# A VERY inexpensive firewood bundler.



## deeker (Jun 19, 2010)

About $13 for the five inch shrink wrap. And a box. Plus 16-18" firewood.

Fill box tight. Wrap two or three times. Dump out box, and wrap the other end the same way.

















Faster than tying bailing twine. Which takes about 2-3 minutes per bundle.

Less than a minute with the pics above.

Going to make a more efficient bundler asap.

Kevin


----------



## Steve NW WI (Jun 19, 2010)

Deek, I could have had a bunch of 16x16 boxes free from work, the idea was to fill the box with wood and sell it in the box, handy firestarter included.

The downfall was the cost of boxes if the free supply dried up and people expected the box treatment...

I haven't sold a stick of campfire wood yet, but I'm planning on getting into it at some point soon.


----------



## deeker (Jun 20, 2010)

Sorry about the cell phone pics. But it shows how it all worked.


----------



## Wood Doctor (Jun 20, 2010)

Good idea and dirt cheap. Now, it you could make a cheap, strong box that wouldn't fall apart, you'd have it made.

Consider using some 2 x 4's and 2 x 2's to make a frame and screw/glue them together the same size internally that the box is. The frame is all you need. Something like this:




Note that this jig makes bundles of two sizes when turned 90 degrees sideways. I lapped the joints for strength, but you don't need to be quite so fancy. *Adjust the dimensions for the size of the bundles that you want to sell.*

Ultimately, it's the *inside* dimensions that count.


----------



## proto (Jun 22, 2010)

th_IMG_2904[1].jpg (4.7 KB, 88 views) 

th_IMG_2903[1] (2).jpg (5.4 KB, 83 views) 

thats how i do it. with 4 empty 5 gallons, i cut it at almost 12 inchs, and put them on a angle rack. do a side, flip them on the other side. 2 $ eachs. 30-40 packs in a hour. Really fast all alone. what about 2 guys, 2 saw bucks, and a dozen of plastics 5 gallons.!! 
sorry about the sellers of firewood wrapping machine... 

another discussion of the same subject here:
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=110627


----------



## proto (Jun 22, 2010)

go see the other thread for my pictures,sorry


----------



## deeker (Jun 29, 2010)

I need to up date my pics here too.


----------



## fireemt799 (Jun 29, 2010)

If you can find a milk crate they work great for doing bundles plus the wood slides out of the crate easier as your wrapping has worked great for me


----------



## vincem77 (Jun 29, 2010)

This thread got me thinking, why not just noodle a section out of a large round the right size of a bundle. Cut about 8 inches thick so the wood can extend to be shrink wrapped on both ends. Here it is in mspaint form, with high def bark graphics.


----------



## WesternSaw (Jun 29, 2010)

*Amazing you fellas are!*

My Father in Law was right "Necessity is the mother of invention"!
Deeker was that shrink wrap on a plastic holding handle?
Lawrence


----------



## Wood Doctor (Jun 29, 2010)

vincem77 said:


> This thread got me thinking, why not just noodle a section out of a large round the right size of a bundle. Cut about 8 inches thick so the wood can extend to be shrink wrapped on both ends. Here it is in mspaint form, with high def bark graphics.


That might work, Vince, but you still have to keep the big notched log from rolling around on you as you work. Round bottoms roll like wheels and legs tend not to.

Add a couple of wedge-shaped firewood logs at the bottom as wheel chocks.


----------



## SpiralAcacia (Jun 29, 2010)

*more shrink wrap saving*

at work they use a chop saw to cut shrink wrap rolls to length.
you get a few rolls out of one long roll - thats it/

SA


----------



## Wood Doctor (Jun 30, 2010)

SpiralAcacia said:


> at work they use a chop saw to cut shrink wrap rolls to length.
> you get a few rolls out of one long roll - thats it/
> 
> SA


I once used a band saw to do that and don't recommend it. The plastic shrink wrap gets hot as you cut it, melts, and gums up the blade, regardless of what saw you use. Takes forever to clean it. In the case of the band saw, it also clogs up the rubber tires.


----------



## deeker (Jun 30, 2010)

petesoldsaw said:


> My Father in Law was right "Necessity is the mother of invention"!
> Deeker was that shrink wrap on a plastic holding handle?
> Lawrence



Lawrence, you are correct. It is stretch wrap..on a paper core.

Ordered a catalog from Uline products. They have handles and stretch and shrink wrap. And some neat products for the paper core as a handle.

Kevin


----------



## deeker (Jun 30, 2010)

Wood Doctor said:


> I once used a band saw to do that and don't recommend it. The plastic shrink wrap gets hot as you cut it, melts, and gums up the blade, regardless of what saw you use. Takes forever to clean it. In the case of the band saw, it also clogs up the rubber tires.



I thought about that with the Jet verticle saw we have. Too bad I don't have a water drip system like on my Norwood LM2000. That would cut it fast...and keep it cool.

Kevin


----------



## deeker (Jun 30, 2010)

SpiralAcacia said:


> at work they use a chop saw to cut shrink wrap rolls to length.
> you get a few rolls out of one long roll - thats it/
> 
> SA



That would probably cut it faster than my band mill.

Does it gum up the blade???

Could spray it with a bit of liquid dish soap just before you cut with it.

I might have to try that one.

Kevin


----------



## WesternSaw (Jul 1, 2010)

*Deeker*

Kevin,this is the one I have seen in the Lee Valley catalog.I shop there occasionally.
Lawrence 
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=32004&cat=1,43456,43391 
P.S. I think they have free shipping right now for a limited time.


----------



## SpiralAcacia (Jul 1, 2010)

Wood Doctor said:


> I once used a band saw to do that and don't recommend it. The plastic shrink wrap gets hot as you cut it, melts, and gums up the blade, regardless of what saw you use. Takes forever to clean it. In the case of the band saw, it also clogs up the rubber tires.



Well it works ok, just lots of tiny saw bites of the roll.
However, i thought about it and what they have at work is heavy duty wrap, the ones they also use to hold numerous cardboard boxes on a pallet together for shipping. It just might be a cheapee one (and hey, it is a money-saving-thread...) melts faster.
Nothing like experimenting.
Maybe a fine hacksaw like the ones used to manually cut metal will do it w/out melting all over a chop/bandsaw.

SA


----------



## palmersfirewood (Jul 16, 2010)

Here is a pic of our bundle set up. It is a table with 3 pieces of 1/4" rebar nailed about 2" apart. We stack the wood on the pieces of rebar until we get to the size bundle we want. Then we wrap it with standard 16 or 18 inch pallet wrap. 

Our sizing is simple also. Its a rope with 2 knots tied in it. Wrap it around the bundle and the size has to fall in between the 2 knots. 

total investment approx $30 for the setup. Less than $100 for a case of 12 rolls of wrap. $50 for the wrap handle. One roll of wrap will do 100 or so bundles. 

We also stick a flyer in each bundle for advertising. During the fall we get several calls a week for 1/2 or whole cord loads from folks who got the # from a bundle flyer.


----------



## deeker (Jul 16, 2010)

petesoldsaw said:


> My Father in Law was right "Necessity is the mother of invention"!
> Deeker was that shrink wrap on a plastic holding handle?
> Lawrence



Yes sort of....the fiber core that extends beyond the plastic.


----------



## deeker (Jul 16, 2010)

petesoldsaw said:


> Kevin,this is the one I have seen in the Lee Valley catalog.I shop there occasionally.
> Lawrence
> http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=32004&cat=1,43456,43391
> P.S. I think they have free shipping right now for a limited time.



Good post, I also use Uline products.


----------

