Kindlin wood for sale?????

[mayor]

I read the thread about the hickory chips for sale in the local stores and I've been playin with an idea for some extra money here also.....havent done anything with it yet though and thought I would get you guys takes on the subject.

Bundled kindling.
We have a few lumber mills around here that I can get huge bundles of kindling wood...all of which is kiln dried, and usually in 8-9' bundles. Now sawing makes square ends which is hard too get started....but if you snap a piece across your knee...it leaves a splintered end which will start easily with a match. This is what we use here at the house.

I have a huge splitter that I was thinking of making a rack for which would break the kindlin sideways......then bundle it up in about 8" wraps and shrinkwrap the bundles endways so the plastic shrink would keep folks from getting splinters at the store. Most of this wood is from paper thin pieces by maybe 1" wide too 1-1/4" X 1" stips...all varies as it is the edges from the boards as they go thru the ripsaws.

Now...if there was a shortage of these strips...I also thought of dead standing oak or sassafrass.......cut them off square....but split them really small!

Lets hear some idears!!!

 

[Husky137]

What can ya sell them for is going to be the real question. I'm sure there is a market but what do you get for your time and labor, a couple of bucks a bundle, tops? Maybe you could get more. I can go down to the feed store and get a box full of kiln dried hardwood trimmings for $4.50, one of those big boxes that they ship bananas in.

I wouldn't sell them broken. The general purchasing public isn't going to understand why you did it and it will just be a safety issue that retailers won't want to deal with.

 

[habanero]

With all the commercial firestarters on the market you're going to have to sell your bundles really cheap to be competitive. I think by the time you'd get down to a competitive price point you wouldn't be getting much for your time and labor.

I agree with Husky that breaking them has bad idea written all over it. I can just imagine the uproar the first time some kid walks by your bundle in the store and gets a splinter in his finger. Even if you wrap them so the store wouldn't be a problem, it would be just about as bad when some idiot reaches his hand into the wrapping to pull out a piece and ends up with a splinter.

 

[Deadman]

This sounds like a tough way to make money.

 

[mayor]

Yep....I'd say your probably right.....I can work one 10 hour shift at work and make more than I could all week bundling firewood! hehehe....Oh well...scratch that idea and go back ta thinkin!

Hmmmmm......side door hinges for wobblearity compensators...........

 

[computeruser]

If someone wanted to sell me a bundle of kiln dried, square-end pieces for a fair rate, it might be worth considering. But I'm not sure that the labor cost of pre-breaking them would translate into a sale price that would appeal to most customers.

This would definitely be something that would appeal to us fireplace burners.

You could also buy these lengths, cut them to 10" and bundle them, and then sell them to the outdoor firepit/chiminea people, too. Dry, easy-to-burn, and short are the three requirements for happy firepit use, and someone who could supply something meeting those requirements would probably have a market with suburban homeowners.

 

[aandabooks]

Just a thought here, how about bundling a decent amount of them with 3 pieces of small/medium split wood and call it a all-in-one couple hours around the firepit in the evening pack. Then your yuppie customers would have enough to get the fire going and the split for just a couple hours of enjoyment.

Matt