Firewood time again!

[YUKON 659]

One more....

 

[bwalker]

I have twenty federal cord being delivered next week. Ought to keep me busy for awhile.

 

[shooter]

Ben - OK, I'll bite on this, what measure is a federal cord?

Mike

 

[TonyM]

I just sold my most expensive cord of wood. Had this guy call and want some seasoned oak, which I was out of. I decided I'd dip into some I was going to use myself. This was premium stuff, White Oak that I cut in March of '99 that went immediately into the barn. He asked me about splitting, and I said I leave anything under 6", 8-10's get split in half, and bigger stuff 3-4 times depending. He also wanted nothing longer than 18", and a lot of this wood was cut at 20"+, so some sorting was involved. I get the truck all loaded and head to his house, and no one is home. Have to wait around a little, and he shows up. He walks up to the truck and says, "Do you have anything smaller?". Then he wanted to know if I'd take it back home, unload it, split it more, load it back up, and bring it back! I almost got violent. Finally he says he'd pay the difference, and I suggested unloading at his house, and I'd go get my splitter and bring it there, split it to what he wanted, for $200 for the cord. I honestly thought he'd say no, but he agreed. So I back the truck up where he wants it unloaded, and I find out he wants me to carry it 20' around a railng into his yard to a lean to on his garage and stack it. Well it ended up he hired a couple neighborhood kids to carry and stack the wood, so all I had to do was unload and split. This guy lives in town, so it would have been cheaper for him to buy natural gas!

 

[SilverBlue]

But wood heat is so much nicer than natural gas Tony!

Who runs a splitter? What's the best?

 

[MasterBlaster]

One time, we had a large TD where the customer wanted the firewood; 20" pieces as big as 14, 15 inches. The rest would be hauled off - nothing unusual about that.
When it was time to collect the check, he looks at the pile of firewood and asks "Aren't you going to split it? You said firewood!" Wouldn't you know it? We wound up hauling our splitter over there. Before he would give us the check, we had to split it and stack it 50' away. Some indian doc, what a cool guy. I didn't care, I was on the clock.
The TS owner learned to be more specific in the future!

 

[jokers]

TonyM
Some people are just idiots!

MasterBlaster
Sounds like the typical doctor, most of which are Indian, around here. Try to exploit every wildly concievable gray area for their own advantage. Quotes for them are always 50% higher. Like someone else pointed out in another thread, there is no point in giving them a break hoping for future work or a refferal, they only want to know you if you work for free.

SilverBlue
Is that your splitter? Will it really handle that round effectively? I got lots of wood that size that might be worth messing with under the right terms. How much is that machine?

Russ

 

[SilverBlue]

Russ, that one is not mine, a buddy 2 hours away has this model.
visit the web site Timberwolf

 

[Ryan Willock]

Russ, yes that splitter will handle that log but that is also a $5,000 splitter!!! I bought the smallest one timberwolf makes, its a TW-1. I've got the four way wedge on it and have no trouble splitting 20'' knotty oak with it, oh I block my fire wood to 16'' although I have split some 24'' lenght wood with it.

 

[shooter]

Russ- Check out the Timberwolf features at their website. Lots of pictures & videos.

http://www.timberwolfcorp.com/

This is the pic that impresses me - the entire round is split into 6 pcs with a 6 way wedge.

Mike

 

[shooter]

Ryan - Thanks for the info. With a $5000 price tag it better have several impressive features!

Mike

 

[bwalker]

Ben - OK, I'll bite on this, what measure is a federal cord

A federal cord is a full cord, IE not a face cord.

 

[jokers]

Thanks for the info from me too. 5K seems rather pricey for a splitter that isn`t in any way automated. Wonder what it would cost me to make one like that? 2k might be a bargain.


Russ

 

[trimmmed]

Only 50% More????????? I mark up 125% then let em talk me down 25% so they net out paying double. I'm happy if I actually get paid 80% of that

 

[Marky Mark]

After owning the Hd-2 for about 6 months I sold it and stepped right into the TW-5 and went with a 22ft conveyor. I know it's pricey but I grabbed them in NH NO Tax. I sold the first one down here in NJ for a 250 profit go figure.

Russ,
If someone wants to pay another 250 for a cord never punch a gift horse in the mouth. I sell wood by the piece here and let me tell you the smaller the better. Most people buy unseasoned wood and it's large, I think they feel it's worth the extra loot since they can get it to burn. It's all about flame, I store wood for about 12 months or so all people tell me is they get such a nice fire. That is how I am basing my smaller peices of wood "it burns nice"=$$$

 

[jokers]

Hey Mark
Life can be beautiful, can`t it. You`re right about gift horses.

If you had to do it over again with the splitter and conveyor, would you buy the same equipment? How much is the 22' conveyor? Quite a labor saver if you sell by bin measure and I`m sure it increases productivity just buy getting the wood out of your way as you split.

Russ

 

[TonyM]

By contrast I delivered two face cord today to the nicest couple. They kept going on and on about how nice the wood is and how it's just the perfect length. The neighbors stopped over and they showed them how nice it was and talked about how this wood was so perfect. It made me want to (and I did) go out of my way to help them stack it and pick up the splinters out of my truck for kindling, and I didn't mind at all. Then she tipped me an extra $10 for going out of my way. Funny thing is, it's from the same wood the earlier customer had so much trouble with. It's funny how the customer's attitude can either make you want to bend over backward for them, or feel like you can't be paid enough to make it worthwhile. I guess that's a valuable lesson to remember when your on the other end of the deal.

 

[Gypo Logger]

The firewood business is good to be in, but it's funny to watch the woodticks that abound in this type of work.
Most of them fool with the wood so many times, it's no wonder all they get is beer money.
Having a good grasp of Math is the best asset we can possess.
Firewood is a hard job, and it takes a real man to even, fall, cut, split and load a full cord in one day.
Now, as a result of arborsite, you will see a whole lot more cords hit the pavement in a professional way than ever before, however, timber is falling down dead faster than it can be cut.
Real firewooders get their wood from low grade timber in a silvacultural manner. This is where true independence lies.
Most part timers are the scourge of the business, but everyone has to start from somewhere.
After having done my 6000 cords I have had my fill, except on a recreational basis, but if I get old and have no assets or means of income, firewood will call me back.
It was 23 years ago that an Indian in Northern B.C. put a curse on me, reduced to hewing wood in some way, shape or form, for the rest of my life.
Just be equal to the task.
John

 

[johnb]

Hey JimL, The good thing up here is people are putting in wood boilers like crazy because of all the free wood. Next year the free wood will dry up and the demand will be great! Chainsaw usage will go up this year and maintenance on saws will increase next year. The old supply and demand. the Hoosier





Sharpen your chain it's a jungle out there!

 

[Gypo Logger]

By the way, that was a Woman Indian that put the curse on me.
Is the axe at the front or back door, and where's the wood?
John