Looking to expand

[bradj]

I am looking to expand my sawmill operation to include firewood and mulch.
I don't have much money and am unsure of the market, so I don't want to jump in head over heels.
My plan is to buy a splitter at Tractor supply or some other such store for about $1000.00. I have sold some firewood in the past and am getting ready to install an outdoor furnace.
As for a mulcher, I am more interested in selling the colored wood chips, but have no experience. I have been wondering if the $700- $1000 dollar models will work or not, such as craftsman or DR or other brands. Looking at 3 to 3.5 inch openings. Any thing bigger I can currently use for firewood.
And I know nothing of the coloring systems are there any inexpensive ones out there.
I know that these are not fast machines, but thats okay, because I'm not full time at this.
I figure if the markets appear good then I will expand even more. Any help will be appreciated.

[Brad_S.]

bradj

I hate to see threads unanswered so I'll throw my two cents in.
I also hate to be a dream crusher, but what you propose, especially the mulching, looks like a whole lot of work for very little gain.
I don't know much about firewood, but it seems pretty labor intensive for the return in dollars without a processor. Beside, you might find you need all that wood for that new outdoor unit! :D
My humble opinion is don't even think of mulching. I have a Troybuilt shredder
similar to those you mentioned that was given to me. They're designed to help suburban homeowners clean their yard once a year. It's fine for twigs and leaves, but to put a 3" branch through it takes 5 minutes of feed, pull back, let machine digest, feed, pull back..... It would take you a full day to generate a pickup truck worth of mulch. At the very least you would need a chipper like the tree guys use, but those chips are too course for mulch use. That means they either need to be reground or you need a high end chipper with variable speed feed (I'm thinking of Salsco here). I have never seen a colorizer for less than 5 digits.
Surely not what you want to hear, but that's my take on the subject.
Best of luck what ever you decide.

[bradj]

Whether or not that is what I wanted to hear, that is what I needed to hear.
That was the reason I was posting, to see whether or not my plan was any good.
I needed the info on the mulch most of all.
As far as the firewood I know its labor intensive, currenly I split about 15 -20 cords with a maul, and thats true firewood (to sale).
I have been piling my slabs from my sawmill and cutting then up for my parents wood burner and just burning the smaller slabs and junk boards.
I'll have all my slabs, plus poplar firewood, plus allother odd stuff from my splitting for my unit, but you may be right, I might need all the wood.
Thanks for your reply like I said I had no experience with mulch so you were a great help.

[oakiemac]

Firewood might not be such a bad investment. With the high price of propane and fuel oil, lots of folks are turning to firewood to heat their homes. Many suburban areas firewood sells for a good penny. Might be worth looking into.
I know the tree service guys around here are taking all their logs into firewood.