Author Topic: firewood processing (Read 14006 times)

tw3006 · « **on:** February 18, 2009, 05:33:55 PM »

i have a wood processor and was maybe looking into processing log length firewood for other people, figured i'd post to see if there was any one who might be interested in hiring a processor and what the going rate for processing was.

cheyenne · « **Reply #1 on:** February 18, 2009, 05:45:01 PM »

Seems to me your puting the cart before the horse. That's an exspensive piece of equipment to maintain without a market for it....Cheyenne

Corley5 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 18, 2009, 05:51:35 PM »

I get 45 bucks a pulp cord if they have a method to load the processor and 50 if I take my Bobcat along. I do very little custom work for the main reason that I don't want to enable any competition

tw3006 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 18, 2009, 06:34:56 PM »

cheyenne... i sell firewood on the side, im 23 and i like to work, so when im not logging and doing tree service, i do firewood, i figured i'd post to see how the custom processing market was, i bought a cord king 60 with 700 hours on it, 2 years ago and now its paid for, so i guess i have my cart hooked to my horse and the carts loaded with wood and ready to go. thanks for any ideas about the market for this -tw

cheyenne · « **Reply #4 on:** February 18, 2009, 06:57:56 PM »

Yes you do but your post didn't reflect that. You have my ultimate respect for being 23 and doing your own thing and being successful. As far as the processing market goes I don't have a clue but I don't think there would be much of one. But I've been wrong before and 1 or 2 jobs is better than no jobs and I know your smarter than to work for free. Where in Vermont.....Cheyenne

tw3006 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 18, 2009, 07:17:51 PM »

Cheyenne, no disrespect intended, its just i work hard for what i have, with no deep pockets to back me, actually no pockets to back me. But anyways thanks for the good words of advice...... had i not had a market already. Im in Wilmington Vermont right near the massachusetts border. thanks for understanding -tw

cheyenne · « **Reply #6 on:** February 18, 2009, 07:29:51 PM »

If there's ever anything I can do to help you let me know....Cheyenne

tw3006 · « **Reply #7 on:** February 18, 2009, 07:43:52 PM »

Cheyenne thanks, same goes for you

woodsteach · « **Reply #8 on:** February 18, 2009, 07:55:03 PM »

Down here most everything is done by the hour. Custom milling and custom firewood processing. I just found an ad for $90.00/hour from my site back to my site. I know of at least one of his customers that repeats yearly.

woodsteach

SwampDonkey · « **Reply #9 on:** February 18, 2009, 08:14:14 PM »

tw3006, were you planning on going off site with your equipment, or buying or cutting your own logs to process at your own lot? Around here I don't know of anyone going off their premises with a processor unless it's for wood they possess a crown lands firewood permit. The wood becomes theirs after a fee is paid for a set volume to the DNR, then they sell it as their own firewood. Sometimes what happens on sugar bush leases on crown land, the leasee has a management plan to thin the sugar bush. The wood is either used or sold as firewood or pulp. Some of those sugar leases are several hundred acres.

tw3006 · « **Reply #10 on:** February 18, 2009, 08:56:01 PM »

swampdonkey, there are people who do mobile firewood processing, they go to people who have a inventory of firewood logs, charge a certain price per cord, to cut and split it, then move on to the next customer. This is the type of thing I am inquiring about as i already do my own wood processing, just looking into something extra

cheyenne · « **Reply #11 on:** February 18, 2009, 09:21:43 PM »

Seems like your customers would be mostly your competators. Thats a funny thought.

...Cheyenne

tw3006 · « **Reply #12 on:** February 19, 2009, 03:56:06 PM »

it seems i may not be interested in processing for others anymore.

I'd hate to help my competition...not that they have much of a chance anyways........

stonebroke · « **Reply #13 on:** February 19, 2009, 04:27:46 PM »

Just make sure you make as much money processing as selling and you will do all right. If all you do is processing then they can mess with delievery and collections and actually selling. It would simiplifly your life.

Stonebroke

cheyenne · « **Reply #14 on:** February 19, 2009, 04:32:58 PM »

It would effect your insurance rates also....Cheyenne

gunman63 · « **Reply #15 on:** February 19, 2009, 06:24:19 PM »

If u did processing for the homeowner, a truck load here and there, I dont think your helping your competition at all. If i could get $50 a cord processing, (from the competition)I would do all i could, then i wouldnt have to sit on money that u spend on wood and then delivery too.

Engineer · « **Reply #16 on:** February 19, 2009, 08:18:35 PM »

Hey TW,

You might have yourself an interesting niche market. I see (as do you) people's yards where there's 8-10 cords of wood sitting there, dropped off a log truck for firewood. You might be able to convince some of those folks that for $xx a cord, or per hours, you'll cut and split their firewood, thus saving them the TIME of doing it themselves. As long as you're not trying to do that for a living, just on the side, I don't see why you couldn't make a few bucks at it.

How far are you willing to go with your rig? I could imagine that you'd have plenty of customers if you were willing to go up to an hour in any direction - Bennington, Brattleboro/Keene, Springfield, or even south to Greenfield, MA.

Nice to see other FF members from my area - I'm just over the mountain in the Bennington area, but I spent the past three days in your town, just up the road from the White House Inn doing some soils work and surveying.

tw3006 · « **Reply #17 on:** February 19, 2009, 08:54:37 PM »

mr Engineer. who are you working for around here if you dont mind me asking. I usually get all the orders i need within 10-15 mins of my house so i suppose if I traveled jsut outside that range it wouldn't hurt me much. Plus it would be nice to not think about delivery and log length wood. So maybe it would be alright.

Meadows Miller · « **Reply #18 on:** February 20, 2009, 06:13:51 AM »

Gday

Tw3006 Im a 4th gen firewood cutting/Logging & Sawmillng family

Your on the right track with wanting to get more equipment utilisation outa your gear Mate

With the copetition dont worry about them just keep your rate to them alittle higher than what you can do it yourself for

Ive done a power of firewood over the years but the works a little harder than i want to do these days

I use to do alot of larger trees to give you an idea the biggest one an old ringbarked Red gum i got about 15 cords out of it

a full semi load i use to just do motor manual and load the trucks by hand thats probley why im a little over it

ive looked into proccesors afew times as i have mates in the game up on the murry river about an 1 to 2 hour drive away as thats where 90% of melbourns firewood comes from thease days Every year they ring and ask ifin im intrested in going up for the season as they are allways looking for Larger more automated contractors (and Id shown intrst in the past

) as they have alot of blokes just using chainsaws & loaders

Bulk contract rates here run at the $100 (unsplit)to $130 (split)per cord in the stockpile basicly how it works is they pay the roialty and give you an area to work out of You skid the heads about 1 to 4 cords worth per tree to the fire wood processor buck the head process it into a stockpile that they then load onto trucks from

You get paid weekly

they have blokes contract cutting anywhere from 1000 to 20 thousand cords per year

to give you an idea Each of them sends around 100000 cords pa to melb

If you ever want to contract cut firewood downunder

one phonecall and ill Lump with All the work you could Want

I only cut and del around 75 cords a year now just to keep my intrest in it going as i like doing it

Keep up the Good Work Mate

Reguards Chris

gunman63 · « **Reply #19 on:** February 20, 2009, 07:51:56 AM »

WOW only have to run 10-15 minutes to deliver wood thats great, must be a city, how many cords to u sell a year, my runs are about a hour total, up to 4 hours, but they pay good for the long of a run. so if u process firewood for a guy thats a hour away, it isnt goin to hurt your business at all, id say do all u can,.

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Author Topic: firewood processing (Read 14006 times)

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