its wood sellin time

[OH logger]

been haulin a lot of heatin wood lately. its cooler than normal here and people are actually startin to think ahead for a change.  :D  I changed my hauling procediure and am no longer hauling 1 cord at a time. only 1.5 cord (full load) no complaints from the customers and I like it cause most of my customers are 15 miles away so I don't have to run with less than a full load. I also bumped my price up $5 a cord and a half. again no complaints. some people will forget what they paid for wood but they wont forget that wood they couldn't get lit or wouldnt  stay on fire cause it wasn't dry. I concentrate on a quality product and price it accordingly. I'm using my homemade cleaner and rreally want a REAL cleaner for next year. I'm thinkin about ordering one at the bunyan show this year. that would REALLY please my customers. I cant believe the orders that I'm getting considering the warm winter we had last year and how cheap propane is here. it seems like people are addicted   8).  hows it been goin for you other wood sellers out there??

[overclocking]

How much are you getting for a cord? It's about 170 here delivered.

[brianJ]

200 a cord delivered give or take a little.

[OH logger]

153 delivered and dumped

[overclocking]

153 delivered and dumped

That's a pretty good deal. Last year we saw prices between 150-170 here, this year its almost always 170. Some people were asking 2, but nobody was getting it. Gas has been pretty cheap here for the past few years.

[woodshax]

Wow,  That is less than half of what they get here in Texas....That is a FULL cord delivered price?  can you drive it all down here?

[lopet]

Orders are about the same as usual and price is the same for the last five years. 240 here for a full cord and I only haul 3 cord loads.  I have to charge the HST, but everybody who has a farm or business number can claim it. The good thing is, that some of my non farmer customers have found a way to bypass this nuisance.
It took a bit of training , but now everybody is getting used to. So somebody who has left over wood may only get one load and the person who was short in the spring gets two loads.
Lost one guy with a outdoor boiler who always took three loads.  Bummer  :(
I am a little concerned with more and more amish competition, they seem to like working for less. 
Probably can still make a bit of money that way for the next four or five years as my equipment is all paid for. After that I just will be processing for my self and a few buddies.  8)

[dave_dj1]

With the rising costs of fuel from Harvey I'm sure some of the people are thinking they best grab it before the price of wood goes up too.
I have a couple/three year supply for myself, I just had my tank filled up two days before Harvey hit. I was just telling a buddy that I bet pellets will go up too.

[NWP]

It's picking up for me but it never really slows down too much. I get $260 for a full cord and $150 for a half cord delivered and dumped. The restaurants we deliver to pay close to $400 per cord since they want hickory and I have to stack it.

[DeerMeadowFarm]

What length do you all cut to for your customers?

[Corley5]

  I've got 97 face cords on order and a 20 and a 10 pulp cord mobile job to do.  Standard length for me is 16" but I'll do custom lengths.  Shorter costs more.  Longer is the same price.  Depending on delivery distance I get 165 to 195 per full cord in five face cord loads.  Less than 5 costs more. 
  There's a firewood processor on every corner in this country now.  Those that are financed aren't going to last.   

[OH logger]

16 inches here and yes my price is a FULL cord. we should start a thread about the stupid things customers say.  like the other guy only charged 75 pucks for a cord and I fit it on my pickup  : I had a lady call today and order 2 TON of wood. I knew what she meant though... she ordered the same amount last year  ;). there are not many firewood processors around here at all. not many trees and not many wood burners left here anymore. if I charged $200 a cord I wouldn't sell any wood....well maybe a few cord  :D

[rjwoelk]

We are down from last year.  To dry so they had firebans on all summer. Our winter guys are starting to call. Our should i say the procrastinators. We get one evey so offten wait till the last min and wonder why they can get dry wood. I keep telling them get it in early summer to dry at your place.

[overclocking]

16 inches here and yes my price is a FULL cord. we should start a thread about the stupid things customers say.  like the other guy only charged 75 pucks for a cord and I fit it on my pickup  : I had a lady call today and order 2 TON of wood. I knew what she meant though... she ordered the same amount last year  ;). there are not many firewood processors around here at all. not many trees and not many wood burners left here anymore. if I charged $200 a cord I wouldn't sell any wood....well maybe a few cord  :D

My areas just the opposite. Lots of burners and nothing but hardwoods and everyone with a saw and axe selling on Craig's list. Tri axle loads here are about $650 too, seem to be down 100 from last year. You can rent firewood processors weekly here as well. I think it's 1600 a week, so you better have a pile ready.

[GRANITEstateMP]

$225 TO $235 a cord (128cu/ft.), delivered locally, GREEN.  I won't start delivering my dry/seasoned stuff for another week or two.  I've got to double check pricing on 1 year seasoned but it should be about $315-$335 a cord.  I like to keep 2 or 3 cord of the dry stuff and post it early December for about $20 or $25 more a cord.  That is the fee for waiting too long to order your wood!  I give the wife that money for Christmas stuff.

We do mainly 16in wood, I have a few customers that we cut 18in for (same price).  The neighbor across the street gets 15in wood, I don't charge him any extra cause he's a nice guy and a good neighbor, that is a hard combo to find!

[OH logger]

I know this is not good to say out loud but I read in a northern logger a while back that a cord of dry wood heats as much as 215 gallons of propane (most common source of heat where I live. right now propane is at 1.34 a gallon. that means a cord of wood heats as much as $288 of propane. so why would you buy a cord of wood for $315 when you could watch the propane guy fill up the tank have no work or mess and be money ahead? what am I missing? I think its great if you can get this much out of your wood but when you guys talk those high prices I don't understand. that would never fly around here (unfortunately). maybe its the "green" movement or for the excersise?? 

[rjwoelk]

If it were a matter of buying a propane heater vers propane you need to take in to acount the rental or ownership of the tank. Then there is thay nice heat from a wood fire.
I live 6 hrs north of minot ND. No trees. Trucked in 5 hr haul.we sell birch for 175 for aprox 1,3 cord . In a mini tote bag.

[OH logger]

that $1.34 gallon propane is a rented tank. if you own the tank its $1.24/gal.  and its 25 cents higher than last year but a TON cheaper than it was about 3 or 4 years ago. and that's one thing with wood prices: they don't fluctuate as much as  fossil fuels and it is warmer heat

[lopet]

My customers are aware of that, but say that they like the wood heat much better.  They also  say that they need the  exercise  to stay in shape and it saves them the money going to the gym. Most every body grew up with wood heat and carried on.
Hate to say that, but watching the propane guy filling a tank is for lazy people.  ;D or too busy ones.

[Blue Noser]

I can sell a cord (128 cubic feet) of mixed red maple/yellow birch for C$275. I deliver some at this price to my neighbors (within a couple kilometers) with my tractor and have a few customers come and pick it up at this price.

[billwolford]

I'm in the Seattle area and cords range from $400 to $600 and even more depending on the wood of course.
Still plenty of woodstoves around and people still love the wood heat qualities.
Luckily there are no shortage of trees yet here, but supplies keep getting further out.

[OH logger]

I'm in the Seattle area and cords range from $400 to $600 and even more depending on the wood of course.
Still plenty of woodstoves around and people still love the wood heat qualities.
Luckily there are no shortage of trees yet here, but supplies keep getting further out.

wow!! I'm packin allraedy and bringin all my wood with me!! :D

[woodshax]

So....I gotta ask....how do you guys get your processing costs down so you can make a profit at some of the lower price points......even with free trees My labor costs are still about $150 a cord......I guess if I did all the labor then that would be my profit minus gas and wear and tear on equipment.....but it is hot here in Texas and I am old.

[GRANITEstateMP]

I know this is not good to say out loud but I read in a northern logger a while back that a cord of dry wood heats as much as 215 gallons of propane (most common source of heat where I live. right now propane is at 1.34 a gallon. that means a cord of wood heats as much as $288 of propane. so why would you buy a cord of wood for $315 when you could watch the propane guy fill up the tank have no work or mess and be money ahead? what am I missing? I think its great if you can get this much out of your wood but when you guys talk those high prices I don't understand. that would never fly around here (unfortunately). maybe its the "green" movement or for the excersise?? 

OH logger,

  Sorry it took a while to get back to ya.  Quick and easy answer, I try and sell to what the market can or will handle.  There is no way I'd buy a cord of seasoned  / dry wood, EVER!  I try to get my regular customers to buy green wood and season it for a year.  The folks that want the dry wood will be paying me for a years worth of storage...

  We didn't sell as much wood last year, with low oil and propane prices, as in previous years.  I expect to be a bit better this year, and oil and gas are heading up.  We just got topped off with propane (hot water, cooking, b/u to the wood stove) we paid $1.91 a gallon and get a pretty good discount since we're tied in with the farm and they use a lot of propane.  That may be part of the reason we get a bit more a cord? 

  I know one guy that sells kiln dried stuff, pretty sure he starts out at $335 a cord!

[DeerMeadowFarm]

So....I gotta ask....how do you guys get your processing costs down so you can make a profit at some of the lower price points......even with free trees My labor costs are still about $150 a cord......I guess if I did all the labor then that would be my profit minus gas and wear and tear on equipment.....but it is hot here in Texas and I am old.

Your labor costs are $150 per cord? Are your guys processing by hand?

[GRANITEstateMP]

So....I gotta ask....how do you guys get your processing costs down so you can make a profit at some of the lower price points......even with free trees My labor costs are still about $150 a cord......I guess if I did all the labor then that would be my profit minus gas and wear and tear on equipment.....but it is hot here in Texas and I am old.

woodshax,

  $150 a cord seems pretty darn steep.  I am very lucky, my guys / helpers, trade off labor for discounted firewood.  I sell them their cords at or bellow what I pay for the wood.  It works good for them and good for me.  The only real "labor" costs I run into is tossing some money to my dad, he's a big help and doesn't burn wood, and pay a local high school kid or two to stack wood to dry down for next year.  We aren't a super big time operation but we move some wood and I try to keep overhead LOW.  We've put out just under 70 cord so far this year and I figure we'll be somewhere in the 85ish range by the time we call it a season.  Hope that helps.

ps - We process on a Hakki Pilke 1x37 processor.  Not exactly a world stopper, but it beats doin' it by hand.

Matt

[OH logger]

I get about $30-$33 per cord in splitting it. maybe $30/cord delivery (not real sure). wholesale wood is cheaper but my bro delivers a semi of wood for $16 a cord sinse the truck is goin close to the customer any way.  I get the wood for "free" as its a by product of my logging. the landowners seem to like it cause its less mess they have to look at. however I don't pull firewood out of the woods unless its FAST AND EASY. if its not both of those it stays where it lays. I'm already goin to the job but I know my truck drinks extra fuel pullin the gooseneck and 3 or 4 cord of wood. and more wear and tear...heck after all this stuff addin up maybe I'm not chargin enough  ;D.  I would love to charge more but I'm makin a little extra coin which is great when its too wet to log. also I'm already the most expensive around here. its really all relative. I don't sell my wood for as much as some on here can but maybe I don't have the inputs that some on here do. it all prolly comes out in the wash  ;)

[Gearbox]

I figure if they don't want to pay top dollar for 2 year dry now . Someone will in January or Feb. I won't deliver in the winter if they don't want it in the fall they can come get when they run out .

[rjwoelk]

So....I gotta ask....how do you guys get your processing costs down so you can make a profit at some of the lower price points......even with free trees My labor costs are still about $150 a cord......I guess if I did all the labor then that would be my profit minus gas and wear and tear on equipment.....but it is hot here in Texas and I am old.

You say your labour cost is 150 a cord. please explain. It takes 1 hr to process a cord by myself. It takes a couple of min to put the 1/3 cord vented bag away with the loader, and a couple of min to put it on the customers truck. My expense is 220 a cord to get it to my place,(5 hr drive) then add investment, processor, tractors support equipment, fuel  repairs chains oil etc labour,The less manual labour the greater the return. then the dirty word PROFIT :D If i cant make a good profit why would I do it. We sell for $475 a cord.

[Tim]

So....I gotta ask....how do you guys get your processing costs down so you can make a profit at some of the lower price points......even with free trees My labor costs are still about $150 a cord......I guess if I did all the labor then that would be my profit minus gas and wear and tear on equipment.....but it is hot here in Texas and I am old.

Are you counting in bagging Woodshax
?

[woodshax]

Yes,  Bagging as well.  My only processing automation is a wood splitter, skid steer for moving totes, a bagging table we made and a bundler we made

[woodshax]

So it is a toss up for me.....invest in a processor, conveyor and more automated bagging equipment or take the higher costs and pay for split wood at 18 inches in totes or dino bags at $225- 250 a full cord and then another $50 to $75 a cord to bag.  We will do about 200 cords this year with 75% being bagged in 2 CF by volume bags and the other 25% as .75 cuft bundles...... then they are delivered to State parks and stocked.... but price to the camper is about $1200 a cord so the delta is still pretty good but could be better if we automated the entire process

[Tim]

How many cord a day are your people putting up Woodshax?

[woodshax]

Depends on the wood source ......wood lots with free wood we can cut down cut split and bag and transport about 2.5 cords a week

Log length about 4 cords a week

Already cut and split (with resplitting some larger cuts) 4 cords a day....but most of the summer it is over 100 degrees here every day so if I have them out too long or too many days in a row they are liable to catch fire

[rjwoelk]

Sorry woodshax did not realize you were doing small bags.  When we do it we have the vented bag beside the packer, from there to a pallet, put 15 per pellet more than that seems to just fall off. I had 2 cord done up for him he gets payed a $1 per bag and he did 120 bags (bags are $1.25 each) in 5 hours. We did it by the bag so the faster they work the more they make a hr. We are not sure if we will continue with the bags,    we do sell them for $13 for the bigger bag, the packer is 2 ft long by 13 inch wood. It is about 66 bags to the cord .So we do better  but dont sell many bags. We dont do any deliverys if they want wood they stop at the  farm and pick it up. All depends if we can get Jack pine in , small logs, most of the time 1 split. They are to0 difficult to pick up with the forks, want to fall off  etc, and if we do birch we would fill the bags only half full or they would be too heavy, would be about 60 lbs, the bags may not take that.

[Brandon1986]

$275 per cord for seasoned birch up here in AK.. 5 cord an hour peak production on a 48" Cord King..