Is there money in selling and delivering firewood?

[TJ Timber]

For the guys that do sell it, is worth the effort? Or do you just do it just to make extra money on the side. I don't think you could make a living at it unless your doing serious volume.

[beenthere]

Might depend on what "make a living" means to an individual.

[graves logging]

I do it everyday. I don't do it for a hobby. I sell around 1000 cord a year. I guess iam not rich. But the bills are payed. And I work for myself. If I feel like going hunting I can. I love the freedem.

[chevytaHOE5674]

I see you list da UP for a location. Around "here" just about everybody has/has access too timber to make their own firewood. One local guy sells some cut/split wood on the side and makes some beer money, others sell 101" firewood. Now if you are close to one of the "bigger" cities then there may be more of a market for cut/split wood.

[Al_Smith]

When I sold the stuff it was just as a suppliment to  my income .It wasn't bad but you work for every penny of it .

Just depends I suppose on how easy it is to get to ,how far you have to haul it and what you get payed for it .If you have to buy the stuff you'd just as well might find another sideline .

It was long time ago I did the firewood and it was 40 bucks a pickup load then .I only had one person question the price and my reply was the wood is free he's just paying the labor to get it there .

[Logging logginglogging]

I like to get it log length and cut and split it my self, buying it cut and split is double the money. Instead of wasting money on that, take what u would pay on cut and split and buy double the logs and you will have plenty for more than one year.

[muddstopper]

I have a lot of money tied up in my truck, saws, tractors, splitters and whatever I can think of for cutting firewood. I havent sold a stick of wood in probably 40 years. So is there money in firewood, a most deffinate yes, can you make money selling fire wood, well it just depends on your market. I intend to build myself a firewood processor, and I intend to use it for hire, but not to cut my firewood for sell. Only to split other folks wood that they buy and have delivered to their site. Even then it will be a for profit venture, if they pay, I work. Not willing to pay my prices, they can buy their own saw and splitter and furnish their own sweat.

[woodtick#2]

Sell some wood each week and i dont have to tap in to my real pay check.....makes saving money easy

[Corley5]

I've been doing it since '05.  Sometimes I make money.  Sometimes I don't   

[T Welsh]

 TJ Timber, We do it as a supplement to our core business as a Tree Service. We get paid to remove it from customers property and then use the low grade logs as processor sticks and make firewood, We sell hundreds of cords a year. It helps in the winter time when we are slower and helps making money.

 
I just wait until I have a full days worth of small logs to run through the processor and go to town. It adds up! The pile in the picture is about 5 days worth. Tim

[trees2]

No matter how much wood you sell per year make sure you charge plenty for it. Don't give it away you worked too hard for it You need to figure in ALL your costs. Just to mention a few, stumpage,cut and skid , processing , loading, delivering, fuel @ $ 4.25.00 per gallon, insurance, BREAKDOWNS and REPAIRS. Oh yeah , Your labor

[drobertson]

Making money on fire wood, and delivering it depends solely on volume, especially if you are thinking about making a living at it.  I have fitted my kids with diapers in the early years with firewood, and it covered the bill. Making a house, truck, insurance and even college tuition payments is a different story. You will have to figure it as seasonal for the most part from the onset. You will have to figure all the variables on sizes that will be required. You will have to figure that most folks wait until the last minute till the forcast is in( except those who plan) and then have stock to deliver on a timely basis.   Then You have to figure what the wood is costing you. How fast can you produce.  What are you using, is there a better market for the timber that you intend on using?  how long can you wait on a sale?  Logs are weekly cash, scrag is weekly cash if not daily on delivery.  So how much cash?   Figure cull logs, 20 bucks a ton.  Scrag logs, 28-30 bucks a ton.  saw logs, 50 bucks a ton.  How much are you delivering? by the ton, and how much does it cost to produce a ton?  and how long to get an order on a ton or more?  It is a market in itself!  You can do anything you set your mind to you just have to be ready for the ups and downs.  Like I said I have cut plenty for our own use as well as the locals as needed.  But would not rely on this for a living.  I do not have a proccessor, nor a nationwide market. There are restrictions on transporting firewood I am sure.  I would suggest figure the markets, put a pencil to it, with a  good eraser, and be prepared for allot of wood to pile up and try to sell .

[JuniperBoss]

If I worked full time I'd say I could make "a living". It wouldn't be a great one, but if you enjoy what you do and are driven to do it, then it's all cookies and candies. Lots of people go through life hating work, hating what they do. I love to do firewood, I just don't know what the future holds regarding an income for a family with little ones. I'm far from needing to make a big decision, but I don't want to invest a great deal into firewood. I've done a lot of math regarding this. What is very important is your supply of trees. If you have to pay to cut them or travel a distance for them, then your profits are going to drop. Fuel is an issue. I've got all the trees in the world here that I can cut for free and don't have to travel a mile. The wood, however, is softwood and it is messy and kind of just "decent" firewood. It does sell though and there is a market for the stuff. Do what you love, man!

[Al_Smith]

For years my buddy in the tree service biz didn't save the firewood although he did he at his house with same .He finally came to the realization that there is some money in it .

He's already getting paid to haul the wood off the job site so with a little extra effort it can be turned into a source of income during the winter months when tree service work comes to a virtual stand still .

He certainly isn't going to run the 1500-2000 bucks a day like when he has a full crew on the job but 3-4 cords a week at 140 per will pay the food bill and certainly is better than nothing which in fact is what tree work is in this area during the winter months .You have about 3 or 4 months of nothing but you can sell firewood during that time .

[bandmiller2]

If your in the tree service business its a chance to keep your best help busy during the winter.Its like plowing snow if you have the equipment anyways its worth doing.Today every bit helps. Frank C.

[lynde37avery]

we sell upwards of 150 cord between me n my uncle. as well as logs to the saw mills. our cord wood pays fuel for everything, electrical bill at home, food, clothing, BEER, smokes, a lot of the repairs on the logging equip. most the small stuff ya know.

[SwampDonkey]

Around here most farms have a woodlot, but to assume that they are all firewood lots would not be accurate. A good many are clear cut already, some are aspen and softwood and yet others may be red maple, elm and black ash for hardwood that 99% of the public in this area will not pay for for fire wood. And still other lots could be mostly cedar and tamarack. My firewood guy lives in an area with mostly those swamp hardwoods and he gets 90 % of his wood from public lands where there is still lots of rock maple, beech and yellow birch for firewood. Plus it's being cut every day there. He works a little red maple in the firewood and I know that comes from his woods for the most part. Most firewood around here is bought or bartered.

OWB are a little less than rare and far between, so not much of these less dense woods getting burned. And in fact these two fellas by home only burn hard maples for the most part until they get desperate and burn softwood slabs from another neighbor that has a hobby mill and logging show. I don't know what else to call a lot of driving around and 2 hours of work.

Nope, just because you have woods doesn't make it a source of firewood. ;)

[clww]

I did tree removal part time from 2002 until last year. The wood I kept was sold for firewood later. I didn't really make money, but I bought three new saws, a new splitter, and kept gas in the truck doing it as side business in Virginia Beach. I always lost money on the tree removal, but turned a profit selling firewood. I sort of broke even in the long run.

[r.man]

Sometimes the difference between profitability and not is knowing your market. One older fellow I knew delivered firewood into the main urban area 3 hrs from here out of a 5 ton truck. He sold white birch, which local people would pass over as firewood but looks nice beside the fireplace, and he would carry and pile into a basement or garage. He made a good side living at it and continued after he retired from his day job. Another friend sold firewood in small batches in a high traffic area in a Santa suit. It can be a living but you may need an edge on the next guy. People with money always seem to be willing to pay for service and reliability. That's why brand name products can command a premium price.

[francismilker]

I have an off-farm job that pays my bills.  When I'm not milking cows I try to cut 1 cord of firewood a day.  I don't deliver wood as I can't control the different variables that come with each delivery point.  However, locals know they can always call me and purchase some wood.  I keep 50 or so ricks stacked out in the pasture at all times so they can get it green or seasoned.  Seasoned sells for more so I don't sweat it when the pile gets too big.  It's only going up in price.

Next thing you know, the weather man starts talking icestorm and I sell out in a weekend! 

I don't make a living at it but it's helping feed the cows!

[rooster 58]

    I used to sell around 60-70 cord/yr. It was good exercise, the wood was free to me, and so I turned a buck. It helped me to build my cabin which is now my home.
    Today, I have a firewood rack in the yard that is self serve for the campers and sportsmen. No great shakes but it helps out. When I get my sawmill going I would also like to develop a firewood market, But I really need to run the numbers on the price of pulpwood, firewood processor and so on. If I can develop bulk markets to the larger cities, I just might do it. Or try to sell cash n carry to anyone wanting to come to my yard. Making deliveries is a tough row to hoe, because you have your time and equipment to pay for, which people just don't understand

[Qweaver]

I have friends, a father/son team, in the tree service business that split tons of wood each year and it makes up a substantial part of their income.  They also get tons of free off cuts from a timber yard.  So they do not have to buy the logs that they split.  They pay minimum wage for people to split it for them.  They usually sell by a small dump truck load.  They have totally sold out of their dry wood this year and are selling fresh cut wood to those that will burn it.  Works for them.

[Al_Smith]

The trimmers around here it's pretty much starvation in winter time .Quite truthfully the help doesn't get payed that much so eventually they are transitory .Most are good workers but tree service work is what is and the only way to make any money is to own the service .That can be a long hard fought road though starting out as brush dragger and working ones way up to an owner .Most never get that far .

What firewood they might sell can only at best provide part time work for just a few from a crew and keep the hawk away from the door so they are not getting rich from it .