Wanting to start selling firewood

[Husqvarnaman92]

Im wanting to start selling this coming winter and am looking for any advice some of you guys might have. I heat with wood so im not new to the wood cutting game i just am not sure on the whole marketing thing and other struggles that come with operating a side business (if you would call it that). As far as equipment i have a 359 husky (ported and polished and moded exhaust) husky 61 with 272ex cylinder kit. A 22 ton huskee splitter and a 12 ft dump trailer. Also have a wd45 allis chalmers to help get the wood out this year

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[lknchoppers]

Where are you located?

 

[Husqvarnaman92]

Northern indiana

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[lknchoppers]

You can use craigslist to advertise. Put in a bunch of pictures of your firewood and target the cities if you are close enough. Look at what other people are charging and if you sell seasoned wood you should be able to get the same or more $$. The wood you sell this fall really should have been already split and soaking up the sun. My advice would be to put up as much split firewood now in a sunny windy spot, get a moisture meter and use it to qualify the firewood you sell. You may be able to get a bunch of ash dry enough to sell for this fall. Your oak will not be ready until next season unless you can get trees that have been down for a few years. If you get Hickory and Cherry that can be good for guys with smokers. Keep a list of all your customers and what they bought so you can be ready for next year, your business should experience steady growth if you do it right. Good Luck

 

[Husqvarnaman92]

Do you deliver or have the customers pick it up. I would rather have them pick it up to save the miles on my vehicles

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[TedyOH]

Also put a face cord out by the road with both pick up price and delivered price, if you deliver make sure you let them know you do not stack.

 

[user 122190]

In my area most deliver. Its older people that buy firewood, and they are not capable of picking up firewood.

Do you deliver or have the customers pick it up. I would rather have them pick it up to save the miles on my vehicles

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[svk]

if you deliver make sure you let them know you do not stack.

Just charge a premium for stacking and many will pay.

 

[lknchoppers]

I have just a few people picking up, it's not my thing, plus people that pickup always want to know how much to fill their truck that I can't see, PIA. I sell in cords or fractions of a cord, nothing else. I offer free delivery so if they pickup the delivery cost is already figured in. I don't really want people popping by while I'm working. I have no signs or wood out front. I almost exclusively deliver, I charge extra for stacking as well. If it's not stacked near the truck more money again. My fees are fair but not cheap. I have a lot of repeat customers and I offer a guarantee, if they are not happy I will pickup the wood and return their money or bring them another load.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

The Wood Boss is pretty right on. I strongly discourage anybody from knowing where I have wood. I charge an extra fee for pickup loads. To have customers pick up wood is lose lose. People come all hours day and night looking for wood and have no problem helping themselves. I had a call from a couple looking to order wood that night at 10:30 PM of course was sleeping. People want to haggle when you start loading their vehicle so it has to be in a container or stacked in my vehicle. I charge up to $50 an hour to stack and receive tips often. I charged one customer $850 to stack a load a few years ago and received a tip. It took close to three days to get the job done and then it seemed that it still was not enough. I can only stack 3 or 4 loads a day and then have to rest a couple of days. Get your business listing in the phone book ASAP because then you will have Google access without any additional cost. Setting up a website is also very important and the cost can be from $5 to $15 a month. There are ways to set up the website so that it includes many surrounding communities without additional cost. You do need to know what your competition is like and be aware of. I use to sell wood to a community that was an hour and half drive and found there were other businesses that were selling for the same price without delivery cost so eliminated that community from my list. Then you need to compare with the company down the street that sells wood for $50 less that what you think you can sell for. Is there wood well cut nicely split and of high quality. Thanks

 

[lknchoppers]

Get to know the other guys selling firewood. It can benefit you.

 

[unclemoustache]

Good advice all around. I don't sell much, but this year I'm going to be selling three different qualities of wood - silver maple for $180/cord, red oak for $280/cord, and mixed hardwood for $250/cord. Extra $20 for stacking, extra fee for distance, etc.

Also, try and get into bundled firewood. I sell silver maple in bundles, and make over $500/cord that way. I split it smaller and pay for bags to stick it in, but it doesn't take long. In fact, my kids do the bundling, and I pay them $1/bundle, and sell them for $4 (to gas stations) or $5 retail. If you're near a campground, try and wiggle your way into that market.

 

[svk]

Good points by the Unc.

Also sometimes people who are extended (month or full season) campers will buy a whole cord and sell portions of it to other campers who don't want to pay the 8-10 bucks a bag from the camp store.

 

[ponyexpress976]

I have quite a few customers that knowingly buy green wood. They'd rather get it cheaper and watch it dry out. That's fine by me as I don't have to touch it 3 extra times. Been doing it for 6 years and I've sold out every year. Each year a little bigger than the last. Haven't advertised on CL in 3 years.

 

[svk]

I have quite a few customers that knowingly buy green wood. They'd rather get it cheaper and watch it dry out. That's fine by me as I don't have to touch it 3 extra times. Been doing it for 6 years and I've sold out every year. Each year a little bigger than the last. Haven't advertised on CL in 3 years.

I'm not in the firewood business but I have friends that will each take a few cords of aspen off my hands every year for their fire pits (which is nice because in the last few years I have been cutting it like crazy as it has been dying on my property). They don't care if its green or seasoned as it will season at their place just like it would at mine.

 

[Brushwacker]

You are probably not to far from me in NW IN about 45mi from the MI border. Lake and Porter counties wood usually maintains a good price, I am a couple counties down and the surrounding area has had a lot of wood down the last few years between storms and land clearing which makes for an abundance of firewood with many selling it cheap. There is little to less then none profit if you are strictly doing firewood. If its a by product of other work its well worth it or some of the easy pickings can be profitable at the lower prices. I lowered my standard prices this year for the first time ever if I remember right. To much wood available at significantly cheaper prices + the cost of propane being down, fairly mild winter ... Gasoline prices down helps a little but cost to keep equipment up working in an outdoor woods enviroment can cost a lot of wood money. My advice is keep investment cost low enough its worth your time. Catering the wood, selling some in smaller amounts for recreation like the bundling or delivering to campsites you probably can charge more for the services. Another thing you might do is check with your human services and see if they need a wood supplier for those who get heating assistance. I did that several years, not a bad deal, and I moved a lot of wood with out all the low ballers competition, but you do sign a contract so if you happen to be the only supplier like I ended up you will need the wood on hand and man power when needed.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

You will work yourself to death cutting with a saw and using a splitter. If you are up for long hours with minimal pay, than by all means. To make decent money with firewood you need to more volume. I average about 10 cords a week (roughly 500 cords a year) in processed wood. Also do bundles and logs too.

Not saying that to pound my chest by any means, but just as an idea. Cutting 10 or 20 cords a year to sell for beer money isn't too bad, though it certainly won't be a business, rather a hobby.

Before you dig in, I'd price shop a bit. I've seen guys on here post about local cord prices being $75-100. I'd be darn tough to break even at those prices unless you get the logs for free or super dirt cheap.

 

[jrider]

You will work yourself to death cutting with a saw and using a splitter. If you are up for long hours with minimal pay, than by all means. To make decent money with firewood you need to more volume. I average about 10 cords a week (roughly 500 cords a year) in processed wood. Also do bundles and logs too.

Not saying that to pound my chest by any means, but just as an idea. Cutting 10 or 20 cords a year to sell for beer money isn't too bad, though it certainly won't be a business, rather a hobby.

Before you dig in, I'd price shop a bit. I've seen guys on here post about local cord prices being $75-100. I'd be darn tough to break even at those prices unless you get the logs for free or super dirt cheap.

What do you consider minimal pay? I cut with a saw and split with a splitter and make out just fine. So many factors go into what you can make in profit from firewood.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

What do you consider minimal pay? I cut with a saw and split with a splitter and make out just fine. So many factors go into what you can make in profit from firewood.

No way I'd meet demand cutting by hand. Even with a processor I get 2+ months backlogged in the fall.

By myself I can have a cord processed and stacked in the truck in about 2-2.5 hours.
Cutting by hand, I'd easily triple-quadruple the labor.

And that's just once the logs are at the shop. Cutting trees by hand, delimbing.... skidding (how?) ), hauling (how?) is another thing too.

Last weekend over 3 days we (2 guys) cut, skidded, and delimbed about 125 cords... never broke a sweat. Slowly hauling, truck holds 10th cords and it's a 40 mile round trip through some hilly terrain.


I'm just being realistic at what it takes. Can easily invest 500k to get decently setup with logging equipment, firewood processor, land to setup on, small shop, dump truck(s) to do deliveries, etc.

I've been doing for going on 6 years and just now more or less not eatting Ramen. I invested about 125k into starting the firewood business and partnered with a friend who's family had been logging since the 1950s. (He's 3rd generation).

I average about 100 hours a week. Not just logging or processing wood but answering calls, equipment repairs/maintenace/upgrades, book keeping, advertising, scheduling, etc, etc, etc. Would be nice if all I had to worry about was cutting wood.

 

[svk]

No way I'd meet demand cutting by hand. Even with a processor I get 2+ months backlogged in the fall.

By myself I can have a cord processed and stacked in the truck in about 2-2.5 hours.
Cutting by hand, I'd easily triple-quadruple the labor.

And that's just once the logs are at the shop. Cutting trees by hand, delimbing.... skidding (how?) ), hauling (how?) is another thing too.

Last weekend over 3 days we (2 guys) cut, skidded, and delimbed about 125 cords... never broke a sweat. Slowly hauling, truck holds 10th cords and it's a 40 mile round trip through some hilly terrain.


I'm just being realistic at what it takes. Can easily invest 500k to get decently setup with logging equipment, firewood processor, land to setup on, small shop, dump truck(s) to do deliveries, etc.

I've been doing for going on 6 years and just now more or less not eatting Ramen. I invested about 125k into starting the firewood business and partnered with a friend who's family had been logging since the 1950s. (He's 3rd generation).

I average about 100 hours a week. Not just logging or processing wood but answering calls, equipment repairs/maintenace/upgrades, book keeping, advertising, scheduling, etc, etc, etc. Would be nice if all I had to worry about was cutting wood.

Do you haul in tree length or 8'?