Update on splitting wood for $$$

[Timberwerks]

Yesterday I did job where the home owner had three trees taken down over a year ago and saved the wood for burning. After stacking the logs she had every intention on splitting them but did not know how to go about it. As luck would have it she is a real estate agent and I met her at a home she was about to close on ( I was there doing carpentry repairs ) and I gave her one of my Timberwerks cards. She became excited and told me of the wood that she had but no way to split it. While splitting there, a police officer came up and I thought great he's going to issue me a warning because of the noise. Instead he asked about the splitter and want's me to come and split at his place. Awhile after that a guy just ridding his bike watched for awhile and asked for a card as well. His neighbor has a lot of wood in his back yard that needs splitting. This one job will hopefully bring me in more work by word of mouth. I charged the lady $100.00 and I was there 3.5 hours. She ended up with a cord and a half of wood and was very happy. I can split faster but there was more handeling involved on this job. I'm still thinking about placing an add in the local paper as well. I'm getting better at estimating the amount of time to split so this will help with quotes.

Dale

[leweee]

Glad to hear that's worken out for you. 8) Sounds like you got a start in your area. Try pinning up a flyer on a bulletin board at laundrimats,genaral store(some retail outlets let you post your business card)Low tech but cheap & grassroots. ;D

[maple flats]

Hi Dale, what are you using for a splitter? I remember about 25-30 years ago my brother and I had cut a good pile of wood to be split and rented a LaFont? (or something like that) for $50/day. This unit had an automatic valve, just put the block on the cradle, hold the raisable bed with an easy to operate handle, start the pusher and go get another block while the splitter cycled on it's own with a 5 or 6 way wedge. We just left it hooked up to the tow vehicle with the truck in neutral. As we split it put the wood out the back and into a pile, when the pile got beg enough it actually pushed the truck forward and ended up making a large windrow. After we finished 38 face cord of 16" wood we called a neighbor at work and asked if he wanted us to split his pile as well if he paid half of the rental. He said yes and we ended up splitting our 38 plus his 16 and were done in about 4 hours. When we returned the splitter they ended up only charging us half a day which brought it down to $30 because he had another customer for it when we arrived. I slept well that night but it was great to have it all done. We spent a few more hours stacking the wood to dry for the following winter, but had the help (?) of the wives and kids, it was actually a work party with hot dogs and all. 8) 8)

[Timberwerks]

Hi Dale, what are you using for a splitter?

I'm using a Timberwolf TW-5 with log lift and 4 way wedge. The splitter works great but I may trade it in this year and upgrade to a TW-6. The TW-6 will give me a faster cycle time, larger fuel tank and more hp. I also split and sell firewood so it would be put to good use.

Dale

[Ironwood]

Well, I was going to recommend a SuperSplit, runs on a momentum wheel, but seems like you know exactly what works. I have not heard of that one, I need to look it up. Thank You, Reid ;D

[Timberwerks]

Here you go, http://www.timberwolfcorp.com/splitters/product_line.htm#tw5

Dale

[RSteiner]

I purchased a SuperSplit unit about a year ago.  Often as I drive by houses where an unsplit wood pile is visible and a splitting maul next to it if this could be an opportunity to make a few bucks.

With the SuperSplit I can convert a cord of round chunks to a split pile in about 45 minutes on less than a quart of gasoline.  If someone supplies the unsplit chunks to me so I don'thave to pick them up I have gone through a cord of wood in 30 minutes.  The cycle times on this machine are in the 4 second range.

Maybe some day I will muster up the courage to ask if they would like to have someone split their wood pile.  It is good to hear that people are interested to have their wood split.

Randy

[Timberwerks]

Thats sounds like a great machine. Do you have a web address for them? I'll try a search as well.

Thanks
Dale

[RSteiner]

I could not find the manufacturers website but did find this retailer.

http://landscapingcomplete.com/SuperSplit/SuperSplit.html

I purchased mine from the factory, or had it shipped to my home from there.

The prices are a little higher now but I guess the price of steel has gone up also.  I talked to 3 people who had owned this type of splitter for 12 to 15 years each sold firewood as a business, 100 - 150 cords a year.  Each one told me they had no problems other than normal wear on belts and such.

They are the top of the line when it comes to woodsplitters.

Randy