Going to throw in the towel this year.

[Patrick62]

"take this cord wood business and stick it, you know where"
I am going to run it out this year, and stop doing cords. I have been telling my customers that this the last year for me. I am so far behind it ain't even funny, and can't get any good help. I am stiff and sore in places that I didn't know existed. Working days on end, no rest in sight. You know the deal.... I am telling them they can contact me if they want next year. Either I will have a decent referral or not.

There actually will be maybe 4 or 5 customers left. My mother isn't optional. a couple of the older customers. No much else.... I wanna go fishing.

Bundles! Baby, that is where the $$$ are! I will do my bundles and enjoy life. The volume is is workable, the pay is good. Everybody is happy. I might get to go fishing!

Wait until the wood cutter wanna-be-s get wind of this, then I will have to listen to all sorts of half thought out business plans, and all I have to do is donate my equipment, and probably my property to "help them out". Nothing doing. The trucks will make fine yard ornaments, the splitters are a great backup for the bundle business!

 

[Gugi47]

Enjoy it my friend.

 

[NSMaple1]

Maybe you just need to raise your prices until it gets to be tolerable.

Should weed out the PITA guys, and lower the workload.

 

[unclemoustache]

Yeah, there comes a time when we all will have to throw in the towel. But you're right about the bundles - good money there if you have the market.

 

[066blaster]

i would like to order a 1000 bundles for tomorrow

 

[jrider]

What kind of volume do you move?

 

[Omaha419]

Can you ship 500 bundles for overnight please?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I'm about 60 cords backlogged right now.. about 3 weeks or so.

 

[Patrick62]

Holding at 70 cords behind and it ain't even "fall" yet. Yard Monkey's are in short supply. I am so over it.... I can't ethically crank up the price per cord to reduce the demand. Better is to simply shut down and let the vultures decend upon the people and rip them off. Then, I will no doubt hear the whimpering about "could I please do cords again??"

Since 2009 I have run between 200 and 300 cords a year outta here.

4500 bundles so far this year....

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I'm sold out of 'seasoned firewood'. Recommending folks buy a head one year if using for home wood stove or fireplace. Only one taker so far. I also refused several 'reserve orders' this past spring. Strickly first come, first served. Seriously considering bundled firewood.

 

[DSW]

Since 2009 I have run between 200 and 300 cords a year outta here.

4500 bundles so far this year....

That's shittin' and gittin'.

I take it, firewood is your "job?"

 

[Sandhill Crane]

4500 bundles so far this year....

How do you do that many bundles?

 

[DSW]

I think if I managed the "do" part I'd still have no chance at the "sell" part.

 

[Patrick62]

Firewood is my "part time" job. Hardware store clerk is other part time....

a few thousand bundles isn't hard to make. If the "Done Wrong" kinetic will stay together it splits fairly quickly, a homemade wrapping machine, and I can wrap 50 an hour easy. gets 100+ bundles on a 1500 ft roll of 12" wrap. getting a nice consistent 16" block helps bunches. I figured I got over 3000 bundles on one 20 cord load of logs.

If this wacky bundle business was doubled I would have trouble keeping up even working full time on it. but the $$$ would be pretty good! If I fella KNEW beyond a doubt that there was going to be massive sales on bundles, he could spend the winter cutting/splitting/wrapping and have half the production ready to go. Then could produce in the slow times between delivering. Fun is when something like 4th of july weekend hits... this year, in 3 days, 360 bundles delivered.

easy money

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

3000 bundles on 20 cords, pretty small bundles? I get about 100 bundles to a cord.
I can do about 40 bundles an hour, but that's also with carting them to the front porch of the shop (do them in the workshop so just wheelbarrow through the showroom)

 

[Patrick62]

.75 to .8 cubic foot, 16 inches long and about the diameter of a 5 gallon bucket. The actual volume of wood in the bundle is .67 to .7 cubic foot, and I have measured out the decks that-a-way. Gotta be a nice comfortable size to carry, and wrapped up tight.

I have had help out here wrap up bundles that were either too big, or too loose and sloppy. I wait until they are done making the mess then I slice 'em all up and re-wrap them.