Starting to sell firewood, advice?

[PB]

I am going to start a small firewood business to supplement my lousy stipend this year, and was wondering if there are any tips that I should know about from the professionals. Any practices I should avoid, should use? I am looking for some wisdom on the business side, not so much the mechanics of it all. Thanks in advance.

 

[windthrown]

Well, the price of firewood here is going up and going up fast. About pace with gas. Here by state law you have to sell cordwood by the unit volume of a full cord; 4 x 4 x 8 = 128 cu ft., or fractions thereof. No face cords or ricks. I dunno about Maine. But check the state laws frist.

Also check the local prices of what other people are getting for types of wood, delivered and undelivered. I would start out by charging 10% less and once your sales are up ease up on price to the going rate.

 

[JackD_ME]

Selling green won't keep you any customers but be sure to put on the receipts that it is GREEN!(if it is) Receipts are mandatory in Maine!
If you can find tree length seasoned wood or buy it, grab all you can now. I can't find any!
I came home the other day and had a truck backed up to my personal firewood pile so keep it out of sight or locked up. (he got a free ride in the cruiser)

Where in Maine are ya? This is a big place!

 

[STLfirewood]

Craigslist works pretty good for selling firewood, and it's free to use.

A hand tossed cord takes up 180 to 190 cubic feet.(Vs. 128 cu ft. stacked)

.[/QUOTE

I have heard this before but I can't get that many cubic feet to stack out a cord. I have to figure it at 225 cubic feet to make it work. That is stacking 3 ranks 4x8x16" and I know that equals a cord. Another way I can get close is by counting the pieces. The way split 325-345 is a really good rank of wood. I can throw that many on and know it will stack out when I get to the customers house.

Scott

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

A mistake I see more on the mechanical end is excessive wood handling.
This one buddy of mine runs a landscape supply center, and by the time the wood gets to the customer I bet it gets handled 10 times.
It seems like common sense, but I see it a lot with the firewood guys. The wood gets moved from the jobsite to the yard, then it gets moved around the yard a time or two, it gets split and then moved again, it might get stacked, then some time later, loaded and dumped, then stacked again.
Each time it gets moved, it's like flushing money down the drain.

 

[PB]

Thanks for all the help guys. The going rate for seasoned hardwood is about $130-150/cord. I will be selling it in PA, that is where the woodlot is and I have the summer off (I am currently in Old Town, Maine).

I don't want to sell green firewood unless I have too, I have a couple hundred cords of seasoned firewood that if I don't sell will rot and be useless. I agree with the drop it off, I don't want to spend all afternoon restacking wood.

I have a feeling that most people will want to pick up there own firewood, is there an advantage to selling it by the pickup load (if the law allows)? I know this could get hairy with all the different size pickups out there but if it were standardized could it be beneficial, as to those who can't take a full cord at a time? Thanks again.

 

[rb_in_va]

Buy Motrin in bulk.

 

[windthrown]

100 cords in PA... where in PA? Not that I wanna come by and help myself. Just curious as to which cities you are near to, as you think that self-loading sales are more probable. Also there is a seasonal issue in selling firewood. Less interest in spring and early to mid summer. More interest in late summer, lots in early fall. Serious demand here in late fall, after people start to panic.

PU truck sales can be weird. Stacking loosely or tightly can mean up to 2 times the wood in the bed. I fill our 3/4 ton with tractor buckets up in the woods and 'fill' it up. By the time I stack it, it is never the same size twice.

 

[PB]

100 cords in PA... where in PA? Not that I wanna come by and help myself. Just curious as to which cities you are near to, as you think that self-loading sales are more probable. Also there is a seasonal issue in selling firewood. Less interest in spring and early to mid summer. More interest in late summer, lots in early fall. Serious demand here in late fall, after people start to panic.

PU truck sales can be weird. Stacking loosely or tightly can mean up to 2 times the wood in the bed. I fill our 3/4 ton with tractor buckets up in the woods and 'fill' it up. By the time I stack it, it is never the same size twice.

Near Erie, about 20 miles east near the NY border. I don't think a lot of people would want to pay a delivery charge when the minimum distance will probably be 20-25 miles, but not sure. I want to get as much ready for sale by late August as possible. Have about 10 cords ready now, but up here in Maine, don't think it would be very efficient having my dad doing the business back home. I can process about 3-4 cords a day, this includes cutting splitting and stacking, and someone pulling the logs out for me.

I thought about selling a level 8 foot bed for around 50-60, and a level 6 foot for about 40. Get about 1/2 cord in a full size truck right? Maybe a little less, and most people won't have a 3/4 ton, and won't want to overload their truck.

 

[windthrown]

We have overload springs on the 3/4 ton PU and can haul over a ton in it. I can get from 1/2 to 3/4 of a cord in there easy. I used to do the same with a Dodge Powerwagon. That thing was huge though, with a monster size engine. My half ton Toyota can get about a half cord max, filled like a muffin in the 6 ft bed.

Erie is a big enough town that you should do a good business. Really cold up there too, so lots of heating required. Also good advice about Craigslist. Start an ad there in early summer and let it run all summer. That way people will see it and see it again, and then after a while they will start thinking about it more, and maybe write the number down. By the time they need wood, the light bulb will go off in their head, or they will find the number on a piece of scrap paper and call you. Or someone will ask someone else, and they will remeber your Craigslist ad. Also notes on the local bulletin boards at the grocery stores, and ads in the local weekly papers work as well.

With the price of firewood here at about $200 a cord this year, I may start selling our surplus fir, madrone and oak this fall too. Size can be an issue though. I cut our firewood in 18 to 24 inch lengths, becasue we have an OWB that can take long unsplit logs up to a foot wide and 3 ft long. But the indoor stove people need 12 inch split firewood. There is a mill here that shut down a few years ago, but a few guys operate a commercial firewood processing plant out of it now. They buy log end cuts from a nearby mill and slice and split them into bins, and package them in plastic. They supply firewood to grocery stores and the like. But it is all fir... I can sell doug fir for 1/2 to 3/4 the price of oak and madrone. But we have maybe 30 cords of fir stached up around here from thinning this fall.

 

[Dok]

I would think the best way to sell pickup loads is to have the wood stacked in 1/4 or 1/3 cord stacks. The buyer has to take the entire amount, their problem. This way you and the buyer know exactly what you are getting. I know some places around here that will sell you a "pickup load", you load it from a pile. Seller and buyer have no idea how much wood was purchased. The price is usually on the high side to protect the seller.
Dok

 

[Mkarlson]

I thought about selling a level 8 foot bed for around 50-60, and a level 6 foot for about 40. Get about 1/2 cord in a full size truck right? Maybe a little less, and most people won't have a 3/4 ton, and won't want to overload their truck.

South of me there are a few Amish settlements. The guy who runs the saw mill has all the slab wood for sale. He cuts alot of it into short lenths for selling to campers and such. He will help you back up to the pile and for $25 (3 years ago) will tell you to fill up your vehicle and make sure not to short yourself! Talk about seeing some overloaded vehicles. If a buck is involved you'll be amazed at how much a person can stuff into that bed and not think twice about the weight.

 

[sawinredneck]

UHHHHGGGG

Cut it split it stack it in the summer, don't jack with it in the winter other than loading trucks up. Get with tree services, have them dump at you're lot, most are happy to have a place to get rid of it. Advertise carefully, and choose you're customers, yes, you can do that. Don't advertise more than you have to sell, or can get. Don't over extend you're self, proccessors are nice, but if you get free wood from tre services, they are pretty worthless.
There's more, I am just to sick, and VERY tired to think of it right now.

 

[PB]

Thanks again for all of you help and advice. I will talk to a few tree services and also the township, to see if i could pick some up. I have a lot of laying timber that needs to get cut and split first. That should take up most of the summer. I have a lot to think about and get things squared away.

Sawinredneck, I hope you feel better.

 

[Sprig]

Sell dry and honest. If other, state so. Handle the stuff as little as possible, add 20-25 fer staking it, but make sure you know where it is going to go first (ie. backin' to the shed is good, two flights of stairs in a basement is not).
All I have ta say as this topic has been pretty much flooged ta death already, try 'Search' and you shall find mon! Good luck on your endeavors, but the best advice is to keep yourself honest, give slightly more then there is never a question, smile alot and stay happy, keep yer feet warm and hands dry!



Serge

 

[CRThomas]

Size of firewood

Thanks for all the help guys. The going rate for seasoned hardwood is about $130-150/cord. I will be selling it in PA, that is where the woodlot is and I have the summer off (I am currently in Old Town, Maine).

I don't want to sell green firewood unless I have too, I have a couple hundred cords of seasoned firewood that if I don't sell will rot and be useless. I agree with the drop it off, I don't want to spend all afternoon restacking wood.

I have a feeling that most people will want to pick up there own firewood, is there an advantage to selling it by the pickup load (if the law allows)? I know this could get hairy with all the different size pickups out there but if it were standardized could it be beneficial, as to those who can't take a full cord at a time? Thanks again.

I sell bag firewood customers ask me if it is rank.
I say no it is a 4ft x 4ft x 54 inches firewood tossed in the bags $45.00 dollars. Later