Switching to bags for kindling.

[cutterboy]

 

 
I have always sold kindling in bundles.


 
The bundles looked really nice but it took me 15-20 minutes to make each one. I searched for mesh bags and found what I wanted. I like the mesh because the bag can be loaded with green wood and the wood will dry in the bag. To load I just hang the bag on two nails and fill it up.


 

 
The bags have a plastic draw string thingy that when pulled, closes the bag and makes a long handle to hang it up.


 

 
It looks like there is more kindling in the bag than there was in the bundles but there isn't. The bags actually hold a little less. Doing the kindling this way saves me a step. Before I would make a stack with the kindling and let it dry before bundling it. Now I don't have to stack it. Just put it in the bag.


All the best.....Cutter

[doc henderson]

nice.  how much are the bags?  do you buy a container full? 

[cutterboy]

nice.  how much are the bags?  do you buy a container full?  

The bags are .50 a bag if you buy 100. But then you pay taxes and shipping of about $13. So I paid .63 a bag. If your order comes to over $125.00 the shipping is free.

[doc henderson]

 hmmm.  do you have a link, or brand name.  they look great.  great idea.

[barbender]

I just bought some bags myself, I haven't tried them yet but I want to use them for kindling as well. Mine won't look as nice- I'm just looking for a way to get rid of the debris that builds up underneath the splitting grate on my firewood processor. We'll see if they sell🤷🏽‍♂️ I saw @BargeMonkey was bagging up his debris and selling it for kindling. I want to be like Barge 😁

[cutterboy]

doc,  www.onlinefabricstore.net
The ones I got were... 
15 x 25 Mesh Polypropylene Bags - White
They sell a lot of different stuff so on their site search for polypropylene bags. They were very quick, I had my bags in three days.

[cutterboy]

barbender, those long thin pieces of wood from the splitting debris do make good kindling. I save them to use myself.

[hedgerow]

Cutter boy you have me thinking. Back in the day when seed corn and cattle, hog feed came in heavy paper bags we used to bag up a lot of what I would call splitter trash and either sell it when we sold firewood or burn it in our own stoves. Then seed and feed started coming in bulk bins and I quiet selling fire wood so when I do my own 15 cord a year I just scoop the splitter trash up with the skid loader and throw it on the brush pile. Its a fair amount of wood that could be bagged and burned in my Garn. Even at 63 cents a bag that's not too bad for the amount of heat one could have that I am just burning in my brush piles. 

[AK Newbie]

Great idea!  Here is another idea, won't work for commercial applications unless you also roast your own coffee!    Most local coffee roasters have a surplus of these awesome burlap bags.  Lots of applications for them around the homestead...

 

>
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[cutterboy]

Burlap bags are great. You can buy them but they are expensive. Back when I was a kid this farm of mine was a working dairy farm. We got feed in 100lb. burlap bags. Dad wouldn't let us use them because the feed store paid a dime each if you returned them. Back then good grain dairy or chicken feed only cost $3-4 a hundred weight.

[mike_belben]

I want to be like Barge 😁

Heck of a guy.  There wont ever be another bargemonkey.  My kid ran his bells last week.  He gave them some old inserts and they think theyre collectibles or something.  Sophia has a circle saw carbide in her jewelry box.  



And now i have to reinvent my processor plans to utilize the saw off his fabled stroker somehow.  Much graphing paper has been crumpled.

[Don P]

I got a pickup load of the white tight weave feed sacks from a nearby farm a couple of years ago. I've used them for charcoal and dry kindling, not sure they would breathe well enough for green but work good for cutting up dry edgings and stuffing them in sacks. I was cleaning up from a siding job today. there were a ton of rippings from edging boards and ripping battens. I set the tablesaw to 1-1/4" and reripped anything wider to cut stickers from, then chopped the rest to 12-14" and filled sacks. The oddball and short stuff fed the stove all day. Anyway just another source of free sacks.

[doc henderson]

15% off now on the mesh bags, free shipping over 150 bucks.  so you can get 500 bags for 170 plus tax, or about 34  cents each before tax.

[jimbarry]

Been using the mesh bags for a bit. Using a 5gal bucket to easily fill the bags. 





 

[cutterboy]

Very nice setup Jim. That's a nice idea with the 5gallon bucket. Do you sell them from your home or at a retail outlet (market, gas station, etc.). I sell from my home and I have been getting $5 a bundle. Next year it will be bags instead of bundles and I'm thinking of raising my price. I haven't raised my price since I started selling kindling 15 years ago. 

[jimbarry]

Cutterboy, we mostly giveaway a bag with each cord of split firewood purchased. We do have a few people who purchase 100 bags at a time for their own use or for their store to resell. Here's an excerpt from our web site. (Canadian prices)

1 - 50 bags $7.00 ea. 
51-99 bags $5.50 ea.
100+ bags $4.00 ea.
Contact us for volume purchasing for your store or campground. Private labelling available. Kiln dried available.

Delivery extra.

[jimbarry]

bagsupplies.ca has a pretty good selection of mesh bags as well.

[jimbarry]

 

 

That's our kindling split area. Just off the end of the sawmill. Miter saw under the wrap. Two people can fill a bag in less than 2 minutes.

[hedgerow]

Jim how do you like that Splitfire two way splitter? Thanks 

[jimbarry]

Given its size and portability, best money ever spent.

[cutterboy]

I thought I'd let you know how my bagged kindling has been selling this fall and winter. In the past I've sold about 40 bundles, never more than 45. As of today I've sold 62 bags and still selling. And I raised the price this year from $5 to $6 to cover the cost of the bags.
I built a funny looking display box and hanger that lets the bags hang instead of laying them on the ground or a bench.
I filled all 100 bags I had and it looks like I might sell them all.


 

 

 

 
The firewood in the red bags I've only sold one.

  Happy cutting.....Cutter

[Spike60]

The kindling is a pretty good value. Even if you needed it every day, the bag of kindling looks like it would last a good week. The bag of firewood is only one fire that might last a couple hours. Surprised more sellers don't offer kindling like that.

[kantuckid]

Seems to me (I'm trying to be helpful ) that the bag price could come down? Not that I looked much either but in 30 seconds I saw burlap for less. Onion bags surely don't cost that much?

[cutterboy]

Seems to me (I'm trying to be helpful ) that the bag price could come down? Not that I looked much either but in 30 seconds I saw burlap for less. Onion bags surely don't cost that much?

I'm not sure if you're talking about the bags themselves or the bags with the kindling in them.
The bags cost me 63 cents each tax and shipping included. If I could find burlap bags for close to the same price I'd be very interested.

[Spike60]

How you doing on the sell through? Gotta be getting close to 100, right? 

[cutterboy]

How you doing on the sell through? Gotta be getting close to 100, right?  

Well, not really. I sold 70. They sold well to 70 and then just stopped.  I brought them into the barn and will keep them for next year. If anyone asks for kindling I'll be glad to sell them some but I won't display them outside till the fall.