Feeling Really Grateful for Firewood

[Tenderfoot]

I am feeling really grateful that I have firewood as a side business and I can heat the house. This August I got a new job after not working for three months. I had $400 in the bank and just had my tools and my wits. I trucked home all the wood I could get and started splitting. I spent my last $400 on gas, mix oil, chains, and diesel while fuel was $2.15 a gallon for the truck. It worked out pretty well, Id say. I made a few hundred dollars at work and started saving $100 every week since then. I have worked hard enough that I can go back to school full time next year if things keep up and get a good degree.

Ive been so busy I have sold out of wood twice(!), and this being my first 'real' season I am already getting referrals. Apparently I sell the biggest cords around, and I am happy to say that. Thankfully, my old boss is an arborist so I get two or three cords a week of standing dead trees dry enough to sell. Firewood really did turn things around for me. Always liked running saws and driving trucks, so it works. Not getting rich by any means, but I am making more then I was and I am fed and the house is warm. The dog has a good bed and I may be able to help out my parents some too, they have been having trouble too. I have a growing savings account for the first time in years and cannot remember a time I was this happy. Its hard, grueling work but being able to hold cash in hand I really earned is a special feeling. I can look out my window and see the results of my work. I took a real risk and it paid off. If it did not I really have no idea what I would be doing.

 

[chucker]

!! by the sounds of it, it "wood" not have been standing in the welfare line waiting for a hand up... good on you and your work attitude ! self reliance is a rare commodity these day's! help your self and then others besides. positive thinking wins again.

 

[Tenderfoot]

I never needed welfare, thankfully. I moved back in with my parents and took care of their house and a rental property as rent and gas money. If you are ready to work hard and are happy to do so, you will never go hungry. I am happy to be working and I think I can make a real go of this business, not just sell 20 cord a year to help out. Beats the pay I got cutting pulp wood for sure.

 

[mark2496]

Great job and great attitude Tenderfoot! I hope things just keep getting better for you!

 

[svk]

Good work.

That's the nice thing about firewood; it requires a minimal amount of equipment to do the basics and just requires good work ethic.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Hard way to earn a living with just the basics though.
We have quite a bit of $$ in iron...

Feller buncher, stroke delimber, 2 skidders, 2 log trucks, 2 dozers, excavator, 2 skid steers, 2 firewood processors, 8 delivery trucks, etc, etc

 

[svk]

Hard way to earn a living with just the basics though.
We have quite a bit of $$ in iron...

Feller buncher, stroke delimber, 2 skidders, 2 log trucks, 2 dozers, excavator, 2 skid steers, 2 firewood processors, 8 delivery trucks, etc, etc

Quite easy to make a living, quite tough to make a good living. I could drive around and scrounge a cord a day and make $125-175 each day after basic expenses. That won't feed a family of 7 very well though.

 

[Tenderfoot]

I really appreciate the support guys. I joined up here because you all looked like a pretty positive bunch, and it seems that was the truth. Its a good thing things worked out the way it did. Plus, we all need to hear some good news more often the way the country is going. There will always be a way to feed yourself if you are willing to work hard for it. I know a few other folks here are struggling too, but we all can make it through if we are ready to try and take a risk of failure.

I have been offered a couple jobs too since people are seeing how I work and how I run things, so it looks like I may take over someone else's firewood distribution for them next year. They do about 200 cord a year and that income plus my distribution would be a good wage for me. If I can save up enough money I will buy another truck, get an EIN and big boy insurance, and keep expanding. May be able to rent a larger area to store my wood and be ready to go really hog wild. Hope and hard work really do go a long way. Being able to say I went from flat broke to comfortable is a fantastic feeling.

Hard way to earn a living with just the basics though.
We have quite a bit of $$ in iron...

Feller buncher, stroke delimber, 2 skidders, 2 log trucks, 2 dozers, excavator, 2 skid steers, 2 firewood processors, 8 delivery trucks, etc, etc

Ain't that the truth. I used to be a foreman on a construction crew. Already had a truck and trailer so it worked out. I can do 2 cords a day in production and deliver those cords same day (8 1/2 hrs if I take 15 min for lunch). I am really up front if I am selling green wood or if I am selling seasoned wood. It works for me. I get the wood for free, delivered to me or picked up. Its doing alright and it could be a lot worse. It turns out I sell the biggest cords around and people really like that.

Quite easy to make a living, quite tough to make a good living. I could drive around and scrounge a cord a day and make $125-175 each day after basic expenses. That won't feed a family of 7 very well though.

Very true. I put about $300 a week in my pocket, for now. I would make more but I go to school full time too and that is a big commitment. Got to make sure I keep doing well there. I did not do well my first go round (straight C's), but this time around I got on honor roll. Some times things just work out for the better.