I just finished an order of blocking for a local trucker.He needed 24 6x6 6' hardwood to load rolls of steel with a 60 degree angle knocked off one corner.I made a jig to cut the angles and got 10 bucks each for them.My question is wouldn't there be a way to market these types of items to the masses of truckers ?He said he had been hunting all over for someone to saw them for him.Has anyone here sold much of this kinda stuff?
No, but I've bought a few. ;) Most shippers that require them either provide them for you or have them for you to buy. If you have to buy them they ain't cheap. Most truckers call them dunnage. If you look around the landing gear braces (storage) on most flat beds you'll see a few slid in there. ;)
Don't pay any attention to that previous post. What I was thinking about was just regulat blocking. What we use for coils was coil racks, but they were about a foot long and we did have to find them ourselves. They needed to be hard wood to hold up. Some companies have them for sale for the drivers maybe check with the flat bed companies to see if they need a supplier.
I've cut 4"x8" x10' and 5"x9"x10' on the diagonal for a pallet shop.
They brought in hardwood cants , I made the jig.
Cut for them four times, 75 cants each time. They sell to local steel outfit.
Here's one to think about, a few years ago we took about 500 8x12x16' oak timbers and cut a 1x1 45 degree angle on one side of every timber with a 16" hand helad circ saw, for rail car floors that held steel coils. that order made up over 1/2 out income that year. it was awesome.
I love sawing blocking and cribbing.
When someone's calling around cold from the phonebook to find wood to move a heavy (expensive) load, they'll pay just about anything.
I keep a couple of oak logs on hand at all times for when they call. I tell 'em I usually only saw furniture wood :) but I'll hook 'em up at the same price I sell that for. When I tell 'em my bdft price--$3--they usually think it's a good deal since it costs so much more at Home Depot
;) :D
Get your blocks right here. Ya don't need to be lookin round down there in Memphis...satisfaction guarantee...and free delivery. :D ;D :D ;D
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250 bf of the finest north Missouri Sycamore available.
I like orders like this. I've done several small orders of triangle shaped truck ramps for paving companies. But the best order I had was for 20,000 4x6x4' hardwood. There was another mill besides myself working on that order and it took a couple months to do. It put a real dent in my firewood pile that year.
I would like to do more of it too.I'd like to mail some letters to local trucking companies and shipping depts. of industries so they would know I would saw it for them.It's a good way to unload some rough logs. ;D ;D