Yes, I think trying to make a living splitting firewood is really tough. However, as a homeowner who owns a woodlot and splits his own wood. It is a lot cheaper than buying it and you have fringe benefits such as time in the woods, good exercise and the pleasure of drinking your coffee in front of a wood fire on cold winter mornings. Some benefits aren’t financial.
I loved this episode. I kept imagining a bunch of guys running away with their fingers in their ears out of fear that you’re going to confront their delusion. To go big and make lots of money with minimal effort it boils down to being a banker. Lending money to all of us who want shiny pieces of machinery is where the real money is. Kind of like gold mining in the 1800s. The people who got rich were the people who sold equipment, saloon owners and pimps.
The formula for a highly profitable firewood business is simple. Develop a successful and profitable TH-cam channel to subsidize the business and get free commercial grade equipment from sponsors.
Exactly!! When equipment for mass production is supplied free, you can buy your own equipment with the profits or bank it. You hit the nail on the head Redneck Ed 🔥🪵🤑👍👏🇺🇸 Rick
Here’s my firewood math - production for my own heating needs: with a chainsaw and a splitting maul, I can get a cord of wood from standing trees to cut/split/stacked in 4 hours if the grain is straight and the tree isn’t more than about 14” in diameter. For 6 cords, that’s 24 hours, which saves me $1500+ in propane. Subtracting saw operating costs and adding maintenance time, that’s better than $50 per hour, and no gym membership 😆. Productive Recreation!
Yeah, you are literally like a machine. Hometown didn't even make 3 full cords in 8 hours using a firewood processor. And, that was starting with a stack of logs ready to feed into the processor. You should make videos of you vs a firewood processor. Sounds like you'd give the machine a run for its money.
@@GoodWorksTractors I don’t know about that. But I did cut a red oak about 14” in diameter this morning that yielded about 1/4 cord. Start to finish was about an hour and a half with filming and moving the camera, etc. I wasn’t rushing. For wood that goes easy, hand splitting is faster than you think.
@@GoodWorksTractors No doubt! 4 hours is my max firewood work time. I should also note I’m not making pretty bundle pieces like Hometown Acres. I’m splitting for my wood stove, and some pieces are bigger than what you’d put in bundles.
I am in the middle of 60 acres that has been in the family since 8 years before my existence. We burn firewood that I cut, haul ,split, and stack. When I am in the woods I am so happy and so thankful for everything in my life. I think of my grandfather that purchased this property in 1955, my dad that took us “Up North” my whole childhood, my grandmother and all of my aunts and uncles and cousins. I was fortunate enough to move here when I was 22(60 now) and honestly feel like I am the luckiest person I know. Every time I am in the woods these wonderful childhood memories fill my brain. Never think about the $, lol
Firewood is a large part of my full-time forestry services company. Firewood is definitely a location dependent business. In my area, firewood doesn’t sell for a lot. The smaller the quantity, typically the higher cost to profit margin. My recommendation is if your thinking of getting into firewood as a business, spend a lot of time doing the math and homework. I’ve chosen to diversify my business, so all my eggs are not in one basket.
I would rather spend 3 hours in the woodlot than 1 hour in a stinky gym to get my exercise. Selling firewood would be a good side gig or maybe something to do in retirement for keeping moving. I had 3 cords of hard maple, split and ready to go years ago. I advertised the whole shebang for $300. No takers whatsoever. I made a rack that holds 1/6 of a cord (4'x4'x16") and sold the 3 cords one $25 rackfull at a time. I made $450. It's all about knowing your market and adapting the product to suit.
Around here, the only team I know that makes any money on firewood is our local tree service guy. He makes some money on tree removal and cleanup; then turns around and makes a little more on selling the wood.
Funny you posted this video today. My daughter was asking yesterday what jobs I had that I would pay her $. I gave her three options and she picked splitting wood with dad (I was hoping she would pick this choice). Wood is a great way to get exercise and it can be a hobbie that pays for itself and then some. I also could not make the figures work for my time. I do it because I find it relaxing and energizing after sitting at a desk all day. We burn wood to make maple syrup and we were about 4 gallons of syrup to the face cord this year(we don't use our best wood for making syrup). A face cord of wood and gathering 160 gallons of sap, boiling it, buying filters and jars to make 4 gallons of syrup. Fun hobbies, my hats off to any of you that can make a living from it.
Great video, one thing that most likely will come up buying cord wood to resell- you will re-split 1/2 to get it to bundle size. Moral of the story- firewood is being sold WAY too cheap.
I think that it's very profitable, IF you have a steady source of logs. A tree service company supplying the "raw material" is about the only way it would be constant supply. With the proliferation of home-brew "sawyers", competing for tree service logs, it's tough to get a connection for log supplies.
Started with firewood more years ago than I care to count. It was a way to clear dead trees from the wood lot. The campers in my area sure like it. Do I make money at it? Probably not, but I don’t have the expense of hauling wood to the dump and it pays for my fuel and equipment and less mess in the wood lot. I’m retired now with a couple of blown out discs, but I’m still at it. Why… Always loved being outdoors in the woods and it keeps me from just sitting around drinking beer and watching soap operas with my wife. It’s hard to break the habit of working after all these years! IF YOU CAN’T HAVE FUN DOING IT, IT AIN’T WORTH DOING!
A couple points. 1) Drying time. If you start a firewood business from scratch, you're at least a year out from first split until first cash. Depends on the region and species. Joe @ OWB says 2 years to season oak in Ohio, others say a year further south. 2) If you buy firewood for bundling, you're going to need higher quality control on it than if you're selling it as bulk wood. You generally want straighter and smaller pieces for bundling, as you need visual appeal and smaller pieces means it looks like you get more for your money, and it's more suitable for small campfires or fireplaces. If it's not small enough, now you've got to resplit it. Bundling in bags may look nicer, but unless there's some tool that makes it easier to get into the bags, the wood is going to hang up on the webbing, slowing you down. 3) I think Adam @ HTA may have used slightly higher numbers for his costs than I'd agree with. IIRC, he treated the expenses of the excavator solely as a firewood business expense although he actually uses it for other things, like excavating and lumber handling for his sawmill.
Nope, you didn’t miss anything. Nailed it. I do it for heating my house and sell a little as a hobby(like running saws) Excellent video breaking it down dude
A very respectable business approach to firewood and valid point of view. I grew up in an age where people heated their homes with wood, and it was a way of life. It was pretty profitable in the 80's since "efficient" furnaces etc were just coming to life. My take is getting out there and being physical and keeping your home in the winter at 80+ when it's minus 7. Not keeping your thermostat at 62 and wearing a snuggie and here in New Yorkistan when they will make us only use electric (soon) only. And wait what happens when the power goes out in a snow storm, hey no problem my solar unit covered in snow will keep me warm. Heating with wood = Keeping warm at every step of the process and maybe keep your friends and neighbors warm for not such a great profit, but it's better than nothing.
This is a great topic. 🤔I'm glad you did the video to open this up for discussion. My neighbor recently had his forest thinned out and I was allowed to get what I wanted from the huge pile of hardwoods. Total time , digging out 20' to 30' logs, transport, buck up, split on a box store splitter, stack in IBC totes and cleaning up the mess = 12 large IBC totes full x $90. Per totes=$1,080. ÷ total time involved in processing the wood 32 hours =$33.75 before any expenses are taken out. Other then loving the physical workout that I got from this free wood 🤔 you got me wondering if it's even worth doing! My bottle neck =super Slow box store splitter 😥. Love your videos, keep up the great work 🤠
I think you are on the most profitable end of the firewood biz.. selling products to customers like us that we think we need to do a job. Like a grapple or splitter, processor, or chipper..thanks for the good entertainment
Yes, the touch time is very high with firewood. I have split my own wood, but I have the trees, chainsaws, a splitter, and a good place to store the seasoned wood. This winter I used all of my 6 cords and still had to by 2 more cords. Eight cords is a lot of work, and I think if I had a dependable source of firewood, I would just buy it. Oh, and falling trees is dangerous, especially for the weekend warrior. So, in closing, I'm with you. It simply does not pencil out!
My bro-in-law used to sell some logs off his forested land (90 acres) every few years to a lumbermill and then use the small cutoffs that the mill didn't want (
honestly I get it your right I’ve explored this and can’t make it end in a plus even heating with it fire wood ? Just pay your self if you own the land ? Even 10 dollars an hour you have to scout it out 1 cut it load it out split it stack it have fuel / oil for everything tractors/ saws splitter of safety equipment! Then if you don’t own woods you have to buy a log truck full ? And time precious time ? I built my house like 8 years ago we doubled up on insulation my house is a ranch with a poured basement including walls our square ft is like 2000 my heating bill propane is small very small a 500 gal tank last us year and actually we got two year outa the last fill up . I can’t justify it no way I’m 52 and when I retire I do plan on putting a wood burner in just for a hobbyist lol we own like 20ac 1/2 to 3/4 wooded ! I believe the content of You tube is a dream and a way to make you watch more like a other channel outdoors with ? You know who (I like the channel) but watching him and you from the beginning I figured I was right in my thoughts still am I believe especially in his early days he mentioned he doesn’t heat with wood ????? Now he has a wood burning in his outdoor garage and it’s the best thing since diesel fuel lol? And I’m guessing with out you tube he would never be able to afford all his wood processing equipment and bunker and giant car port it just doesn’t pay except with you tube Views ! So your exactly right ! I’d love to make a side dollar off my property but there’s no way I’ve done the math it doesn’t add up good exercise that’s it ok I’m sure I’m going to make people upset !!!! Keep up the great videos all off them even the snow failure one was great because your honest on all of them you didn’t have to show us any of the videos that were perfect but you do and that’s why I watch you too your freaking honest on all aspects not just the perfect ones ok take care congratulations on being honest !!!!!
A cord sells for around $300 in my area. I have a woodlot and make my stove wood from cleaning up wood not good enough for the mill. Counting the labour and machines required I’m not sure if $600 a cord is enough for stove wood. But…I agree with the comment that looks at it from the perspective of being poor. It’s a way to get cash with just a little investment.
I bought my log truck Bought a palax processor cuts and splits in 2 seconds. Can cut 12-18 cords a day so it's fast we have a great setup Last year made around $250000 and take home is around 138000 after expenses. Also location matters.
I’m retired but when I was still operating my landscape materials supply business we offered firewood for sale as one of our sales items. I looked at it as a necessary evil to keep my employees busy during a slower sales time of the year, but like you could never make the numbers add up to get excited over it. I focused in on reselling QUALITY firewood. I bought semi loads of firewood (processed and dried from large wholesalers) and resold it. KILN DRIED hardwoods only. Kiln drying insures consistently burning wood and the temps and length of time in the kiln kills off any insects/larva that may be present within the wood. Kiln drying vs seasoning removes the potential for moving invasive/unwanted pests into an area. I charged a premium for quality. Some customers recognized the added value-some not. I preferred dealing with quality minded customers…
25 ton truck of wood here in NZ is $60 per T for pine delivered $90 per T for Oregon . 25 tons should equate to 50 cubic m thrown 5.09 thrown cubic m to a cord , so basically 10 cords to a truck . So a thrown cubic M of pine costs $30 sell for $65 + delivery ($10)+tax so $35X5= $175 gross ( per hour if things are going well ). Fuel $10 , maintenance $10 , Labour $22 , depreciation $5 other $15 .$175-62= $113 $100 an hour splitting and assuming 10 cubes delivered at a time , $70 an hour for delivery so averaging $85 an hour , in theory
My boys learned how to split wood. Splitting maul, or sledge and wedges. Our use, or gift for those in need. Low investment, other than instilling a work ethic and a value of their work to the family. Both now have a solid understanding of what real labor feels like
.06 cubic foot bundles sell for 8.99 at all the stores around here. I’m in the Little Rock area. That’s 213 bundles per cord. I’m selling mine for $6.00 each. That’s $1278 per cord. Takes me 7 hours to buck, split, stack and bundle one cord. The math works great for me.
.06 cubic foot is 10" square and 1" thick. Are you sure about this? Basically a 1 x12 12" long. If you can sell that for $6.00, I would like to sell some things to your customers.
Most, if not all the firewood guys in my area are loggers who have the firewood as a side business and make most of their money selling sawlogs and veneer. Also they process 3 to 4 hundred cord a year. They’re doing all right believe me.
I can only imagine splitting wood for myself since I have enough timber on my own property. Even with that, I can buy a face cord (maple, oak, ash) for $75. I think I'll save my back and just have it delivered.
OWB has said numerous times that his customer base IS NOT the residential buyer for wood heating. It is the commercial buyer, mostly restaurants for cooking, and residential using firewood for "atmosphere" and smoking. Bundles make up a portion of that business but he's splitting the wood anyway.
The money doesn’t always mean anything! Especially after you retire, I do a lot of things are just a labor of love. A friend of mine sells cord wood for spending money and he’s one of the wealthiest friends I have. I know another guy that spent $100,000 on a processor and he’s almost 80 years old! Having said that, I can make 10 times the profit doing something else!!! P.S. I own a fishing boat. I figured the fish cost me $1000 a pound. LOL.
I love this i have worked for allot of different places dealing with this and by far the best was Tims operation ! Now that being said this man had dedicated his life to logging and doing this as a business. He brought wood to the yard out of the forest and also had a big U road with logs stacked up and we did fire wood as well. This is a big business up in northern MN. And it's a shame it couldn't keep going you have to have a decent crew but he had built a trailer with a splitter built into it on the back of a grapple truck so essentially we could have a person on either side feeding and sawing now it takes a small crew and you have to be extremely strong as you have to lift up these 12-16 inch logs up to chest high we would fill the back of a pretty big dump truck with sides a good 10 cords or so in anywhere from a hr to a hr and half with no issues and everything running smoothly. Now back when we where doing it it he sold all that wood dropped in your yard for 600 bucks. We would stack it but that was extra. We would typically do 3 loads a day depending on how it went sometimes we could Hussle out 4. On average thats almost 2k a day we all would make a 100 bucks cash so that would be 500 for that usually we only had one cutter tho as Mark was extremely fast. In today's market i would think 800 would be the going rate and you would be busy as hell but by the end of the week you would be doing about 10k plus whatever for who showed up that week and it doesn't account for the big wood going to the mill. Now you do have to have sorta a team but TBH this could be done with one person. Although the equipment was old you could move it and if you had enough people you could probably fill about 6-8 trucks depending on snags or mechanical issues. This was by far the most efficient thing I have ever seen and was absolutely amazed by how Guinness it was he probably had a good 100k into that program but it splits so dam fast and dumps right into the truck. This was brilliant. We also did a thing where we put together those bundles like you buy at the gas station and that shit would drive you made but it was Money and you could come and go as you wanted. Moving down to Indiana here i have seen some of those bundles of wood sell for 27 bucks 😬😬😬😬 which is very very curious to me. Anyways i love logging and done allot of firewood in my day many people have different ways but one thing i can tell ya even a good hydraulic splitter with a 4 way on it can do some serious damage with the right person behind it !!!!
I feel like with everything in life, you get better at something the more you do it. I've definitely gotten much better at all the aspects of processing firewood. I also believe a firewood business has to evolve slowly and a person almost certainly cannot survive quitting their job and starting up a firewood business. Firewood likely is something someone is already doing. Building up an inventory while still working a full time job sort of thing.
It would definately be a hard way to make a living. I have sold firewood since 1981 and used the money to buy good saws and pay for my truck so that I had no expense in equipment to heat my own house. That was my reason. I never tried to make a living but it was some nice spending money and I enjoyed doing it
As a Homeowner with a Full-time job and a few acres of woods in NW Georgia (Wife and I also Hate the cold) I would have to spend a large portion of my Days Off Processing to keep our Fireplaces going the 3-4 months a year it’s averaging out to. So We’ll buy two or three Full cords a year from the Best Looking and Cheapest from Market Place. Pretty much everyone I’ve bought Wood from does it as a sideline or has something else going on to supplement their income. The Guy we have bought our Wood from recently has a Tree removal service, so I’m guessing he’s making Bank. Getting paid to Fall, Haul and Dispose of is making Money from Start to finish. Also factor in some areas don’t have a lot of High paying jobs available. Having to leave the House and break your back for Minimum Wage or Break your back working for yourself could make it worth it.
Much of the bundled wood we buy comes from state campgrounds which don't allow BYOW, we're charged $5-6 per bundle, mostly Birch, 5-6 pieces per bundle, a $ per log. In ND, some homeowners near some state campgrounds offer $10 short pyramid pile of wood, between 12-15 pieces of miscellaneous species, undried for sale on the honor system. The folks who have contracts with the state probably have more stable income streams. Very location dependent business.
Makes sense to me….all my buds who split wood have the trees that need to be taken anyway and it’s for their own use. Camp fires, wood fireplaces etc. but those places are all rural and everyone in those areas do the same. You don’t see many firewood for sale places around. All the homes in the burbs are now gas fireplace sets and folks have gone with pellet cooker for BBQ. Even the fire pits have gone propane. Probably best since most of these folks moving in wouldn’t be able to master fire it seems….most are still trying to figure out how to drive🤔 I still use the wood BBQ and split a pecan tree which will last me a long time…have another large pecan that will come down soon and get shared with buds who do the same. I borrow the splitter but will say when done I don’t want to see it again for a while.
Building up a successful firewood business depends on a lot of factors, and how you position yourself in your local market. In many areas there's no reasonable way to build a profitable "business" supplying firewood. In some areas there are good opportunities with the right plan. Decide for yourself before you buy any equipment.
I think you answered your entire question right off. It depends on your location. Applewood, cherrywood coming from Eastern Washington is 500, 600 a cord. Now that's mostly going to puts joints in western Washington or people who smoke meats. BBQers.
My firewood business is a lot simpler- I buy 8’ long logs, 18 cords at a time, process (with a processor)it as I sell it by the cord into my dump trailer, deliver it to residential customers. I limit it to 300 full cords a year- I double my money on what I pay. 3-4 cords a day, to add to my other businesses. It’s profitable that way- I never touch the product. The math works for me. It’s simple work- not necessarily easy work though.
Yep, let the customers do the drying, and only handle it once after splitting on the production side. I cut and split firewood for myself, here in New Zealand. Take 2 IBC totes to the trees in a trailer. Cut green willow, hand split with a maul, straight into the tote, slide the totes off at home. Use 3 point forks to put the tote into the little wood shed out the back door when it’s time. “Willow, that’s rubbish wood!” Dries in 2 months, year round over here.
Firewood in western Idaho is 350 - 400 a cord. The bundles are 6-8 a bundle. The other idea is buying a log truck load for around 2k. You get about 12 cord and you process it yourself. It's a lot of labor for a little profit. When I build my new place I want an outdoor wood boiler so that takes the splitting labor away at least.
Seems most around me that sell firewood are loggers. So they get paid to go out and clear a lot or parcell of land, turn around and sell the best trees to saw mills and what not and then sell the firewood in full log lengths, cut and split and then cut, split and dried. I'm sure just solely cutting firewood is tough, especially today with pellet stoves and heat pumps and so many options. Most people today (not people watching this channel) couldn't handle actually having to physically cut and stack firewood. Personally I grew up with a Woodstove and when I moved into my house there was an old pellet stove and I yanked it out and put a wood stove in. Power goes out here in winter (Maine) that Woodstove is more important than the generator in my opinion. I'm fortunate my family own 40acres, I cut our own wood, yea it's time and effort but I'ld have a chainsaw regardless and recently got a splitter and few years ago and it's a few weekends a year to save $1000s in heating oil and after a long cold day outside there is nothing like the heat from a Woodstove.
I wish 1/3 of a cord sold for $175 here in northern TN. Many people sell that amount for $45-60. Make no sense when labor is factored in to the process. Tim
Firewood is tough business. The prices are higher here, $300 a chord to start. My advantage is that I have no debt, live off grid, and don't need a great deal of capital. It's also only a portion of my income. I climb trees, mill lumber, carpentry, you name it, keeping my income stream a diversified as possible has proven a useful strategy. If I were to try to live off of firewood sales it would take 133 chords, regardless of species, at a cost of approximately $70 a chord to harvest and transport home for processing.
Courtney! in Kalamazoo Firewood is cheap, because it's illegal to haul it across state lines (invasive species).. However, In the City of Chicago, a full cord typically goes for $600 or more, and that's not guaranteed hardwoods. For me? here in MI? I'd starve. Why do I still do it? For the exercise, and I get a better quality firewood than what I can typically buy. That being said, I burn two full cords of wood, that I fell, buck, split, and stack each year.. The amount of labor is about 10 hours, with tools I've obtained cheaply. So, my investment of $600 20 years ago has paid off time, and time again..
It's possible to make a living with firewood. I do. It's not easy and the only way I am able to is because I live in the middle of a forest on property I bought for 25K CDN, No mortgage. No tv, no bills and am off grid. (Have cheap phone with small amount of data) property taxes are around $400 CDN per year. We sell cord wood, bundles, kindling, smoking chips/chunks....Anything that can generate some kinda of income. Paying for trucks means we can't make a lot of money per cord and it would be nice to raise prices to help but we're competing with people who sell junk and undersized loads they call a "cord"...and people bite because they think they're getting a deal since its priced cheaper. Only way I get by is because we have multiple properties where we have permission to cut on. (With strict rules of course) getting logs out of the bush is hard work with chainsaws and 2 guys but it does increase profit margin.
One way to control costs, is where you source your wood. Which depends on where you live. Using Chris from In The Woodyard (the guy bundling kindling) as an example: Tree services get paid to haul off wood after they cut it. (which is one reason you see so many marketplace ads for free wood, curbside- someone trying to save themselves that cost) They then need a place to take it to. Dumps and landfills charge them to dump it, and not all of them have the room- or interest- in doing firewood on the side. Thus, many are always looking for places to drop off that wood- enter the neighborhood firewood guy. You can get a LOT of free wood- already cut down, without all the brush and tops- just for being the solution to someone else's problem. Chris got BURIED in it this year, as his city was getting all of it's beetle killed Ash trees taken down. He still had to buck, split, and stack it- but he'd have to do that anyway. Down sides: You get what you get. Which means, sometimes you get less desirable species. If you specialize in recreational wood, like he does, that's not too big a problem- lots of customers don't know- or care- what it is, just that it burns. Also, more often than not, it's cut in random length logs and chunks- whatever was most expedient in getting the tree down safely, and getting it out of there. Plus, yard trees often grow big tops, multiple limbs, and are thus full of crotches and knots. So, you end up with lots of hunks n chunks, and gnarly unstackables. Again, not an insurmountable problem- you can sell that as campfire or boiler wood. Or keep it as your own stash. You do have to look out for metal, and other "The hell is THIS doing in this tree???" Chris also buys loads of logs from loggers. This costs money, but again, you're skipping a bunch of steps, and just getting the trunks and limbs. They normally come in either 8' sections, 16' or tree length- depends on how the primary log buyers want them. (lumber vs pulp mills) The other benefit, is that you often have some control over what you buy, both size and species. AND he cuts some of his own and looks for other opportunities to get low/no cost wood. Items 1 and 3 help defray the cost of buying those log loads- which are mostly varieties he can sell for a premium. Oak, hickory, locust, cherry, etc. The bundles he was making there are all kindling- splitter debris. An extra source of income from a by product. His brother Kenny has worked in the logging business his whole life. Thus he has contacts at the mills, and knows about all the byproducts and rejects they have, and need to get rid of. So he buys loads of mill rejects, slabs, even rejected railroad ties. (pre-treatment) All at a considerably lower price than buying logs from loggers. As you touched on, the real $$ is in selling to customers who are willing to pay premium prices, and in smaller quantites. Bulk heating wood is a low margin/ high volume business. Restaurants, BBQ and smoker people, fireplace people, campers, etc. I see bundles selling for as much as 8-9 bucks each at some supermarkets, gas stations, and big box stores. That wood had to come from somebody. If you have a city or big suburb nearby, that's a good market. The selling price will be higher, because few have access to wood to cut for themselves (much less the desire to do it), but many may have fireplaces, backyard firepits, smokers, or do some weekend camping. Resorty areas, and places with lots of state/ national parks, and/or campgrounds are good markets, too. City folks will pay premium money for white birch, for example, which is a meh wood for heating. But it looks nice, smells great, and burns nice and bright in a fireplace. The locals don't want it, because it has little heat in it- but the folks with weekend cabins, ski condos, etc can't get enough of it. A lot of guys do it for chainsaw money, and to underwrite the cost of their own supply, not as a full time job. Sometimes it evolves into one, anyway, lol. For many, it's a second, side job.
You see, there’s a need for firewood, even in texas. 75% of wood sells are in the winter and fall. 25% in the summer and spring (mostly smoking wood) I’m one of the very few that do delivery’s. My prices all benefit me (delivery, stacking and miles) and it’s almost maintenance free. I do all my splitting and stacking in the summer(hot days season it quickly) ready to sell by winter. I don’t personally own a lot of land with trees. But people give away already cut up wood like a hooker on Sunday. All I gotta do is spilt it and let it sit. I can split 4 cords in about 3 hours, with a splitter from tractor supply. All numbers crunched from last year I made 62k with a 14k loss( vehicle and equipment maintenance/fuel) It’s all about perspective and how quickly you can manage things.
I used to cut my own firewood for 15 years. It is brutal work. All depends on the level of equipment you have. I had a pickup and chainsaws. That's' it. So the multiple lifting, loading and unloading steps were all me and my joints. Transporting it within the woods and to the public is fuel and lots of it. Saws break and need a rebuild, or to be replaced. Things on the truck get broken. Summer is brutal heat, and winter is slippery making it hard to skid logs. Even if you buy your wood as cordwood logs, delivering to the customers can be a pain. A pile in a pickup has to be unloaded. And customer A wants it stacked super neatly, right in this corner, in his crowded garage = 2 hour delivery. So delivery terms and limits have to be accounted for. Palletized or crated face cords with a way to unload would solve that, but then you have more and more cost. Making lumber, bowl blanks, pen blanks and other turning blanks is also a lot of work for not too much pay. I'm still selling off my stock from when I did that. I do it part-time, therefore big equipment doesn't make sense, therefore there's little pay. :) It really is a challenge to find things that support you well.
A guy near me has a firewood business older gent part time business. One morning i drove past him at 5 am he was hand choppin wood. Passed by again 5pm still hand choppin. I just figured he was doin it for the excercise not the money
Trees in the winter and then process them in the spring by the end of the year to be putting dry always there your head on your wood if you're going to buy already cut and split buy it from somebody that has a big word processor cuz then you can resell it Andre split it cuz a lot of people can't pick up the big pieces from the processor
Here in Maine (the most forested state in the country) a lot of us heat with wood, and the firewood people do a good business. We also have paper mills. Not many any more, but a few. People who cut in the woods can either sell to a mill or to a processor. My understanding is that it pays well, although I don't have any first hand knowledge. All I know is that a cord of green wood, delivered, is going for approx. $350. Seems like a lot. There must be margin in it, or they wouldn't sell it.
Definitely couldn't support myself selling firewood, but I do have a bunch of dead ash and selling firewood has covered my expenses and given me enough to get a new MS400c last year. As an added bonus, it's cathartic to split and stack some wood for a couple hours on a weekend after sitting all week for work.
In my area most people who burn wood cut there own cause they are cheap and think they are saving money instead of just paying the gas or electric bill, they will never pay $350 for a cord of wood, people in the city, suburbs, rich folk would pay the $350, I cut my own wood off my own acreage mainly to keep the woods under control and thin out the old growth/ junk trees etc. I agree with your theory that the labor is way to intense to be profitable, it’s just a hobby for me
Getting rich selling firewood on a smaller scale just is not possible, but for me I’m retiring in October and I purchase 56;acres a new tractor new Ranger new log splitter 40 ton TS. This will just be supplemental income, and since I’ll. Be 60 in May this will keep me in shape. Mostly bundles but possibly face cords too, I’m also going to sell grilling chips cherry and oak for starters. Less product more profit.
Central Iowa. Bundles are $7.00 I'm still not doing it! We "do" our own fire wood. The more LPG and NG and other heat source fuel keeps going up, the more money we save.
I split 26 face cords near 9 full cords a year for 15 years for heating my shop. We purchase a log truck at a time split by four guys ( truck holds 75 -100 full cords) . Never again. Cheaper to buy from someone els , or like myself , 14 years ago switched to pellets. You can’t make money processing unless you spend a fortune on large processing equipment that can produce thousands of cords of wood a year.
I agree with the math for most weekend warriors. I cut my own on my land for exercise, land improvement, save a little oil, etc. What if you can’t get oil or gas? Or it quadruples in price? I look at the process as knowing how to survive. Not a far fetched thought these days. Guess it is the Boy Scout in me.
In a nutshell you just told the younger folks how to set up a Firewood business, or any other business...I't exactly ike a grocery store or any other store...if they had to grow the food and sell it then we could never ever afford it. So they just buy from the farmer who eats the labor cost , does the work and pays for the equipment. Then they ice the cake with being able to set the price they will pay the farmer because they know he dosen't have anywhere else to sell it......And the Cycle Repeats over and over again....Great Video.
I process my own wood because it saves me money for heating AND I enjoy being outside, I have a 27 ton wood splitter with a round lifter, I split and stack in the same place, sometimes my kids come over and help just to spend time with dad, firewood has saved me thousands over my lifetime, some ppl enjoy being self employed and dont have a lot of debt so the math works for them. Imagine if everyone that does firewood decided the math didnt work, who would sell those that cant or wont their wood ? One last thought being rich doesnt involve money for many people.
So from what I've heard is the profits are in selling restaurant quality firewood and all that is from my understanding is each piece of spilt wood would be split 1 or 2 more times
I bought my very first summit tractor in the state of Connecticut I was the first one to buy it I absolutely love it fix my firewood business much easier but yes there is profit to be made in firewood if you know what you're doing I've been doing it for him since I was 15 I'm going to be 65 in October so what's that tell you the rest is a lot of talk I would I pay $10 a cord tree like dry at the forestry they load it on my truck 12 ft logs I taken her own process it so it for 3 to $700 corn on the islands
im clearing land so i do it because i hated burning it on pile, all i wanted to was to pay for splitter and i have. i dont wrap just 5 bucks a tub full.
I agree with your assessment, too much labor involved in it , I feel as though I’d have to sell $500. a chord to be worthwhile and nobody is going to pay it!!!😊
I sell $500 cords all the time. Why couldn't you? Even if it's not in a cord quantity, a third of a cord could be worth $250. A sixth of a cord is $150. That's the equivalent of $900 per cord.
100% Correct………. There is no significant money to be made in firewood. I made 5k over the winter with my roadside stand. But the hours do not equate to reasonable profit. I only did it between snowplowing events where I will make 3k with one snow storm.
I don't get it either. I was "helping" my friend. More accurately donating my labor to a friend, cutting and hauling firewood. I got a quote on 2 cords of firewood dumped into the driveway. All that was left was stacking on site. I stopped helping him as soon as he told me he was aware of how cheap it was for delivery. I have a full time job and then some. It wasn't fun and I didn't need it. He enjoyed wasting his time on this. I don't. I learned since then, he's very cheap. If it's a hobby and you enjoy it, fine. Otherwise you need to scale up to be profitable. The R.O.I. is just too long to buy the equipment. At least where I live.
Most firewood company's buy logs thrn process it then deliver it in a dump truck or a dump trailer. 375 to 400 a cord. 400 delivered 375 you pick it up. Very pricey but that's thr cost go other area it can be cheaper. Burn 3 cords that's 400 each x3 so 1200 per year for heating. Propane to fill is 1400... no stacking or moving wood. So is it worth 200 for the pain to deal with.
You're about to flood the market with bundled firewood now 😆 I feel like if you wanted to make that a business you could just co-op with a firewood seller. It would save a lot more time and effort moving that wood around, and storing it, if you just set up on a corner of their property and give them a percentage of sales. Just enough to cover the cost of the wood plus a little extra for the space you are using. You'd still make a big profit and they would get a little more money per cord without having to deliver it.
Yeah, premium firewood in bundles is the most profitable. You are targeted those people that want a fire for pleasure and not heating. Process firewood for bulk sales is not for most people.
What I would add what I like about You my friend is you SELL great Long splitter equipment for subcompact Tractor attachment. You sell the products. But I like how you talk about the REAL cost of selling split wood. People please look at National Park or State Park camp grounds. Do they SELL firewood for the camp spots. I always load up my pickup under my tool box in front of the bed before loading up my camping supplies. When I Tent camp. I go around to camp spots and ask other campers if. They want Firewood to burn. I always get campers who have NO Firewood but want a camp fire, it seems like only campers who have trailers with extra compartments on campers that have Firewood. It's amazing how many tent campers have NO Firewood, thinking they can find firewood at the campground, you just can't cut your own firewood in a campground. I sell it less than the bundles that the locals let's say there's a store close by. I price their bundles and sell my wood a Dollar cheaper. Remember I'm just camping, I loaded up my front of the pickup bed before I went camping, this is just my personal firewood from my home, just bring extra to maybe SELL at the campground, someone always wants Firewood.
I don't live where burning is necessary & it's actually quite outdated when nights have no-wind so that the area fills with used-air. Leaf-mold(yard-waste) compost sells for $145 per cy here so that's what my county is finally beginning to do with the surplus organics.
Great video, I have a friend that gives me shit. For buying a cord of wood for 225 delivered and dropped . I don't have trees to cut. I could find trees , would have to drive to cut down and split and haul it back. I'll have it delivered the kid brings me 16in logs. I split some of it again with an electric splitter. I have a small stove insert.
Splitting firewood isn’t necessarily all about the money. I love being outside working, it’s great exercise, gets me out of the house away from the wife 😊 while she housecleaning and when there’s no yard work there’s always wood to cut and split. I’m charging $8 a bundle for seasoned firewood. So doing ok. I’m thinking unless it’s one of those things you enjoy, people don’t understand. ie, I don’t understand why people play golf? Not for me but then splitting wood probably isn’t for most of them.
I really feel like its location dependent. By me a cord is $150. Delivered. Id rather cut and stack my own. I don't understand how these guys on YT can get $15,000 processors and make a profit. (Unless Andrew Easton give it to them.) I would have to have that machine running 24/7 to make any money.
@@paulheidbreder positive. I've been doing my own firewood for the last couple of years so I pay attention. I can get a face cord of oak for $55. FBM is saturated with sellers.
OOOOOOOHHHHHHH, I think you may have kicked the bee's nest with this video LOL. I'm curious to see if you get a bunch of hate mail now 🙂 Seriously though, I DO see your side of this. And I think that living the "firewood" lifestyle definitely isn't for everybody. But for some people, it's just that, a "lifestyle". I personally need to cut or buy between 11 and 13 cords of firewood per year for our outdoor wood boiler if that's how I choose to heat the house, and not use propane. I personally really enjoy the whole process of cutting the trees, splitting the rounds etc... I've even thought about starting to sell firewood just to make a few bucks. I'm retired, so I don't need to do it as a business, but I just thought "well, I've already got all of the tools necessary to do this, so why not do it and make a little money as well". When you watch Chris' videos on "In the Woodyard", you can see, he REALLY enjoys what he's doing. He and his brother go at it with vigor and a purpose. They just enjoy it. I also see YOUR side of this. YES, there are absolutely better ways to make far more money. But that's you looking at it from a strictly financial end of it. And, if that's how you look at it, yes, you're right. There are other (maybe better) ways to earn far more money.
not to bash it but a firewood business seems like it would have terrible margins. i assume the equipment and insurance are expensive and woodlots eventually run out. for personal use i think it's probably worth it- especially if it's your hobby/workout. i think the cost/benefit for wood is dictated by the availability (or not) of cheap fuel. In my area everyone has natural gas which is cheap compared to propane or oil so TBH i don't even burn wood anymore except outside in the pit. i don't miss it. i grab the remote now and set the thermostat on the gas fireplace and walk away...
I'd say even if the money isn't as much as a regular job the benefit of being out in the yard at home with the kids no boss so much less stress may be more appealing to some people than making more money doing something else
I likely look at this business model differently than most, including you. First, I'm not getting rich, but that's not the point. I love spending time in the woods, I do it every day. Second, I spend that time often with my son and grandson. I wouldn't want to spend that time any other way. I don't play golf, I don't own a boat, I don't have an investment in collectibles. I'm loving my time felling, bucking, splitting, hauling, stacking my oak from the standing dead Red Oak on my property. At the end of each season, I can clearly see what my income, expenses, and ultimately profit in dollars is. But, my income in enjoyment, time spent with my boys, time spent observing the condition of the forest around me, (and truth be told, observing the white tail for reference) versus the dollars I might spend on other things makes firewood processing just a slice of life I love.
If you sell as chords i dunno bout the roi working... but i see people at xonvienince and grocery stores buying 4 to 5 pieces in bundle for 7 bucks and im like dang someones makin alot on that
If I may . If u calcite it at 12 months . Your wrong . If you calculate it as a part time 3 months max actually work involved.. that is great pay .. just saying
@@GoodWorksTractors is the calculation done at 3 hours a day for 3 days a month or 5 days ? If it's per unit then what is the other base number for the total . 🤔?
Yes, I think trying to make a living splitting firewood is really tough. However, as a homeowner who owns a woodlot and splits his own wood. It is a lot cheaper than buying it and you have fringe benefits such as time in the woods, good exercise and the pleasure of drinking your coffee in front of a wood fire on cold winter mornings. Some benefits aren’t financial.
Definitely lots of other reasons to do it, but making money is not a good one :)
Amen Brother 🙏 🙏
I agree some alone time with the lord is definitely fun.
I loved this episode. I kept imagining a bunch of guys running away with their fingers in their ears out of fear that you’re going to confront their delusion. To go big and make lots of money with minimal effort it boils down to being a banker. Lending money to all of us who want shiny pieces of machinery is where the real money is. Kind of like gold mining in the 1800s. The people who got rich were the people who sold equipment, saloon owners and pimps.
Perfectly worded
The formula for a highly profitable firewood business is simple. Develop a successful and profitable TH-cam channel to subsidize the business and get free commercial grade equipment from sponsors.
Hahaha well put!
Exactly!! When equipment for mass production is supplied free, you can buy your own equipment with the profits or bank it. You hit the nail on the head Redneck Ed 🔥🪵🤑👍👏🇺🇸 Rick
I'm with you. They probably make more on TH-cam than selling the wood.....
I agree on all points.
I have done some Time test and It is not highly profitable
I just do a little here and there
Here’s my firewood math - production for my own heating needs: with a chainsaw and a splitting maul, I can get a cord of wood from standing trees to cut/split/stacked in 4 hours if the grain is straight and the tree isn’t more than about 14” in diameter. For 6 cords, that’s 24 hours, which saves me $1500+ in propane. Subtracting saw operating costs and adding maintenance time, that’s better than $50 per hour, and no gym membership 😆. Productive Recreation!
Yeah, you are literally like a machine. Hometown didn't even make 3 full cords in 8 hours using a firewood processor. And, that was starting with a stack of logs ready to feed into the processor. You should make videos of you vs a firewood processor. Sounds like you'd give the machine a run for its money.
@@GoodWorksTractors I don’t know about that. But I did cut a red oak about 14” in diameter this morning that yielded about 1/4 cord. Start to finish was about an hour and a half with filming and moving the camera, etc. I wasn’t rushing. For wood that goes easy, hand splitting is faster than you think.
@@ProductiveRecreation part time yes, full time? You'll have a short career :)
@@GoodWorksTractors No doubt! 4 hours is my max firewood work time. I should also note I’m not making pretty bundle pieces like Hometown Acres. I’m splitting for my wood stove, and some pieces are bigger than what you’d put in bundles.
I am in the middle of 60 acres that has been in the family since 8 years before my existence. We burn firewood that I cut, haul ,split, and stack. When I am in the woods I am so happy and so thankful for everything in my life. I think of my grandfather that purchased this property in 1955, my dad that took us “Up North” my whole childhood, my grandmother and all of my aunts and uncles and cousins. I was fortunate enough to move here when I was 22(60 now) and
honestly feel like I am the luckiest person I know. Every time I am in the woods these wonderful childhood memories fill my brain. Never think about the $, lol
Firewood is a large part of my full-time forestry services company. Firewood is definitely a location dependent business. In my area, firewood doesn’t sell for a lot. The smaller the quantity, typically the higher cost to profit margin. My recommendation is if your thinking of getting into firewood as a business, spend a lot of time doing the math and homework. I’ve chosen to diversify my business, so all my eggs are not in one basket.
I would rather spend 3 hours in the woodlot than 1 hour in a stinky gym to get my exercise. Selling firewood would be a good side gig or maybe something to do in retirement for keeping moving. I had 3 cords of hard maple, split and ready to go years ago. I advertised the whole shebang for $300. No takers whatsoever. I made a rack that holds 1/6 of a cord (4'x4'x16") and sold the 3 cords one $25 rackfull at a time. I made $450. It's all about knowing your market and adapting the product to suit.
Around here, the only team I know that makes any money on firewood is our local tree service guy. He makes some money on tree removal and cleanup; then turns around and makes a little more on selling the wood.
Funny you posted this video today. My daughter was asking yesterday what jobs I had that I would pay her $. I gave her three options and she picked splitting wood with dad (I was hoping she would pick this choice). Wood is a great way to get exercise and it can be a hobbie that pays for itself and then some. I also could not make the figures work for my time. I do it because I find it relaxing and energizing after sitting at a desk all day. We burn wood to make maple syrup and we were about 4 gallons of syrup to the face cord this year(we don't use our best wood for making syrup). A face cord of wood and gathering 160 gallons of sap, boiling it, buying filters and jars to make 4 gallons of syrup. Fun hobbies, my hats off to any of you that can make a living from it.
Great video, one thing that most likely will come up buying cord wood to resell- you will re-split 1/2 to get it to bundle size.
Moral of the story- firewood is being sold WAY too cheap.
I think that it's very profitable, IF you have a steady source of logs. A tree service company supplying the "raw material" is about the only way it would be constant supply. With the proliferation of home-brew "sawyers", competing for tree service logs, it's tough to get a connection for log supplies.
Started with firewood more years ago than I care to count. It was a way to clear dead trees from the wood lot. The campers in my area sure like it. Do I make money at it? Probably not, but I don’t have the expense of hauling wood to the dump and it pays for my fuel and equipment and less mess in the wood lot. I’m retired now with a couple of blown out discs, but I’m still at it. Why… Always loved being outdoors in the woods and it keeps me from just sitting around drinking beer and watching soap operas with my wife. It’s hard to break the habit of working after all these years! IF YOU CAN’T HAVE FUN DOING IT, IT AIN’T WORTH DOING!
A couple points. 1) Drying time. If you start a firewood business from scratch, you're at least a year out from first split until first cash. Depends on the region and species. Joe @ OWB says 2 years to season oak in Ohio, others say a year further south. 2) If you buy firewood for bundling, you're going to need higher quality control on it than if you're selling it as bulk wood. You generally want straighter and smaller pieces for bundling, as you need visual appeal and smaller pieces means it looks like you get more for your money, and it's more suitable for small campfires or fireplaces. If it's not small enough, now you've got to resplit it. Bundling in bags may look nicer, but unless there's some tool that makes it easier to get into the bags, the wood is going to hang up on the webbing, slowing you down. 3) I think Adam @ HTA may have used slightly higher numbers for his costs than I'd agree with. IIRC, he treated the expenses of the excavator solely as a firewood business expense although he actually uses it for other things, like excavating and lumber handling for his sawmill.
Nope, you didn’t miss anything. Nailed it. I do it for heating my house and sell a little as a hobby(like running saws) Excellent video breaking it down dude
A very respectable business approach to firewood and valid point of view. I grew up in an age where people heated their homes with wood, and it was a way of life. It was pretty profitable in the 80's since "efficient" furnaces etc were just coming to life. My take is getting out there and being physical and keeping your home in the winter at 80+ when it's minus 7. Not keeping your thermostat at 62 and wearing a snuggie and here in New Yorkistan when they will make us only use electric (soon) only. And wait what happens when the power goes out in a snow storm, hey no problem my solar unit covered in snow will keep me warm. Heating with wood = Keeping warm at every step of the process and maybe keep your friends and neighbors warm for not such a great profit, but it's better than nothing.
This is a great topic. 🤔I'm glad you did the video to open this up for discussion. My neighbor recently had his forest thinned out and I was allowed to get what I wanted from the huge pile of hardwoods. Total time , digging out 20' to 30' logs, transport, buck up, split on a box store splitter, stack in IBC totes and cleaning up the mess = 12 large IBC totes full x $90. Per totes=$1,080. ÷ total time involved in processing the wood
32 hours =$33.75 before any expenses are taken out. Other then loving the physical workout that I got from this free wood 🤔 you got me wondering if it's even worth doing! My bottle neck =super Slow box store splitter 😥. Love your videos, keep up the great work 🤠
I think you are on the most profitable end of the firewood biz.. selling products to customers like us that we think we need to do a job. Like a grapple or splitter, processor, or chipper..thanks for the good entertainment
Yes, the touch time is very high with firewood. I have split my own wood, but I have the trees, chainsaws, a splitter, and a good place to store the seasoned wood. This winter I used all of my 6 cords and still had to by 2 more cords. Eight cords is a lot of work, and I think if I had a dependable source of firewood, I would just buy it. Oh, and falling trees is dangerous, especially for the weekend warrior. So, in closing, I'm with you. It simply does not pencil out!
My bro-in-law used to sell some logs off his forested land (90 acres) every few years to a lumbermill and then use the small cutoffs that the mill didn't want (
honestly I get it your right I’ve explored this and can’t make it end in a plus even heating with it fire wood ? Just pay your self if you own the land ? Even 10 dollars an hour you have to scout it out 1 cut it load it out split it stack it have fuel / oil for everything tractors/ saws splitter of safety equipment! Then if you don’t own woods you have to buy a log truck full ? And time precious time ? I built my house like 8 years ago we doubled up on insulation my house is a ranch with a poured basement including walls our square ft is like 2000 my heating bill propane is small very small a 500 gal tank last us year and actually we got two year outa the last fill up . I can’t justify it no way I’m 52 and when I retire I do plan on putting a wood burner in just for a hobbyist lol we own like 20ac 1/2 to 3/4 wooded ! I believe the content of You tube is a dream and a way to make you watch more like a other channel outdoors with ? You know who (I like the channel) but watching him and you from the beginning I figured I was right in my thoughts still am I believe especially in his early days he mentioned he doesn’t heat with wood ????? Now he has a wood burning in his outdoor garage and it’s the best thing since diesel fuel lol? And I’m guessing with out you tube he would never be able to afford all his wood processing equipment and bunker and giant car port it just doesn’t pay except with you tube Views ! So your exactly right ! I’d love to make a side dollar off my property but there’s no way I’ve done the math it doesn’t add up good exercise that’s it ok I’m sure I’m going to make people upset !!!! Keep up the great videos all off them even the snow failure one was great because your honest on all of them you didn’t have to show us any of the videos that were perfect but you do and that’s why I watch you too your freaking honest on all aspects not just the perfect ones ok take care congratulations on being honest !!!!!
A cord sells for around $300 in my area. I have a woodlot and make my stove wood from cleaning up wood not good enough for the mill. Counting the labour and machines required I’m not sure if $600 a cord is enough for stove wood. But…I agree with the comment that looks at it from the perspective of being poor. It’s a way to get cash with just a little investment.
I bought my log truck
Bought a palax processor cuts and splits in 2 seconds. Can cut 12-18 cords a day so it's fast we have a great setup
Last year made around $250000 and take home is around 138000 after expenses. Also location matters.
Impressed - as a CPA you nailed it. Yes, it works for some people, but it is not worth it unless you are willing to work for low wages.
I’m retired but when I was still operating my landscape materials supply business we offered firewood for sale as one of our sales items. I looked at it as a necessary evil to keep my employees busy during a slower sales time of the year, but like you could never make the numbers add up to get excited over it. I focused in on reselling QUALITY firewood. I bought semi loads of firewood (processed and dried from large wholesalers) and resold it. KILN DRIED hardwoods only. Kiln drying insures consistently burning wood and the temps and length of time in the kiln kills off any insects/larva that may be present within the wood. Kiln drying vs seasoning removes the potential for moving invasive/unwanted pests into an area. I charged a premium for quality. Some customers recognized the added value-some not. I preferred dealing with quality minded customers…
25 ton truck of wood here in NZ is $60 per T for pine delivered $90 per T for Oregon . 25 tons should equate to 50 cubic m thrown 5.09 thrown cubic m to a cord , so basically 10 cords to a truck . So a thrown cubic M of pine costs $30 sell for $65 + delivery ($10)+tax so $35X5= $175 gross ( per hour if things are going well ). Fuel $10 , maintenance $10 , Labour $22 , depreciation $5 other $15 .$175-62= $113 $100 an hour splitting and assuming 10 cubes delivered at a time , $70 an hour for delivery so averaging $85 an hour , in theory
My boys learned how to split wood. Splitting maul, or sledge and wedges. Our use, or gift for those in need. Low investment, other than instilling a work ethic and a value of their work to the family. Both now have a solid understanding of what real labor feels like
Yeah, I had plenty of backbreaking jobs when I was younger. Definitely stuck with me.
Simplify, simplify, simplify. My idea of life. Thanks Courtney!
.06 cubic foot bundles sell for 8.99 at all the stores around here. I’m in the Little Rock area. That’s 213 bundles per cord. I’m selling mine for $6.00 each. That’s $1278 per cord. Takes me 7 hours to buck, split, stack and bundle one cord. The math works great for me.
Good luck to you.
.06 cubic foot is 10" square and 1" thick. Are you sure about this? Basically a 1 x12 12" long. If you can sell that for $6.00, I would like to sell some things to your customers.
@@mikewatson4644 shhhh, don't mess with his "reality"
Most, if not all the firewood guys in my area are loggers who have the firewood as a side business and make most of their money selling sawlogs and veneer. Also they process 3 to 4 hundred cord a year. They’re doing all right believe me.
I can only imagine splitting wood for myself since I have enough timber on my own property. Even with that, I can buy a face cord (maple, oak, ash) for $75. I think I'll save my back and just have it delivered.
i use my firewood to heat my metal building and my home and green houses on the farm main thing is it gets rid of the dead trees on the farm
OWB has said numerous times that his customer base IS NOT the residential buyer for wood heating. It is the commercial buyer, mostly restaurants for cooking, and residential using firewood for "atmosphere" and smoking. Bundles make up a portion of that business but he's splitting the wood anyway.
The money doesn’t always mean anything! Especially after you retire, I do a lot of things are just a labor of love.
A friend of mine sells cord wood for spending money and he’s one of the wealthiest friends I have. I know another guy that spent $100,000 on a processor and he’s almost 80 years old! Having said that, I can make 10 times the profit doing something else!!!
P.S. I own a fishing boat. I figured the fish cost me $1000 a pound. LOL.
100% agree, but this is about the folks that preach and push it as it's a really good money making business. Doesn't make sense to me how they do it.
@@sarahann530 You are pretty slow to catch on. Maybe you're one of the guys that think it's a big money maker.
@@sarahann530 I don't the way that everyone else does it...but so many folks sure think it is
I love this i have worked for allot of different places dealing with this and by far the best was Tims operation ! Now that being said this man had dedicated his life to logging and doing this as a business. He brought wood to the yard out of the forest and also had a big U road with logs stacked up and we did fire wood as well. This is a big business up in northern MN. And it's a shame it couldn't keep going you have to have a decent crew but he had built a trailer with a splitter built into it on the back of a grapple truck so essentially we could have a person on either side feeding and sawing now it takes a small crew and you have to be extremely strong as you have to lift up these 12-16 inch logs up to chest high we would fill the back of a pretty big dump truck with sides a good 10 cords or so in anywhere from a hr to a hr and half with no issues and everything running smoothly. Now back when we where doing it it he sold all that wood dropped in your yard for 600 bucks. We would stack it but that was extra. We would typically do 3 loads a day depending on how it went sometimes we could Hussle out 4. On average thats almost 2k a day we all would make a 100 bucks cash so that would be 500 for that usually we only had one cutter tho as Mark was extremely fast. In today's market i would think 800 would be the going rate and you would be busy as hell but by the end of the week you would be doing about 10k plus whatever for who showed up that week and it doesn't account for the big wood going to the mill. Now you do have to have sorta a team but TBH this could be done with one person. Although the equipment was old you could move it and if you had enough people you could probably fill about 6-8 trucks depending on snags or mechanical issues. This was by far the most efficient thing I have ever seen and was absolutely amazed by how Guinness it was he probably had a good 100k into that program but it splits so dam fast and dumps right into the truck. This was brilliant. We also did a thing where we put together those bundles like you buy at the gas station and that shit would drive you made but it was Money and you could come and go as you wanted. Moving down to Indiana here i have seen some of those bundles of wood sell for 27 bucks 😬😬😬😬 which is very very curious to me. Anyways i love logging and done allot of firewood in my day many people have different ways but one thing i can tell ya even a good hydraulic splitter with a 4 way on it can do some serious damage with the right person behind it !!!!
I feel like with everything in life, you get better at something the more you do it. I've definitely gotten much better at all the aspects of processing firewood. I also believe a firewood business has to evolve slowly and a person almost certainly cannot survive quitting their job and starting up a firewood business. Firewood likely is something someone is already doing. Building up an inventory while still working a full time job sort of thing.
The local guy I buy from is $150 for a pickup load local delivery about 1/2 cord. It's a sideline for them. They do tree removal full time
It would definately be a hard way to make a living. I have sold firewood since 1981 and used the money to buy good saws and pay for my truck so that I had no expense in equipment to heat my own house. That was my reason. I never tried to make a living but it was some nice spending money and I enjoyed doing it
As a Homeowner with a Full-time job and a few acres of woods in NW Georgia (Wife and I also Hate the cold) I would have to spend a large portion of my Days Off Processing to keep our Fireplaces going the 3-4 months a year it’s averaging out to. So We’ll buy two or three Full cords a year from the Best Looking and Cheapest from Market Place. Pretty much everyone I’ve bought Wood from does it as a sideline or has something else going on to supplement their income.
The Guy we have bought our Wood from recently has a Tree removal service, so I’m guessing he’s making Bank. Getting paid to Fall, Haul and Dispose of is making Money from Start to finish.
Also factor in some areas don’t have a lot of High paying jobs available. Having to leave the House and break your back for Minimum Wage or Break your back working for yourself could make it worth it.
Much of the bundled wood we buy comes from state campgrounds which don't allow BYOW, we're charged $5-6 per bundle, mostly Birch, 5-6 pieces per bundle, a $ per log. In ND, some homeowners near some state campgrounds offer $10 short pyramid pile of wood, between 12-15 pieces of miscellaneous species, undried for sale on the honor system. The folks who have contracts with the state probably have more stable income streams. Very location dependent business.
Makes sense to me….all my buds who split wood have the trees that need to be taken anyway and it’s for their own use. Camp fires, wood fireplaces etc. but those places are all rural and everyone in those areas do the same. You don’t see many firewood for sale places around.
All the homes in the burbs are now gas fireplace sets and folks have gone with pellet cooker for BBQ. Even the fire pits have gone propane. Probably best since most of these folks moving in wouldn’t be able to master fire it seems….most are still trying to figure out how to drive🤔
I still use the wood BBQ and split a pecan tree which will last me a long time…have another large pecan that will come down soon and get shared with buds who do the same. I borrow the splitter but will say when done I don’t want to see it again for a while.
Building up a successful firewood business depends on a lot of factors, and how you position yourself in your local market. In many areas there's no reasonable way to build a profitable "business" supplying firewood. In some areas there are good opportunities with the right plan. Decide for yourself before you buy any equipment.
I think you answered your entire question right off. It depends on your location. Applewood, cherrywood coming from Eastern Washington is 500, 600 a cord. Now that's mostly going to puts joints in western Washington or people who smoke meats. BBQers.
My firewood business is a lot simpler- I buy 8’ long logs, 18 cords at a time, process (with a processor)it as I sell it by the cord into my dump trailer, deliver it to residential customers. I limit it to 300 full cords a year- I double my money on what I pay. 3-4 cords a day, to add to my other businesses. It’s profitable that way- I never touch the product. The math works for me. It’s simple work- not necessarily easy work though.
Yep, let the customers do the drying, and only handle it once after splitting on the production side.
I cut and split firewood for myself, here in New Zealand. Take 2 IBC totes to the trees in a trailer. Cut green willow, hand split with a maul, straight into the tote, slide the totes off at home. Use 3 point forks to put the tote into the little wood shed out the back door when it’s time.
“Willow, that’s rubbish wood!” Dries in 2 months, year round over here.
Firewood in western Idaho is 350 - 400 a cord. The bundles are 6-8 a bundle. The other idea is buying a log truck load for around 2k. You get about 12 cord and you process it yourself. It's a lot of labor for a little profit. When I build my new place I want an outdoor wood boiler so that takes the splitting labor away at least.
I don’t do wood to save me money. I do it for exercise and I enjoy it. I love cutting wood.
Seems most around me that sell firewood are loggers. So they get paid to go out and clear a lot or parcell of land, turn around and sell the best trees to saw mills and what not and then sell the firewood in full log lengths, cut and split and then cut, split and dried. I'm sure just solely cutting firewood is tough, especially today with pellet stoves and heat pumps and so many options. Most people today (not people watching this channel) couldn't handle actually having to physically cut and stack firewood. Personally I grew up with a Woodstove and when I moved into my house there was an old pellet stove and I yanked it out and put a wood stove in. Power goes out here in winter (Maine) that Woodstove is more important than the generator in my opinion. I'm fortunate my family own 40acres, I cut our own wood, yea it's time and effort but I'ld have a chainsaw regardless and recently got a splitter and few years ago and it's a few weekends a year to save $1000s in heating oil and after a long cold day outside there is nothing like the heat from a Woodstove.
I wish 1/3 of a cord sold for $175 here in northern TN. Many people sell that amount for $45-60. Make no sense when labor is factored in to the process. Tim
Not quite as cold in TN as Michigan
If there were a super efficient way to haul it north, then great potential margin.
Firewood is tough business. The prices are higher here, $300 a chord to start. My advantage is that I have no debt, live off grid, and don't need a great deal of capital. It's also only a portion of my income. I climb trees, mill lumber, carpentry, you name it, keeping my income stream a diversified as possible has proven a useful strategy. If I were to try to live off of firewood sales it would take 133 chords, regardless of species, at a cost of approximately $70 a chord to harvest and transport home for processing.
Courtney! in Kalamazoo Firewood is cheap, because it's illegal to haul it across state lines (invasive species).. However, In the City of Chicago, a full cord typically goes for $600 or more, and that's not guaranteed hardwoods. For me? here in MI? I'd starve. Why do I still do it? For the exercise, and I get a better quality firewood than what I can typically buy. That being said, I burn two full cords of wood, that I fell, buck, split, and stack each year.. The amount of labor is about 10 hours, with tools I've obtained cheaply. So, my investment of $600 20 years ago has paid off time, and time again..
It's possible to make a living with firewood. I do. It's not easy and the only way I am able to is because I live in the middle of a forest on property I bought for 25K CDN, No mortgage. No tv, no bills and am off grid. (Have cheap phone with small amount of data) property taxes are around $400 CDN per year.
We sell cord wood, bundles, kindling, smoking chips/chunks....Anything that can generate some kinda of income. Paying for trucks means we can't make a lot of money per cord and it would be nice to raise prices to help but we're competing with people who sell junk and undersized loads they call a "cord"...and people bite because they think they're getting a deal since its priced cheaper.
Only way I get by is because we have multiple properties where we have permission to cut on. (With strict rules of course) getting logs out of the bush is hard work with chainsaws and 2 guys but it does increase profit margin.
Really like the quote at the end Courtney.. Good for you.....
One way to control costs, is where you source your wood. Which depends on where you live. Using Chris from In The Woodyard (the guy bundling kindling) as an example: Tree services get paid to haul off wood after they cut it. (which is one reason you see so many marketplace ads for free wood, curbside- someone trying to save themselves that cost) They then need a place to take it to. Dumps and landfills charge them to dump it, and not all of them have the room- or interest- in doing firewood on the side. Thus, many are always looking for places to drop off that wood- enter the neighborhood firewood guy. You can get a LOT of free wood- already cut down, without all the brush and tops- just for being the solution to someone else's problem. Chris got BURIED in it this year, as his city was getting all of it's beetle killed Ash trees taken down. He still had to buck, split, and stack it- but he'd have to do that anyway.
Down sides: You get what you get. Which means, sometimes you get less desirable species. If you specialize in recreational wood, like he does, that's not too big a problem- lots of customers don't know- or care- what it is, just that it burns. Also, more often than not, it's cut in random length logs and chunks- whatever was most expedient in getting the tree down safely, and getting it out of there. Plus, yard trees often grow big tops, multiple limbs, and are thus full of crotches and knots. So, you end up with lots of hunks n chunks, and gnarly unstackables. Again, not an insurmountable problem- you can sell that as campfire or boiler wood. Or keep it as your own stash.
You do have to look out for metal, and other "The hell is THIS doing in this tree???"
Chris also buys loads of logs from loggers. This costs money, but again, you're skipping a bunch of steps, and just getting the trunks and limbs. They normally come in either 8' sections, 16' or tree length- depends on how the primary log buyers want them. (lumber vs pulp mills)
The other benefit, is that you often have some control over what you buy, both size and species.
AND he cuts some of his own and looks for other opportunities to get low/no cost wood. Items 1 and 3 help defray the cost of buying those log loads- which are mostly varieties he can sell for a premium. Oak, hickory, locust, cherry, etc. The bundles he was making there are all kindling- splitter debris. An extra source of income from a by product.
His brother Kenny has worked in the logging business his whole life. Thus he has contacts at the mills, and knows about all the byproducts and rejects they have, and need to get rid of. So he buys loads of mill rejects, slabs, even rejected railroad ties. (pre-treatment) All at a considerably lower price than buying logs from loggers.
As you touched on, the real $$ is in selling to customers who are willing to pay premium prices, and in smaller quantites. Bulk heating wood is a low margin/ high volume business. Restaurants, BBQ and smoker people, fireplace people, campers, etc. I see bundles selling for as much as 8-9 bucks each at some supermarkets, gas stations, and big box stores. That wood had to come from somebody. If you have a city or big suburb nearby, that's a good market. The selling price will be higher, because few have access to wood to cut for themselves (much less the desire to do it), but many may have fireplaces, backyard firepits, smokers, or do some weekend camping. Resorty areas, and places with lots of state/ national parks, and/or campgrounds are good markets, too. City folks will pay premium money for white birch, for example, which is a meh wood for heating. But it looks nice, smells great, and burns nice and bright in a fireplace. The locals don't want it, because it has little heat in it- but the folks with weekend cabins, ski condos, etc can't get enough of it.
A lot of guys do it for chainsaw money, and to underwrite the cost of their own supply, not as a full time job. Sometimes it evolves into one, anyway, lol. For many, it's a second, side job.
You see, there’s a need for firewood, even in texas. 75% of wood sells are in the winter and fall. 25% in the summer and spring (mostly smoking wood) I’m one of the very few that do delivery’s.
My prices all benefit me (delivery, stacking and miles) and it’s almost maintenance free. I do all my splitting and stacking in the summer(hot days season it quickly) ready to sell by winter.
I don’t personally own a lot of land with trees. But people give away already cut up wood like a hooker on Sunday.
All I gotta do is spilt it and let it sit. I can split 4 cords in about 3 hours, with a splitter from tractor supply.
All numbers crunched from last year I made 62k with a 14k loss( vehicle and equipment maintenance/fuel)
It’s all about perspective and how quickly you can manage things.
I used to cut my own firewood for 15 years. It is brutal work. All depends on the level of equipment you have. I had a pickup and chainsaws. That's' it. So the multiple lifting, loading and unloading steps were all me and my joints. Transporting it within the woods and to the public is fuel and lots of it. Saws break and need a rebuild, or to be replaced. Things on the truck get broken. Summer is brutal heat, and winter is slippery making it hard to skid logs. Even if you buy your wood as cordwood logs, delivering to the customers can be a pain. A pile in a pickup has to be unloaded. And customer A wants it stacked super neatly, right in this corner, in his crowded garage = 2 hour delivery. So delivery terms and limits have to be accounted for. Palletized or crated face cords with a way to unload would solve that, but then you have more and more cost. Making lumber, bowl blanks, pen blanks and other turning blanks is also a lot of work for not too much pay. I'm still selling off my stock from when I did that. I do it part-time, therefore big equipment doesn't make sense, therefore there's little pay. :) It really is a challenge to find things that support you well.
A guy near me has a firewood business older gent part time business. One morning i drove past him at 5 am he was hand choppin wood. Passed by again 5pm still hand choppin. I just figured he was doin it for the excercise not the money
Trees in the winter and then process them in the spring by the end of the year to be putting dry always there your head on your wood if you're going to buy already cut and split buy it from somebody that has a big word processor cuz then you can resell it Andre split it cuz a lot of people can't pick up the big pieces from the processor
Here in Maine (the most forested state in the country) a lot of us heat with wood, and the firewood people do a good business. We also have paper mills. Not many any more, but a few. People who cut in the woods can either sell to a mill or to a processor. My understanding is that it pays well, although I don't have any first hand knowledge. All I know is that a cord of green wood, delivered, is going for approx. $350. Seems like a lot. There must be margin in it, or they wouldn't sell it.
I've seen plenty of folks do things and break even...so doesn't mean there's much margin in it. Ever heard of farming? 😂
@@sarahann530 Wow, way to go Mr. Obvious. Why do you think that is?
Definitely couldn't support myself selling firewood, but I do have a bunch of dead ash and selling firewood has covered my expenses and given me enough to get a new MS400c last year.
As an added bonus, it's cathartic to split and stack some wood for a couple hours on a weekend after sitting all week for work.
In my area most people who burn wood cut there own cause they are cheap and think they are saving money instead of just paying the gas or electric bill, they will never pay $350 for a cord of wood, people in the city, suburbs, rich folk would pay the $350, I cut my own wood off my own acreage mainly to keep the woods under control and thin out the old growth/ junk trees etc. I agree with your theory that the labor is way to intense to be profitable, it’s just a hobby for me
Getting rich selling firewood on a smaller scale just is not possible, but for me I’m retiring in October and I purchase 56;acres a new tractor new Ranger new log splitter 40 ton TS. This will just be supplemental income, and since I’ll. Be 60 in May this will keep me in shape. Mostly bundles but possibly face cords too, I’m also going to sell grilling chips cherry and oak for starters. Less product more profit.
Central Iowa.
Bundles are $7.00
I'm still not doing it!
We "do" our own fire wood.
The more LPG and NG and other heat source fuel keeps going up, the more money we save.
I split 26 face cords near 9 full cords a year for 15 years for heating my shop. We purchase a log truck at a time split by four guys ( truck holds 75 -100 full cords) . Never again. Cheaper to buy from someone els , or like myself , 14 years ago switched to pellets. You can’t make money processing unless you spend a fortune on large processing equipment that can produce thousands of cords of wood a year.
I agree with the math for most weekend warriors. I cut my own on my land for exercise, land improvement, save a little oil, etc. What if you can’t get oil or gas? Or it quadruples in price? I look at the process as knowing how to survive. Not a far fetched thought these days. Guess it is the Boy Scout in me.
In a nutshell you just told the younger folks how to set up a Firewood business, or any other business...I't exactly ike a grocery store or any other store...if they had to grow the food and sell it then we could never ever afford it. So they just buy from the farmer who eats the labor cost , does the work and pays for the equipment. Then they ice the cake with being able to set the price they will pay the farmer because they know he dosen't have anywhere else to sell it......And the Cycle Repeats over and over again....Great Video.
I process my own wood because it saves me money for heating AND I enjoy being outside, I have a 27 ton wood splitter with a round lifter, I split and stack in the same place, sometimes my kids come over and help just to spend time with dad, firewood has saved me thousands over my lifetime, some ppl enjoy being self employed and dont have a lot of debt so the math works for them. Imagine if everyone that does firewood decided the math didnt work, who would sell those that cant or wont their wood ? One last thought being rich doesnt involve money for many people.
So from what I've heard is the profits are in selling restaurant quality firewood and all that is from my understanding is each piece of spilt wood would be split 1 or 2 more times
I bought my very first summit tractor in the state of Connecticut I was the first one to buy it I absolutely love it fix my firewood business much easier but yes there is profit to be made in firewood if you know what you're doing I've been doing it for him since I was 15 I'm going to be 65 in October so what's that tell you the rest is a lot of talk I would I pay $10 a cord tree like dry at the forestry they load it on my truck 12 ft logs I taken her own process it so it for 3 to $700 corn on the islands
im clearing land so i do it because i hated burning it on pile, all i wanted to was to pay for splitter and i have. i dont wrap just 5 bucks a tub full.
stress relief and keeping busy
I agree with your assessment, too much labor involved in it , I feel as though I’d have to sell $500. a chord to be worthwhile and nobody is going to pay it!!!😊
I sell $500 cords all the time. Why couldn't you? Even if it's not in a cord quantity, a third of a cord could be worth $250. A sixth of a cord is $150. That's the equivalent of $900 per cord.
100% Correct………. There is no significant money to be made in firewood. I made 5k over the winter with my roadside stand. But the hours do not equate to reasonable profit. I only did it between snowplowing events where I will make 3k with one snow storm.
I don't get it either.
I was "helping" my friend. More accurately donating my labor to a friend, cutting and hauling firewood. I got a quote on 2 cords of firewood dumped into the driveway. All that was left was stacking on site. I stopped helping him as soon as he told me he was aware of how cheap it was for delivery. I have a full time job and then some. It wasn't fun and I didn't need it. He enjoyed wasting his time on this. I don't. I learned since then, he's very cheap. If it's a hobby and you enjoy it, fine. Otherwise you need to scale up to be profitable. The R.O.I. is just too long to buy the equipment. At least where I live.
Last year I paid $350 per cord of seasoned wood. 450 for kiln dried.
Most firewood company's buy logs thrn process it then deliver it in a dump truck or a dump trailer. 375 to 400 a cord. 400 delivered 375 you pick it up. Very pricey but that's thr cost go other area it can be cheaper. Burn 3 cords that's 400 each x3 so 1200 per year for heating. Propane to fill is 1400... no stacking or moving wood. So is it worth 200 for the pain to deal with.
I heat with wood I buy a trailer load of block and I have my own spliter I pay $225 per load of blocks and get about 6-7 face cord out of it
Interesting ideas.
Good luck in your enterprise.
Oh I'm not doing it, but good luck to those that do, haha!
You're about to flood the market with bundled firewood now 😆
I feel like if you wanted to make that a business you could just co-op with a firewood seller. It would save a lot more time and effort moving that wood around, and storing it, if you just set up on a corner of their property and give them a percentage of sales. Just enough to cover the cost of the wood plus a little extra for the space you are using. You'd still make a big profit and they would get a little more money per cord without having to deliver it.
Yeah, premium firewood in bundles is the most profitable. You are targeted those people that want a fire for pleasure and not heating. Process firewood for bulk sales is not for most people.
What I would add what I like about You my friend is you SELL great Long splitter equipment for subcompact Tractor attachment. You sell the products. But I like how you talk about the REAL cost of selling split wood. People please look at National Park or State Park camp grounds. Do they SELL firewood for the camp spots. I always load up my pickup under my tool box in front of the bed before loading up my camping supplies. When I Tent camp. I go around to camp spots and ask other campers if. They want Firewood to burn. I always get campers who have NO Firewood but want a camp fire, it seems like only campers who have trailers with extra compartments on campers that have Firewood. It's amazing how many tent campers have NO Firewood, thinking they can find firewood at the campground, you just can't cut your own firewood in a campground. I sell it less than the bundles that the locals let's say there's a store close by. I price their bundles and sell my wood a Dollar cheaper. Remember I'm just camping, I loaded up my front of the pickup bed before I went camping, this is just my personal firewood from my home, just bring extra to maybe SELL at the campground, someone always wants Firewood.
What if you forget and try to check tire pressure at the bottom of the tire and you get Rim Guard in your gage. Have you ruined it?
Nope, it cleans up with water.
Alot of times you can get
The wood for free from tree services.. it depends on the area.. its also a easy side gig
I don't live where burning is necessary & it's actually quite outdated when nights have no-wind so that the area fills with used-air. Leaf-mold(yard-waste) compost sells for $145 per cy here so that's what my county is finally beginning to do with the surplus organics.
Great video, I have a friend that gives me shit. For buying a cord of wood for 225 delivered and dropped . I don't have trees to cut. I could find trees , would have to drive to cut down and split and haul it back. I'll have it delivered the kid brings me 16in logs. I split some of it again with an electric splitter. I have a small stove insert.
Splitting firewood isn’t necessarily all about the money. I love being outside working, it’s great exercise, gets me out of the house away from the wife 😊 while she housecleaning and when there’s no yard work there’s always wood to cut and split. I’m charging $8 a bundle for seasoned firewood. So doing ok. I’m thinking unless it’s one of those things you enjoy, people don’t understand. ie, I don’t understand why people play golf? Not for me but then splitting wood probably isn’t for most of them.
I really feel like its location dependent. By me a cord is $150. Delivered. Id rather cut and stack my own. I don't understand how these guys on YT can get $15,000 processors and make a profit. (Unless Andrew Easton give it to them.) I would have to have that machine running 24/7 to make any money.
Are you sure it's not $150 per face cord?
@@paulheidbreder positive. I've been doing my own firewood for the last couple of years so I pay attention. I can get a face cord of oak for $55. FBM is saturated with sellers.
If you can get a firewood processor for $15,000 I want one. The last time I checked, they were starting at 100k
@@workingmanrondoyle3287 Google the Range Road EcoPro.
OOOOOOOHHHHHHH, I think you may have kicked the bee's nest with this video LOL. I'm curious to see if you get a bunch of hate mail now 🙂 Seriously though, I DO see your side of this. And I think that living the "firewood" lifestyle definitely isn't for everybody. But for some people, it's just that, a "lifestyle". I personally need to cut or buy between 11 and 13 cords of firewood per year for our outdoor wood boiler if that's how I choose to heat the house, and not use propane. I personally really enjoy the whole process of cutting the trees, splitting the rounds etc... I've even thought about starting to sell firewood just to make a few bucks. I'm retired, so I don't need to do it as a business, but I just thought "well, I've already got all of the tools necessary to do this, so why not do it and make a little money as well". When you watch Chris' videos on "In the Woodyard", you can see, he REALLY enjoys what he's doing. He and his brother go at it with vigor and a purpose. They just enjoy it. I also see YOUR side of this. YES, there are absolutely better ways to make far more money. But that's you looking at it from a strictly financial end of it. And, if that's how you look at it, yes, you're right. There are other (maybe better) ways to earn far more money.
not to bash it but a firewood business seems like it would have terrible margins. i assume the equipment and insurance are expensive and woodlots eventually run out. for personal use i think it's probably worth it- especially if it's your hobby/workout.
i think the cost/benefit for wood is dictated by the availability (or not) of cheap fuel. In my area everyone has natural gas which is cheap compared to propane or oil so TBH i don't even burn wood anymore except outside in the pit. i don't miss it. i grab the remote now and set the thermostat on the gas fireplace and walk away...
I'd say even if the money isn't as much as a regular job the benefit of being out in the yard at home with the kids no boss so much less stress may be more appealing to some people than making more money doing something else
SW Ohio I have seen $748 a cord, which is silly. You can heat with an Electric Heat Pump for less.
Wow, that's insanity!
I likely look at this business model differently than most, including you. First, I'm not getting rich, but that's not the point. I love spending time in the woods, I do it every day. Second, I spend that time often with my son and grandson. I wouldn't want to spend that time any other way. I don't play golf, I don't own a boat, I don't have an investment in collectibles. I'm loving my time felling, bucking, splitting, hauling, stacking my oak from the standing dead Red Oak on my property. At the end of each season, I can clearly see what my income, expenses, and ultimately profit in dollars is. But, my income in enjoyment, time spent with my boys, time spent observing the condition of the forest around me, (and truth be told, observing the white tail for reference) versus the dollars I might spend on other things makes firewood processing just a slice of life I love.
I completely agree it’s completely nonsense people thinking there turning a profit same as hobby farming
It's only viable if you use it to supplement an existing income from elsewhere, and you already own the equipment for yourself.
My friend used to cut and split a chord of oak a day by hand. That's $350-400. Most of us can not do that.
If you sell as chords i dunno bout the roi working... but i see people at xonvienince and grocery stores buying 4 to 5 pieces in bundle for 7 bucks and im like dang someones makin alot on that
At $5 a bundle there isn't any money in it for me. Luckily a bundle in my area sells for $10 to $13.
Love The Bible verse!!
If I may . If u calcite it at 12 months . Your wrong . If you calculate it as a part time 3 months max actually work involved.. that is great pay .. just saying
I'm not sure what you mean. It's per unit, so 12 months or 3 months doesn't matter. Go by the hour.
@@GoodWorksTractors is the calculation done at 3 hours a day for 3 days a month or 5 days ? If it's per unit then what is the other base number for the total . 🤔?
@@chuckthomas8176 Why don't you watch the video and it'll tell ya :)
@@GoodWorksTractors I did . I guess I missed it .. 😕
Wood is alot of work!!