Does this make sense?

[dewaldf.carstens]

We are a PTY Ltd. Company producing firewood (only blue gum, eucalyptus) near Cape Town South Africa. We started in 2017 January, with an investor, and we bought a Tajfun 480 processor, winch and log deck.

We get the trees for free, but we do give 5-10% of the split wood to the farmer as gesture. Plantations are 1/2 to 14ha. In total we have 4 million tons of trees we can potentially harvest. Our only cost, is cost to manufacture.
We have wholesale customers who we supply wet and dry wood to. Our existing order is 5000 ton per year at this stage, client is looking to expand if he can source more firewood. During the last 3 months we lost an additional 3000 tons in sales (new clients) because we did not have stock, could not supply, due to the fact that we are 1 tractor short, so we can only run processor when we are not winching trees.

The demand just for Cape Town is 500 ton of firewood per day. Population approximately 5 million.

We also supply bagged product to residential customers in 100km radius.

Potential market is mind blowing as there is huge firewood shortage. Monthly, 3000 tons are trucked in from as far as 1500km. At R1/kg firewood as fuelsource is 30% of the price of electricity or 40% compared to gas.

We started with no cash, so due to lower volumes, cash is strapped until we get second tractor.

Last Friday, our investor said he is pulling the plug? WTF? Mind blowing? After 6 months. Yes, he is crazy and suffer from severe depression due to his job.

This leaves us at ground zero, equipment wise as he is going to sell the equipment. We are left with a hell of a lot of free trees, and orders that we cant fill.

In RSA funding is non existent if you are white, everything is black empowerment. This leaves me with a dilemma; where to get funds to buy equipment again? If we do secure funds, I will not go for Tajfun, 2cord/hr machine, but rather upgrade to Rapido Loco 20 with larger capacity, or similar.
Exchange $1=13R or R15 to €1
We sell at R550-R800 per ton (excl delivery)
In Cape Town (90km from us) the same wood sell for R1400/ton excluding delivery.
Dry wood are very scarce if available at all.
Wood source is free.
Min wage R1500pp per month and we have 10 man crew (biggest expense) due to equipment shortage.

To me this makes very good economics?

We already have orders of approximately 13 000 tons, just for 2018, and we have not started advertising or set up distribution, this is only wholesale, 15 - 35 ton trucks.

90% of the plantations are amongst wheat fields, so easy access, no steep terrain.

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[Westboastfaller]

If this was legit I would say you
need to slow down. Your business ways make no sense at this time.
Tipicle! trying to go to big too fast.
Looks like another guy bullchitting his way in almost as fast as he bs his way out. Investors want to see results not get lip service.
If there is such a demand and the price is at 1,400 then why are you at 550-800.
We will call it 50%. You are at half price and that's fine if you had the means to supply and expand but you don't. What you needed to do was satisfy your investor. BTW ..you didn't loose the 3000 ton as you didn't have it to loose. Man you have got to get back on the ground.
Couldn't you have done a day and night crew? You should have been.
The workers wage is peanuts to what they can do.
It's about on par to 1 ton at market price
Ahainst a months wage. Machine can do two cords per hour.
We will call it 25 cords per day
I'll call it 40 lb per cu ft
Cord =4ft by 4ft by 8ft
4×4= 16 cu ft ×8=128 CU ft
128×40=5120 lb
It's not a solid block so let's call it 4400 lb
2 metric tonnes × 25 cords = 50 ton
At price R1400 per tonne = R70,000
÷ 13 for USD or 15 for euro
4,666€ per day is not counting what you would make off manual Labour which is relatively free.

Conservatively it would be over 6,000 USD per day. $1,000,000 in 6 months?

Wtf you trying to pull here?
Here come and rape my land and take all you want.

 

[dewaldf.carstens]

If this was legit I would say you
need to slow down. Your business ways make no sense at this time.
Tipicle! trying to go to big too fast.
Looks like another guy bullchitting his way in almost as fast as he bs his way out. Investors want to see results not get lip service.
If there is such a demand and the price is at 1,400 then why are you at 550-800.
We will call it 50%. You are at half price and that's fine if you had the means to supply and expand but you don't. What you needed to do was satisfy your investor. BTW ..you didn't loose the 3000 ton as you didn't have it to loose. Man you have got to get back on the ground.
Couldn't you have done a day and night crew? You should have been.
The workers wage is peanuts to what they can do.
It's about on par to 1 ton at market price
Ahainst a months wage. Machine can do two cords per hour.
We will call it 25 cords per day
I'll call it 40 lb per cu ft
Cord =4ft by 4ft by 8ft
4×4= 16 cu ft ×8=128 CU ft
128×40=5120 lb
It's not a solid block so let's call it 4400 lb
2 metric tonnes × 25 cords = 50 ton
At price R1400 per tonne = R70,000
÷ 13 for USD or 15 for euro
4,666€ per day is not counting what you would make off manual Labour which is relatively free.

Conservatively it would be over 6,000 USD per day. $1,000,000 in 6 months?

Wtf you trying to pull here?
Here come and rape my land and take all you want.

Thanks for the reply and some constructive, small part, comments, but I have to say, I was not really looking for an invasion or an attack on my integrity or character. Not really called for.

I just wanted to paint the true picture of the situation to get some insights, without having to write a novel.

I will be more respectful and do a honest and non offensive reply as I can clearly see, and understand, that you have no knowledge of SA, and the general skill level here. It would help if you use Google to get some info, then you should not have to make comments that become offensive.

I am 44, white male who have Mech Eng degree, with 20 years+ experience as Project Manager doing turn key projects for Multi National Companies. Not a desk jockey or Pen pusher though... My largest project was £180m for pet food Co in UK.
So if you tell me I am a bull shitter, I seriously take offence and you sound like a complete idiot for making comments without knowing me or the conditions here.

2nd Shift: yes I was seriously considering that as next stage, but you don't realize that the skill level here is school up to age 13. So, would you take someone age skill level to run a loader an processor at night? Think not! Nor would you cut and winch logs at night, right? We started 6 months ago with processor, tractor powered, PTO.
We did not have funds to buy tractor, so we searched 3 weeks for rental, rented 1 month, when guy who rents these, decided to sell all 15 tractors, due to high maintenance (all tractor '70 models), which left us 5 weeks finger up arse to look for solution.

We are supplying wholesale only, because they supply a market which I never want to supply, and they have been doing so for 8 years. They supply restaurants and pizza places on a daily basis, 50kg 100kg on a delivery. EUser does not have space. That is why we supply at 650, they pay for transport. Also, for me to get in my pick-up and drive 100km one way to deliver 2000kg max, i.e. neither economical or practical. If I am not at the processing and something goes wrong, the whole operation is shut down till I am back. Been there done that.... We are also not in position at this stage to start distribution domestic in Cape Town or towns other surrounding us. Same reason above. We are planning to get truck (10- 20 tonner) later to start serving those markets, then we can charge the 1300 p ton price tag.

So there is no ******** here, just reality and facts.

You did the math, not me. I work on selling everything at 550-650, and we have customers that will take it.
I am not trying to pull anything here, merely stating what we get per tonne, equipment we have and don't have, which by the way is the reason we don't produce enough. And stating that there are wholesellers that is looking for wood, that they can not get as they don't produce in-house.

Their problem is permission from farmers to get access to trees. This year alone there have been 300 farm attacks and murders on white farmers and their families. THAT is why I have access, I grew up here, people know me, I played rugby with most of these farmers 20 years back.

Durbanville is a suburb of Cape Town northern suburbs. I stopped counting at 12000 houses, about 1/2 way through Durbanville, Google Earth. They are all middle to upper class people living in 300-500 sq meter houses, so they are City people earning good money. Very, and I mean very conservatively, if a household use 1/2 a ton of wood per year....

You do the math, and don't tell me I am an opportunist and a bullshitter in and out. I quit my Engineering job last December to go into this full time. This is my only income. I have wife in wheelchair and 2 small daughters, don't you ****ing dare telling me I am a bullshitter.

I merely discribed the situation here to get some feedback, not get insulted by someone like you.

Facts are:
1. I have access to trees, which others don't.
2. There is a market, wanting product. Google earth don't create houses, I merely counted them, for 3 months research.
3. We obviously have problem, equipment for 1 and to get the right people and train them, as logging skills are non existent in the atea, there is labour (27% unemployment), but unskilled.

I have done 5 years market research, spoke to buyers, spoke to farmers and looked at equipment. My first vid of processor was 2001 after I saw one at fair in UK.
I am in this, with my family till the day they put dirt on my coffin. I am in this balls and all, so piss off with your insults and assumptions you make as someone knowing nothing about my business, and where we operate. Only idiots do that in my experience. And I have met quite a few in the 10 years I lived in Europe and traveled globally for business.



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[Little Al]

From your 2 posts I have to ask what is it you want /require from the forum ? are you looking for advice, on what path to take? or are you seeking some investment? or having a general moan about your investor withdrawing from the project, it seems from your posts that the potential through put was greater than your company/equipment could cope with; could you raise finance to purchase 2 tractors from the guy you rented from ? I think you over reacted some what to post 2, I rated it as a non rose coloured glasses view of your business/plan, as it seems from your post to have failed? due to withdrawl of funds from your investor, you say you have experience in Europe,I'm involved with a commercial logging company & although I have no knowledge of SA business practices raising finance etc. I am sure if you had been located where we are your setup would not have got off the ground, If this offends you, I'm sorry but it a bit difficult to asses the out come/advice you are seeking, if that is what you require. Again no offense intended but I feel you jumped in the deep end & the water was deeper than you thought I wish you luck/success in your venture.

 

[dewaldf.carstens]

From your 2 posts I have to ask what is it you want /require from the forum ? are you looking for advice, on what path to take? or are you seeking some investment? or having a general moan about your investor withdrawing from the project, it seems from your posts that the potential through put was greater than your company/equipment could cope with; could you raise finance to purchase 2 tractors from the guy you rented from ? I think you over reacted some what to post 2, I rated it as a non rose coloured glasses view of your business/plan, as it seems from your post to have failed? due to withdrawl of funds from your investor, you say you have experience in Europe,I'm involved with a commercial logging company & although I have no knowledge of SA business practices raising finance etc. I am sure if you had been located where we are your setup would not have got off the ground, If this offends you, I'm sorry but it a bit difficult to asses the out come/advice you are seeking, if that is what you require. Again no offense intend but I feel you jumped in the deep end & the water was deeper than you thought I wish you luck/success in your venture.

Al,

When posting this I was hoping for a few things, which were:
1. Fishing if there were more silly people out there, that invest in a business and expect the same results with less than the required investment for equipment. The investment was 30% short of the required capital. That along with the investment being 3 months later than commited, thus we could not build stock for winter as we projected. Remember, we broke even month 1. Profit from there, although small. We did not have all the equipment.

2. Looking for advise on the scale of the operation. What equipment can do the volumes. Yes the market is bigger that we projected, I knre that from the start, and I believe it's 5-10 x bigger than in my post, but you say that in your business plan, and investors think it's unrealistic.
Equipment suppliers sell kit and give a capacity. We all know you only achieve this under ideal conditions due to perfect straight logs, which is non existent.
I was looking for someone using similar kit to give some feedback on what is possible, and what kit you need to achieve this, dependant on terrain, which make big difference.

3. I was also looking for some feedback on the figures. I know US and EUROPE wood sell for far more than here, but most of the time they have to buy the logs, which I don't.

4. Investment, maybe, but not really. It is harder to get funding locally, only problem is any government funding is corruption to the bone, or you need to be black and willing to bribe, sorry not me. This is our biggest local problem, and I won't get into politics.

5. I was hoping for some response along the lines of; this is a bad idea, no money in wood, or great opportunity, you get free wood and have huge market, here are some pointers.
Well I still think this is a great opportunity, comparing it with all the Capex's I have done for Heinz, Unilever SAB Miller just to name a few. In FMCG payback of 3 years is great, it's a must do project. Anything less, like 12 months, you are an idiot not to, don't have the money, or can t get funding.

6. Hoping for some feedback on pro's and con's on kit. Maybe some industry standard payback models.

Remember; the firewood industry here is 40 years behind. Some people that do firewood don't even own a chainsaw, but they only do it for themselves.
We brought the first processor into the country. Yes we aimed a bit small, but that was all we could get funding for.
Now we have experience and will aim bigger.

I have failed ONLY if Bolt can do 100m in the same time with 1 leg as with both....

I don't even know what the rape reference mean......

My apologies for posting this on the forum, next time I will stick to tech stuff, or net post at all.....

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[Little Al]

From my point view no apology is required I couldn't from your first 2 pots get my head around what your posting requirements were now I understand better

It is difficult to quote /advise as your set up is a fair amount removed from ours as you say you are some time behind & your outlets require a different type of supply

The machinery we use is at the present time in you set up far away in terms of what you would/could afford ,our latest lazer guided processor cost north of 230,000 euros allowing for the trade in of the older machine

We (with our mechanized kit) can exceed your out put with a total of 4 guys. Down to the mechanization

The end product is different we don't produce firewood as an end product (only if we get an amount of "****** wood" ) some of our work involves coppicing /replanting some sites require the planting of 3 replacements for every 1 felled;

If you broke even after 1 months trading if you could obtain funding & get back kit similar to what you had maybe with if possible an uprated processor you should be able to at least make a living

Your problem seems to be as you probably know an unreliability of investment Again it's a non level playing field as with a workable business plan banks here will fund such en devours
sorry can't be more help. Best of luck & hope you succeed.

 

[dewaldf.carstens]

From my point view no apology is required I couldn4t from your first2 pots get my head around what your posting requirements were no I understand better

It is difficult to quote advise as your set up is a fair amount removed from ours as you say you are some time behind & your outlets require a different type of supply

The machinery we use is at the present time in you set up far away in terms of what you would/could afford our latest lazer guided processor cost north of 230,000 euros allowing for the trade in of the older machine

We (with our mechanized kit) can exceed your out put with a total of 4 guys. Down to the mechanization

The end product is different we don't produce firewood as an end product (only if we get an amount of "****** wood" ) some of our work involves coppicing /replanting some sites require the planting of 3 replacements for every 1 felled;

If you broke even after 1 months trading if you could obtain funding& get back the kit similar to what you had maybe with if possible an uprated processor you should be able to at least make a living

Al thanks for the reply. Yes you are right, we need to get funding again, and I am sure we will get some from somewhere.

At least this exercise tought me something; with the right equipment, the possibilities are endless. It's just a shame that 10 new jobs that we have created will go to waist again.

But, at least we have proven that when we get the equipment, there is good money to be made, and we can fill a big gap in the market.
2 important lessons is not to go for sawbar on processor, Blue Gum we cut is slow growing on dry climate and shallow soil where water table is in excess of 50meters. We have had issues with cutter bars after short time.
Secondly, the market and demand is big. We eventually want to shift away from wholesale bulk customers to bagged and domestic customers as the price is better.

I am also sure that will export in the future, as we already had some interest shown, but first we need the tools and get going again.
I am just sorry for our investor, he is going to loose big. After several attempts to persuade him, he still wants to sell the equipment. There may be a good market for processors in Europe and US, but here people dont know them...

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[grack]

Al thanks for the reply. Yes you are right, we need to get funding again, and I am sure we will get some from somewhere.

At least this exercise tought me something; with the right equipment, the possibilities are endless. It's just a shame that 10 new jobs that we have created will go to waist again.

But, at least we have proven that when we get the equipment, there is good money to be made, and we can fill a big gap in the market.
2 important lessons is not to go for sawbar on processor, Blue Gum we cut is slow growing on dry climate and shallow soil where water table is in excess of 50meters. We have had issues with cutter bars after short time.
Secondly, the market and demand is big. We eventually want to shift away from wholesale bulk customers to bagged and domestic customers as the price is better.

I am also sure that will export in the future, as we already had some interest shown, but first we need the tools and get going again.
I am just sorry for our investor, he is going to loose big. After several attempts to persuade him, he still wants to sell the equipment. There may be a good market for processors in Europe and US, but here people dont know them...

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Best of luck to you i'm not familiar with your type of operation small scale here.
But i always want anyone that tries to succeed.

 

[Sepia]

Some more math:
You are selling your cut/split firewood for $100/chord.
Present max output per day 10 chords (optimistically)
Paying 10 employees $6/day each? Seriously? And you trust those workers not to slit your throat or rob you blind?

And some more questions:
What are your fuel and maintenance costs?
What are your repair and downtime costs?
What are your investment return costs?
What are your weather related costs?
What are your training and turnover costs?
What are your .gov related costs (how deep does big brother have his hand in your pocket?)

 

[dewaldf.carstens]

Some more math:
You are selling your cut/split firewood for $100/chord.
Present max output per day 10 chords (optimistically)
Paying 10 employees $6/day each? Seriously? And you trust those workers not to slit your throat or rob you blind?

And some more questions:
What are your fuel and maintenance costs?
What are your repair and downtime costs?
What are your investment return costs?
What are your weather related costs?
What are your training and turnover costs?
What are your .gov related costs (how deep does big brother have his hand in your pocket?)

Let me just get the calculator handy to convert to $...

Yes we sell at $100 per cord to wholeseller, who in turn supply restaurants...

Yes we can do that easy with 2nd tractor and current equipment.

Daily min wage per unskilled labour as per Gov is $9.61, we pay $11.50 . Thus we pay more, and Gov set rates are based on city residents. It is actually lower for non city, or countryside. Remember, I don't make these rates. But we do have a bonus scheme based on volume on top. I believe in the US some places just work on volume per production. Most of my workers are from Zimbabwe (legal work permits). Our unemployment is 27%, Zim is much worse.
Keep in mind that these people are by nature not very productive compared to European or US or Far East populations. This is not what I say, but been published as well. Supervision is mandatory if you want business to produce anything.

It is more some of the local people from Johannesburg that is hostile. Down here we co-exist quite well.

Fuel cost total for 1 tractor and pick-up has been $500 per 20 day month, but I recon with 2nd tractor that may go to $700

Repair bill $400

Investment return cost is difficult because the guy had shares, complicated deal, but he would have maid $ if patience was a virtue...

Weather related cost? I assume you mean rain snow.... We are in the last month of winter and we had 5" of rain thus far. If it rains the day, we agreed not to work, but we work the time in on a Saturday, not my suggestion though.

Training cost. Done in house thus far. Lucky to get a guy with chainsaw certificate. He gets maid 30% more.

I don't understand what you meant by turnover cost.

BB has no hand in my pocket, nor will they. That is probably why I will be looking for funding again. I believe that nothing comes free, nor will they get any from me. Zuma may steal what he wants, but not from me.

We are the only firewood producer that is a registered company. That should give you an idea of how informal the firewood industry is.

Revenue service did not even know there is VAT tax on firewood, because they never came across it before.

Hope this answers your questions.





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[Sepia]

By turnover costs I was referring to workforce turnover, such as when a worker quits or is no longer able to work.

And you don't pay any types of taxes or fees or employer costs to the various government agencies?

And what about insurance? What are the hazard costs if someone is injured on your operation, or even killed?

Your fuel bill seems very low - $25/day. Either your tractor isn't running very much, or your fuel prices are very low in SA

It seems like an awful lot of risk and headaches managing 10 employees in a very dangerous operation grossing only $1000/day. It would seem that you need to cut your workforce in half and double your income to justify the investment you are making. You are presently only achieving 1 chord per day per worker - that isn't very efficient so I would be concentrating on that first and foremost. There must be resources on the www that can help you with ideas to improve your efficiency. I suspect that is why you are posting here as well - to get some ideas regarding efficient firewood processing. I wish I could help you in that regard but I am not knowledgeable in commercial firewood production. Maybe ask your questions in the Forestry and Logging forum, or in the Firewood and Heating forum here on this site.

 

[Westboastfaller]

Mr engineer.
Edit, click right on your camera
Lol

 

[dewaldf.carstens]

By turnover costs I was referring to workforce turnover, such as when a worker quits or is no longer able to work.

And you don't pay any types of taxes or fees or employer costs to the various government agencies?

And what about insurance? What are the hazard costs if someone is injured on your operation, or even killed?

Your fuel bill seems very low - $25/day. Either your tractor isn't running very much, or your fuel prices are very low in SA

It seems like an awful lot of risk and headaches managing 10 employees in a very dangerous operation grossing only $1000/day. It would seem that you need to cut your workforce in half and double your income to justify the investment you are making. You are presently only achieving 1 chord per day per worker - that isn't very efficient so I would be concentrating on that first and foremost. There must be resources on the www that can help you with ideas to improve your efficiency. I suspect that is why you are posting here as well - to get some ideas regarding efficient firewood processing. I wish I could help you in that regard but I am not knowledgeable in commercial firewood production. Maybe ask your questions in the Forestry and Logging forum, or in the Firewood and Heating forum here on this site.

Yes turnover is high, but seem to stabilize. Just pick them off the street in the morning. I have a core team now of 5, which are good guys, so keep sifting till team is balanced. No advertising yet.

Yes we pay UIF, but that is $1 per employee per month.

Insurance is also low $200 per month.

Tractor is 80hp. Running at 1350rpm to give pto speed of 400 rpm as required. Fuel cost is just less than $1 per L.

Yes production is low and labour high. This is because we compensated for not having loader, so logs had to be loaded by hand on log deck. Also we run small circular saw for smaller stuff, to clean up and free up capacity time for the processor.

With new investment we can get loader, a dedcoated winch tractor. Processor with own power plant and capacity of 5-6 cords per hour. Same labour force, as we pack bags as well for fuel stations occationally .

I know how to improve efficiency, but for that we need tools (funding).

Thanks for comments.



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[dewaldf.carstens]

Mr engineer.
Edit, click right on your camera
Lol

?

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[Westboastfaller]

Can't you get some horses? They will make you money. Then line up some high price sales and then get a delivery truck

 

[Definitive Dave]

Perhaps offer some of your rugby team buddies the opportunity to become silent partners?
Money isn't free, nor should it be, but if you have partners on your team and not "investors" only worried about the short term margins, you might find a smoother faster path.
With limited production capacity, you cant be afraid to make a profit on every piece you produce, anything you can do to sell to the higher margin buyers is something you should pursue.
The sooner you could diversify and sell a portion of your product to the high margin end user, the better.
Cutting off a steady fast paying wholesaler isn't smart business but if you can develop another revenue stream you will be the better for it.

I'm sure you know this but good well maintained equipment is worth more than it's weight in employees
Tractors aren't moody, don't have a substance abuse problem, don't talk on the cell phone all day, don't deliberately piss off the other equipment on the job, don't call in sick, or not bother to show up.

Clearly there are a lot of differences between the USA and SA, my taxes on 10 workers would be higher than your daily income produced.

Westboastfaller may be a brash, course, plain-spoken SOB, but he shoots straight most of the time and if you can see past his tone, he is laying down truth to be merely collected for your use.
My guess is he has put a metric ****-ton of board feet on the ground and has a wealth of experience to share.

 

[CentaurG2]

Well you know the old saw. If you want to make a million dollars selling firewood…start with two million.

 

[Westboastfaller]

Can't you get some horses? They will make you money. Then line up some high price sales and then get a delivery truck

I understand this ^^^ is not what you want to here and there is a lot of disappointment on your end obviously but you are remaining optimistic, rightfully so. Things will fall into place when they fall into place. You need to shift into a short term goal plan and make a pay cheque. It seems realistic to me that there is still enough end that you could work up by yourself? (Splitter then a truck before long) The harder the squeeze the better the juice. The gold at the end of the rainbow is much more rewarding.
It would make sense that one of these 'would be' clients may jump at the opportunity. They have invested interest.
I'm sure that must have crossed your mind or you have exhausted that avenue? If not I would hit them up in a "Much to our regret" email that looks to be due anyway and relieve yourself of all pressure from booked commitments. The demand will still be there when you are ready as you know.

About my first post in closing. ..
I'm sorry but I think a little information in your first post was lacking. The most important thing of it all is the source and the relationship 'behind it'. I would put big emphasis on that. Personally as an Investor, that would be the focus of my primary questions. As to say, if everthing checks out and I was going to spend the money what's to stop the
owner from selling the following week or him changing his mind because ????.."you pissed him off..er..what ever. It could be endless.
A lot of things there seem to get done on a hand shake. The partner with the equipment should not have been able to pull the equipment because you guys should have had a contract which doesn't allow that to happen when he pleases. That's like "it's my ball and I'm going home" Prehaps it was a 6 month trial period. .IDK..you said it was complicated.
I would put emphasis on that as well because that instills legitimacy. Makes people think they aren't going to get
scammed or robed & killed if there were to go there and look after their investment for some time.

Moreover: I understand as well I failed to obsorb the kind of volume he has as I scand over it very quickly. Obviously I'm very fluent and much of the math is done in my head quickly but a just didn't look.. With those two things mention, I certainly would have viewed it differently. Unfortunately
Without me grasping the big picture. You came across on the greedy side.
In actual fact you would be doing him a good deed giving him 10% and could make him quite wealthy.

There is better ways to pull a lot of money out that kind of volume. Obviously the owner would have to be on board.
Go green?

 

[Sepia]

The OP seems to have an opportunity to get a pretty good business going here, but I'm not sure he has good plan how to get his product from the farm to the market, and make a decent profit in the process. With a good business plan and proper strategy it would seem investors would be lining up for a piece of the action. So I think the OP should focus all his efforts into coming up with a new plan that he can market/shop to potential investors. Hopefully he has spending his time lately putting more research into efficient firewood processing - regardless of equipment costs. If he can show a plan to an investor where he can return 20% per annum on the initial investment, then obtaining financing for the proper equipment would be much easier. Otherwise, he needs to think smaller and get his margins up to where he can save enough of his own capital to expand the business as time goes on.

And the OP hasn't mentioned how much of his own money he has tied up in this business. As far as I can tell, he only has maybe $70,000 in equipment, and probably half that if he bought the tractor used. That isn't much money to come up with if you doing $300,000 worth of business a year, and possibly much more. Why does the OP even need an investor if he only requires $35,000 to get things up and running?

 

[Westboastfaller]

That's what makes this one interesting.
Not only would it yield carbon credits from the mass amount of standing timber but it's a double bubble as the wood That would be otherwise be burnt now qualifies as 4,000,000 tonnes of wood is not going into the atmosphere. Ef (emissions factor) on amount given is about $15,000,000 on a short ton 10% on a metric tonne 16,5