In need of business opinions

[Mike_P.]

Trey:

I wanted to add my two cents regarding your new venture.
  
When you do your business plan, it should include a detailed budget, and you should clearly understand where your breakeven will be.  

And, things always take longer to accomplish than you think they will initially.  At least that's the case in my projects!

If you really want to do something, in addition to the good planning and hard work, it is the dogged determination to keep going that will make it a success.

Best Wishes.

Mike P.

[Minnesota_boy]

When I bought my Woodmizer in 1996, I planned to buy timber from small woodlots, cut and skid it to the mill, saw out the lumber and sell it.  It didn't take long to figure out that if I'm felling, I'm not skidding and that equipment sits idle.  I can't saw when I'm skidding, so there is more equipment sitting idle.  Then I discovered that I really hate the selling part and the associated paperwork required for taxes.  

Then I discovered how much demand there is for a portable mill doing custom sawing as all of the older mills sitting around are doing just that, sitting around because of the costs associated in hiring a crew and paying for workmans compensation, unemployment, social security, medicare, etc.

I now just do custom sawing at the customer's site and word-of-mouth is my only advertising as I can't keep up to the demand most of the time.  I have developed a few regular customers that have me in once or twice a year and a bunch more that call me on an irregular basis, but most are a one time to help with clean-up of storm damage or thinning their woodlot or want some custom cuts that are not available from conventional sources.  

To make the business work, I have kept the equipment costs fairly low, buying an older 4x4 truck and other used equipment that is still serviceable, with the major investment being the new woodmizer.  I'm still trying to figure out how to deal with the changing seasons here where the temerature range is from 95 to -40.  I do not saw every day as I have trouble with scheduling, and sometimes I like a little gap for a day off or maintenance on equipment that I prefer to do at home where i have more shop equipment.  It also helps that my wife works so we have stable income too.  ;D

[SawInIt CA]

Trey,

I am not sure where you are going to be in CA. We are in between Sacramento CA and Reno NV  right off I 80. You are welcome to stop by and take our equipment for a test run. LT 40 Super, forlift, JD 310E Backhoe, Dozer and a HUGE Stack of Douglas-Fir, Incense Cedar, Sugar Pine, Ponderosa Pine, Maple and Oak. There is a caomapny that has a contract with the city of Sacramernto to supply them with a small yard and they take ALL the trees. no cash exchange but they take the good the bad and the ugly. You might check with Dallas.

[DanG]

The urban log situation seems to be different everywhere you go, and I can only say how it is here. Tallahassee is a city that is in love with it's trees, and there are a lot of them. Most of the city's land area has been developed within the last 20-30 years. Before that, most of it was either commercial or private woodland, hence they are the  same trees you would have bought from a logger. But now they are being taken down a few at a time by arborists who aren't interested in trying to market logs, or by land clearing firms that just want them gone. Every day, I see enough logs on their way to the dump or the tub grinder, to keep my mill busy for a week. The guy that has the grinder does sort out a few choice logs, after the arborist has PAID him to let him dump them. This guy even has a "stump shaker" to get the dirt out of the stump, then he sells the dirt. ???
Another guy, north of town, has a Woodmizer and a big firewood processor. I'm not sure what kind of deal he has for getting logs, but he takes the whole mess and either saws, chips, or splits all of it.
Most everything on the east side of town goes to the county landfill. :-/   It's a shame to see so much wasted, but I get about all I can handle from friends, and friends of friends, and relatives of friends, and friends of relatives.
On the other hand, my Cousin's husband, who works at a huge mill in Valdosta, Ga., says their mill buys most all of the urban timber in their area. He says they have so many scanners through-out their process, that metal isn't a problem. Unfortunately, he is on sabbatical in Bagdad right now, so I can't pick his brain any more for a while.

[trey_w]

Thanks for the invite Sawinit, I'm in Walnut Creek so that would be a bit of a drive.  If I can get a slack day I may head that way anyway.  

I have a firewood question, is it sold green?  or dried?  Not that there's a HUGE call for firewood in Dallas but I was just wondering.

[C_Miller]

My guess is that Dallas would want it's firewood kiln dried and packaged neatly with little bundles of kindling on the side.  

That cruise strip still goin' in Walnut Creek?

C

[Ron Wenrich]

Firewood could be an interesting sideline.  Its normally sold dry.  But, you might want to consider bundling it up.

In Dallas, people probably don't want to have a bunch of firewood in their backyard.  But, they would like to have enough to set off a fire every once in awhile.  Campgrounds are another avenue.

They sell 1 cu ft bundles for about $3.50 around these parts.  That's retail at the local convenience store.  They even sell some of that stuff, even though you can get a pickup truck load of $50.  

If you can sell it for $1.50-$2.00/bundle, you could make a pretty good profit.