# Making money off mulch?



## ponderosatree

Anyone sell their mulch? Is so how do you do it? I usually just give it away but I can't imagine the bigger outfits like Davey do this.


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## ASD

We sell it for $22.00 per ton in woodland to a power co.


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## John464

is there a list of power companies that use biomass energy? I keep searching online for this and cant seem to find where I could take my wood waste. We make a lot of waste each year that I just give away to the local mulch plant who recycles it into mulch.


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## ATH

If you are looking to sell to an industrial user, you might calling:

*Forestry Department - if they have a utilization forester
*State Forestry association (not gvt office, but a industry organization)
*State energy regulation department
*The largest users in northern Ohio are nurseries. One just put in a hot water system to heat 80-100 acres of green house that they expect to use 20 truckloads per DAY (every day) duing the winter. I know they are aiming to use shredded pallets, but I think they are paying about $20 per ton. Who knows...for $10-$15, they may be willing to work with wetter chips???


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## John464

ath,

good ideas. thanks!


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## PurdueJoe

I know of a guy up near Chicago (Indiana side) that when firgured in to what it would cost to pay to dump up there he can pay for his Tub grinder and keep his guys employed during the winter by grinder all this larger wood waste and selling the mulch wholesale as premium because it has no leaf matter in it. But it also costs an arm and leg to dump up there so I don't know cost effective it would be in areas where you can dump for free.


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## John464

PurdueJoe said:


> I know of a guy up near Chicago (Indiana side) that when firgured in to what it would cost to pay to dump up there he can pay for his Tub grinder and keep his guys employed during the winter by grinder all this larger wood waste and selling the mulch wholesale as premium because it has no leaf matter in it. But it also costs an arm and leg to dump up there so I don't know cost effective it would be in areas where you can dump for free.



thats another idea. I have enough land that I could hire someone to come in and re-grind chips and ugly wood for me twice a year and have a ton of dyed nice mulch, but then that comes with another chore of retailing it off. and when people are busy with mulch we are too busy with trees. i dont think that would work for me without an expansion of the business

I have since contacted a few people in my state and have not gotten a reply. I guess everyone is closed till after new years.


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## John464

another thing.. Has anyone filed this under their taxes as a donation if they give it away? I must donate around a million yards of chips to local farms, parks, and municiplaties. These are 100% donations on my behalf. They charge me 0 and I pay them 0. This should be considered as a donation on my behalf and up until now I never thought to ask my accounatant if I can recieve tax benefits from this. Anyone do something of the sort?


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## s13rymos

My family has been selling mulch since the early 80's.. im 3rd. generation and still goin.. I dont use the whole tree as mulch.. just the bark from the debarker at the mill before the wood goes to the saw.. You can make money.. but you have to get the customer base and sell a high quality product but still compete with other retailers price wise just like firewood..its tough in my area because the mulch "season" is usually from march till july weather depending and all the other people doin it.. I have a couple grades of mulch i sell.. premium double ground bark, regular coarse ground bark, then i have red and black dyed mulches and a economy wood blend mulch.. i also carry certified playground mulch..


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## DeAvilaTree

I know of 3 companys out my way one sells the chips to trucking companies that come down from up north and sells the chips for 225 per load (75) yard load. And 2 others pile the chips and lets them "cook" and sells them as a natural mulch


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## RAG66

Out here on the west coast we have a hard time giving chips away!! I can not believe this with all the eco freaks out here. I'm all for taking care of the environment, some go off the deep end though. I wish I had a place to get rid of material (wood and chips) and see it go to good second use. The guys with tub grinders out here charge in one door and out the other. I am blessed to have a wood cutter who takes all my wood and uses chips to put his log loads on. I can not say how long it will last though.


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## rbtree

Huh? People clamor for our chips.......and the Seattle City Parks Dept takes 'em most of the time as well.

And, I thought I gave ya the tip on what to do with that deodora.....but Dan said you didn't call him.


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## ponderosatree

John464 said:


> another thing.. Has anyone filed this under their taxes as a donation if they give it away? I must donate around a million yards of chips to local farms, parks, and municiplaties. These are 100% donations on my behalf. They charge me 0 and I pay them 0. This should be considered as a donation on my behalf and up until now I never thought to ask my accounatant if I can recieve tax benefits from this. Anyone do something of the sort?



A good question for an accountant. Whoever you donate too would probably need to supply a receipt of some sort. I'd imagine you'd be able to deduct whatever the going rate was for chips.


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## BPS. LLC

ponderosatree said:


> Anyone sell their mulch? Is so how do you do it? I usually just give it away but I can't imagine the bigger outfits like Davey do this.



http://www.h-hgenexc.com/mulchpics.html

The pictures on their website does not do it justice. The lower lot is full of palletized, bagged mulch. They probably have a mountain of 50,000 yards of mulch there now. They receive hundreds of trucks a day, many from the paper mill.

No charge for dumping and its accessible 7 days a week. In a way its a shame to give them free raw material, only to have them charge me a "contractor's fee" of $20 a yard for mulch, but they did make the investment!


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## alexs100

I have a guy who comes in weekly to get my mulch. He says he packs them into wood bricks and sells them at a much higher price. I'm looking for info how this is done.


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