how may of you guys sell fire wood?

[kf_tree]

do you do it for profit or is it just a way to get rid of the wood?

i used to have a monster chipper and just chipped every thing. i figured by the time i paid a guy to split and stack it then store it, i would have to charge too much to see a profit in it. alot of guys by me ran around with small chippers and need to sell fire wood just to get rid of it. but i feel if they did the math it was a loosing proposition.

 

[treeclimber165]

There are a couple guys who sell firewood here, mostly to BBQ places. I never could see the economics of it, a person would barely make minimum wage, if that.
When I worked for a local city, we would chip the brush and leave the wood cut up and stacked on the curb. The Prentice loader would come by and pick up what wasn't gone by the next day. We loved it when people took the wood for us. Working for other companies, we always are looking for people who want our wood. Cheaper to give it away than mess with firewood.

 

[Ryan Willock]

man glade i'm not where ya'll are. i get $300 per cord delivered not stacked i only sell premium hardwood, no junk and its seasoned:angel:

 

[Toddppm]

$300!
I get $225 , could get a little more I guess but don't have that much.
We do it just for something to do in the winter, a little extra cash. Not going to be doing much this winter though, only have about 3 cords of new wood from this year and about 12 left from last year!

 

[rborist1]

:Eye:

 

[kf_tree]

ryan,
what does it cost you to have a cord of wood split? how much do you pay a guy to split wood for the day? and how many cords does he split in a day? now with the time it takes to load a cord and deliver it. could that truck and driver be making more money some place else? plus how much do you pay to store the wood?and how many cords do you sell a year at 300.00?

 

[treeman82]

I personally do not sell firewood. There is only 1 person I know that sells wood and makes money at it (and I know several people who sell firewood) this guy has a couple of contracts with CITICORP to sell them firewood in 4' lengths. Guy bought a special timberwolf splitter for about 5 G's and sells them at least 500 cords a year. I think he also sells about 100 cords of the regular size stuff as well. He gets anywhere from $140 - $180 per cord for the regular stuff, the CITICORP wood, I have no clue what he gets for that.

 

[Ryan Willock]

spike, it only costs me $20 per cord (and thats with me figuring with alot of fudge factor as to my costs) and thats including my time. i get the wood for free, when we do a tree job or another company does a job and has good hard wood they deliver it to me to keep from paying the $15 per ton at the dump. i split the wood myself by hand in my free time and i split about 1 cord per hour when i'm feeling good. i don't rush to get it done though, i start spilting and cutting in march or april and have every thing ready to go by october. i have all my customers setup and start delivering by the middle of november. i sell about 20-30 cords per year. i also charge $25 per face cord if they want it stacked (keep in mind that this is "dirty work" and my customer base is mostly made up of professionals who wouldn't dare get their hands dirty!lol. ) so as you can see for me its pretty much all profit, less the bar oil and two cycle gas and a little fuel for my truck. all my customers are within 4 miles of my house so its not like i have to drive all over creation. most people that buy from me only want a face cord(4'x8'x16" or 1/3 of a cord) i have a 95 chevy 4x4 long bed 3/4 ton and a 4x8 trailer with 4' sides on it so when i go to deliver i take 1 and 2/3 cords with me at once that way i don't have to make as many trips so for me its pretty good $$$:angel:

 

[kf_tree]

ryan
so you kind of answered my suspicion...plus you get free storage in your dads yard right? fire wood is a good thing for a young guy to make a few bucks when there is no over head.

now since your starting to climb. if i may be so bold i could probably guarantee in 2 years you'll give up the fire wood and stick to climbing. even if your working for some one else its easier to pick up a quick side job than deal with splitting wood.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

The only people I know that make money are the ones that prossess large quantities. Every one else just uses it to pay the employees on slow days.

Around here most fires are aesthetic thisngs, people buy a facecord first year then they findo out what a mess it is then they get a little bit every few years then convert to gas.

 

[Ryan Willock]

yes spike, i do keep it in my dad's back yard i enjoy spliting it by hand for the exercise also i don't put it on a stump to split it... too much work. i don't like to bend over that much so i split it where it lands, i don't take those he-man, gonna bust it with one blow swings either, i use an 8# maul and take it easy

 

[Stumper]

I used to sell a little to get rid of it/kill time in the winter. Now I sell it wholesale to a firewood dealer who will pick it up at the job site. This guy processes huge quantities of wood and actually makes money on it. He also is responsible and shows up on time for appointments. If I have a removal I can call him and set up a time when I'll have it blocked and ready to pick up and he shows up and I help him load it. He pays $50 a cord (unsplit) and I don't have to haul it!! Sold him $175 worth yesterday- a nice bonus on the removal of some Elms.

 

[Greg]

I thought I was going to be in the firewood business, but a day in the hot sun with a 28ton splitter cured me of that. I try to always think productivity and work smart not hard, firewooding just shot those notions all to hell. You have to handle the wood too many times when dong it small scale. I pay $20 per ton to dump, expensive, but you just have to factor it in.
Greg

 

[DDM]

I sell my wood Just because its a few extra $ in the winter so i dont have to burn it as trash I probably dont make that much with it but i get paid to haul it off so wht not split it and deliver it?

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Now start paletizing it so you can jut trop it off at the clients door

 

[DDM]

I have a system for palletizing too i load it in the dump truck with the skid steer and dump it at the customers house and stack of course for a extra fee....

 

[Toddppm]

Man JPS that is a good idea!!!!!!!!!!!
Shrink wrap it, 1 pallet half cord. Delivered and dropped where ever a forklift could drop it, you know those kind that they put on the back of the trucks. HHhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmm

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Why get fancy with a SpyderLoader. If ya got a skidder, just tow it around.

Make a pallet the size of a face cord that can be reused, then all ya gotta do is run it up to the clients house.


Maybe use a Prentice loader instead

 

[xander9727]

One of my employees has delusions of granduer! I give him all of the wood from the jobs. All I've heard about all summer is how much money he is going to make this winter. I've done the math and unless you have a large (6 way) splitter or wood processor, a front end loader (skid steer, tractor with a bucket) to load with, a dump truck and a high school kid to stack it you don't make much money. My employee has a small hydraulic splitter and an F-150. He spends every weekend (and I mean every weekend)cutting and splitting wood and has a huge mess in his backyard. Even if he has 100 cords and he gets an average of $120 per cord (the average cost in this area) that is only $12000. If you spend 80 days a year splitting, cutting and stacking, and another 20 days loading, driving, delivering and stacking. Working an average of 8 hours for 100 days (40 weekends splitting, 10 for delivering (this average includes the evenings unloading your truck)) that is 800 hours. This averages out to $15 an hour, excluding the price of the equipment, gas, maintenance and wear and tear. To me that is not making money. I know this isn't the case for everyone but my employee is the only situation I have really looked in to and the figures I am giving you are accurate. I have tried to explain to him if he gave up the firewood and worked half the time he is currently investing doing small trimmings and removals on the side at an average of $250 a day (easily achieved) he would make $12500 with less effort, cost, maintainance and aggrevated neighbors. He of course tells me I don't know what I'm talking about and that he will pay cash for his new pickup this January, and who can argue with that. As long as he is happy taking all of the wood and he shows up at 7:30 am and works hard until 4:30 pm I'm happy too.

 

[Newfie]

As long as he is happy....

I think that is the key for a lot of guys who do it part time or for extra cash, is that they find it enjoyable. Hanging in a tree doesn't excite me(I don't care what I'm earning) , but people are different, right. I enjoy cutting and splitting and my boys enjoy stacking, loading or unloading together. Your $15 an hour is about on the mark maybe a little low depending on the region(I'm at $20 an hour after costs).
Lots of fancy equipment makes work faster and easier but costs skyrocket and you are processing 100's of cords a year to pay for the equipment to make it easier. There goes the enjoyment for me.