Opinions on firewood holders with delivery

[Walt41]

My semidire financial situation dictates that I have to get serious about my firewood sales, so we are cutting now for next fall.
What I need opinions on is an idea my son came up with. We already make ric holders out of 2x6 scraps and put wheels on them. His idea was to deliver the wood already in the holder and charge a deposit on it, the holder could be painted neatly with PH# etc and delivery could take five minutes, because I have access to a lift gate truck. Having the wood on wheels would make it easy for everyone and it would serve as a giant business card at reorder time. We could then just swap out an empty for a full one. Opinions please!

 

[Streblerm]

Sounds like a great idea! It keeps your name in front of the customer, and it saves two handlings of the wood.

The deposit would have to cover the cost of the rack, and then some. I would think you could easily get $40 into some heavy casters. The cheap ones probably wouldn't hold up. If they are going to roll on gravel or grass then inflatable ones would probably be the ticket.

I really like the idea, I may just have to build one or two myself.

 

[FJH]

Awesome Idea As long as you think you have enough customers set up to take wood in this fashion.

 

[Walt41]

Thanks for the feedback, JR just told me that he is going to paint a line on them at the level they need to call for more wood, mabye a foot from the bottom.

 

[blackdiesel]

Some people might not be able to afford the 40-60 dollar (whatever you decide) deposit. Ive sold to some people that barely scraped up enough for the wood by itself. also if you cant unload it on a concrete slab or paved driveway it might get into more work than its worth. Good luck! Try it and let us know how it works out

 

[Walt41]

Some people might not be able to afford the 40-60 dollar (whatever you decide) deposit. Ive sold to some people that barely scraped up enough for the wood by itself. also if you cant unload it on a concrete slab or paved driveway it might get into more work than its worth. Good luck! Try it and let us know how it works out

Good points but, in the past, I did mostly garage deliverys and I am only going to be selling perfect oak and maple, I am also going to be the highest priced guy, it allows for situational adjustment. If I get a tight delivery, I might strap that sucker to my 6'8" brother and bait em with a cheesburger(hope he does not read this!)

 

[jcappe]

Good points but, in the past, I did mostly garage deliverys and I am only going to be selling perfect oak and maple, I am also going to be the highest priced guy, it allows for situational adjustment. If I get a tight delivery, I might strap that sucker to my 6'8" brother and bait em with a cheesburger(hope he does not read this!)

At 6'8" I hope for your sake he doesn't read this as well!

I like your idea. In the case they don't want the holder you can adjust accordingly.

 

[Walt41]

My thought on throwing in the deposit fee is, if I get a tough negotiator, I can bargain off the fee and not touch my actual wood price.

 

[blackdiesel]

seasoned oak will still weigh around 1200 -1300 lbs i would believe. thats alot of weight on something that will only be around 16-20 inches wide. hope she dont tip over!

 

[Walt41]

seasoned oak will still weigh around 1200 -1300 lbs i would believe. thats alot of weight on something that will only be around 16-20 inches wide. hope she dont tip over!

I'm only going four feet high by eight long, you are right, it is heavy. I've picked them up with my bucket and felt the rear tires unload quite a bit, I am always amazed how much wood weighs. Mabye that is why I hustle out of the way of falling ones rather than wait for the chair.

 

[howellhandmade]

seasoned oak will still weigh around 1200 -1300 lbs i would believe. thats alot of weight on something that will only be around 16-20 inches wide. hope she dont tip over!

My thought exactly, especially with casters. You don't want the liability of a kid climbing the stack and tipping it over on him/herself. Maybe if there were some sort of way to chock it up on short outriggers so it couldn't move or tip. It could be an optional service, especially for places with easy access and a dead secure way to fasten it, but 1200# on wheels isn't the sort of thing you can just walk away from.

Jack

 

[themaddhatter]

You know I was thinking somewhat along these lines, but a little more automated.

Was thinking along the lines of the self-loading offroad forklift which mounts on the back of semis and flatbeds used by construction yards to deliver bundles of wood and sheetrock.

If you built an 8' long rick out of box steel, you could have them lined up on the width of a flatbed (like an IH, military M35A2, or other large flatbed). Could even pull a flatbed trailer with more ricks loaded on it. Slide out the loaded rick with the loaded rick, drop the rick at the site, slide the empty rick back on the flatbed, and load the forklift back on the back.

If you build the ricks to standardized specs, you could easily have it lock down to the flatbed with tabs/hooks/whatever. I liken it to a "PODS" concept for wood delivery and handling.

Some people may say that it is a waste of the functionality of a flatbed. I don't look at it that way. When you are out cutting & splitting wood, you can load it right onto the ricks to dry out, and then you have only handled that rick of wood one time by hand. All other times are automated (unload wet wood rick at yard to dry, leave out for 1-2 seasons, load back on truck, then drop at end user). If you think about how many times you put hands on a piece of wood from a vertical tree to at someone's home, it is a lot (and it is inefficient).

If they pay the first deposit on a rick (say $100 for a metal rick), then there is never another fee, as you go there, change out the ricks (negate each other), and they have nothing to stack on their end. Around here people already pay extra for stacking wood. If you get them over the initial rick rental fee, and you sell the whole concept of them not having to restack wood so long as you can drive the forktruck in to deliver, it is a great sales tool. All the ricks can be painted, numbered for tracking, and have some company info & number on it (or even some cool "Another Rental Rick from Rick's Rentals" or such)

Damn, I should do that. :monkey:

 

[sthomas77]

If you are going to rent it to them, you should have them sign some sort of waiver. If it somehow does any damage, bodily or otherwise, you could be in deep doo. I would make sure your insurance covers ya. I imagine if you are selling it, you'd be covered better. I think its a great idea! Good luck!

Sean

 

[Walt41]

I will say that some of our early versions of the " ric-rac " were unstable however JRs latest version has legs 32" apart and is very stable, he has also added a kindling holder and locking casters, he is at his other job till 1am but sometime soon it should be done and I will post a pic for all to tear apart, which is what I want, I appreciate each and every thought to getting toward the eventuality of a safe and useable rack. Now if I can only get Stihl to bite on that lanyard safety system of mine.... But that is another story

 

[JAL]

Try using wire baskets (see picture) that have folding sides. You did say that you had a lift gate and all you would need is a hand pallet jack for pickup and delivery. The one in the picture is 48"x 48"x 36" and costs $50.00.
Simple...
View attachment 120997

 

[avalancher]

I dont know about where you live, but you might want to consider one thing.The minute you print business cards, make a rack with your name and number on it, etc you have just driven a line between a guy making a buck and a full fledged business.Although Im a licensed tree service, I dont declare income from firewood. Applicable sales tax, income tax,license fees, osha requirements,and bookkeeping will make a serious dent.The only way to make money in selling firewood is two ways.Keep it small and sell to an established client base that know you and you know them,or go for it big time with a processor,skid steer, and a few grunts to help.
I know that pretty quick someone is going to come along and disagree,and thats okay,but in my experience I have found that I am better off known only as "that guy who sells wood" rather than a full fledged business.All it takes is one crabby jerk to report you and you are in for world of hurt when it comes to an audit.
Just something to think about.

 

[Walt41]

Avalancher makes an excellent point, flying under the radar of the tax and risk is probably the only safe way, if there is a safe way to do business anymore.

 

[TFPace]

Walt,

There is a guy here in NC that has a system that is slick but the cash outlay would be pricey to say the least...

The baskets that have been described in this thread are what he uses to store his product. The use a truck with a mounty type lift truck on the rear and the route guy makes deliveries just a lumber/brick truck would.

The area this guy serves is the RTP area the middle of NC. I am guessing his client base is above the average and a deposit for the basket/grate would not be an issue for most people in this market.

Likewise a large population is a big factor too. From what I remember the basket is the container for the wood as it exits the splitter. He never handles the wood once it's split. Once you figure how many cords/ricks you'll turn in a season you'll have an idea as to the number of baskets. This could big a big investment too.This guy has all of his wood under cover to cure also.

I'll see some folks over the weekend and see if I can find out who/where this operation is in NC.

Tom

 

[Walt41]

Tom has it right, I'm looking to be as efficient as possible, at the house where I do my wooding, currently my wood slides from the splitting table to a waiting wheelbarrow then right up a ramp to where I need it. Ideally I'd like to go from splitting table to rolling container to inside storage. I have a two car garage that could be filled to capacity and ready for delivery, a basket system might allow for stacking but, I cannot drive my tractor inside to lift them. I'll probably just end up filling the garage to the rafters and pick it as needed, this is what I have done in the past, I am just always looking for ways to handle each piece less.

 

[Dalmatian90]

"Semi-dire" might not be compatible, but I'd look for a used mason dump / dump trailer / dump insert if you're looking to minimize handling.

Extra fee for stacking after you dump

I agree with some of the posters above -- rolling containers with your name on them is just inviting a whole lot more attention then you want.

Another option if you have customers who want "convenience" fire wood is stacking 4' high on a pallet and wrapping with the roll of plastic they use for shipping stuff. Easy enough to roll on hard surfaces with a pallet jack to roll into someone's garage, they won't tip, and the wrapping keeps the wood from suddenly falling over. Of course, then some kid will put the plastic of his face, suffocate, and you'll get sued anyway