Bundle wood

[sb47]

I am thinking about trying to do some bundle wood so I have some questions for those that are doing bundled wood.
How big are your splits, how many splits per bundle? (show pic please)
How do you bundle the wood and what do you use to hold them together?
Type of wood and does type of wood affect price?
How much do you get per bundle and do you discount for quantity?
How do you store your bundles? (in doors, out doors)
Do you bundle in advance or wait till orders are received?
Feel free to ad any additional information.
Thanks

 

[homemade]

I don’t sell but I see it at every gas station or hardware store around me. They are usually 16” long. Split down to 2x4 sized. Mixed hardwood. I don’t hardly see any much pine in the mix. The wrap is usually a heat shrink type plastic with a piece of webbing stapled on for a handle. The bundles are sized about a 5gal pail diameter.
Hope this helps. I’ll get some pics next time I’m out.

 

[Franny K]

I suspect the wrapped bundles at grocery and convenience stores have been kiln dried as there are rules about transport of firewood. Other than that it seems $3 a bundle honor system by the roadside probably for campground use. Half to a third of a wheelbarrow sized bundle. Not much noticed for cooking like mesquite in Texas when I was there.

 

[woodshax]

I am thinking about trying to do some bundle wood so I have some questions for those that are doing bundled wood.
How big are your splits, how many splits per bundle? (show pic please)
How do you bundle the wood and what do you use to hold them together?
Type of wood and does type of wood affect price?
How much do you get per bundle and do you discount for quantity?
How do you store your bundles? (in doors, out doors)
Do you bundle in advance or wait till orders are received?
Feel free to ad any additional information.
Thanks

SB47---- There are no "don't move" rules yet here in Texas and what you can get for a bundle depends on how close to a city you are and competition. I sell bundles and bags of Oak at about 20 Texas State parks in the DFW area....all oak, less than 20% moisture level, 18" long, split small and medium so the glampers can get the fire started...... We did about $150K in sales last year and will do about $160K this year (the burn bans followed by 8 weekends or rain and then floods.... dampened sales this year even though we added park). Bundles are .75 cu ft and bags are in 2 Cuft by volume mess bags (you can fit 1.3 Cu Ft of wood in the bag)...... Bags outsell bundles about 8 to 1 ......captive audience and selling retail means we can get over $1200 a true cord. The C-store route makes you sell at whole sale and a lot of the owners make you eat the shrinkage..... What part of Texas are you in?....If there are parks near by maybe I can us you as a supplier.

 

[Trapper_Pete]

I tried it , a friend whose farm I cut at in WI who sells at an ILL farmers market there had been don't move rules previously so we went to the trouble of getting approval from WIS DNR , ILL DNR , the farmers market , we had 50 pound onion sacks full of dry wood for the price of half that much wood at the gas station and , we sold only a handful of bundles and they decided it was to much work loading and hauling it to market every week for the weak sales. you have to cultivate a market and that can be tough. more wood for me to burn now.

 

[Polish hammer]

For those that do bundle what you think is the “perfect size piece” ? I cut at 16” and I think the “perfect “ size is about 3-4 thick or round seems to bundle ok

 

[Ted Jenkins]

After many years of being determined to never promote any bundling I am back at it again. I used to deliver wood in my truck and trailer to a town that was six hours away only when light traffic existed. That particular deal was a huge loss. Now I am trying it again. I have a building that holds 15 cords and plan to set up one more building to do the same. What has proven to work is to cut and split the 16'' stuff after wood is no more than 30 percent then stack it into the building and bundle it when needed about November to December. Two of us can bundle more than 600 bundles a day. If the wood is outside at the wrong time the wood is worthless because it will mold. Here bundles sell between $3 to $6 wholesale. They retail for $6 to $9 each. The last two winters have been very mild so wood sales in general has been poor. The state parks are the biggest ripoff at a .6 cf bundle for $8.99. 16'' remains popular for many reasons such as it is easy for women to put in their carts and it is very accepted. Straps here are frowned upon. Stretch wrap plastic from 60 to 80 mill 12'' wide works well. If the wood is wrapped at the beginning of the summer it seems to loose its ability to hold the bundle together well. I like to add a little more than the standard .75 cf so that there is no complaints. Twenty years ago I sold a large amount of fir, but at this time I only see Pine and only plan on selling Pine. My thinking has been that if the wood is stacked some place out of the weather it will keep for a few years if it does not sell. Thanks

 

[sb47]

I have been selling bags of wood for years and I think I'll just stick with what I have been doing.
I use plastic weaved bags and they measure 28''x14''x10'' when full and weight 40/50 lbs depending on what type of wood it is. I'm not sure what the cubic feet that is on it but it's about the same or a little more then an average bundle.
My cheapest wood is $15.00 per bag and my premo wood is $20.00
Below is a pic of my bagged wood with the wood stacked beside the bag to show how much wood is in each bag.
My pieces are 14' long and about 2x3 or 3x3 give or take. Each bag holds about 20 pieces.
The bags are great because there clean and don't leave any trash behind when people load them in there car.

 

[sb47]

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I do a mix of poplar and birch, 1 cu ft, sell for $5 each, $20 for 5.

I load vented FIBC bags off the processor, and set them out in an area to season. Ideally ~6 months, though I've gone straight to bundles too.

The bags are brought in the shop, 1 of each wood, and wrapped with stretch wrap.

Loaded on a cart and then brought up front of the shop where I've got a rack setup under the porch that holds around 1500 bundles.


They sell reasonably well, do maybe 20-25 cords a year.

The local gas stations and grocery stores all sell bundled wood. When I first started out, they were selling .75 cu ft of spruce for ~$6, some had 2 for $11

Now they are pretty much all $5. Don't know if any part due to me.

One grocery chain contacted me 2 years ago to provide bundles. What a waste of my time!
Filled out all these forms, paper and online, took 5-6 hours. They wanted me to pay $500 for a bar code and 2 million in insurance.
In the end they drug their feet and said "oh, never mind, we are all set".

Not sure why .75 cu ft has become the std ar the local places, it's a pitiful amount of wood for the money.

I'd rather make less bundles per cord, saves on time and materials, not to mention isn't an insulting amount of wood.

 

[Big Red Oaks 4 me]

If you live near any campgrounds, bundles do good.

 

[homemade]

Honest to my word. This is what is outside of the local kwic trip.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Those aren't too horrible in size although don't seem very uniform.

This is what the gas station here has... sad face.

Mine is happy.