Firewood business - pics and questions

[timothykamp]

I like reading and seeing what other members are doing, so I figured I'd finally post a set.

I am an 18 year old highschool grad looking forward to attending Purdue Lafayette for engineering and international business, but right now I'm splitting and selling firewood. I love doing it, it keeps me in shape, and I get $325 / cord of split oak, maple or hickory. I bought a new Speeco/Husky 35 ton splitter that has served me well - and a little 290 with a 20" bar.
I don't have insurance - so I only take down trees that are "no risk" aka - in a field with no wires or houses anywhere close that I can damage. I haul with a tandem axle 14' trailer (no dump) with low sides - I can heap it and get a full cord on loose.

I delivered about 7 cords last year, enough to pay for the splitter, and this year im shooting for 12 or 13.

Here's a few piles of oak seasoning

One of the land clearing jobs I did (with a friend who has a log loader, we milled all the big stuff, cut the little for firewood.

The cavalier that hauls everything, I call it my pickup truck, as shown with a half dismantled Mitsubishi generator

Me and the splitter with a pile of wood - the pile is much bigger in real life

And to the questions....

1. Stacking wood - I need it to dry out as quickly as possible (all my splitting is done by June 15 - and sold by October 30 - so 4 1/2 months at the absolute least for seasoning, and everything is cut to length as soon as it's dropped - and split small. Do those German Holzhauser really work? I'm skeptical, but willing to try, if it will give my customers a better product. Right now, wood is stacked tightly in 8' racks.

2. Tarping wood - the bottom and top layer of my stacks are ususally bark down and bark up, respectively, to shed rain - is it necessary to tarp piles, or does this restrict airflow too much to dry out the wood.

Feel free to leave any comments, suggestions, or helpful hints.



3.

 

[beelsr]

Well, I can answer #3..... :biggrinbounce2:

Seriously, nice to see a young'in with some gumption - as my father-in-law would say.

For wood to dry, it needs sun and wind. I have fond tarps to be a hindrance overall unless you can get them on right before the rain and take them off afterwards. But if you're not going to tend the stack, just leave it off. The rain rolls off and any that soaks in comes right back out and leads to more checking anyways - which is a good thing.

I would rig up some kind of table for the splitter so the split pieces don't all fall to the ground. Go through the pics in this section and you should find some examples.

Also, nice to see a helmet on the wood - protect yourself first. You're still young but trust me - you're not indestructible. Just thinking you are doesn't make it so.

 

[ropensaddle]

Yeah young with backbone that is getting rare these days
good for you school , work you will do fine in life. I usually
throw my wood in a stock pile and wait for loading to save energy
wood does need air to cure and elements speed up the process!
However after cured carryover to next year should be put in the dry
doughty wood no good. I have a question for you, are the little hills
behind firewood burial mounds as they look like or just dirt piles?

 

[Shipper50]

Good for you

I am from Gary originally and see the price of wood has really gone thru the roof up there? When I bought wood back in the late 80's $160 was the going rate for a chord of oak delivered.

I cant offer much advice on drying it better, but I would say once you get word of mouth out for your wood in the Chicago area you sales will go up with no problem.

Shipper

 

[timothykamp]

no - those arent burial mounds - it's a large dirtbike track

I browsed around a little for information on a log table, but several months ago i had an idea like that, but wasnt sure if such a thing existed - I have two beams for my splitter and would like to switch one over to a ram pushing the logs into a box wedge, since it is a 35 ton splitter.

 

[MNTAINGAL23]

Good for you!

I like to see a young man that isn't afraid to work.
Hard to find nowdays.
You got a lot of initiative. You will do well in life.

 

[Wismer]

hey tim

I'm 17, its great to see another youngin around here.

and now for the questions



as for number 2, tarping your wood, its a pain, and it can actually give you a worse product. In my experience wood dries faster without a tarp. It gets better airflow, but it also dries faster if it gets rained on.

Now, I've used this analogy before around here but have you ever had chapped lips? I'm sure you have. It makes them feel better to lick them, but in the long run its actually worse thats because as the water on your lips evaporates it takes water from inside your lips with it. Same with the wood, when it gets rained on the wood gets wet, but then that water evaporates and it draws more water from inside the wood out and away, it's kind of contrary to what you would think but it works, and it can be even worse if you have a tarp on because it can stop the evaporation, and your wood will rot or go punky.



(keep the pics coming)

but in the meantime here are some of mine.

hope this helps

and good luck

Craig

 

[City Slicker]

Good thread!

Whats the chain on the end of the splitter for? What size of engine? Do they make a Huskee with a Honda engine? Thanks!

 

[Jimfound]

Hey - good for you on taking some initiative and making a little coin. You'll need the beer money if you are off to college soon.

I agree with what most have already said....leave the wood open to the elements, full sun is best, especially if you are only going to be seasoning for 4-5 months. If you want a quick turn-around, the rain will actually help the wood season quicker as someone mentioned. One thing I would do is let your customers know how long the wood has seasoned. It makes a difference. 4 months is not long enough for wood to be ideal for burning. Being upfront won't hurt your business, but selling people wet wood without telling them will. Good luck.

WISMER - do you (or your family) have a vineyard? Looked like that in the background of one of your pics.

 

[ever green]

Here's a couple pics of my firewood ops...

 

[ever green]

few more...some photos of the logging previous to the firewood...

 

[timothykamp]

I feel dwarfed by evergreen's size of his operations

I am always up front about wood seasoning times- and alot of people burn wood for heat around here, and some ACTUALLY prefer wood taht isnt bone dry - they say it burns slower in their fireplace and they dont have to restock it all the time


I need to cut some cherry, oak and hickory tomorrow - I'll try to grab a few more pictures.

Oh, the chains were because I split some wood sideways and bent the foot- I was using a home made 4-way wedge and being dumb with it - i bent the foot, so we reheated it with torches, and hooked the chains to the cylinder to bend it back. TSC is sending me out a brand new beam and I get to keep the old one. That is my next project, adding a 4 way on the end of the beam and push logs into the splitter. I also would like a log table then too.

I think it's a 12 HP engine, or maybe 12.5

Any comments on the effectivness of a 35 ton splitter on a box wedge with a log table? anyone done this? let me know- you guys are the wise men who have been doing this way longer than me.

 

[ever green]

Heres my latest piles...and not to make you feel bad...that was all done with my TN-75, and just me...so there is hope...I'm getting anywhere from 50 to 100 delivered ...50 being for friends that are very close to the pile...

 

[Wismer]

WISMER - do you (or your family) have a vineyard? Looked like that in the background of one of your pics.

Yes, we run a large operation here in southern Ontario, hence all the tractors i get to play with, and it makes handling wood - be it saw logs or firewood alot easier.

 

[Jimfound]

I am always up front about wood seasoning times- and alot of people burn wood for heat around here, and some ACTUALLY prefer wood taht isnt bone dry - they say it burns slower in their fireplace and they dont have to restock it all the time
.

Allright...as long as they know was my only point.

Yes, we run a large operation here in southern Ontario, hence all the tractors i get to play with, and it makes handling wood - be it saw logs or firewood alot easier.

WISMER...I am sending you a PM.

 

[Wismer]

ever green how do you like your TN75? On our farm we run mostly New Holland TN-90's or 95's. They are of course all narrow vineyard models and we are quite pleased with them. No other company even comes close to matching the super-steer.

 

[Cedarkerf]

Sound like a broken record here but yes nice to see youngens interested in working on their own and out doors.

 

[ShoerFast]

When your getting closer to your June 15th cut-off time, start considering stacking on sticks to keep the bottom rows off the ground, it's dryer there and they get more air, you also may want to stack in single and double rows so the air flows better?


After your cut-off date, your not out of production yet, people will buy firewood till they open the windows in the spring, maybe getting a moisture meter, or figure out a way of checking it using your home oven will be an assignment someday?

Late trees to process could be standing-dead trees, as some are near stove ready when they hit the ground.

#3
Girl's are the devil, unless they think running the splitter counts for spending quality time together!

 

[Wismer]

Sound like a broken record here but yes nice to see youngens interested in working on their own and out doors.

Amen, Very hard to come by these days

 

[ever green]

I love my TN-75. With studded skidder chains all the way around it will practically climb up a tree. My best piece of equipment I own...