I good friend of mine said some years ago, with respect to making choices "You can do anything you want, you just can't do everything you want." I'm guessing for most of us that is probably pretty close to true, in which case we make big and little choices every day.
Yesterdays choice, was to post the TW-6 for sale. It was a rather big choice for me, as my wood source to keep it busy did not work out. It gets occasional use, but the SSHD is my splitter of choice for the smaller logs I now routinely get. When I get six to ten larger logs set aside I love to get the TW-6 out, use the log lift, and make quick work of splitting them up. However, in two years there is less than seventy hours run time, and probably 50% or less, if even that much, that is actual splitting time as I use by myself.
I hate to see it go, as it is a big beautiful machine to use. I chose a name brand machine, then picking it over the TW-5 for the long haul, with its bigger, key start, twin Honda, huge hydraulic tank, large separate fuel tank, truly impressive 5" x 24" x 3 1/2" cylinder, dump valve, and respectable speed. Modifying the four-way wedge only a few weeks after getting the splitter was an indescribable improvement for resplitting and single handed use.
The trade off is, selling the TW-6 will let me shift my attention to a larger delivery truck much sooner rather than much later. Delivery up till now has been with a flatbed, which has been a great deal of time and effort hand unloading. And, as my son with a Masters in Business pointed out, the TW-6 isn't making any money, or reducing the work load, if I'm not using it. I countered that I stand to loose I fair amount from what I paid, but he suggested that may not be the best way to look at it.
I'm picturing a bit more noodles in my future. I've been dragging my feet, but I think it's a good choice to move on from, and to something else.
What similar choices have you made?
What's up neighbor.
My kids watch so many things go thru here I had tom teach them they must make a choice. I gave them each a quad and when they say they want something else(a dirt bike, snowblower, tractor) I ask if they are ready to sell their quad and talk thru the options with them, they normally walk away because they are unwilling to give up what they have, your friend is on to something
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If you want to sell it I think your ads can be made better. More search optimization as well as more exposure to a broader market.
I you want help with this PM me and I can help with this.
I will however say your price is good in comparison to the others out there in a 500 mile radius.
I imagine you would hate to see it go as they are impressive machines. The reality of things is just as your son points out it's not making you money. Sentimentality about things doesn't make money when it's on this side of the ledger sheet, only on the other
. I here from guys all the time, "but this was my first..." who cares is it still the best thing for the job at hand. We need to make decisions based on what we know today not yesterday. Specs can positively effect the bottom line or negatively effect it and although they can impress us it's a business decision. What is the equipment doing today, and what is the foreseeable profitability in the near future. If you want to keep it sell it to yourself at whatever loss you have to take and then leave it sit in that sweet little woodshed to look at as they do look sweet.
To me the TW-6 is much like a large saw. For most it's not worth it to keep, to you I think you need to look at other ways avoid selling it. I have a tendency to just start a new business to get equipment/keep equipment. When I ran the numbers and it didn't pay to mow my own lawn with a zero turn I still wanted one so I started a lawn service and did a few lawns and fall cleanups to pay for it. I do the same with splitters, I buy one when I need to split and sell it when I'm done, always keeping resale in the back of my mind when purchasing. This year I did 40 plus cords with 4 splitters and made good money on all of them. They were all the cheap 22 ton husky splitters that everyone knows can split wood lol.
I think you could rent yours out 50-75 times and get all the money your asking for it, you could also offer splitting services, that is as long as these things don't negatively effect your current business model. I find I can make as much processing wood for people as I can selling wood and I don't need a truck to haul the wood only my trailer, quad, splitter. You have lot's of options to work thru if you would like to keep it. You have already done the hard part shelling out the cash for the initial purchase, now it would be nice to find a way to keep it.
Just as with a big saw I don't worry about not having one because if a job comes up where I need one I can buy one for a fair price used and if I couldn't I'd work a portion of the purchase price into the job and buy a new one. Knowing what you know now you can buy another one used down the rd and be right back were you are now, or you can sell this one as it's listed and buy another for cheaper used. You could do that once a yr if you do it right and have a new one paid for in 5-10 years, this is what I do with about everything until I have the one I want for the right price or free.
If you need to use a saw for noodling I have one or two here you can use, just bring the splitter by when you them it up
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Thanks for sharing your current struggles with us. It's easy to get to a place where we believe we are the only ones going through it.
My big example for last year was an aluminum trailer I bought of an auction site(you know the one) and paid way to much(3600 out the door) as I thought it was brand new with shipping damage. That wasn't the case and I ended up spending another 350 on also just spent another 425 on a set of wheels and tires.
Oh well, at least it's hauled a lot of wood, many cars, splitters, my tractor to jobs, lumber and whatnot. I could have done better, but it's still rolling and when I want to sell it or trade it I will get something back. At the end of the day It was a great decision at the time knowing what I knew, knowing what I know now I would approach it a lot differently
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Please see my signature for a couple of my sayings on these choices.
