Bulk Firewood Purchase...Educate Me

[muddstopper]

Looks like you have a lot of time into stacking rounds? I have found that to be kind of pointless since you have to turn around and unstack them when you split.

I agree. When I do piles like that, I hook my splitter behind my little tractor and just pull up to the pile and start splitting. I have been known to hook my dump trailer up to the truck and back it under the splitter wedge. That way when I split the wood, it ends up on the trailer instead of the ground. back full trailer of wood up to shed and stack off the trailer. Reduce the labor equals more profit if your into sells.

 

[NSMaple1]

I agree. When I do piles like that, I hook my splitter behind my little tractor and just pull up to the pile and start splitting. I have been known to hook my dump trailer up to the truck and back it under the splitter wedge. That way when I split the wood, it ends up on the trailer instead of the ground. back full trailer of wood up to shed and stack off the trailer. Reduce the labor equals more profit if your into sells.

Yup.

I just hit the pile with my saw and cut like a mad man (an aging one mind you), then if I get too backed up or surrounded by rounds too deep I switch gears & back my splitter into the rounds and start splitting. Toss into trailer right off the splitter, stack to final spot off the trailer. Sometimes I can cut my way through the whole pile before I need to start splitting - the steadier I can stay at the cutting, the quicker it goes, I can get myself into a rhythm that doesn't need any measuring of where to cut and I can usually get cuts lined up so I can cut though more than one log at a time. Unless there is some wild reason I can't get rounds split before next year I won't be stacking rounds - haven't had to yet. I don't do piles that often, usually I'm working right where the tree fell.

 

[Marshy]

I like to buy my logs before the spring thaw. That way I get clean logs cut that winter that already have low moisture. I can usually get most of my wood processed before the heat of the summer arrives.

 

[muddstopper]

Yup.

I just hit the pile with my saw and cut like a mad man (an aging one mind you), then if I get too backed up or surrounded by rounds too deep I switch gears & back my splitter into the rounds and start splitting. Toss into trailer right off the splitter, stack to final spot off the trailer. Sometimes I can cut my way through the whole pile before I need to start splitting - the steadier I can stay at the cutting, the quicker it goes, I can get myself into a rhythm that doesn't need any measuring of where to cut and I can usually get cuts lined up so I can cut though more than one log at a time. Unless there is some wild reason I can't get rounds split before next year I won't be stacking rounds - haven't had to yet. I don't do piles that often, usually I'm working right where the tree fell.

I agree. I like to cut what I can without stumbleing over the rounds, I then take the fel and will lift one end of the logs in the air and let the log fall on top of the already cut rounds. This keeps what I am cutting, off the ground. Many ways to skin a cat.

 

[Woodcutteranon]

Looks like you have a lot of time into stacking rounds? I have found that to be kind of pointless since you have to turn around and unstack them when you split.

I agree that it takes time to stack rounds but I have evolved to this process over time. It seems this is more efficient for me for my entire process. I started doing this because it helps me when splitting with my Super Splitter as the stack of rounds corresponds to where I will be stacking the splits. I think I may be trying something different next time by stacking the rounds perpendicular to the crib so I can sort by species better. I always stack my split cords with FIFO (First in First Out) in mind but I have a lot of green oak that will have to set for two years to be fully seasoned. i want to put those splits as deep into my rows as I can so that it won't be in my way when selling the other stuff next season.

 

[greenskeeper]

one man operation can't cut a round, set saw down, fire up splitter. seems reasonable to stack the rounds to me.

 

[DSW]

Handling rounds is for suckas'

First time I touch the wood it's already split.

 

[Little Al]

A problem for the OP is if he is purchasing Goods/Services from a third party he become s reliant on them & has limited control on the outcome OK if the supplier is a 100% reliable My advice until the dealings are all sussed out hedge his bets a bit

 

[Jhenderson]

Handling rounds is for suckas'

First time I touch the wood it's already split.

I'm sure whoever you get your wood from would love to know what you think of him.

 

[DSW]

Serves him right for sleeping with my wife.

 

[muddstopper]

Had a conversation with a guy today about selling wood in bulk. Him, not me. He has a buyer lined up that will take 30 cords a week split ready to sell. Well the buyer is about 100 miles from me in the Atlanta Ga area. Anyways, he is telling me he can haul that much wood in one load, no way I say, what you hauling it on. A tandem axle , 7.5x16x 7ft high side dump. Again I say no way, argues he can do it in two trips, again I say no way. Did the math for him, comes out to around 6.5 cords,, if its stacked nice and tight in the bed. I guess if he can convince the buyer he has 15 cords on the truck, then go for it. Just goes to show that some sellers of bulk wood dont always know how much wood they are actually selling any more than some of the people they are selling to. Also claimed the buyer was paying $200 a cord, I think that might be a maybe considering the resellers market, but it would be very hard to find anybody around here that would pay much markup to buy their firewood.

 

[cantoo]

muddstopper, I'm thinking he better get the money up front or he might be hauling split wood both ways.

 

[muddstopper]

muddstopper, I'm thinking he better get the money up front or he might be hauling split wood both ways.

If he was selling to me, I know he would be loaded both ways.

I also talked to a guy today wanting to get into selling firewood. He has had a bandsaw mill for several years now so he knows a little about wood and work. Anyways, he is thinking about buying a homeowner wood splitter and just setting up next to his saw mill and buying loads of logs to process. We discussed the normal methods of bucking, splitting, stacking, and hauling, and then I told him my ideals. Buck and split if you must, but sell off the lot and let the buyers come to you. Everytime you touch that wood, your labor cost have just gone up. Keeping a truck and buying fuel just cost more money and you have to mark your wood up to cover that cost. Every time you deliver a load, there is time lost you could be bucking and splitting. Sell it off the lot and let them load and haul and you save on labor and equipment cost. You can cut your priceing and still make more money. Sure not everyone would buy from you or has a way even to haul their own wood, but you can keep a dump trailer loaded and charge a delivery fee to haul and dump. I already know one guy that works that way. He buys logs and splits and stacks. He doesnt even own a pickup truck. He sells out every year.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

All this wood was free.
Tree services drive ten miles to drop it off just to get rid of it.
He cuts and splits it. He is 76.
Talked to him last week. He sells for $170. a cord, delivered. He uses a dump trailer for deliveries.
Told me he is getting complaints of dirt in his wood, as he scoops it up and dumps into dump trailer.
Lately we have had a bunch of rain and his wood lot is 4" of mud. I wouldn't want to drive a truck though it. The trees are dropped behind this pile in the mud. The only thing not muddy was the drive itself. He uses a back hoe with home made splitter w/28" knife. The wood is split into the Lull bucket and piled. He uses forks on the Lull for cutting rounds.
I buy logs and have close to $140. in it before I begin, considering I get 15-16 cord from a 20 cord load.
So, my question is...could a guy who gets large tree service hardwood resize it with a band mill to fit a processor?
Would that be a lot of work?
Say up to 4' dia.
Too much rehandling before running it threw a processor?

 

[STLfirewood]

Do you really sell 24" firewood? Most of my customers couldn't use wood that long.

Scott

I don't have a website but I do advertise on craigslist.....you can see one of my ads at the link below

https://charlotte.craigslist.org/grd/d/firewood-sale-seasoned-oak-20/6360329646.html

 

[muddstopper]

Do you really sell 24" firewood? Most of my customers couldn't use wood that long.

Scott

My stove will take 32in wood, but I prefer 20in. Little chunks, short ends and such, I tend to throw into the back of the stove and the longer wood in the front. The more and longer the wood I can put in the stove, the longer the fire will last. I do notice that most of the wood around here being sold is in the 16-18 inch range.

 

[DSW]

Sell it off the lot and let them load and haul and you save on labor and equipment cost. You can cut your priceing and still make more money. Sure not everyone would buy from you or has a way even to haul their own wood, but you can keep a dump trailer loaded and charge a delivery fee to haul and dump. I already know one guy that works that way. He buys logs and splits and stacks. He doesnt even own a pickup truck. He sells out every year.

That's going to be highly dependant on location. I live in the sticks, I've sold exactly one load picked up and delivered everything else. If you didn't have a visible lot in a high traffic area i just don't see that being possible, if you were to rent one now you've added costs.

Even some of the people I deliver to don't have a dependable truck and this is the country and they heat with wood. In the city, I see that being much worse. Plenty of people who only own small cars, don't engage in manual labor, burn for novelty. You would be better off to up charge all that than to not offer it.

How does he pull the dump trailer?

 

[DSW]

So, my question is...could a guy who gets large tree service hardwood resize it with a band mill to fit a processor?
Would that be a lot of work?
Say up to 4' dia.
Too much rehandling before running it threw a processor?

Sure it's possible but i don't think it would work in the sense that it would be profitable.

I think at that point you would be better off buying nice logs and feeding the processor. More up front cost into the wood but you would process so much more that I think you'd come out ahead.

That stuff is probably better for a younger guy to just process by hand, more work and slow but you wouldn't have the up front cost.

If you're trying to do everything by machine it has to really be uniform in my mind to make it work.

 

[lknchoppers]

Do you really sell 24" firewood? Most of my customers couldn't use wood that long.

Scott

No I do not usually sell 24" firewood !! 16"-18" is typical, not sure where you are getting that from, maybe the example measurements I use for people to help visualize what a full or half cord is.

 

[rarefish383]

No I do not usually sell 24" firewood !! 16"-18" is typical, not sure where you are getting that from, maybe the example measurements I use for people to help visualize what a full or half cord is.

In your CL add you say 1/2 cord 2X4X8, some would take that as 24" wood. I started to ask the same question with a LOL at the end. I know what you mean, Joe.