We are a family run firewood operation in the beautiful state of Maine. Our focus is primarily camp wood bulk deliveries and bundle wood for our roadside stands during the busy summer tourist season. We also saw lumber among other things. Our number one top priority...always have fun!
Ok, as long as you can get the moisture out, it will work a bit,,,, great initiative. Even if you just build a 3 sided lean to, it will increase the temperature. Even if you build a roof + front side it will roast the wood a bit. If your going to build a kiln, a 40 ft ex refrigerated container works a treat, with a "angus eco orligno" wood fire box
Great Video, I’m down in Ma. And I’m trying to get started in the firewood roadside business. Can you tell me what that 100’ roll of plastic sheet you used for the greenhouse is?
Allen family firewood came along way in a year , busta went in high gear ⚙️, over 30 full cords of pine 🌲 SOLD OUT in July 2024 😊. Karen got to like 👍 ice - cream and Phil is still on Mountain Dew on hot 🥵 summer night 😊. Appreciate Y’LL can’t watch Allen family firewood 🪵 with out a rooster 🐔 foot 🦶 in my hand ✋ with beaver 🦫 or iceberg ice 🧊. 😊
Hey. The mods to the rock bucket look terrific! And the new pallet looks like a really great design. Congratulations again! I'm all for anything that makes it easier for you. Chip
Anything that saves on pounding our body’s and ups production is a winner to me . Just gota always be trying new ways of doing things to find out the best way to.
lol yup still chainsawing every round . Gona be looking at the shows hard this yr on finding something to do the cutting for us , just not sure what that will be yet though .
@@AllenFamilyFirewood look at circular saws for all woods up to 14 inch, like a palax 750, or a rabaud 16 inch machine,,, then just chainsaw the bigger stuff. Makes life simpler 🐦⬛
Take the free wood. Every good firewood operator that's full time never refuse wood,, a firewood business only exists if wood comes in,,,, take the wood, its a gift. Doesn't matter if there's a bit of mud on the bark. No whingeing. Take the gift.
Phil and Karen got the same trailer it a joke a rust bucket under the power coat 🧥. Great 👍 video on wooden pallets for your firewood 🪵. Appreciate Y’ll on great 👍 videos 😊.
Might be time to look into investing in a kiln. With the longer winter season in Maine and all of the rain you get throughout the summer seems to me just to make sense. You could probably get a kiln set up for the amount you paid for the other toy you just got. The only caveat being a place to store it once it comes out of the kiln. But as fast as you guys are selling Just bundle wood alone I don't think you would have to worry about storage throughout summertime at all. Just a thought, which I'm sure you guys have already considered many times already. Give you all the credit in the world for the great things you're trying. Keeps the channel interesting! Keep up the great job Phil and Karen!
Well it didn’t work as well as we were hoping. Or rather as fast as we were hoping! lol. It will definitely work, just gotta give it some time. Our attempt at a kiln was a big bust!
Have not tried putting pallets down first to get air underneath, but have had it on the ground most of the summer before and hardwood molds too. "MAYBE", if pallets are down and then wood just dumped on them, in a field or large open area with plenty of wind, with a lot of sun and not so much New England rain and clouds. Take away one of those must have needs just mentioned and the piling wood in a big pile is a crock if you expect it to dry at all good. There is no way as much surface area of the wood gets airflow as when it is stacked neatly in a pile off the ground. You two are doing the right thing in stacking and you as well as anyone who has dealt with cordwood for any length of time knows or should know.
We e put 12-15 cord threw it already and it sure is nice not having to bend over or go walking to pick up another round . I wouldn’t be without a hopper feeder now .
It is tough when you have a business and don't have any product to sell. That is a problem that most business would love to have. It would also make you crazy because you are losing money and possibly customers. They will look for wood someplace else. Looks like the greenhouse is helping. Easy street is in a whole different part of town from working people.
How much wood can a Phil and Karen chuck. You have it working and that is your easy street. It is always good to exceed your expectations. I think your customers will be happy to see the bundles.
@@davidlibby7230 None we stack it lol . They do seem to like that barkless wood in the bundles but I always add on more than we can do and then we have to go like crazy to catch up . Karen keeps saying there’s no point in trying to get ahead cause I’m just gona add more stands lol .
Hey there Phil and Karen. Have you thought about maybe putting additional fans between the pallets to keep the air flow moving to push more moisture out the end. Just a thought. I have got to find a way to get cost down on bags. The 2000 ft roll of mesh you get from Quadel Ind. you must cut at 22-24 inches to get 1000 plus bags from a roll. What brand of hog rings and staplers have worked the best for you. I know you mentioned harbor freight but is there a better brand. Have fun at Booneville. We plan to be at Bunyan in October.
We only get 550 bags pr roll but we order a lot of rolls to bring the shipping cost down . I think they cost us about .43 cents pr bag . I’m not sure of the name brand of the hog ring gun but we got it off Amazon for about $100 bucks . I know in one of the videos we talked about the name of the hog ring gun but I can’t remember the name . I will have Karen get the name for ya and put it in the comments . She also knows the length to cut the bag material but that’s something that depends more on how long your splits are
Hey Al! We cut the bags about 42” long and the hog ring gun is Meite. It cost about $200. The hog rings that go with it are 15/16 size. Can’t remember how much the box of those were…I think around $40. Hope this helps! Look forward to seeing you again at Bunyan! 😊
Hello to you both 😊. It looks like your greenhouse could be working in your favour, fingers crossed 🤞🏻. Maybe a fan at both ends to draw the moist air out? I know you will sort something out, lol…. Best of luck to you both.
I think if I ever build a greenhouse I will have a better design for air flow using plenty of fans but to get us by this temporary one seems to be doing ok .
We are in the same boat here.. campgrounds are calling and the stores are selling out at the same time.. we currently have 55 bundles and need about 1000.. maybe more...lol..
It does we did a test last fall and bagged up 600 bags and they were perfect this spring other than the holes in the bags the chipmunks ate but I got a cure for them now lol .
I have a greenhouse supply place right down the rd from us that has everything right in stock . Anything and everything to do with greenhouses they have in stock sure makes it handy .
Only way to learn is to keep trying new stuff . We’re gona have to push hard this winter to keep up with next yrs plans to double in size again . Thanks Noel .
@@noelstractors-firewood57 I think I’ve got a deal set up with a trucking company to bring me debarked pine logs from a sawmill that the mill kicked out because the logs didn’t make it through the metal detector. I will have to buy the loads but not having to debark each round will save a ton of time and the logs were meant for lumber so they should be nice a strait without a lot of knots . Trucking company thinks they can get us around 100 cord of that when I’m ready for it . Cost pr cord is about the same as me going to go get loads and hr away with my trailer once ya figure gas and my time so it might be our solution to upping production.
The only idea I can think of that might be faster is to use your same greenhouse setup with a fan on both ends inside (fully enclosed) and a dehumidifier in the middle with a hose attached to it. It's an idea I've been thinking about doing for my own firewood and know people have used it to dry hardwood lumber.
I think with using a dehue you would want a concrete floor. With a dirt floor in the greenhouse it would always be pulling the moisture from the ground . Just running exhaust fans in a greenhouse should do the trick
I’m curious how you guys get more stands around? Do you just walk up to the home owners and ask them? How do you work out compensation? I’d love to see a video on that for those of us that are looking to expand.
That’s a good idea for a video thanks . We drive around looking for the busiest rd we can find then try and find a house that people can get pulled off to the side of the rd safely that has good visibility coming and going and if it’s near a camp ground all the better . We will wait till a sat or sun late in the day and stop and ask the owners if they would be interested in making some extra $ by letting us put a firewood stand out by the end of there driveway . We explain they don’t have to do anything and we will give them 20% of the cash we collect from the stand . We also tell them they can see our other stands that we have out so that they know we’re not just some fly by night operation . Another thing we look for are houses that have things for sale out in front like eggs or there having yard sales that tells me there motavated to make a few extra bucks . Don’t wast ya time stopping and asking at a big fancy house with fancy cars in the yard them folks seem to have plenty of money and will just send ya on ya way . Don’t limit ya self to just houses either businesses are another good place to ask . Pricing and percentages are up to you to offer the owners . Some spots we pay one price for the season and others we pay up to 20% of the sales and everything in between . I’ve even traded a cord of heating wood to be able to have a stand it’s really all up to you .
Great job you two. I know this sounds crazy but not far from me is a logging company that has a fire wood processor. A friend was telling me he went there and to load it your self it was really, really cheap. The company processes wood buy bulk (semi- loads) there’s possibly logs laying around partially or more seasoned. You know processors are limited on diameter and crooked logs don’t feed well. You make some calls and you might land a treasure load. Be safe and cool my friends.
That’s the key to processors ya gota have perfect wood to put through em to get perfect wood out of them . Doing mostly bagged wood we need them perfect sized splits . With a vertical I can get more perfect sized splits from a round and they work good on any sized wood like the free tree service wood we get . I think if I was doing a lot of bulk wood heck ya I’d have a processor but for making barkless perfect sized splits for bagging the verticals are hard to beat .
@@AllenFamilyFirewood that makes since. What I was referring to and I didn’t explain very well. Either you purchase fire wood already split at a cheap price to resale that’s seasoned. But what I was really trying to explain is. Saw mills and pallet producers , firewood processors companies will kick logs out. That are less desirable. Metal crooked etc. there could be a ton of logs seasoned. Lot of places around me will bring a portable grinding machine in and grind old logs down to mulch. Lot of places are limited on space. There’s your bundle wood possibly. Be safe, great channel
Thanks Russ you guys are really sending the wood out . All them bundles we put out are already gone . Took less than 2 days . Definitely gota be better prepared for next yr . That’s part of the challenge of starting new stands ya never know how many they will sell .
Well we did have sales coming in lol . This load of bundles will get us through about 1 day at the 3 stands we put them at . Definitely a crazy busy yr around here for bundle sales . I definitely need to be better prepared for next yr .
Will it's working what you have done with the plastic and the fan. Drying pretty good for short time. Getting some bundles for your stand is the main thing anyway. Karen your working hard making those bundles, having to pick threw the wood but you will make a bit money at it this way while waiting for more to dry. Hope you enjoy your trip to the show. Take care.
Using every trick I know just to keep a few bundles going out but hopefully in a week or 2 all that other wood will start catching up and be dry . Definitely gota gear up for next yr so this don’t happen again . Be nice to finally take a few days off and go see everyone at the show . We’re both really looking forward to it .
If you bundle one or two of those racks per day on the intake end, w the pattern of fans on/off day/night, I’d say you’ll be treadin water anyway, if not getting ahead
We got about another 3 weeks of tourists and then things will slow down and we can start getting ready for next yr . In a few weeks all that wet stuff will have air dryed and we can slow down for a lil bit . I think lol
Ya killing me Jason lol . Keep me in mind come February when it’s 0 degrees out and I’m fighting to get a saw running while you’re fighting a fish on the beach .
@AllenFamilyFirewood yesterday i got a 14ft tiger shark..they figured it weighed 940 lbs.. it would be enough meat for months if ineeded it. Will keep ya in mind ..
@AllenFamilyFirewood an hour and 45 min fight with a pole and reel with 45 lbs of drag.. and tightened up all the way.. and it still stripped line for hundreds of yards at a time.. just think tho im only fishing 300yards off the shore.1 10ft hammerhead and a 14ft hammerhead over the past 2 weeks.plus lots of smaller ones..i dont measure them under 10ft long.
Looks like you got some dry wood to bundle. I started posting videos again. Building a pole barn I was working on the pad for it. You can see what I look like. Peace
Lot more work Len but it dose help speed things up . Now if I did that in a greenhouse we would really be able to dry it fast . Love that castle you built that thing is awesome.
