Firewood bundler questions ?

[BargeMonkey]

 I know a couple of you guys do this so figured I would ask here. I finally picked one up, made a trip up north and bought a used basic Hud-son bundler, nothing fancy but exactly what I wanted, I don't think it's seen 100 bundles. It's 1cu-ft size. Where are you guys buying your wrap ? Any brand better ? How many wraps per bundle ? Any tips or things to watch out for ? Any tips on which handle material to use ? Anyone mixing bundles ? I've got grade stakes pieces, slab wood both HW and soft, plus split firewood. Has anyone started using a bagger or using the "onion bags" to bag wood ? I'm already picking a fight with the 2 local camp grounds by selling propane / fuel  thru the store shortly so why not bundled firewood 😂 

 
I could fab a plate and bolt a small electric motor on that if I wanted to. I watch these people buying this bundled wood like mad, did the math at even 4.50 a bundle cutting up top wood or running some nice pole wood thru the processor and it seemed like a no brainer.

[Riwaka]

Plenty of YouTube firewood wrapping videos - looks time consuming.

Would a reusable bag be more environmentally friendly means of transporting firewood from a yard/ sales point to the place of use (home?)
A truck with a hiab etc loaded with bags and put in on their front lawn for the kids to stack down the back.
CTL loading a bag
https://youtu.be/L4tRLUu8hKk
or
big expense semi-auto bag filler (poor ergonomics - might be stacking a pallet with filled bags) put in a auto bag sewer and robot bag stacker it would be just a monitored system.
https://youtu.be/hn8hZ4v5Z5g

[thecfarm]

Don't forget the handle on the bundle to make it easier to carry.  ;D

[red]

Lots of previous posts about Twister Wrapper firewood wrappers

[woodshax]

We looked all around for bundlers....and never found the perfect one so we just made one that lets you vary the size of the bundle using hash marks for .75 and 1.0 cuft bundles and then bag in 2 cuft by volume bags so that campers have a choice.  Are you selling the small camp stove propane bottles to the park or 20lbers.  I have been toying with trying a 20 lb propane bottle exchange program at one of our closer state parks

[Hewer of Wood]

I'm in the Finger Lakes and sell some bundles. I have the same Hudson wrapper but have it set up for .75 cubic foot bundles. In the past I've bought my wrap from U-line but bought my last batch from stretchwrap supply. It's just about half the cost there.
I use the 60 gauge and generally do 3-4 wraps depending on how tight the wood packs in initially. Doing three wraps I can get about 250 bundles per 2,000' roll. I use both slabwood from my sawmill and split wood, but generally don't mix them together.
The split wood makes better looking bundles, but the slabwood is a byproduct, and hard to find a more profitable use than bundled firewood. I keep the slabs and split wood on racks to dry until I wrap bundles, generally just before I deliver. Maybe not the best way for everyone, but works for me. If you are going to store wrapped bundles for long maybe the 80 gauge wrap would work better.
There's a fair bit of work in bundles, but to me it's worth it. The key to happy customers is having relatively dry wood. Most people who buy the wood can't tell the difference between pine and oak. As long as it burns well they'll be happy. I use mostly soft maple, poplar, and ash.
Hopefully at least a bit of that rambling is helpful.

[Corley5]

I get .80 gauge from Stretch Wrap Supply.  This stuff   http://www.stretchwrapsupply.com/80-ga-12-in-x-1500-ft-hand-stretch-film-p-94.html
It works good for us.  Good quality.  We tried the Extreme from the same place but it isn't a uniform thickness.  It's from .70 to .90 gauge and didn't work as well as the straight .80.  Anything lighter doesn't work as well.  We tried .70 and it takes extra wraps.  We put five wraps of .80 on a bundle and no handle.  If we were bundling at the point of sale we could get away with less wraps or lighter wrap but we load and stack on the truck and unload and stack at the gas station.  The bundles hold up better to the handling with heavy wrap and more of it.  Most of the time the wood we bundle is green so our bundles are heavier.  A fifteen hundred foot roll will do about 150 bundles.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,90610.0.html

[Gearbox]

I built one thinking I could do a bundle in 1-1.5  min. . With sorting wood to get a tight bundle I am at 3 to 4 min. . I to get wrap at Uline . 60 blown is what I use . Not quite a hundred 1 cf. bundles per roll .

[rjwoelk]

We use onion bags we fill a tray strip the bag over tip it the bag and wood comes off. They hold around that 1.4 cubic ft. W sell them for $13 here. But most folkes will buy the 1/3 bag.

[mike_belben]

Do any of you enterprising folks see a product hiding in here?



Its hickory slab from the handle mill, $10 a bundle and piling up everywhere.  This stuff is in their sorting yard because the barn is filled, so its dry as a bone. Soon theyre gonna hire a tub grinder to get rid of it.. might be even cheaper.  Cordwood market is very poor here, $50 a "rick" is avg.    I can get $50 a rick all year from the BBQ place but id probably only send him the pieces without bark.   

[Grizzly]

I doubt it would be feasible but what is geographical location on that wood Mike? I'd like to see if shipping is anywhere within the realm of feasible. We use an onion bag style but found any exposure to the sun degraded it and it wouldn't hold together. We like the bagger style though.

Lyle

[78NHTFY]

Belben--Yup, I remember on FF someone was making live-edge planters from just such material and making some $ doing it.  I've got a pile of slabs 25' high by 50' long: probably a million bucks of planters just sittin' there 8) 8).  See pic below.  (Yea, a few black walnut offcuts in front... ;D)All the best, Rob.

 

[mike_belben]

Planters is a good idea! Thanks.

Lyle, its in middle TN close to i40.  Id assume there are laws about transporting our bugs to your region. 

[Grizzly]

Yep. And even if I could move it the cost for a semi load would be around $6,000.00 or more. So we'll leave it right where it is to collect dust for some other occasion. But heh, now curiosity is satisfied!

[NWP]

I could write a long dissertation on bundle making. We make 15-20,000 per year. The wrap links above are way too high priced. I buy it from a local packaging supply company for $35 for a 4 roll case.  It's all the same spec as above. Rochford supply for the handle material. I buy poly webbing by the roll and cut it into 10-12 inch pieces and staple it the bundle. Mixed wood works fine. Most people just want something that burns while they drink beer.

http://www.rochfordsupply.com/shop/Webbing/Polypropylene_Webbing/Webbing_-_Heavy__1_inch_Poly/index.html

[Corley5]

A "local" supplier of wrap is a 90 mile one way drive for us ;) ;D  They are a bit less than the online source when shipping is figured but the drive isn't worth it.  With shipping a single roll in cases of four is about $12.50.  The cost of wrap per bundle is less than 10 cents.  We use 24-30 rolls yearly.  That's 24-30 too many  ;) ;D

[woodshax]

The plastic wrap at $12.50 it about where we are but are sales are about 4 to 1 between Large bags and small bundles and we get the 2 cu ft by volume mesh bags for 22 cents a piece and just made a metal tube and fill it with wood, slide the bag over the tube and flip it upside down.  Bagging takes longer but when you figure in size difference and selling price it works out about even.  We sell about 12000 bags and about 7500 bundles each year.

[mike_belben]

May i ask what you sell the bagged product for?  I.e. whats the gas stations cut?

[NWP]

A "local" supplier of wrap is a 90 mile one way drive for us ;) ;D  They are a bit less than the online source when shipping is figured but the drive isn't worth it.  With shipping a single roll in cases of four is about $12.50.  The cost of wrap per bundle is less than 10 cents.  We use 24-30 rolls yearly.  That's 24-30 too many  ;) ;D

That isn't a bad price. I thought it was that per roll.  I was on my phone when I looked at it the first time and I guess I couldn't see that was for 4 rolls.

[glassman_48]

barge monkey,
I am a sponsor in here (northern michigan firewood products) and I sell brute force products and twister bundlers and others too.  Twister uses 80 gauge for their manual bundlers and 90 gauge for their electric, twister swears by the 90 gauge and if I remember correctly he said they can get over 200 bundles per roll  and I think he said they wrap only three times per bundle.  Corley5 found a good supplier at that price I don't know if they sell 90 gauge or not, but I would try a case of both and see the difference.  I just sold a processor to a guy in north carolina and he likes the 90 gauge better.  good luck

[woodshax]

May i ask what you sell the bagged product for?  I.e. whats the gas stations cut?

Mike,  we sell at State parks and give the park 10% of the gross each month...I have contracts with the State and with friends groups

we sell the bags (1.3 to 1.4 cu ft) for $11.99 + tx

and the .75s for $6.65 + tax

[mike_belben]

Thanks, im guessing you could stay busy all year with state parks in summer and heating in winter.

[BargeMonkey]

 Thank you guys for the info, have to check around on wrap. There's a guy up north bagging wood and I'm figuring at somepoint do some of the bags also. Kind of bought the bundler for me and another guy to use, he does a few hundred cord and has a market for some bundles roadside, I just want to clean up my slab wood piles, some of the odd wood laying around and at 4.50-5.00 a bundle why not. I've got a customer who has been asking me about doing bundles and sending them down to Eastern LI to the yuppie shops out there, start out small and see how it goes, labor is my biggest problem. My kiln gets hot enough to get a USDA stamp but again it's all about demand. EAB has been found in our town so it's only a matter of time now anyway.

[BargeMonkey]

Are you selling the small camp stove propane bottles to the park or 20lbers.  I have been toying with trying a 20 lb propane bottle exchange program at one of our closer state parks

There's money in selling propane, I've gotten a huge education in the last yr about the markup on stuff. My cut on a 20lb tank is 8.00 on an exchange and 10.00 if I fill a tank.

[woodshax]

We have a deal with a national propane company to supply and fill our machines for $10 and exchange and then we turn around and sell it for $19.99 and don't do anything but supply the machine and maintain it