Hi Joe, thanks for the great comments, it is nice you spend such time with your viewers. For this I am going to post another poem crafted by AI: Bag This! In the heart of the forest, where timbers lay, Stands a machine, a marvel by day, A Vepak firewood bagger, proud and fine, With a pneumatic system, a design divine. In a dance of air, it hums and sways, Spiraling logs in a seamless ballet, Gone are the days of labor intense, This mechanical wonder makes all the difference. It's a symphony of efficiency, smooth and keen, Turning chaos into order, so serene, One person now can do the work of five, With this machine, productivity comes alive. Each log is cradled, then gently bagged, No strain, no struggle, spirits unflagged, Time is saved, and efforts halved, In its pneumatic embrace, wood is carefully staged. From dawn till dusk, it tirelessly toils, Transforming wood into lucrative spoils, In the forest's heart, it stands alone, A testament to innovation, skillfully shown. So here's to the Vepak, a true friend in need, A champion of work, in speed and deed, In the world of firewood, it's a shining star, A pneumatic marvel, unsurpassed by far.
I would not hesitate to buy this over a Ferrari hahaha.... engineering brilliance. Feed this directly by a Japa 405 with a lean work force and scale up as necessary. Many thanks Joe for your interview and presentation!
Joe, thanks so much for sharing the close up video of this marvelous machine!! With Kyle having done his research and one year under his belt, it won't take him very long to have those machines paid for. He has established a unique situation and has positioned himself for a long successful run in the firewood business. Kudos to Kyle and take some time to catch your breath Joe!
No wonder Kyle smiles constantly… He’s banging out $2M a year (probably more) in bagged firewood x 2 machines! You did the math at $5 a bundle let’s be realistic he’s probably getting $8.99-9.99 wholesale and the retailers are selling for $14.99+. INCREDIBLE JOB KYLE… Congrats! and Great Piece Joe!!
Nice thorough explanation on how the Vepak runs. I saw it briefly on a video from the PB show, now I can better see the workings and engineering aspects. Elaine from the northern end of the Rockies here, wishing Kyle all the very best in his grand vision and ventures. Great video Joe, have a great week.
Joe, you got my gears turning as did Kyle, throw a Japa 405 with the Perfect Split and have the conveyor feeding the loading bin of the Vepak and the bags would be flowing. Almost Non stop production and one heck of setup for production. Steps in the process as it makes business sense and can be justified in the budget. 👍🏻
What I see is the begining of the answer to stacking firewood. Somehow this process needs to be mobile so that it stacks as it goes. Employee of the day, thatsa me!
Joe, very nice presentation of the Vepack maschine. Good job! You are doing a fine job beeing a firewood equiment consultan😊 I had a nice call from Ole yesterday about your first video. I must say you are a good teamplayer. Love all your videos.
Hello Joe, if I were a betting man I’d have to say that you are about to transition to bags and 12” firewood. Not sure what the veepack is worth but I’m confident that you’ve been crushing numbers. Cheers Woody !!!!
This is the great thing about RU-vid and meeting other sellers. So you know how much Kyle pays for his bags now, you have options. You can renegotiate with your suppliers, or cooperate with other guys to buy in scale
Interesting insight but, no, i dont know what he pays for bags, nor do i know what his wholesale price is. He would have prob told me but i find it none of my business
G'day Joe and Kyle, Now that I've had a closer look at the bagging I can see those locating sleeves would allow any wood splintered or not into the bag 👍.
I would have to say that it is growing due to fewer people relying on wood as the sole means of cooking and heating more are camping and having a fire on the weekends, a tightening of regulations relating to firewood collection younger people who have lost that connection with wood collection are also considerations to be taken onboard. Service stations big box stores and wood merchants make up the majority of sales 👍.
Very interesting! Might be worth a closer look. We could take bundles into the urban areas and make a bundle. See what I did there. Thanks for showing us something new Joe.
I had a customer ask me (industrial automation) to quote a machine similar/same as the Vepak bagger. After pricing the Vepak, it is a good value. They were about $150k at the time.
@@ohiowoodburner Even better, I would imagine importing several at once would help pricing. My customer had 5-8 employees bagging by hand with manual tilt barrel baggers, trying to keep up with grocery store/convenience store demand.
Not sure if this has been asked - does the machine 'know' if a piece is under-length or over-length? I suppose they just end up in that hopper area, and keep getting returned there?
Hi Joe, great video, I have seen the Veepak on some other European firewood channels, I was hoping to see it somewhere here. I know by now I have seen all your videos, way back to the muck farm - and I am more attracted to your videos than I am interested in firewood. It's funny to see how firewood youtubers seem to come together - and in fact, on one day about a week ago - both yourself and Chris (In the Woodyard) each mentioned each other by pure coincidence. I have seen Shreib on your channel and I watch his channel as well. One day - his wood stack tipped over for the second time - so I told him to reach out to OWB for advice ... I told him you stack your wood using a level. Lastly, I am not one to tell people how to run their business, so I will give you a tip, which you can do with as you please - check out Oak Tree Farms (a British channel) and watch a couple of videos... I am sure you will see a few free tips maybe you can use. I won't tell you what to do - but I see growth in your future, and maybe a permanent shelter or equivalent.
thanks for the nice post Don. you are a very nice person! I do plan on getting a roof over the Japa but it will take some more planning on my end with the appropriate size and $$. Please keep commenting. I enjoy reading them
Hi Joe & Kyle - it's Big Rodders in Ireland. Interesting Scandinavian technology on show. Power suppy over here is all 220-240 volt on single phase but I thought in the US of A it is 115 volt. I couldn't figure out how the bags are sealed, which could be a bottleneck in the process. I wonder why the machine doesn't have an integral stitcher to automatically close the bag at the end of each cycle.
They make bags with a drawl push button slide. My next set of bags will have those and my graphics on it, so no tying necessary. I would rather have the machine operator bagging, then sewing bags closed all day.. Also, there is a box chamber for when you want to do boxes. Hello in Ireland Big Rodders!
Kyle, In the this video, Joe? indicated you were going to ship firewood nationally. Therefore, I would assume a "kiln" is necessary. A good kiln is ~$140k to $250k. The "Mini Quick" kiln is quite possibly the best for the price you can buy. A chinese 40 foot shipping container "refrigerated/insulated" converted to a kiln with a burner is ~$40k to $50k. You would need several of these to process 1000 semis of logs that are coming. If the wood is already dry, then maybe a couple of hours at 210° would kill any bugs or mold. If you try to dry green wet firewood, you are looking at 4-5 days! Kiln processing will become the "bottleneck" for you! Its technical and tedious, and needs to be babysitted a lot. I think it would be better "not" to ship it nationally! What is your opinion on this?
Interesting that he went from a piece work wage model to an hourly model. The piece work wage model certainly leaves the amount of money someone makes entirely in the hands of the worker. From the business owner perspective, I can see that the hourly is better as it becomes a fixed known cost.
I love this machine, as a one person operation, if you get a customer phone call, need a toilet break, get a delivery etc, just walk away, the machine stops itself. Nice!
Finally able to leave comments. Nice video. Wondered if uou solved your dump trailer dilemma? Did you try drilling a hole thru the doors and put in a hitch pin with a hair pin clip? Just an idea. Love watching you. Just an old outdoor firewood guy Earl
Thanks Earl! Glad to have you on board. I started stacking the wood across the back doors so there is no wood pressing against them. I am much more relaxed going down the road now!
Nice to see you out checking out new bundler that would be awesome if your a dealer with multiple accounts what’s the cost on one LOVE SEEING build here
That is an amazing machine!!! Joe did they change the maximum size from 15-16 inches? When I contacted the company they explained the max size was 15 inches and were working on “ the American standard of 16”.
Joe, Your videos are exceptional, including this one. The VEPAK machine appears to be strictly a big leagues only operation. We are way beyond the "$875 Amish bundling machine" here! It is hard for me to imagine "how few" of the average bundling people could afford/justify buying this machine ($130k+ ?). Its not that much for the machine...but everything else you will need to buy. Additionally, you must have a heated building for this machine. (~$60k). The VEPAK wouldnt tolerate snow or freezing rain on it. At the speed it pumps out bundles, you would need an abundance of smaller, dry split wood for its hopper. And, maybe a kiln ($50k for a "do it yourself" unit, or $250k for a Mini Quick professional grade unit. You would also need a market to buy your bundles. As much as I like JAPA processors, a couple of 405's or 435's would be needed. (~$200k to ~$250k). JAPA's dont have heated/cooled cabs! I couldnt imagine working outside in -20 ° farenheit windy winter weather with no cab. (unless it was inside a building using electricity to run the processors). We are talking about another building to house the processors. The logistics are mind boggling. If I have misread whats going on here, please correct me.
very good analysis Gary. I would suspect that when an operation is ready to buy a VEPAK that most of the assets you list above would already be in place. Kyle did use this machine outdoors for the first year. I'm not sure what hardships that created w the weather. The Japas do come with electric power so they too could be moved indoors but I agree a cab is necessary
The only thing I observed, is that if you are short (like Kyle), you dont have to bend over too much to take off the bags filled with wood. If you are a tall person, your back would "kill you" after bending and stooping all day, working on the VEPAK machine. If the machine could be "raised up" a few feet, where you could keep your back straight, it would be better. VEPAK should add a button allowing the operator to raise up or down the entire machine to a comfortable working height.
@@MKHighCountryFirewoodreally not a bad price. With our pricing for bags and output. At 120 bags an hr as it says can do. The operator will have only about 200 hours on the machine to pay off
Keeping the air supply dry looks like it may be a concern in NY, I'm sure the air is dryer in the high plains. Water in the air would be a disaster in freezing weather. Good compressor system should address the moisture problems.
