, All 16", 100% Split pieces, and hardly even any knots. I only have 10 cords of "premium" and another 25 cords of mixed hardwood for next year. I get $300.00 a cord for it and thats picked up at my yard.

I have many customers that pick up their own. One guy last year wanted the good stuff and when he got here he just stared at the stacks. He said "that stuff is to nice to burn" I had to tell him it was ok to tear down the pile and load it up. lol

 

[DeAvilaTree]

I'm not sure if I would let my customers come pick there own, not only with insurance reasons. People around here don't have much common sense, they would be walking around the splitters and over the log piles.

 

[Michael M]

I'm not sure if I would let my customers come pick there own, not only with insurance reasons. People around here don't have much common sense, they would be walking around the splitters and over the log piles.

Most everyone that comes and gets theirs are neighbors and people that I have known for years. I also am their when they come and I have a neat, clean operation. I have a big yard and don't have crap laying around to fall over

 

[teatersroad]

I can do it

Those are nice stacks. All palletized and what not. The best solution for shipping that way. I suspect with each course turned you have a lot less wood per package volume than if it were stacked in more typical fashion. Am I wrong on that? Is a 4x4x4 measure in that arrangement sold as a half cord?

 

[Michael M]

Those are nice stacks. All palletized and what not. The best solution for shipping that way. I suspect with each course turned you have a lot less wood per package volume than if it were stacked in more typical fashion. Am I wrong on that? Is a 4x4x4 measure in that arrangement sold as a half cord?

The "course turns" are only at the ends. I guess it's hard to tell from the pic but they are stacked in full cords 4'x4'x8', I don't ship on the pallets. The pallets are standard 42x48. I line them up with the 48" wide then stack cord after cord leaving a 6" gap between cords for a little more air flow. I leave my wood uncovered through the winter then in the spring cover just the top and leave the sides open. Everyone seems to do it a little different but this system works for me.

 

[teatersroad]

The "course turns" are only at the ends. I guess it's hard to tell from the pic but they are stacked in full cords 4'x4'x8', I don't ship on the pallets. The pallets are standard 42x48. I line them up with the 48" wide then stack cord after cord leaving a 6" gap between cords for a little more air flow. I leave my wood uncovered through the winter then in the spring cover just the top and leave the sides open. Everyone seems to do it a little different but this system works for me.

Thanks for the answer. I'm glad you did not take it as an accusation. Juniper seller near by does something similiar, Just can't tell by looking. Weights and measures would be all over the arses of the big sellers if it weren't kosher I'd bet.

edit, add shipper > http://juniperfirewood.com/Firewood.aspx

My seasoned cords have weighed about 2750#, the two times I've weighed.

 

[2bowhunter]

Sounds like a good deal to me. Around east tenn a cord is goin for $130.00, face cord $75.00 . Folks don't realize the work it takes cutting,splitting and moving not even counting labor, gas , oil and just wear and tear. I sell a pick-up load for $60.00 .

 

[DeAvilaTree]

I don't stack the wood to often anymore, I figure the more you handle the wood the less money you make. I'l stack up on the sides to keep the pile, and my own stuff but that's about it. And I tarp just the top leaving the sides open. I'll pull the tarp off if we get some nice dry days in a row.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

Sounds like a good deal to me. Around east tenn a cord is goin for $130.00, face cord $75.00 . Folks don't realize the work it takes cutting,splitting and moving not even counting labor, gas , oil and just wear and tear. I sell a pick-up load for $60.00 .

Those prices are in the ballpark in my area of Va. too. God Bless all of you who do that for a living, I'd do it if I had too, but it's rough when you get older!

 

[wdchuck]

Michael M,

That wood is Martha Stewart delightful.

Wow.

 

[walesy]

i sold wood like 6 years ago and we were 45 a face cord and 120 a full. since then its gone up to 170 and up for a full cord. kinda nuts. but we have been selling again at 130 a full without delivery and its been doing rly good. but no matter how good u are to come people they always #####. so all u can rly do is be honest and let them bother the next person, so

 

[Oldtimer]

Last 2 years I sold (delivered) 60+ cords a year. I stacked every one of them in the F550. Exact cords. I sent only perfect wood, no big knobs, no rot, all of it cut to within 1/2" of the specified length. $180 - $200 a full cord, depending on delivery distance. LOTS of work involved, but my buyers LOVE me. Repeat customers, every year. Also, I heat my own home with the "seconds" from the process. The button ends, the huge knobby chunks, the rotten hearted stuff..my wood is a by-product of the income wood.
This is all a side thing, logging is the main thing.

 

[treevet]

You stack the wood to a cord in the truck? Do you hand toss every piece on there and then get up and stack it or do you get a second man? Then at at the delivery do you restack it in a cord again. Not knocking you but man that is a lot of handling.

I just think if you way over fill the space for a cord or half then when it comes time to stack it, it reduces down into the appropriate size. It works for me but I have a crane and big bin that helps me be able to toss the wood "downhill".

Wish I could get even an easier way of scooping the wood with a bobcat or the like and dumping it in the dumptruck. Then just dump it and wave bye bye with check in hand.

 

[Oldtimer]

I split it, and toss it in the truck as I split. I hop up and stack it every so often until the cord is done. Lots of friends think I'm crazy. But it only takes 3-4 minutes to stack each time I hop up there. I figure 10-12 minutes a cord of stacking.
I'm not lazy or cavalier enough to just "guess" at a cord. No matter how you slice it, you are guessing when you toss it in loose. Your only option is to over-fill it if you really want to be sure you are selling a cord and not shorting a customer. I'd rather stack it than give away excess wood or short a paying repeat customer. It's good exercise too.
It also helps gain new customers when people see a STACKED cord in the truck. People are suspicious of firewood dealers by nature. They really like knowing it's a cord before they stack. I always stack it like my dear old dad made me stack it back in the day: If you can fit a finger in between the chunks, it's stacked too lose. This means the average customer ends up with a few arm loads over a cord when they stack it. Buys a lot of grape-vine advertising.

 

[DeAvilaTree]

I don't allow orders picked up at my yard I don't have the room. So my wood is always delivered by me. I have 1 truck that will hold 11/2 cord and an other that will hold 3 cord at a time. When I got the trucks Ithru in a half cord at a time and marked the inside of the truckand I throw in a little extra for good measure. I've never had a complaint

 

[treevet]

If you never had a complaint that says it all. Nit picking about an exact cord is silly as there is no such animal. If wood was able to be reduced into a liquid for measuring purposes than converted back....well then you would be able to be exact. Not cheating a customer is paramount. Being close and favoring them is what we seem to agree on. Quality of wood is something we can be more exacting on in our sales.

We fight all the time on the tree climber forum in regards to topping trees and it is a similar insult to accuse someone of that offense just as it is in selling "less than a cord" if advertised as such in the firewood forum.

 

[mattmc2003]

I took a load to a guy yesterday evening, a real standup guy. I wish all customers were like him. I have previously deliver him 50 bucks worth about a month ago. He called and asked what i wanted for what was on my truck now. I told him it was a half cord, 85 bucks. HE said he was sorry but he only had sixty dollars, and asked kindly if i would bring him just sixty dollars worth. I said sure. I threw off about a wheelbarrow full on my porch, and decided that he was a pretty good guy, and i'd go ahead and take him a extra big load anyway. Maybe score brownie points for more repeat business at the least. So i got there and he had came up with seventy dollars and handed it to me. Said just let him know when to stop unloading when i felt it was 70 bucks worth. I told him to take it all. His son and him helped me unload, i was out in ten minutes. BAcked right up to the stack.He really praised my wood quality and the amount and assured me i'd get all his business and referalls. Made me feel a whole lot better about the situation. And i measured before i left and he still ended up with a half cord stacked. So he got a good deal, but its worth it i think. I wouldn't do it every time but he was honest and straight up. And he didn't expect to get the full load anyway. So, moral of my story is, good people to deal with makes you get back in good spirits about the whole situation. And on a side note, while i was warming my truck up a lady in a cadillac pulled up and asked what i get for a load. Said she had saw my truck there. I told her 85 and it was like i shot her. She acted speechless... i said ma'am, thats over a half cord. She ssat there and stammered about high prices for a minute, i just told her to have a nice day and drove off. She didn't know it was already spoken for anyway...lol.

 

[BigHungryDewees]

I took a load to a guy yesterday evening, a real standup guy. I wish all customers were like him. I have previously deliver him 50 bucks worth about a month ago. He called and asked what i wanted for what was on my truck now. I told him it was a half cord, 85 bucks. HE said he was sorry but he only had sixty dollars, and asked kindly if i would bring him just sixty dollars worth. I said sure. I threw off about a wheelbarrow full on my porch, and decided that he was a pretty good guy, and i'd go ahead and take him a extra big load anyway. Maybe score brownie points for more repeat business at the least. So i got there and he had came up with seventy dollars and handed it to me. Said just let him know when to stop unloading when i felt it was 70 bucks worth. I told him to take it all. His son and him helped me unload, i was out in ten minutes. BAcked right up to the stack.He really praised my wood quality and the amount and assured me i'd get all his business and referalls. Made me feel a whole lot better about the situation. And i measured before i left and he still ended up with a half cord stacked. So he got a good deal, but its worth it i think. I wouldn't do it every time but he was honest and straight up. And he didn't expect to get the full load anyway. So, moral of my story is, good people to deal with makes you get back in good spirits about the whole situation. And on a side note, while i was warming my truck up a lady in a cadillac pulled up and asked what i get for a load. Said she had saw my truck there. I told her 85 and it was like i shot her. She acted speechless... i said ma'am, thats over a half cord. She ssat there and stammered about high prices for a minute, i just told her to have a nice day and drove off. She didn't know it was already spoken for anyway...lol.

I love hearing a story like that. Makes all the neg. customers somehow worth it.

A lawyer I've delivered to twice now is also a great example... First delivery ever. It was a full cord and I had a buddy with me that was helping me anyway. Client starts to help hand me wood and shuffle wood to buddy. I tell him "it's not necessary, I'm happy to have your business". He tells me "it's ok. I plan on using you from now on, I'd like to get to know my wood guy and his friend". After chatting a while I realized this office type guy is no diff than me and is a great guy. ... I expect he'll buy about 3 cord a season from now on. NICE!

I would love to hear another story like Matt's if anyone has one. Thanks.opcorn:

 

[JohnnyBoy1986]

i keep my pile at the shop where i work, its easy advertisement and i can sell it at will. well a repeat customer of ours, older gentleman in his mid 70's by now lives about 6 or 7 miles away from us. He lives on a large property of 20+ acres along with his sister, nephew, niece and their 2 children. The problem with his situation is with his age, he's got alot of miles on his body, he's also got a congestive heart (i think is the term), not to mention he's had bypass surgery twice in his lifetime... he is the only one in that household expected to cut, haul, split (BY HAND!), and stack the wood for the stove in the house! He's a very nice guy but the family takes so much advantage of him its not even funny, the wood heat doesnt even go up to his room! he has to sleep in a recliner chair near the fireplace to stay warm, the whole situation saddens me. Anyways, i told him this year if he ever needed any wood to let me know, he's always been there for my grandparents (who own the business) and would do anything to help them. Well one day out of the blew when my pile was getting low he asked if i still had any and so i replied "sure, i only got about one more truckload left but i got it! who do you know needs any?" and he kinda looked a little down and said "well, im almost out of wood and i cant really get to the woods to cut anymore." as soon as he said that i told him "dont worry about it, back your truck up over to it and we'll fix that situation" and so i loaded him up. he was happy as can be and tried to pay me but for someone who's done so much for so long for my family, i couldnt take anything. it was worth one load of wood just to know he was gonna be alright and not freezing for a good while this winter. I have many other good customers that make my day when buying, but to help that old man out just made me feel good about that whole day.