Just starting in firewood sales

[Racerboy832]

How many split cords will fit in a 18 wheeler. It might be worh my time to have a rig bring me a 18 wheeler load from the guys selling it for 80 cord and up to Connecticut to where it's 200.

 

[Dalmatian90]

Rough numbers in my head is a box trailer is 4,000 c.f. and 45,000# payload capacity.

White Oak is 3,900#/Cord air dried (http://extension.missouri.edu/explore/agguides/forestry/g05450.htm).

So it looks like you'll max the weight at 11-1/2 Cords, but still have nearly 2/3rds of the box empty.

Dunno pricing for hauling, maybe you could make it work if they guy would otherwise be coming home empty?

 

[aandabooks]

I got my customers through a few Craigslist ads. I bought a newspaper ad once and sold exactly 1 load of from it. My wood is $140/cord and that is actually on the high side of average for the area. Wish I was in one of those places that got 300+ a cord. That would be a sweet deal, might actually make a little money that way.

Ian

Seems to me that the higher prices goes right along with the price of land in an area. The higher the value of an acre of timber, the more expensive a cord of wood is.

Scarcity of wood in a geographical area also has alot to do with it. Like sawinredneck, he travels quite a distance to get wood but if you've ever been to Kansas, you know that wooded acreage is not the prevailing landscape feature.

So with all that being said, the $300 per cord seems good until you factor the additional cost of living paid by the seller to live in the area where wood fetches a good price.

Does any of this make sense or do I need more beer???

 

[Racerboy832]

I thought the load limit was 80k lbs on tractor trailers.

 

[Peacock]

I thought the load limit was 80k lbs on tractor trailers.

Minus weight of the truck and trailer=payload.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

How many split cords will fit in a 18 wheeler. It might be worh my time to have a rig bring me a 18 wheeler load from the guys selling it for 80 cord and up to Connecticut to where it's 200.

One thing you may not be aware of is that in some areas you CAN'T transport wood over certain county lines. Here in Ohio they are tring to stop the spread of the emerald ash bore and they've actually set up check points on roadways. If caught, they fine AND confiscate wood. That would make for a REAL bad day with a semi load. Just Thought I'd let you know.

 

[J.W Younger]

Seems to me that the higher prices goes right along with the price of land in an area. The higher the value of an acre of timber, the more expensive a cord of wood is.

Scarcity of wood in a geographical area also has alot to do with it. Like sawinredneck, he travels quite a distance to get wood but if you've ever been to Kansas, you know that wooded acreage is not the prevailing landscape feature.

So with all that being said, the $300 per cord seems good until you factor the additional cost of living paid by the seller to live in the area where wood fetches a good price.

Does any of this make sense or do I need more beer???

I think(and nobody cares what I think)we both need more beer.but alas, its sunday.

 

[thejdman04]

How many split cords will fit in a 18 wheeler. It might be worh my time to have a rig bring me a 18 wheeler load from the guys selling it for 80 cord and up to Connecticut to where it's 200.

In a 22 ft dump trailer, 4.5 ft sides 8 ft wide, youll get 10 face cords, and still get the tarp to close. This is loaded with a skid steer not stacked

 

[treeman82]

I don't like to sell wood. I did it a few years ago and hated it... probably sold about 10 cords. Too much time and work involved for too little of a return. Some words of advice though, get a machine with at least a 4 way wedge, have access to a loader, and keep at least a certain amount of wood around until January... keep that stuff for when people are calling up "we need wood and the guy we got it from last year is out." You'll be able to get more money for your product than you would get in November, and you'll have a repeat customer.