Firewood Cord Boxes

[Husky187]

A question to all the buyers of firewood here. Recently I've been cutting and splitting firewood, looking to start to sell it by the cord, or whatever other way is easiest, whether it be by the truck load or however. Just wondering if anyone knows of any type of schematic there is available or some type of way to sell a cord that's compact, easy to fill, and also show the customers that it is a legitimate cord of wood they would be getting. Not trying to rip anyone off that I would sell to, just trying to become established as a reputable seller. Any feedback helps, thanks in advance.

 

[captjack]

Are you delivering it ? if so what are you using ? trailer / dump trailer ?? or are they picking up ? if they are picking up just build a rack that holds 128 cubic ft and let them grab it from there

 

[chucker]

yes! legal sized box(4'x4'x8' = 128 cubic feet) will sell it's self to a wondering customer..... even more when they pull in with a 3/4 ton truck with racks and expect to haul it away with street tires will leave them wondering how you do it, and their trk squats like an ole woman! lol

 

[farmer steve]

PA law states by the cord or fraction there of. i cut my wood 16" then stack 12' long and 4' high=64 cubic feet=1/2 cord. where you are in PA? i'm in york co.

 

[mr.finn]

Of course if you build that box you would have to stack the wood in it for it to be a cord.

 

[Husky187]

PA law states by the cord or fraction there of. i cut my wood 16" then stack 12' long and 4' high=64 cubic feet=1/2 cord. where you are in PA? i'm in york co.

I'm located in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Area. My pieces are all cut between 15 and 16" and are just in a pile. I may go with captjack and his response, build a box that'll sit out to show them that its a true 128 sq ft and let customers have at it. I can deliver it, but I can deliver a half a cord at a time, like I said I am just starting up and seeing how things go trying to just substantiate myself among the community. I may try and get a job with a local logging company just to try and learn more techniques and just some in general tricks of the trade, seems like a rewarding business experience.

 

[rarefish383]

I lay an eight foot 2X4 on the ground and make 4ft high cribs on the end and fill in the middle. Three rows of 16" wood is a cord. I cut my wood 18" and call it a "FAT" cord. People see the stacks and stop and ask if it's for sale. I only sell a few cord a year to local folks for mad money. I burn about 5 cord, and if I sell another 5 or 6, that's enough for me.



Three rows like that is a cord. Customers can see all there is to see. A guy down the road has steel bins that hold 1/4 cord that he can pick up with a fork lift. They are nice, pretty, and expensive. Work hard and sell good seasoned wood and you won't have any trouble making sales, Joe.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Slickest sell setup I have seen was a guy who had a large flatbed dump with side racks. Had 3 sections that were divided where he could put plywood between the sections. The height of the sideracks and sections meant he had a cord in each section. He used ratchet straps to hold the plywood down and over each rick if he was just dumping one cord. He could make 3 deliveries of 1 cord each and dump each or variations there of. Pretty nice set up he had, took the guesswork out of it and no arguements with customers.

 

[zogger]

You can just pound in some T posts at whatever size you want and stack it between them. I'd put two at each end to help them not spread.

My stuff is on pallets on top of railroad ties. I criss cross stack the ends to make a vertical straight holding end, then just lay the splits in. At three rows wide it is easy to measure out a cord, or half a cord, etc, once it is high enough.

 

[reddogrunner]

I make a 1/4 cord box on top of a pallet with some 2x4's and wire fencing. I have a tractor with pallet forks so moving them around once loaded is simple. As I cut and process I load the boxes. Easy to tell what you have on hand and sell. Takes a litte work up front, but they are awesome to work with. I also have a 1/4 cord bucket for the tractor and can load it and dump it in a trailer or truck for pick up orders.

 

[svk]

I lay an eight foot 2X4 on the ground and make 4ft high cribs on the end and fill in the middle. Three rows of 16" wood is a cord. I cut my wood 18" and call it a "FAT" cord. People see the stacks and stop and ask if it's for sale. I only sell a few cord a year to local folks for mad money. I burn about 5 cord, and if I sell another 5 or 6, that's enough for me.



Three rows like that is a cord. Customers can see all there is to see. A guy down the road has steel bins that hold 1/4 cord that he can pick up with a fork lift. They are nice, pretty, and expensive. Work hard and sell good seasoned wood and you won't have any trouble making sales, Joe.

I like this idea. Stack it up in fair stacks like this. Explain to customer what a cord is. Offer them a measuring tape to verify your dimensions.

Most people think a cord is significantly smaller than it actually is. Anyone who is going to argue with three stacks like that is just trying to short you.

 

[cantoo]

um time is money. Most big guys around here go by loose cords, no stacking. If they are selling small amounts then they might stack it but you are gonna pay dearly for their time.

 

[esshup]

If they are "loose" cords, then what is the measurement? A cord is defined by 4'x4'x8' STACKED.

A cord is the amount of wood that, when "ranked and well stowed" (arranged so pieces are aligned, parallel, touching and compact), occupies a volume of 128 cubic feet (3.62 m3).
This corresponds to a well stacked woodpile 4 feet (122 cm) high, 8 feet (244 cm) long, and 4 feet (122 cm) deep; or any other arrangement of linear measurements that yields the same volume.

 

[reddogrunner]

Just wonder how the big guys loosely determine what a cord is? I know there is a lumber yard around here that sells it by the ton and they weigh you before and after. That seems fair, I guess. I saw really cool contraption that fit over a skid and was a big metal barrel. A conveyor would fill the barrel and when full it would gently rise up as mesh netting wrapped around the loose stack - just like a round bale wrapper. They would pick the skid up and move it out and replace with another one. Really cool.

I just don't have that scale of operation. The baskets work great for me. Cut and split and right into the basket they go and then into the barn for dry time. I stockpile log length when I have all the beaskets filled and then i can process right into them when they are freed up. Works well and I don't feel whooped from moving wood everywhere.

 

[cantoo]

esshup, got any news report on people being charged for selling loose cords, ricks, truckloads or wheelbarrow loads of wood in Indiana? Are you telling me that every piece of firewood that is sold in Indiana has been stacked at least once just to measure it? How about it, any other Hossiers got an written evidence of anybody being charged? Just because it's a law it doesn't mean it's enforced very often. So do they get charged if they sell it as a cord and the customer stacks it and it's more than a cord? I've said it before when and if I ever sell any firewood it will be a load of wood for $x. If you want I'll tell you it's a cord but the price will still be $x for the load. And my trailer holds more than a cord because my buddy uses it fairly often.
At least that's the way it is around here.

 

[esshup]

Not that I know of, most craiglist ads say pickup truck load.

The one and only time I bought wood was when I was working too much to have time to take care of the house AND lay in a supply of wood the first year I had the insert. IIRC it was 2007 or 2008. HEck, I had a plumbing leak and I needed a new pipe dug in from the crawlspace to the bladder tank. Dad came here to the house to be here when they did the work because of the hours I was working.

I paid $180/cord for 5 cords stacked in the old chicken coop. The cu ft measurement checked out, but once I got into the wood, there were a LOT of 10"-12" pieces stacked in the middle. That's the last time I bought wood.

When I buy something that is advertised as "X" amount of something, I expect it to be as advertised. The seller is expecting to get "X" dollars for "X" amount of what they are selling, so I think it's a reasonable expectation. If the seller wants to give more than what the buyer is expecting, that's up to the seller - the buyer didn't ask for it. When I deliver fish to a pond, I normally deliver between 5% and 10% more, and don't expect to be paid for the excess. If a few die, there is more than enough excess to cover the loss, and if they all live, then the buyer is even happier. (I manage ponds for a living.)

 

[CRThomas]

[QUOTE="Husky187, post: 5001917, member: 123282inch's uestion to all the buyers of firewood here. Recently I've been cutting and splitting firewood, looking to start to sell it by the cord, or by whatever other way is easiest, whether it be by the truck load or however. Just wondering if anyone knows of any type of schematic there is available or some type of way to sell a cord that's compact, easy to fill, and also show the customers that it is a legitimate cord of wood they would be getting. Not trying to rip anyone off that I would sell to, just trying to become established as a reputable seller. Any feedback helps, thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]
My area it is sold by the rank or face cord 16 inchs

 

[CRThomas]

The area I live in they sell ranks you can buy Dino bags for $10.00 a piece they hold a rank I can set 6 bags on my truck ready to deliver. I sell 90 percent bundled firewood but I have knots that won't wrap pretty so they go for bulk sales. The Dino bags just throw it in there when its full that's a rank a 1/3 of a cord.

 

[cantoo]

essup, practice makes perfect. Some of them do 1000's of cords a year and never stack one. I assume they average it or use some common sense and mark their truck the 1st few times. Local guy has partitions in his truck and delivers whatever amount people want, still just a guestimate.
Same as people cutting firewood, not everybody measures and marks every single piece they cut, some just eyeball it and get close enough. If I'm selling wood and someone wants that exact then they can keep on going down the street.

 

[CRThomas]

My wife and I have to be close to please our customer the firewood business is our total income and a very good one at that.