jeeptj19992001
Addicted to ArboristSite
yta it's tough, but i like it......
as for mr. fire wood business guy, take small steps, build client base and grow from there....... you can not have it all and now....
kthanksbye
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Small firewood buisness
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yta it's tough, but i like it......
as for mr. fire wood business guy, take small steps, build client base and grow from there....... you can not have it all and now....
kthanksbye
TXTreeSurgeon
ArboristSite Operative
Keeping the costs low, the best way to season wood seems to be under a shed that has no sides so the wind can pass through and with plastic or tarp staked to the ground so that moisture cannot come up through the ground and wet the wood. Some people have suggested putting a layer of gravel on top of that. If you keep the wood where the wind can get to it and the rain/moisture can't, then this will give you the best drying process. Extra airflow and/or heat would speed up the process, but that could get expensive. There is a guy who was talking about a solar kiln that is basically a big metal box that gets really hot inside during the summer and dries the wood out quickly. That might work, but it may take a little investment and building.
I am going the first route. I have a 20x24 pole shed. I will stake heavy duty tarps down on the ground and then drive fence posts in the ground where each 20ft row of wood will go. I will stack the wood against the fence posts to 6 or 8 ft high. I plan to have all the wood split and stacked by early summer so that it will be seasoned by late fall. The hot, dry Texas summer dries it out pretty fast. It may take longer to season the wood in Michigan.
Hope this helps. I hear you on wanting to do the business by yourself. I am the same way. I am slowly building my customer base each year and acquiring better equipment as I go, but if I had the acreage to cut on, I'd be shooting for 200 cords too! Good luck to you.
I am going the first route. I have a 20x24 pole shed. I will stake heavy duty tarps down on the ground and then drive fence posts in the ground where each 20ft row of wood will go. I will stack the wood against the fence posts to 6 or 8 ft high. I plan to have all the wood split and stacked by early summer so that it will be seasoned by late fall. The hot, dry Texas summer dries it out pretty fast. It may take longer to season the wood in Michigan.
Hope this helps. I hear you on wanting to do the business by yourself. I am the same way. I am slowly building my customer base each year and acquiring better equipment as I go, but if I had the acreage to cut on, I'd be shooting for 200 cords too! Good luck to you.
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Some of my wood is in a dirt floor carport kind of shed, some is outside uncovered. All of it is raised off the ground. In the shed half of it is on treated 2 x 4's on edge cleated on top with 14" spreaders. The air gets under it and when one row is used up the rack is hung on the wall out of the way making easy access to the next row. The other half is on some recycled privacy fencing made of 1 x 8 pine boards staggered on both sides of 2 x 4s. There are treated sleepers under that to level it and keep it from rotting. It would seem even though a gravel base is porous, it would also retain and wick moisture, similar to concrete. Tarps on the ground would act as a vapor barrier, but used full size could pool rain water and snow, and be a trip hazard when accessing the wood as each row is used. To aide drying I also flitch (flat) split most everything, keep it small, and stack with 6" between rows for additional air flow. Inside drying time is one year for oak, outside is two.
clinchscavalry
ArboristSite Operative
I've been cutting, splitting and loading today and was thinking about average production for one man by himself, so this thread is interesting from that standpoint. I worked about seven hours today, after a late start, and about half that time a friend came over with his saws and splitter. We had two saws going, two splitters, and my tractor with grapple. The wood was piled up at a log deck and left by the loggers last summer when it got too wet to work. I picked through the pile with the grapple, culling the sweetgum and using only the oak and a few black cherry logs. In other words, no felling and only minimal limbing was involved. I would guess that day in and day out, in cooler weather, and at our ages (mid to late fifties) we could produce one cord per man per day and still be able to function the next day. I'm not saying I couldn't do 2 cords in a long day, but the next day I'd be living on Aleve :messed:
Other than a good saw and a log splitter, the best thing since sliced bread, for me anyway, is the tractor grapple. It gathers downed trees, holds them up for cutting thus saving my back and keeping the saw out of the dirt and from getting pinched. I can bring the wood right up beside the splitter without having to tow it out through the bushes which also saves time.
Anyway, here are some pictures of today's job not long after I got started by myself. 200 cords in 28 weekends would mean about 3 cords per day. I think it would be possible only with a mess of very expensive equipment. Even then, it would be a daylight to dark job with no time off. I know I couldn't do it.
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Other than a good saw and a log splitter, the best thing since sliced bread, for me anyway, is the tractor grapple. It gathers downed trees, holds them up for cutting thus saving my back and keeping the saw out of the dirt and from getting pinched. I can bring the wood right up beside the splitter without having to tow it out through the bushes which also saves time.
Anyway, here are some pictures of today's job not long after I got started by myself. 200 cords in 28 weekends would mean about 3 cords per day. I think it would be possible only with a mess of very expensive equipment. Even then, it would be a daylight to dark job with no time off. I know I couldn't do it.
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Extreme Heat
ArboristSite Lurker
Small Firewood Business
Definitely a bigger Saw, then you'll find out that your splitter won't split enough or fast enough, then you'll beat the crap out of your pickup or break springs, blow tires on your trailer and you'll start getting more and more orders if your service is good and you have a knack for gabbing, people love to talk to you when your delivering...and it's just more personable, ok back to it...so you get the big saw that will not kill your back, you make way more than your splitter can keep up with...so you buy the 35 ton, then you need to get a bigger pickup cause the new dump trailer is bigger and can hold more than your current pick up can handle....OMG, it's a viscous cycle....just remember one thing the less you touch this stuff the more money you will make...bottom line!
Good luck to you! this is how i started!
Once you get hooked there's no looking back!
Definitely a bigger Saw, then you'll find out that your splitter won't split enough or fast enough, then you'll beat the crap out of your pickup or break springs, blow tires on your trailer and you'll start getting more and more orders if your service is good and you have a knack for gabbing, people love to talk to you when your delivering...and it's just more personable, ok back to it...so you get the big saw that will not kill your back, you make way more than your splitter can keep up with...so you buy the 35 ton, then you need to get a bigger pickup cause the new dump trailer is bigger and can hold more than your current pick up can handle....OMG, it's a viscous cycle....just remember one thing the less you touch this stuff the more money you will make...bottom line!
Good luck to you! this is how i started!
Once you get hooked there's no looking back!
I agree with you! Around here I figure that I could get a truck, cut a cord, haul it back, dump it, split it, reload it (no tractor:weep
, and deliver it. I could possibly do two, but that would be a LONG day.The current method is to cut and block in the woods, drop the blocks in the yard and split when time allows. load and deliver when needed. Alternative is that I get a few tandem loads of logs delivered, easier and faster to process.
With a couple of guys helping last year I moved 200 cords.
My suggestions??
Give it time. Build upon it gradually. The splitters could sprout larger pumps and motors when things wear out. I don't think I would even try with the 025's Get a serious saw. later on, get another one.
Chomper would be nice, but when $$ are available. Send one my way.
a 1 ton dump truck is really nice.
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fearofpavement
Trying them all
Clinch, where in middle Georgia are you? I'm in Pike County.
clinchscavalry
ArboristSite Operative
Jeffersonville, right between Macon and Dublin.
Actually, the geographic center of GA is about two miles from my house.
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dumbarky
ArboristSite Operative
Yes you can, but beware
To the OP, yes you can do it. However you need to understand you will have to work every weekend, for at least 8 hrs per/day and produce 1 cord of wood every 2.24 hrs. This is possible but highly unlikely in the time frame you have set. If you have complete control of the property in question and can cut split and stack the wood in place. Without having to put more time and effort in moving the wood around this will help. As far as drying the wood how much time and money do you want to invest in this. The more overhead you incur the least profitable this will be. Try not to invest more money and time in this project than needed unless your going to go pro. Now you could improve your drying time by stacking your wood on pallets and semi covering the wood with tarps or plastic to help drying time. Letting the sun and wind do most of the work. But again with the overhead expenses. I am not sure on the pine thing. Most people here don't burn pine in OWB's but it can be done. I have burned Pine but prefer hardwoods. Now as far as the equipment goes what you have will get you started. However you will need a larger saw to fell and buck with on a regular basis. Now get started and see if this is something you really want to get really hooked up with or at what level of production your comfortable with. Might what to get you a good dog cause it going to get old being by yourself. I have been right where you are and its a long hard road. Worked like that from 1991-2008. Every weekend and sometimes after work during the week. From late October thru early April. Then we start in the hay season (family tradition). I cut mostly on my own land. Best I ever did was 65-70 cords a year. I would cut and stack it up ahead and haul as needed. I'll be 40 if I live another month. I have kids and other duties now. Still cut 15+ cords now, for me (OWB). Like I said you can do it but it won't be easy. Like some of the other guys said I could cut, split and haul up to 2 cords a day alone (daylight till dark) but pay a heavy price for it (lots of ibuprofen). I am in pretty good shape but can't do it every weekend anymore. I don't have the mind set to do it now. You really have to enjoy the snot out of it. My priorities have changed. Now I cut when it's pretty out and stack everything next to the furnace. Kids help me out a lot. Son runs the splitter thinks it fun. I think its better than whacking brains out with a maul. Just becareful that you don't get in over your head and then realize this isn't your life. If you wind up with a lot invested that could be a hard lesson. Good luck and becareful.
To the OP, yes you can do it. However you need to understand you will have to work every weekend, for at least 8 hrs per/day and produce 1 cord of wood every 2.24 hrs. This is possible but highly unlikely in the time frame you have set. If you have complete control of the property in question and can cut split and stack the wood in place. Without having to put more time and effort in moving the wood around this will help. As far as drying the wood how much time and money do you want to invest in this. The more overhead you incur the least profitable this will be. Try not to invest more money and time in this project than needed unless your going to go pro. Now you could improve your drying time by stacking your wood on pallets and semi covering the wood with tarps or plastic to help drying time. Letting the sun and wind do most of the work. But again with the overhead expenses. I am not sure on the pine thing. Most people here don't burn pine in OWB's but it can be done. I have burned Pine but prefer hardwoods. Now as far as the equipment goes what you have will get you started. However you will need a larger saw to fell and buck with on a regular basis. Now get started and see if this is something you really want to get really hooked up with or at what level of production your comfortable with. Might what to get you a good dog cause it going to get old being by yourself. I have been right where you are and its a long hard road. Worked like that from 1991-2008. Every weekend and sometimes after work during the week. From late October thru early April. Then we start in the hay season (family tradition). I cut mostly on my own land. Best I ever did was 65-70 cords a year. I would cut and stack it up ahead and haul as needed. I'll be 40 if I live another month. I have kids and other duties now. Still cut 15+ cords now, for me (OWB). Like I said you can do it but it won't be easy. Like some of the other guys said I could cut, split and haul up to 2 cords a day alone (daylight till dark) but pay a heavy price for it (lots of ibuprofen). I am in pretty good shape but can't do it every weekend anymore. I don't have the mind set to do it now. You really have to enjoy the snot out of it. My priorities have changed. Now I cut when it's pretty out and stack everything next to the furnace. Kids help me out a lot. Son runs the splitter thinks it fun. I think its better than whacking brains out with a maul. Just becareful that you don't get in over your head and then realize this isn't your life. If you wind up with a lot invested that could be a hard lesson. Good luck and becareful.
That 125.00/cord, thats gotta be for a face cord? Right? Nobody sells a full cord of split dry wood for 125.00 anymore do they?
indiansprings
Firewood Purveyor
Come on down to SW Missouri, 35.00 a face cord delivered, lots of people doing it.
40.00 is tops, this is for good two year old seasoned oak. Our family business sold 375 cord last year at that price and have sold a load if it this year at that price.
But to be fair we get our tree tops for free.
40.00 is tops, this is for good two year old seasoned oak. Our family business sold 375 cord last year at that price and have sold a load if it this year at that price.
But to be fair we get our tree tops for free.
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