Amount of wood dumped into a trailer

[Firewood fanatic]

For those talking about advertising, we don't advertise wood at all, it's mostly just word of mouth and wholesaling wood that goes out in semis. We are lucky and don't need to advertise at all because we always sell out of wood and can never make enough. If we were to advertise, I would say something like "1 cord of firewood delivered and dumped" I wouldn't put "trailer load of wood delivered", the customer has no idea how much wood they are going to get.

[Firewood fanatic]

Too bad kids don't like to work anymore.

Good luck.

Well I'm a kid and I like to work, and I'm not the only kid that likes to work I'm sure.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well good for you, I'm sure you'll do fine as you try new things and learn as you go. These days, we could use a a l9t more like you around here.

[Firewood fanatic]

Thanks greenhorn I appreciate it!!

[Big_eddy]

$100 to stack a cord???
If you can stack without carrying, one person can stack a cord in 30-45 mins. $30 seems to be the going rate around here.



Back the trailer to the pile, tilt it up, lift off the tailgate straight onto the pile. The closer the better.

Well the way I look at it is one hour total. Between 45 minutes to just stack it, and then sweeping up any mess and most likely chatting with the customer, that's another 15 minutes. And maybe you are right, 100 bucks is high, maybe more like 75, but it's going to be a cold day in heck before I charge 30 bucks for all of that. Firewood isn't the only thing we do, if I charge even 50 dollars for stacking, I'm going to be loosing money and wasting time when I could be doing something else, that would be making me more money. The way I look at it is 75-100 dollars for stacking makes it worth my time.

We don't stack any more. We don't offer to stack. We decline to stack when asked. We do enough stacking while we are cutting and splitting. Our son does offer stacking to his customers.

However, lots of customers are interested in having their wood stacked. If you are going to stack, and customers are willing to pay a fair rate (which they won't around here) a few things to consider.
#1 Before you give them a price, Ask where they want it stacked and figure out how close you can get. Stacking off the tailgate is one thing. If you need to throw every piece through a window then stack it in the basement, that's something else (been there). If they want it stacked in their beautiful woodshed at the back of the yard, through the gate, around the pool and up the hill, that's something else (done that). If it's any distance at all from the driveway, taking a wheelbarrow along is a good idea.
#2 If you can get them to help, it's a bonus. Take 2 wheelbarrows, and ask them to fill and wheel one while you stack the other. Don't laugh. It works. They are happy to help. You know half your customers are going to hang out and chat while you're working anyway. This keeps them feeling useful, makes your job easier, and you get done faster. And loading and wheeling doesn't seem like work to them.
#3 Face your piles. By that I mean line up the front ends of your splits. Some of your splits will be long, some shorter. If you line the front ends up, your pile will look that much better. It's a little thing and takes no more effort (okay - a tiny bit more effort) but the impression it leaves is worth it. It's like the grocery shelves. There may be 1 can or 8 on the shelf, but there is always one at the front.
#4 Cribbing the ends is an art. Hopefully you're lucky and all your stacking has end supports, but eventually you will get a situation where there aren't any. Learn to crib the ends. Then pick and choose the best splits for your cribs when you are stacking. A well cribbed end looks professional. A poorly cribbed end will collapse and destroy all your good work.
#5 Charge extra if it's further.

On the advertising front, make up business cards and leave one with every customer. Or two. We get lots of call from people who were given our card by a friend or neighbour.

And if you do offer stacking, add a tag line on the bottom.
"Save your back, let me stack"

[Al_Smith]

When I sold the stuff it was by the pick up load or about a half a cord .They got their monies worth .That was so long ago it was $40 a load . 

[Firewood fanatic]

Big eddy
Thank you for all of your good tips, those are a lot of good ideas that I will definitely be using. I definitely plan on a wheel barrow being in the back of the truck at all times. I plan on charge a flat rate of 100$ to stack it when the stack is within around 10-15 feet of the nearest place I can dump the wood from my wood trailer. Every five feet extra I have to walk to stack, that is an extra $10 to the price. I'm a definitely going to "face my ends" , we have all 16 inch wood, other than the occasional shorter piece, so it should be that hard. Cribbing the ends is also something I'm going to do, it makes it look so much nicer. (Even if it does take some extra time). I don't plan on advertising right now, we sell 500 cords of wood a year, and sell out very easily and already have to turn down so many people. If we would have enough logs to spilt as many cord as we need, we could sell close to 1000 cords a year, if every customer got wood, so we really don't need to advertise, but that is one heck of a good slogan

[doc henderson]

If you get all the wood, you can, then stacking would provide more revenue if you have the staff to do it. 

[Firewood fanatic]

I agree doc

[Big_eddy]

I would never get a whole cord stacked in 30-45 minutes, and I'm a fairly robust and hard working guy.

You had me questioning my memory so I stacked a cord today and timed it. Perfect conditions, no carrying (reach, pick, turn, place, feet don't move, 2 splits at a time) Picking from a dumped pile on the ground, stacking on to pallets to about 4'. Just enough room between for my feet. Existing stack behind, so a backstop, and supported ends.

27 minutes stacking, and another 5 mins cleaning up the scraps and debris. I was working steady, but I wasn't racing. I probably only took 20 steps. Not carrying makes all the difference


Firewood Fanatic. I much prefer to leave the gate closed and tip the trailer up and pick from the tailgate than dump it on the ground then stack. That way there's no lifting and bending, and you're always picking from the same place. Take one away, the next one replaces it. If you Dump the load on the ground the last splits are 12'-16' further away from your pile.