There's no money in selling firewood

[KMB]

Exactly my thought, kinda puts my 10 cord stacks to shame. Very impressive. Must be able to get good prices for it rather than the measily $150-200 we get around here.

I'd be curious how you cure and measure it for sale, up in Minnesota do you stack it and let it dry for a year then measure cords out of the stack?

In New York, where its just piled up how do you delineate a cord or do you simply sell it by the truckload?

10 cord stacks would work for me. I'd like to have 2-3 cords for myself and 2-3 cords for my mom-in-law ready for the next burning season. Plus, I should be able to squeeze 6 extra cords into my yard to sell for the next burning season. I'd like to at least get the splitting done by the time the "suthern" heat arrives. Mission impossible...we'll see.

Around here, from $150 and up is about the going rate on what folks are asking for a seasoned cord, split and delivered. What folks around here say is a "cord" and "seasoned" is a different story.

Kevin

 

[Taxmantoo]

What folks around here say is a "cord" and "seasoned" is a different story.

Kevin

Like when there's a 'seasoned cord' on a pickup truck with a warm saw on top?

 

[themaddhatter]

Hey Curly,

Where in MN is that operation?

Does he have any "scrap" he would like to get rid of?

Everything burns in the OWB :monkey:

 

[Curlycherry1]

Hey Curly,
Where in MN is that operation?
Does he have any "scrap" he would like to get rid of?
Everything burns in the OWB :monkey:

That operation is in CNY, North of Syracuse. And no there are no scraps. What do you think he heats that ~6000 sq ft house with? If you guessed OWB you would be correct.

 

[KMB]

Like when there's a 'seasoned cord' on a pickup truck with a warm saw on top?

LOL, yep.

Kevin

 

[A. Stanton]

Dham,
You forgot to put in the rant on equipment costs: the old nail or clothesline hook that you can always find in a yard tree.

 

[sawinredneck]

Reading this brings a couple of things to my mind.
I've had more than one customer show up in a Ranger or S10 pickup, I couldn't ever SAFELY put a full rick in the bed of one, they had to make two trips.

I also cannot SAFELY put two rick in the bed of a pickup, long or short bed, I've gotten close but I was damn glad I didn't have to drive it home!
The way I sell it, 18-20" lengths, three rick makes a cord so any more than one I take the trailer.
Now thinking about this from my perspective, anybody that shows up with a "cord" of wood in a "pickup", unless it's NEATLY stacked higher than the top of the cab, might just be shorting you on wood?

 

[Ohiowoodguy]

The way I sell it, 18-20" lengths, three rick makes a cord

This would be 4'x8'x5', or 32 cubic feet more than a 128 cubic foot cord. 3 4x8 "ricks" of 16" length wood would be a cord. No?

 

[sawinredneck]

A half cord tossed in my 3/4 ton 4x4 Dodge full sized bed makes a slightly mounded pile slightly above the rails at the edge and about one foot above the rails in the middle. It piles up a little more against the pallet that protects the back window.

Thank you Dan, kind of makes my point.

This would be 4'x8'x5', or 32 cubic feet more than a 128 cubic foot cord. 3 4x8 "ricks" of 16" length wood would be a cord. No?

Yes, problem being most people can't burn 24" wood and 16" wood people tend to scoff at. They get a better deal on the cord, but most only want a rick or two (face cord). But I'd rather give them more, than rip them off. happy customers are repeat customers! Really around here, I might sell three full cord a year, most just come back and buy what they need as they need it.
A lot of guys around here sell two rick, 18" wood. as a cord, I don't care to practice that way myself.

 

[treeman82]

Around me the wood sell for anywhere between $175 and $250 per cord early in the season. Everybody sells out by December. I've got over $300 per cord in February. My fear if I started selling wood, is that I'd want EVERYTHING. So the job I just did where the wood could stay, odds are I'd be in there for an extra day or so pulling out wood... or other jobs I've done in the past where they said I could take the wood if I want... it's all in nasty spots, but there's a lot of it. Odds are I'd be all over it for days on end.

 

[aokpops]

just kept stock piling . just look at what the saving are every year .not many would pay what it is worth . just saying . got about 10 years of wood . would anyone pay 10000 or 20000 for the pile nope screw um kept it an save that much. they can.t tax it well maybe .always get weird looks someone ask. hey you have lot of wood can I have a truck load . nope did not see you helping in way sorry. hey go to the woods an get off the meds

 

[milkie62]

Like some of the guys have said,you either have to go big or stay home when it comes to selling firewood.I have a unique situation that gives me play money for tools,snowmobiling,or hunting equipment.
#1 I have right around 100 acres with a little over 55 wooded
#2 The town drops off all kinds of wood since they are not allowed to drop it at the dump anymore
#3 I have a splitter anyways for my woodstove and furnace
#4 I have a late model F250 for hauling the sled trailer and for snowplowing
#5 I also have a 7x12 dump trailer that I use for landscaping that will carry 2 cord if need be.
#6 I have big chainsaws because I play in my woods
#7 I have a couple of tractors for maintaining my property

What ever good hardwood the town drops off I throw into the selling pile.The junk I burn in my outdoor furnace.I get $180/cord for unseasoned hardwood.I try to cut alot and split it during the winter and just store it covered and sell it for $240/cord kinda like great interest on my money to let it sit for 6 - 8 months.

I have all the equipment anyways so it is nice money for me that wifey does not touch.......

 

[injun joe]

actually we burn wood for ourselves and when i started firewood biz i had most but not all and as we sold more we saved got more saws more trucks better equip. and so on and so forth but i will have to admit if your cheap dont do it like me you would have heartattack. but after everything has paid for itself then the real money starts. the small firewood biz i run is not big by any means but each year i have increased the # of cords sold by 10. my uncle had some great words of advice you have to spend money to make money and that is so true and i continue to do this and it judt keeps on getting more fun and more effficient.

 

[Henry G.]

i just do it because i have plenty of wood,i burn as well,it relaxes me,it pisses the neighbors off,it's an excuse to buy more equipment,

Well said.
I just get what I can, burn all I want, give friends some and bring lots out camping to share with my buddies, and sell the good stuff for cash to neighbors and some friends.
An aquiantance/neighbor drove by the other day while I was working, asked how much a half cord? $120. How much for a whole cord? $240. I told him I barely make anything on the half cord why would I do double the work to make even less when I have way more customers than wood. He asked last year too, never bought any, I hate these cheap skates "friends" who want deals, if they were really a friend they would pay extra. I prefer to make customers that become friends, than friends that become customers.
And I like everyone driving by seeing the giant wood pile on my property! :greenchainsaw:

 

[jasult]

I have the neighbors, I have my freinds, I have my work freinds. I have my relatives. They all ask me for FREE WOOD.

MY ANSWER is we can do this one of two ways.
I can sell them wood and deliver it too them
or they can come down to my yard and donate a 8 hour hard days work for free when we are splitting and they can take all they want that season.

MOST OF THEM RUN AWAY and never ask me again

 

[CLEARVIEW TREE]

THATS RIGHT, PRETTY MUCH WHAT I TELL THEM! Amazing how mny people think, it's just wood and its free???? later

 

[Walt41]

People will ask for anything they can get, over the summer we bought two semis of evergreens for our landscaping end of things, we had at least three people stop and ask for free trees, because we had so many...

 

[IcePick]

Of course there's no money in the business. I have a log splitter and split wood I get from side jobs, and during the winter I sell and deliver about 3-5 face cords a weekend for 85-90 bucks a pop. All that money goes into my daughters savings account is bout it. I enjoy doing it, and usually pick up jobs as I deliver.


Also, it all depends on HOW you do it. If you can back your pickup up to the pile and load and unload, it makes life a hell of a lot easier and the process less time-consuming.

 

[ropensaddle]

Buy the saw, buy another as backup, repair saw, replace chain and bar, furnish truck to beat the crap outa, repair truck as necessary, gas and oil for truck and saw, buy wedges, mauls, sledges etc etc. Have tractor to drag logs out of the woods. Then furnish a place to stack and store wood while it drys. Then there's the labor, cut the wood, split the wood, haul it in and stack it, and cover it then when dry, load it up, haul it and unload it. Pay for insurance and property taxes. Bear in mind the unemployed guy down the street needs money so he's out cutting and selling firewood, undercutting your prices. Then your supposed to keep track of your sales and pay the state its share of sales taxes and timber taxes. All this and just hope you don't have an accident and get hurt.

I own 20 acres of alder, ash, maple, fir (which I rarely cut), and hemlock right in my backyard. Dry wood around here goes for around $165/cord in the summer to around $200 in the winter. I cut and split (by hand) around 10 cords a year. I sell 4 or 5 cords but I think I'd be better off paying my customers to buy their wood elsewhere.

If I didn't simply like cutting wood and enjoy the exercise (its cheaper than Golds Gym) I wouldn't do it. Unfortunately I'm hard headed. How the heck do you guys make any money cutting and selling firewood???? My hats off to ya.

Denny
'72 Chevy, 4wd 3/4t truck (beater)
stihl 031
stihl 032
Kubota L2900

Lol I started by trying to get our prices up where they need to be. I advertised seasoned oak and hickory 200.00 per cord. Guy advertised two spaces below me 135.00 per cord what gives? I will keep it and burn it myself anyway the price has been 150.00 per cord here for as long as I remember but everytime I deliver a cord I always hear thats twice as much as the last guy! I have thought of ordering a cord from this clown just to see for myself

 

[kentuckyblue]

just being some one looking in because i dont sale firewood i burn it ,oh but i did own a sod company for 13 yrs if i didnt have to deliver the sod i would have made a ton more than i did ,with fuel as high as it is.i bought what the guy called a cord 2500 chevy it was loaded for 150bucks but he brought it to me and he lived 1.5 -2 hrs away and he said he did it everyday his fuel bill must have been out rages ,this is what i would do cut wood all summer and spring cut,split and stack,then find me a place to sit up in a parking lot or something like that then load a trailer or dump truck with wood and let the money come to you sell a load or two and call it a day,that was something i could not do selling sod because home owners dont buy enough so i sold it to contractors when they were still building new homes way back in the day,i could be wrong