Bundles

[barbender]

We've been busy with bundled firewood the last few weeks. My intention is always to have the bundles made in the off season, and just deliver them in the summer. But that never happens. Oh well. 

A few thoughts on bundled wood. First, what makes great firewood doesn't necessarily mean good bundle wood. 

I've never been able to stay far enough ahead with wood to have seasoned wood to bundle, so I've always hunted down stuff like dead standing softwoods that I can mix in with the freshly processed hardwoods. This wood is not a mix I would ever try to sell to someone for their home heating, but you have to consider the end use- a campfire. I suspect most of them get lit, and the wood in the bundle all used at that time. Then the happy campers turn in for the night. So it isn't about btu's, or if it holds a bed of coals. First, can someone get the fire lit, and then where are the marshmallows? 

That's why I add a few pieces of dry softwood- it lights easily. The balance is, in this run, debarked birch and basswood. Neither of which are "good" firewood. The basswood splits easily and neatly. No splinters or big knobs, it is nice, straight wood. Birch is similar. It has more crooked pieces and knobs, thus more waste. But, with the birch and basswood I end up with wood that doesn't slow my bundlers down, and they have a nice white color.

Experienced firewood guys will go for the greyed color of seasoned firewood, but I've found that again, that doesn't really matter in this market. It needs to look "nice". So when I use birch, basswood, and spruce, pine or tamarack, I end up with wood that is pretty bright colored that looks good in the retail racks. 

I snapped a couple of pictures at one RV park we service-

[thecfarm]

If it sells, you are doing something right.

[barbender]

That's the bottom line👍

[SwampDonkey]

Heck, in these parts I never saw any bundles that weren't mostly balsam fir. Fast growing easy splitting, snap crackle and pop at the camp ground. I remember a neighbor was going camping so they loaded up some maple firewood for camp fire. They came back home with every stick. 

[barbender]

Yes I mix in any balsam I can as well. Like you say, splits straight. And the snap, crackle, pop of an easily lit fire. 

I've had the personal experience of camping far from home, and buying local bundled wood. Very nice hardwood. And my kids looked on as Dad struggled to get it burning so they could cook hot dogs and marshmallows🤦 So it was nice firewood, but not great campfire wood in my situation. Point taken.

[doc henderson]

I segregate my ERC and Cottonwood for a fast lit and lived campfire/firepit fire.

[Hilltop366]

I suspect most of them get lit

At first I thought you were talking about the campers not the fire wood.

[barbender]

It was a broad statement😂

[Corley5]

The KISS Prinxiple broadly applies to bundles here. This season red and white oak that's been off the stump for 18 months or so is my main flavor. Still some moisture in it. Oak never dries out in the log. Bundled and stacked in the sun at the client's it dries right out. Over the years I've used green and dry hardwoods of all species available here. Rarely there may be a stick of basswood or Aspen that makes some bundles. It's rare that I get any coniferous wood mixed in with the hardwood pulp I buy. I'm more apt to get it in oak loads than white wood. I'll run it through my OWB when I do.

[SwampDonkey]

When I used to go to small camp grounds DNR ran 30 or 40 years ago, most sites were free. But all the firewood was fir and white birch in small open sheds. Many places never had any at all, just fire rings. Guys would just cut firewood off a pile of old logs left sitting on the sides of a logging road for 2 + years. Wasn't hard to find a pile of abandoned wood out in the boonies (public land).  For myself, burning wood at a campsite wasn't much of a thing, 95% of the time only used a Coleman stove. A smudge was mostly to keep off the flies, and for that Coleman mosquito coils we'd use. Was always scared of forest fires and I wasn't going to be the one to blame on one.

Homedepot and Costco type places around here have hardwood bundles. I see softwood at corner gas stores.

[Greenie]

The park I managed had a lot of white birch (acted more like grey birch) in the campground that was dying off due to taller climax species outpacing it so we primarily used the birch. Otherwise the birch would die mid season and quickly turn punky. We diced up the birch pretty fine - 16" long and few pieces with a diameter larger than a rolling pin. Sizing the birch small made it easier to get started and faster to deplete. Never heard a complaint about the size and we sold on average approximately 50 cords a year. $7 a bundle - we could keep $5 of that in a fund we could buy equipment and needed things. Roughly $17,000 a year, but considering the man hours involved it only was logical using prison inmates to cut, split, and bundle.
No matter how dry the birch was when we bundled it the bundles were always loose next spring. We'd need to hammer a few pieces in the center of each bundle so the bundle could be handled without falling apart. 
We started with hemp baling twine but vermin would chew on the twine over the winter so we used poly baling twine. Never considered wrapping for a few reasons.
Campers liked the bundles and sometimes bought a few when they left for their next destination. 
I have seen white birch trees thrive in a climax forest and suspect the birch we used was either a poor quality variety that had a lot of grey birch. It grew to a larger diameter than the spindly grey birches I see that arch over in ice storms and never straighten out again. 
Apologies for the length of this post.... 

[SwampDonkey]

The two birches will hybridize. Often the leaves will be rounded like white birch but single seed catkins like grey birch.

[barbender]

I don't have any prison inmates, I use my family. But they complain that they feel like inmates😂

If I could keep busy just processing and delivering loose cords of wood and dumping them in a pile at the customer's location, I would way rather do that. But bundles is what has taken off, so bundles it is I guess.

We wrap ours with stretch wrap and Twister brand wrappers that are made about 100 miles from me in Mora, MN. We have two, I bought both of them used. I think they are getting up over $2000 new now, I think I have less than $1500 in the two. Not as good as Corley, I think I remember him saying he got his for $50 or something at an auction😊

Bags are expensive, around .50-.60 each. If you do a lot of bundles, it doesn't take long to absorb the cost of a stretch wrap machine and then the cost of the stretch wrap ends up around .05 per bundle last time I priced it all out.

[Greenie]

The two birches will hybridize. Often the leaves will be rounded like white birch but single seed catkins like grey birch.

You are the first person, and I've asked a few over the years that confirmed what I've long suspected; people with forestry degrees and professionals. 45 miles north from where I live white birches grow huge in mature forests. My small woodlot the birches might compete with other species but all eventually die and rot.
Thank-you! 

[Firewood fanatic]

Barbender, you mentioned in your post your would like to make a bunch a head of time before camping season. I would be very cautious about that. Over time the plastic tears and slowly wears very easily over time if it isnt wrapped enough. I know a guy who had this grand idea of wrapping a bunch a head in the winter, but had to rewrap 15,000, yes 15,000 bundles because they got loose and wore threw in different spots. We wrap a lot in march, for may June July August, but we put 6 wraps on ours. We keep them inside in an insulated shed, so they never go out in the rain or snow or any other weather. Don't want to deter you from wrapping in the winter for the summer, just want to warn you that I would highly recommend you wrap them 6 times, and keep them out of the weather, I know it sounds overkill but it isn't. We do 4000 bundles a year with one twister brand  wrapper and never have any come loose. Also, those bundles are the nicest bundles I have ever seen, very presentable and clean, that's awesome!

[Firewood fanatic]

Are those .7 cubic feet bundles by chance?

[barbender]

Thanks FF, and good word on the risks of doing them ahead. They are .75 cf bundles, and I try to err on the side of extra. I do about the same number as you, I think we did 5000 last year. 

[doc henderson]

It is true the shrink wrap will degrade in sun and whether.  We took out a bunch of Windsor wall block tied them in on pallets and wrapped them. stacked 3 pallets high and stored in the trees.  recently gave them to a friend, and all the wrap was undone on the ground, and the bottom of the bottom pallets had rotted away.  prob. 6 years, 6 pallets, and over 600 blocks.  some had to be restacked.

[Firewood fanatic]

Just brought some away today actually, and they were made back in January. Most were tight and looked like the were made yesterday, but others were on the looser side, they were sellable, but I put them in the top of the rack so someone buys that one first. I would say 95% were very good, while 5% were on the iffy side, but sellable. This was also our first year with prewrapping a lot. We have ran some tests in the past, but never actually fully did it. Just sold the last of the old bundles today!

[B.C.C. Lapp]

I don't use bundles. I use bags. Why? Heck I don't know.   Maybe I just need a little aggravation in my life and filling mesh bags will certainly fill that requirement.   I use mainly maple or cherry and ash when Ive got it to fill bags.  This wood is dry, dryer, driest.    If you can't light this stuff you maybe shouldn't be playing with matches anyways.

Four of the stores I sell bags to insist on  lock boxes for the wood so it doesn't walk away.   I made the boxes about 14 or 18 months back. Think I posted a pic here.  Anyways the boxes that are under the building roof overhang are holding up fine but the ones in the weather didnt.  I'm in the process of replacing them with metal boxes I found on line.  I put the first one together today and dropped it off at the sign guys shop for some  new signage I hope will look good and professional. Ill post a pic when I put the first one out.   The bigger I get into selling firewood the more I enjoy it but I admit its got its rough spots same as logging.

[barbender]

Just like logging, or sawing, firewood has regional differences. 

Pros of wrapped bundles, for me- 1.Low running cost. 2. Square bundles stack neatly and tight to each other, taking up less space. 3. Square bundles can be palletized. 

I use bags for one location where the campers seem happy to burn anything, so I fill a few bags with long and short pieces, kindling and such. Kinda like bacon ends and pieces. They gobble them up🤷

Other than that, I don't see a lot of upsides to bags. Really the only upside is that you can buy 100-200 bags at a time, even though they're costing you .60 each it's a lot cheaper than buying a stretch wrapper at $2500. But, sometimes locations might prefer them. They have to pay the additional .60 bag cost to make it work though.

[barbender]

I think I bought a box of 50 bags once. Then, I bought a used bundler from a guy that was getting out of it. He gave me a few hundred bags with the sale. I'm good for bags for a long time😊