firewood, is it worth it?

[treeman82]

I've been hearing different opinions on firewood over here lately, and would like to hear what you guys have to say.

With the price of fuel lately, and increased competition, some people are taking the wood to their lots and splitting it in order to make more money off of their removal jobs which they are having to bid lower in order to keep busy.

Other people just want to get rid of the wood as close as possible to the job and be done with it... no having to worry about splitting, storing, trucking, etc.

The reason why I am asking this question is because even though the price of wood has gone up considerably in the past couple of years, so has fuel, labor, and equipment.

 

[arbor pro]

Personally, I think it's a question of 'just how busy are you' or 'how busy do you want to be' that determines a person's answer to this question.

If a company doesn't have enough work to keep busy year round and needs the income, I can see where providing firewood could really be a great add-on service. However, for those that can keep busy providing tree care and removal services, I just can't see where providing firewood in lieu of those other services could be profitable. Mind you, I said in lieu of, not in addition to.

So, to me, the question of what to do with the wood - get rid of it or split and sell it - seems highly dependent upon how busy one keeps with other tree service work. I think the same may very well go for small wood milling operations. That's just how I see it in my area. Of course, other areas may be different...

 

[rbtree]

I'm not into dealing with firewood, save for a select few folks, or for myself. And we have no loaders or equipment for moving firewood. So, I usually give it away, assuming the customer doesn't want it. Craigslist works if I don't have other firewood folks.

Of course that's assuming the wood isn't salable to the mills or usable for furniture or woodworking, for which I have a growing list of craftsman willing to take it off our hands.

If it's junk, we hire a wood recycling firm, they come out with their self loading trash truck for a reasonable fee.

 

[Nailsbeats]

I haul it all home to my wood yard and split it/stack it in the woodshed. I have 120 face cord capactity under a roof. I burn wood and sell the rest. I am in the tree business partime (nights and weekends) so I do the firewood on my free nights and weekends. Yeah it gets hard to find the time, but I have the equipment and manpower to move it pretty good. Tonight some guys are comming over and we'll split and stack 15-20 facecord. I don't do it for the money just for the principle of staying busy, exercise, and utilizing a natural resource, although there will be more money in it this year.

 

[DDM]

Matt, I edited your poll.Being as we cant give it away here.

 

[STLfirewood]

No doubt tree work pays a lot more. But like the other person said it depends on how busy you are. It also depends on what the price of wood is in your area. I just did a tree job where the wood will tun over 1k next year. I have one coming up that the will will bring 2k next year. For a small timer like me who isn't booked out 1-2months in advance it's a no brainer. An extra 10k in the winter helps a lot.

Scott

 

[appalachianarbo]

I'll bring some back home and burn it. That's all we use for heat. There's no way I could burn all the wood that we cut though. I have to give a lot away or dump it.

 

[gr8scott72]

No doubt tree work pays a lot more. But like the other person said it depends on how busy you are. It also depends on what the price of wood is in your area. I just did a tree job where the wood will tun over 1k next year. I have one coming up that the will will bring 2k next year. For a small timer like me who isn't booked out 1-2months in advance it's a no brainer. An extra 10k in the winter helps a lot.

Scott

There is so much hardwood here that a full truck load goes for under $100 delivered. I sell a little just for a little extra cash and to keep busy when there's nothing else to do.

The 2 years after Katrina, you couldn't give it away there was so much.

 

[Treetom]

DIY Firewood

I keep a list of firewood clients who are willing to process the wood themselves. Before I do a tree removal job in their area I give them a call and arrange to dump the wood at their lot: $100.00 for hard wood, $75.00 for soft, per load.

 

[Mikecutstrees]

well for me it depends on a lot of factors. This time of year dead trees that are good for firewood go straight to "the yard" to be split and sold. Usually I try to sell it by the dumptruck load unsplit and thats pretty profitable. Softwood I give away to outdoor wood burning people. Really big stuff I give away or sell it to a guy with a log lift on his splitter. In the winter if it slows down I have my guys split wood to keep them getting paid, I don't make much but It keeps them getting a paycheck which is important. I also have them split wood to finish out a short day here and there. so firewood is important in different ways but isn't a big money maker for me..... Mike

 

[mckeetree]

I can make $400.00 while I am fooling with a cord of wood. For me it is a losing deal.

 

[Jon Denver]

Nailsbeats,

Dude, you do tree work at night!

 

[Nailsbeats]

Only when there's a full moon, I'm a safety nut like that.

 

[hornett224]

last year they begged me to take it off the job.

this year they want to keep it.i have some but not what i'd like to have.we dropped 25-30 red oaks behind my buddies grandmothers house in the spring.i'm all for looking ahead.

last year i was giving wood away or selling it by the truckload.this year people are calling and i'm telling them the party is over.i'm selling this winter along with the mechanic work and welding work.

 

[Brushwacker]

I would say it would be well worth it if your not sacrificing much time you would be making more money with your main euipment. To me when and if I get much ahead w/ firewood its like money in the bank. There was an much increased demand for wood here since the first of the year and a lack of supply. Propane is up and predicted going higher in the fall , corn is way up and a lot of corn burning stoves were going in around here, so I am sure many have or will go back to wood.
Store your wood the best you can so it dries without decaying and I wouldn't mess much with very soft wood that rot easy and donot put out a lot of btu's.

 

[tree MDS]

I haul it all home to my wood yard and split it/stack it in the woodshed. I have 120 face cord capactity under a roof. I burn wood and sell the rest. I am in the tree business partime (nights and weekends) so I do the firewood on my free nights and weekends. Yeah it gets hard to find the time, but I have the equipment and manpower to move it pretty good. Tonight some guys are comming over and we'll split and stack 15-20 facecord. I don't do it for the money just for the principle of staying busy, exercise, and utilizing a natural resource, although there will be more money in it this year.

Nails, yer gonna split and stack 15-20 "facecord" tonight?? What is a facecord and how many people are coming over??

 

[memetic]

Only when there's a full moon, I'm a safety nut like that.

Nothing compares to full moon tree work.

We don't have huge storage. I keep some for my outdoor (pizza) oven and nice wood for pigs roasts and whatnot, the rest goes to my list of guys with trailers who come, load themselves, and leave happy. It saves us lots of time and money - more than would be gained by trying to sell it. Maybe that will change soon, I don't know.

 

[treemandan]

I haul it all home to my wood yard and split it/stack it in the woodshed. I have 120 face cord capactity under a roof. I burn wood and sell the rest. I am in the tree business partime (nights and weekends) so I do the firewood on my free nights and weekends. Yeah it gets hard to find the time, but I have the equipment and manpower to move it pretty good. Tonight some guys are comming over and we'll split and stack 15-20 facecord. I don't do it for the money just for the principle of staying busy, exercise, and utilizing a natural resource, although there will be more money in it this year.

Allright, what is a face cord? Is it half a cord?
I have walked this earth for many years and have yet to come across a cord of wood. I have heard so many tales of proper measurment and I know the dimensions... I will sell a load of logs for few bucks before I try to figure how much spliiting wood is actually worth for sales. I stopped trying to measure how much wood I got, need or want awhile ago. Suff is always around, want some? 300 bucks.( Not you Nails, the general public. I know you don't want no wood for 300 bucks and I got to tell you I think you might have some fat kids choking on their Cheeto's if you keep at it like you do.)
The kid down the road ( not fat ) does a little landscraping gig but he is looking for other work to do. So far this month it has been " Hey, I have some tree work do you have an old saddle you could, uhm, sell me?" and " Hey, I thinking of doing firewood, got any, uhm, logs."
To be honest, I think i oughta go nuts and hammer a few of these guys just so they know, even some of the tree guys around here. I think it would help me rep but don't wanna go to jail.

 

[Nailsbeats]

Nails, yer gonna split and stack 15-20 "facecord" tonight?? What is a facecord and how many people are coming over??

Well, we ended up doing about 15 facecord, got the whole pile done and stacked in the shed. A facecord is 4 foot by 8 foot by whatever length you cut it. My facecords are 20 inches long. A good truckload is generally 2 to 2 1/2 facecord. I had 4 guys plus me and 2 hydraulic splitters. They pounded the splitters and I stacked it all in the shed. We started at 5pm and were done by 8:30pm. We grilled out to commence the meeting.

 

[Nailsbeats]

Allright, what is a face cord? Is it half a cord?
I have walked this earth for many years and have yet to come across a cord of wood. I have heard so many tales of proper measurment and I know the dimensions... I will sell a load of logs for few bucks before I try to figure how much spliiting wood is actually worth for sales. I stopped trying to measure how much wood I got, need or want awhile ago. Suff is always around, want some? 300 bucks.( Not you Nails, the general public. I know you don't want no wood for 300 bucks and I got to tell you I think you might have some fat kids choking on their Cheeto's if you keep at it like you do.)
The kid down the road ( not fat ) does a little landscraping gig but he is looking for other work to do. So far this month it has been " Hey, I have some tree work do you have an old saddle you could, uhm, sell me?" and " Hey, I thinking of doing firewood, got any, uhm, logs."
To be honest, I think i oughta go nuts and hammer a few of these guys just so they know, even some of the tree guys around here. I think it would help me rep but don't wanna go to jail.

A facecord of 16" firewood would be 1/3 of a fullcord or logger's cord. It is not a "legal" term, but since firewood is usually not weighed or in log form, it is what we go with, it's a volume not weight measurement. Most semi loads around here are 10 cord, so we figure that to be 30 facecord at 16", but usually 16" is 20" in actuallity.

The only thing my kids will be chokin' on is venison and potatoes, while they pull slivers from their hands.

C'mon T-man throw the kid a bone already. He want's to work doesn't he?