How'd it go today?

Robert, living in the south, i can't imagine firewood fetches a good price, because heat isn't an issue. Up north, heating costs can be substantial, but how cold does it ever get there in winter? 45? I was in a tee shirt earlier this week at that temp, and i hate the cold anymore. You will also find that machinery is what makes money doing trees, not back breaking labor, especially at 60 plus. I'm 36, and i wouldn't ever even think of hand splitting wood for myself, let alone for hire at 20 bucks an hour, which is all you will be making after saw maintenance, trucking to get logs to your house, and fuel. If you really want to make money doing trees, you need to either buy, rent, or borrow equipment to do the material handling and trucking (most important part ironically in suburban tree care) and/or work at heights. Lol around to who makes good money here, they are either amazing climbers with log moving equipment (ok, just about everyone except me fits this description lol) and/or have lifts or cranes. Even in construction, the more equipment, the more money.
 
Kyle, what you say cannot be argued with.

I guess there is some amount of foolishness in my "business" plan -- i.e. at this point it is really "technically" more of a "hobby" in reality.

Best I can say now is:

I enjoy it... physically, mentally, emotionally
It is doing *something* (anything) constructive ....i.e. moving "forward" so to speak ....i.e. to see where it might lead
I don't *need* that much money..... some... but not like you young fellows here .... like I used to when I was younger :)
ha, when I look at the time, effort, and possible potential return, flexibility etc. of wood/tree type work VS. working at wal-mart, macdonalds, etc.... it isn't *that* big of a difference. :)
I have some trees around here that need cutting.... so it is my own skills and equipment vs. paying somebody.

ha, AND when I have the great resources and help from all y'all here --- that really puts it over the edge!

and to Butch's
Hand splitting wood for profit is a fool's errand, and that ain't no s. For yourself? Cool, great workout!!!
Click to expand...

ha, hand splitting for myself isn't fun... it is a chore even if it is good exercise.....
....but splitting for money....yeah, it doesn't come out to too much per hour, that's for sure... but more fun than splitting for myself!

Kyle......yeah, firewood not big here like it is up north.

Just now got confirmation to deliver (20 minutes away) and stack a load (4'x8'x18") of wood for $115 -- 1/2 a "face cord" some people call it.
 
Burnham said:
Let me know if or when it might be so...I'll broach the subject with milady M to plan it out. We would have some fine fun, Fiona.
Click to expand...

Now, if all 3 of us could time that for when I hopefully get well and come over, that would be something:)
 
We had a meeting with our forwarder guy today.
We've joined with another guy and can now offer the complete package:
Everything in manual forestry; planting, spraying, precommercial thinning and falling as well as mechanical harvesting and forwarding and even selling the wood and biomass.

I have a feeling this "everything in one" model will attract a lot of small forest owners.

Might have to hire some more guys in a year or two:)

I'm really feeling good about this.
 
And Stig already let on what happens to the ones who don't make the cut... insurance permitting... ;)

rfwoody said:
That would be good to see, Stumpshot!
Click to expand...
Shucks, I was there today dumping a load of chips, but didn't have my camera. I'll bring it along next time so you can see. We have a 30T log splitter from Menards. They offer good financing, if you wanted to go that route. Tractor Supply carries a 4-way splitter that claims to have the fastest split + return time of the mainstream brands. Do we have a firewood thread?
 
Robert, locally, you will find out more about species. As I understand it, pecan is super twisty grain or something that make it hard to split.
Elm changes grain direction annually, I've heard, making it very split resistant. No research to confirm.
You will know what you need more than me. For more hardwoods, you may want a little more oomph. The tonnage is the tonnage, I think. The more horses, the faster the pump will pump and the hydraulic ram will move. A four-way splitter (maybe on a bigger tonnage splitter) will split faster. IDK that I've ever heard of full-time four way splitters. Are they made, or just bolt-ons?
 
I have seen 4 ways that slip on over the factory wedges. Not all that practical I think. Really heavy duty splitters have a 4 way you can adjust up and down to hit the center of the log. Your splitter would have to be very heavy duty for a 4 way to be much use.

I bought a TSC on sale a couple years ago for $850. I don't sell much wood at all but burn quite a bit. It works well. I have one I bought in the 70's that still works but it is right down on the ground. Too much bending over for my older back. Firewood is tough on the back anyway.
 
Cobleskill said:
No. That is a full face cord. We sell wood by the face cord. Seems like more places sell by the full cord.
Click to expand...

Cobleskill, so 4'x8'x18" (length of firewood) is a "full face cord" ? .... i.e. less than half of a true "standard" cord?
..... just trying to understand because there is a lot of fuzzy, confusing terminology it seems.
.... and it seems to vary among different people. Thanks.

stig said:
We had a meeting with our forwarder guy today.
Click to expand...

Stig, what is a "forwarder"?

Butch, Stumpshot, Cobbleskill, Sean, Kyle,

Need to check TSC .... even though they likely have some cheap stuff.

But I have heard that on a log splitter, if the engine is good, the hydraulic part is not much to go wrong?

Return time seems *really* important.

Sean, I understand Elm's grain is very difficult to split and hence it's favored use in chair seats by woodworkers.

Main problem with hand splitting Oak is knots and branch unions.... a splitter should make easy work of them.
 
nancy_christian_firewood_before_20181221_110726_resized.jpg
ready to deliver... took about 1 hour to load

nancy_christian_firewood_after_20181221_125714_resized.jpg
Delivered and Stacked....$115.00
Took ~4 hours from loading truck to walking back inside when I got home.

Figure approx:
12 hours to fall/fell, buck, haul back tree
4 hours to split
4 hours to deliver and stack and return (40 miles round trip)

Figure $4 to $5 an hour "net" (not including non-truck overhead... taxes, insurance, advertising)

Not setting this forth as an example of good business practices or anything.... just saying what I did (yesterday).
 
Butch, that is 4'x8'x 18" .... about 2/5 of a standard "full" cord.

Yeah, I know but that seems to be what the market will bear here.

I figure firewood is a "free" byproduct of tree removals.... although I removed these particular ones free... for the firewood... yeah, I know..
 
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