Mornin y’all. I split 10-12 cords a year and I love the fact that each cord is spoken for as it’s split. One lady wants her cord every April because she wants it in her wood shed out the weather. That shed is made of old tin and it gets really hot during the day and dries the wood nicely.
@saltrock9642 : Sometimes it does feel like a job. However, since I am inside all day selling automotive parts and giving technical help, it's nice to be outside away from the phones and other electronics..
Nice talk Chris. You know a lot more than just how to operate a processor, chainsaw, splitter or tractor. I assume Mrs Woodward deserves the credit for being the book keeper and has a purse full of Benjamins to show for it. Same here. GNI
I live on a farm in Central NY State, in a very rural area. I heated with wood for 32 years in my old farmhouse and I lost that house in a fire in 2012. Built a new modular 1400 sq. feet on a full poured foundation basement. No wood, only oil. I missed the wood heat however so this past year I had a new Regency wood stove and chimney installed by a competent dealer. The stove is in the basement; I can pretty much heat most of the house, most of the time. I have tractors, chainsaws, a wood splitter, and a 100 acre woodlot. As I slowly return to the wood heating world, I realize how much different wood heat feels than an oil furnace. I’m not trying to save money, I’m trying to stay warm! Firewood around here typically sells for $60-80 a face cord. Looks like I’ll need about 15 f.c to get through a winter. Also wanted that wood stove to not be dependent on electricity for our frequent power outages. I like your videos and have learned a few tweaks and tricks from you!
Good day Chris , excellent answers to many questions you must receive. You know you’re business and clientele that’s what counts. Exceptional! Cheers my friend 👌🏻🔥🇨🇦
Chris - I’m a big fan of the channel and really enjoy all of your videos. I have to tell you though, you really hit it out of the park with this one!! Excellent advice about customer service for anyone selling firewood (or anything for that matter). Your customers are lucky to have you! Thank you for another great video! 🙌
Good Morning Chris and all the woodyard. I have found out that when I use to sell firewood that my regular customers would buy all there winter wood from me in the summer or fall. Others that used a fire place and for weekend fire would call me in the fall for the one cord or more.
I use the wood I cut on my farm. A lot of the trees are Shage Bark Hickory and there are a lot of dead trees laying on the ground. Retired, I don't have time to cut them all. A friend of mine who lives in town pays $50/Face Cord and the person he buys from cuts a tree, then delivers it. I tried telling Kevin to buy wood through the summer but he has 101 excuses not to, so when he complains about the Wet Wood, I just laugh.
Appreciate you sharing. I'm currently in a marketing class for school so this info is insightful. Also, I've made the most elaborate roadside bundle stand before. So I like the simplicity of this business. Keep it up 👍
Hey just good ale, "big" wood she won't use since too heavy to put in the stoves ( 2 of them ) for 100% heat. Been ordered to re-split at times ( follow orders ). The romance of ambiance and entertainment comes with the lifestyle. Love your MBA approach to business. Awards coming......😊
I'm one of those non-typical customers. I buy wood for a grill, so I'm typically looking for species suited to that purpose. Stuff like Ash and soft maple are perfectly acceptable- because they smell good, and have good burning characteristics. Stuff like Locust, Osage, or not-so great smelling woods like cottonwood, Elm, etc are not. The former burn TOO hot- making it hard to regulate temp, and locust, at least doesn't taste very pleasant. Obviously, the usual BBQ suspects are great. I'm also perfectly happy with odds, ends, uglies, etc. I prefer small splits, but most guys around me split larger. I have axes, and like splitting wood, so no biggie if it's too big. I'm just glad to get my hands on good grill wood. (those cookies and end cuts split into perfect chunks for my grill, and the gnarly knotty nasties can simply be cut into chunks.) I can and do cut all kinds of wood my own self- but it's mostly the afore mentioned soft maple, Ash, and sometimes Norway Maple. (hard, but not AS hard as sugar maple. Smells very much like it, though) I can season SOME, but my space is limited. No more green Hickory for me- that takes way too long. I also prefer to pick up, as I have nowhere for guys to dump it, or space for them to park off the street while we unload. No flaking out here- if I say I'm coming I am. And I call or text when I leave, to make sure they're available. The pricing scale is quite different here, as I'm out in the sticks- and there's LOTS of trees. All told, I usually buy at least 3 facecords a year. This year it was around 4 1/2. I have 2 guys: the usual guy, who has the VERY dry Beech, sugar maple, red oak, apple, cherry, and Ash and red maple, too; and the mixed oak guy.
I myself Chris burn 6 to 8 cord a year as I heat my home with it. I also have oil and a pellet stove for backup. My average regular customer would oder in the summer or fall that heated with wood, would also burn between six and eight cod a year that I would deliver to them. I had others that would use it for call it recreational burning and their fireplace for ambience they would burn only maybe one cord a year. My husband and I used to average approximately 250 to 300 cord a year. That was a lot of wood and anybody who says it isn’t it’s crazy. I always said Wood burnt you when you cut it when you split it when you threw it in a pile when you loaded it and delivered it never mind burning it but I loved it I’m old and don’t do that anymore. I cut enough For myself and that is all I do. Next years Firewood is already cut in stacked. I cut a year ahead so it has plenty of time to dry. You have a wonderful day and stay warm and don’t get hurt.
Great video as always, your business model proves the smaller the firewood, the more you can charge for it. And service. It’s all about service. Also, a few videos ago you promised us an indoor recess day about sharpening. Your previous sharpening video took me off the path of going to the chainsaw dealer twice a week and paying crazy prices to get my chains sharpened. Now I sharpened my own, and I actually charge other people to sharpen theirs, but it’s time for more information please help. Thanks, Chris.
Hi chris I have not many customers Most of my customers here in austria tyrol buy every year 5-10cord firewood(90% softwood length 12" and most 20") to heat your homes with woodstove or woodboiler I'm a farmer with own forest and make round about 80-100cord .(average price/cord 340usd) You make a nice job god bless you.
Good morning Chris and woodhounds my people are up and down but regular are like 75% of sales thinking on doing bundles for those smaller or casual ones
In my opinion, some people are just way too much into other people's business. That said it was interesting to hear your numbers and generous of you to share them.
I don't want boiler wood customers,but keeping a few around is sure beneficial in keeping the woodyard tidy. They will burn anything cheap, and getting something is better than nothing!
you are right and why people don't understand supply and demand I will never understand. Just for a note I compared a wheel barrel load of pine compared to a wheel barrel load of oak and the results of burn time was the pine lasted 6 to 7 hours and the oak was 24plus hours. that is why in centra Pa. people do not use pine for a heat source and oak is every where. but I agree pine is fine I use it in the garage all the time.
Your customers are lucky to have you Chris Sounds like you have created a niche market for your wood. Do you have to deal with many Karens on your deliveries? ?
Goid topic, Chris. I have been delivering half to full cords the last few years, and this year, i want to deliver smaller loads. So we shall see how that goes..
i love the term "wife wood". My jotul burns 18" max but small 16 in splits is much easier for the wife to load. I can relate. I like that you cut 16" wood. many venders around here do 18-20. when i bought wood, i was finding i needed to trim a lot of it up then i figured why not do it yourself in the length and size you need it. Just saw craigslist, facebook and wood in my area, southern maryland outside of DC, is going from 200 to 300 a cord. bout time for me to drop a couple of cherry or poplar. i have a big oak probably at least 48 inches across the stump that needs to be trimmed. having a tree crew to cime and give me an estimate. limbs are dropping out. not going to be cheap but i'll recoup some of the expense by cutting it up into firewood.
I live in SE Ohio, in the Hocking Hills. It is all forest and a vacation, tourist area. You can't give wood away because there is so much of it. The only way to get any money out of wood is to sell bundles to campers. 20 years ago, I was making $1100 a weekend selling to campers. Now there are 12 firewood stands between the main town to the camping areas, so I quit selling that. I have a lot of hickory on my place, so I sell smoker wood now. There are markets, you just have to be willing to adapt. This area is also a poor Appalachian area, so when the tourists aren't here, there is no money. Many, many people cut firewood to survive and the prices are low. You cannot make a living selling firewood at the prices they charge. You have to haul it 45 miles to Columbus. Then you lose so much time in travel and gas.
Here's a great question. At what point would it be a good idea for someone to look seriously at getting an entry-level firewood processor? I'm looking at one sooner rather than later to save wear and tear on my arms. Or at least a firewood conveyor. Sucks butt trying to heal from a muscle injury in your main wood chucking arm and still get the job done. Looks like Brute Force and Japa are my best bets as the Eastonmade 40C is still too expensive. For the price of the 40C, can get a Brute Force 14-24, a tractor like yours to move logs, a 10k galvanized dump trailer, and a decent used 4x4 truck to pull the trailer.
@@InTheWoodyard honestly, I'd prefer to do it all by hand. Having more time, like 3-day weekends every week, to be able to do it at a slower pace would take the place of the equipment as far as injury prevention goes. That's my opinion. Is hard trying to get the job done as a weekend firewood warrior.
It’s kind of a double edge sword, but I’m close to a lot of people that heat and a lot of high end lake homes that want fireplace wood. Good for sales, but you have to find that compromise for the size not too big for the fireplace people and not too small for the heating people.
We are the type who have the fireplace roaring all day and night whenever the weather is cold enough. Yet, I can't find decent wood. It's usually not seasoned or almost rotten. One guy says it was but just split it that day, and it's wet!we like to use the firepit outside in the summer. Any contacts in NE FL??
That is not good! Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately no, I do not know anyone who sells wood there. I would call and ask a lot of suppliers the very pointed questions about the kind of wood and quality you are looking for. Good luck!
I have two different locations, downstate it's sells by the face or bundle, upstate it sells by the cord, but it's slowly changing upstate over to face cord with all the city people moving up.
As long as its quality and correct volume ive never had a complaint. If you tell them its oak it better be oak. If you tell them mixed be specific on percentage of hard and soft wood.
I buy many loads of logs every year at $1400-1600 every load. Truck, tractor, splitter, trailer, tools, repairs, fuel, help, TAXES......I am not getting rich but I like it ...I like it a lot.
@@InTheWoodyard I was just trying to work out ball park figures. I'm sad I've got an economics degree. You can't be making that much from firewood though once you factor in all the equipment you have. I'm based in the Uk and we are having a nightmare with people stealing equipment. Shame we don't have access to some of the other equipment you guys are allowed
Very informative, Chris! You mentioned retirement, and I am a couple of years away from that point myself. Have you done any projections on what additional time you would be able to devote to the firewood business once retired? Are you thinking it would be full-time or less? Honestly, I go back-and-forth in my head about this. Because I am well aware of the physical work involved which I love. But I also have a saw milling/slab lumber business that I do casually. Always assessing which one might give me the best return on my time and energy investment....would love to hear your thoughts.
I just se it as fun and some fun money. Being in it to get rich is not for me...too much work time and effort. I will be happy to do as much as I feel like doing...which for some is a lot!
Agreed I do in my main business cause it repeats every six weeks but I need to keep my quantity and amount alil more next year in wood,I did keep up with what species I took people in case they say bring me the same as last time.lol
The old 80 - 20 rule!! 20% of your customers provide 80% of your income while 80% produce 20% of your income. It is also true in volunteer organizations that about 20% of your volunteers do 80% of the work. This is a pretty accurate rule across most areas.
Hello from Joe The Grower in NY. I have no life just trying to save my Farmland to hope to raise a family. 53 with help needed here. I split 365 to keep up with Bankruptcy mortgage payments. I eat 4 times a week cause it is all I can afford. I have no vehicles just a Timberwolf T-2 and a saw. Send shoppers this way please. Joe The Grower in Poughqaug NY
I hope you don't mind me asking this. By the way, I enjoy your videos very much, but I was wondering when you buy firewood and they hule in a simii full of the firewood, I was wondering how much could I expect to pay for something like that? Approximately that is..
The 7 eleven customer. Willing to pay for the convenience of a smaller amount of product. . They could go to the big store, and get junk food ECT at half price. But they choose to pay for the convenience. 0.01C
i burn about three cords a year in my 1976 big buck stove,,,,i rotate what i get ,,have about 4 cords in my barn two cords dumped by my barn ..i have 5 ac so i have the land to do this....like you say people in a plat cant buy 2 cords at a time ,,,got the stove going now
I just found your first video with the ULTRA. Amazing that this video has already gotten more views, just today, than that one has in 3 years. In that video you mentioned a 2 year plan to use that and get something bigger and better. I'd say that 22MB sure fut the bill. Good night, Irene
Chris great video average income per / yr is $29,000 Benjamin remember take your expensive OUT per 1/3 of face cord wood 🪵 hound 😮. STAY SAFE out there in the wood 🪵 yards is number #1 remember THINK 🤔 SAFETY and always put SAFETY FIRST over Benjamin 😊, sorry I’m off got to feed my moose herds with over size cabbage 🥬 and cattle corn 🌽 plus check my coyotes (half wolf 🐺) snares. Remember one ☝️ hand ✋ on a bird , is better them 2 hands 🙌 in the bush ! 😊
Once I had the data you have spent time getting I would be interested in what the average order produced in sales, or how much income can I expect from each delivery/sale. Ray
Dude that’s a huge “side” business.. how could it be any bigger? That’s insane numbers.. before you got all the equipment, just had truck trailer saw, how much wood did you sell? Best year or most wood cut and delivered with that bare minimum equipment.
Supply and demand. The basis of all economics. Bread and butter (and make or break) to people like you in business or farmers like me. Yet it seems to be a complete mystery to your average person on the (city) street!
When you receive your money upon delivery from your customers, do you count it out in front of them or do you just put it away and trust they gave you the right amount as they trust you gave them their right amount of wood?
Good morning Chris!!😀😀 Great explanation of how YOUR business works. You have a great nitch area where you sell. Like you say over here by me lots of wood less population witch equals lower prices. Take care my friend!!😀😀💚💚 Logger Al
I get people that will buy my $100 - 1/4 cord deliveries, because the $50 - Rick guys won't answer their messages/texts. I could buy split wood and resell and it would make more sense. I bet I could buy FULL cords for $120 around here if I'd go pick them up and haggle the price a little.
The IRS likes good records with your book work - they help you avoid paying taxes not evading them. Just keeping track of all your expenses helps the cause by lowering your profits.
Hi Chris, long time viewer here. I think I first clicked on your channel around episode 17. Love the content. So I have a firewood related project that I would like to see if you are interested in. Is there a place better than another to email or DM you? Much appreciation and cheers.
Chris u look sumple and i also saw u eat simple food or nothing u have so much power iam 51 after pricing or work i have no energy at all i dont know how u do 2 jobs
