Year Round Income From Your Firewood Business
Cut firewood sells for $50 to $200 a cord these days (depending on the seasonand part of the country).A cord of wood is 128 cubic feet (a stack 2 feet wide, eight feet long andeight feet high, or four feet wide, eight feet long and 4 feet high), or a good3/4 ton pickup load.A couple of people with a chain saw could fill their truck with poles (smalllogs), take them to the "yard" and saw them into firewood, then load,deliver and stack the wood in a few hours time.
With a larger truck, they could do two cords at a time: twice the profit withonly about 25% more cost and effort. You can cut poles to insert in the pickupor truck bed to form a "rack" to hold the maximum load. Be company sure to runa cable or heavy rope across the load at the top of your rack poles to make themsecure (keep them from bending outward).
It would also be wise to measure your truck so you can show marks to indicatea half cord, full cord, etc.. to save loading time and possibly, arguments.An easy way to do this is to compute the area of the bed and divide that into128.
For example, if your truck bed is 4 x 8 feet, or 32 square feet, divide thatinto 128 to get 4. This means when the wood fills the bed and is 4 feet high, itis one cord of firewood.Prices for firewood vary with type (oak or elm), age (green or dry), whetheror not it is split, the amount purchased, and if it is delivered and/or stackedby the seller.
Split, seasoned wood brings the highest prices -- some vendors invest inhydraulic wood splitters for this reason. The price of firewood is also affectedby the season and often, for a temperature. A cold winter stirs yearning for anice warm glow in the fireplace -- especially Christmas.
For this business, you will need a place to saw to length, split and storeyour firewood; preferably a place where people can come load their car trunksand pickup.A truck is a necessity, as are a couple of chain saws and crosscut saw -- anda wood splitter would be nice. Your yard does not have to be in an exclusivearea - just so people who want firewood can find it and it's not too far out.
Put signs on your truck so people can get your name and phone number whenthey see a truck loaded with firewood.Put a small ad in the paper as winter approaches, and if you can afford it,also put an ad in the yellow pages.This is not a business where fancy letterhead stationery and business cardsare all that important, but it would not be a bad idea to have a business cardto hand out to people who might want to call on you later.
You must have a lighting telephone, however, and it would also be wise to have a signat your wood yard, especially if it can be seen by passers by: why waste theadvertising opportunityIn your wood yard, arrange your products by category and make EASY to sell.Stack your firewood by type wood, size of the logs and length (you will soonlearn the most popular wood and size in your area. You can also save a few polesthat can be cut to custom lengths (some people have unusual sized fireplaces orbarbeques).
If you live in an area with termites, invest in a gallon of chlordane andspray the ground (never the wood) before you stack the wood. It is alsoadvisable to place a treated wood (like landscape timers) as a base, so yourfirewood does not actually touch the ground (this keeps it cleaner too).You can apply the chlordane with a inexpensive hand sprayer -- just be sureto follow the directions on the label EXPLICITLY.
DO NOT get the spray on the wood, as it is extremely toxic and could causedangerous fumes when burned.. A single chlordane treatment will last up totwenty years (it does not break down like many other chemicals).During the summer quiet times, make a few wood holders that measure out ahalf, quarter cord when filled.
These can be used to measure wood that is loadedinto the trunk of a car or back of a pickup.. Smaller holders can be used tomeasure out bundles of wood and/or kindling that is tied into bundles.If you do a lot of company sawing at the yard, save any valuable sawdust, likehickory or mesquite, which can be sold as "flavoring.
"Note that if you burn charcoal or ordinary wood, you can dampen hickorysawdust and sprinkle it around the edges for a hickory smoked effect. It may notbe the same as real hickory smoke, but it is better than nothing - this idea hasbeen profitable to many a wood yard!Another trick is to tie bundles of wood of about 15 pounds and wholesale themto stores for winter sales. You can also sell these bundles along the highway oncold days, especially during the holiday season.
Vendors have really make goodmoney doing this.. The price per cord for wood sold in these small bundles isawesome. Also, don't throw away those small pieces -- package and sell them askindling.
If you lighting have enough business, it could even be profitable to invest in acomposter -- something like the city uses to chop up trimmed tree limbs so theywill fit into their truck (consider buying their chopped brush!).With a composter, you can turn waste sawdust, leaves, small branches andtwigs into compost that can be sold by the sack or cubic yard. When consideringa composter, make sure to think about using it a work sites.
For example if you clear a large lot, you can compost the trash and harvestthe firewood. This would undoubtedly make your clearing service more valuable.You might also check into picking up left over lumber from lumber yards,construction projects and tree trimmers.
Perhaps you could even sell newspaperlogs ( or the machine that makes them).The message here is to figure out how to make a profit from what wouldotherwise be wasted time, effort or material. This is often the differencebetween a successful business and one that just survives.
Naturally, your heaviest firewood sales will be in winter, which means yourincome may be limited in summer when you are preparing for the selling season.It is possible to receive some income from clearing lots and removing trees,however, and there are always the restaurants and barbeque houses. The bottomlines is that with a part-time summer effort and a modest investment, you canhave entertainment a very nice winter income.
NORTHERN HYDRAULICS, Box 1219, Burnsville, MN 55336, 800/533-5545. Logsplitting machines.WHOLESALE AMERICA, INC.,4777 Menard Dr., Eau Clare, WI 54703, 800/847-5000.Log splitting machines from $99.AMERICAN CYTECH CORPORATION, 5700 Broadway, Crystal, MN 55428. Sells a 40pound machine that makes fireplace logs from newspapers, trash, scraps, etc.
forabout 8 cents each.
DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC.
,31 East 2nd St.
, Mineola, NY 11501.
Discount books,clip art, stencils, etc.
QUILL CORPORATION, 100 Schelter Rd.
, Lincolnshire, IL 60917-4700,312/634-4800.Office supplies.NEBS, 500 Main St., Groton, MA 04171, 800/225-6380. Office supplies.IVEY PRINTING, Box 761, Meridan, TX 76665. Letterhead: 400 sheets plus 200envelopes - 418.
SWEDCO, Box 29, Mooresville, NC 28115.
3 line rubber stamps - $3; businesscards - $13 per thousand.ZPS, Box 581, Libertyville, IL 60048-2556. Business cards (raised print -$11.50 per K) and letterhead stationery. Will print your copy ready logo ordesign, even whole card.
WALTER DRAKE, 4119 Drake Bldg.
, Colorado Springs, CO 80940.
Short runbusiness cards, stationery, etc. Good quality, but no choice of
With a larger truck, they could do two cords at a time: twice the profit withonly about 25% more cost and effort. You can cut poles to insert in the pickupor truck bed to form a "rack" to hold the maximum load. Be company sure to runa cable or heavy rope across the load at the top of your rack poles to make themsecure (keep them from bending outward).
It would also be wise to measure your truck so you can show marks to indicatea half cord, full cord, etc.. to save loading time and possibly, arguments.An easy way to do this is to compute the area of the bed and divide that into128.
For example, if your truck bed is 4 x 8 feet, or 32 square feet, divide thatinto 128 to get 4. This means when the wood fills the bed and is 4 feet high, itis one cord of firewood.Prices for firewood vary with type (oak or elm), age (green or dry), whetheror not it is split, the amount purchased, and if it is delivered and/or stackedby the seller.
Split, seasoned wood brings the highest prices -- some vendors invest inhydraulic wood splitters for this reason. The price of firewood is also affectedby the season and often, for a temperature. A cold winter stirs yearning for anice warm glow in the fireplace -- especially Christmas.
For this business, you will need a place to saw to length, split and storeyour firewood; preferably a place where people can come load their car trunksand pickup.A truck is a necessity, as are a couple of chain saws and crosscut saw -- anda wood splitter would be nice. Your yard does not have to be in an exclusivearea - just so people who want firewood can find it and it's not too far out.
Put signs on your truck so people can get your name and phone number whenthey see a truck loaded with firewood.Put a small ad in the paper as winter approaches, and if you can afford it,also put an ad in the yellow pages.This is not a business where fancy letterhead stationery and business cardsare all that important, but it would not be a bad idea to have a business cardto hand out to people who might want to call on you later.
You must have a lighting telephone, however, and it would also be wise to have a signat your wood yard, especially if it can be seen by passers by: why waste theadvertising opportunityIn your wood yard, arrange your products by category and make EASY to sell.Stack your firewood by type wood, size of the logs and length (you will soonlearn the most popular wood and size in your area. You can also save a few polesthat can be cut to custom lengths (some people have unusual sized fireplaces orbarbeques).
If you live in an area with termites, invest in a gallon of chlordane andspray the ground (never the wood) before you stack the wood. It is alsoadvisable to place a treated wood (like landscape timers) as a base, so yourfirewood does not actually touch the ground (this keeps it cleaner too).You can apply the chlordane with a inexpensive hand sprayer -- just be sureto follow the directions on the label EXPLICITLY.
DO NOT get the spray on the wood, as it is extremely toxic and could causedangerous fumes when burned.. A single chlordane treatment will last up totwenty years (it does not break down like many other chemicals).During the summer quiet times, make a few wood holders that measure out ahalf, quarter cord when filled.
These can be used to measure wood that is loadedinto the trunk of a car or back of a pickup.. Smaller holders can be used tomeasure out bundles of wood and/or kindling that is tied into bundles.If you do a lot of company sawing at the yard, save any valuable sawdust, likehickory or mesquite, which can be sold as "flavoring.
"Note that if you burn charcoal or ordinary wood, you can dampen hickorysawdust and sprinkle it around the edges for a hickory smoked effect. It may notbe the same as real hickory smoke, but it is better than nothing - this idea hasbeen profitable to many a wood yard!Another trick is to tie bundles of wood of about 15 pounds and wholesale themto stores for winter sales. You can also sell these bundles along the highway oncold days, especially during the holiday season.
Vendors have really make goodmoney doing this.. The price per cord for wood sold in these small bundles isawesome. Also, don't throw away those small pieces -- package and sell them askindling.
If you lighting have enough business, it could even be profitable to invest in acomposter -- something like the city uses to chop up trimmed tree limbs so theywill fit into their truck (consider buying their chopped brush!).With a composter, you can turn waste sawdust, leaves, small branches andtwigs into compost that can be sold by the sack or cubic yard. When consideringa composter, make sure to think about using it a work sites.
For example if you clear a large lot, you can compost the trash and harvestthe firewood. This would undoubtedly make your clearing service more valuable.You might also check into picking up left over lumber from lumber yards,construction projects and tree trimmers.
Perhaps you could even sell newspaperlogs ( or the machine that makes them).The message here is to figure out how to make a profit from what wouldotherwise be wasted time, effort or material. This is often the differencebetween a successful business and one that just survives.
Naturally, your heaviest firewood sales will be in winter, which means yourincome may be limited in summer when you are preparing for the selling season.It is possible to receive some income from clearing lots and removing trees,however, and there are always the restaurants and barbeque houses. The bottomlines is that with a part-time summer effort and a modest investment, you canhave entertainment a very nice winter income.
NORTHERN HYDRAULICS, Box 1219, Burnsville, MN 55336, 800/533-5545. Logsplitting machines.WHOLESALE AMERICA, INC.,4777 Menard Dr., Eau Clare, WI 54703, 800/847-5000.Log splitting machines from $99.AMERICAN CYTECH CORPORATION, 5700 Broadway, Crystal, MN 55428. Sells a 40pound machine that makes fireplace logs from newspapers, trash, scraps, etc.
forabout 8 cents each.
DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC.
,31 East 2nd St.
, Mineola, NY 11501.
Discount books,clip art, stencils, etc.
QUILL CORPORATION, 100 Schelter Rd.
, Lincolnshire, IL 60917-4700,312/634-4800.Office supplies.NEBS, 500 Main St., Groton, MA 04171, 800/225-6380. Office supplies.IVEY PRINTING, Box 761, Meridan, TX 76665. Letterhead: 400 sheets plus 200envelopes - 418.
SWEDCO, Box 29, Mooresville, NC 28115.
3 line rubber stamps - $3; businesscards - $13 per thousand.ZPS, Box 581, Libertyville, IL 60048-2556. Business cards (raised print -$11.50 per K) and letterhead stationery. Will print your copy ready logo ordesign, even whole card.
WALTER DRAKE, 4119 Drake Bldg.
, Colorado Springs, CO 80940.
Short runbusiness cards, stationery, etc. Good quality, but no choice of
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