Firewood Business

Hello everyone! I have been selling firewood for awhile now and really enjoy the work and the process of bucking, splitting and delivering the wood. I split it by hand usually with a double but axe. And I’ve found you can make up to 600$ a day if you start piling your wood up ahead of time. I sell it up to around 200$ per cord or 70$ a face cord (pickup load). So if I have my wood ready I can make 3 deliveries a day. That’s pretty decent money and very enjoyable work. Here’s a video of me doing a 150$ load in about 4 to 5 hours work time by hand. Thanks and God bless!

 

Thank you very much!

 

Welcome to FHC.

How many cords a year do you sell?

 

Last year I sold for myself a through a company called liheap that helps low income family with heating. They paid me around 200 per cord. I would guess that form them I sold around 25 cords or so and probably around 15 to 20 for myself. I plan to do more this year. I did all of it by hand except at the end of the season. I rented a log splitter to get rid of the 3 feet wide pieces of oak in my yard that I got from a tree service.

 

Keep in mind that I did start stacking the wood up before the winter season.

 

Welcome to the club, Fourwinds1717 !
Great to have you.

 

Thank you so much TurboDiesel! Great to be here!

 

Does Liheap require the wood to be seasoned?
Thats a lot of hand splitting!

 

They do ask that it be seasoned. But sometimes mine was mixed of green and seasoned together. I got good seasoned wood from a cattle farmer with a 200 acre farm and a lot of green wood from tree services. They don’t like messing with the wood after cutting it up so I would get a call to come pick it up and start splitting and stacking it. Liheap also requires you to stack it. But delivering is the easy part. Retrieving and splitting it was tough but I loved it and still do. My brother helped last year. He preferred a maul. And you’re right, it was a lot of work!

 

Welcome to the FHC , I think you would benefit from a hydro splitter

 

If you’re serious about selling firewood, get a log splitter. Time is money. You mentioned making up to $600 a day but remember, as a seller, you only make money on delivery days. All those other hours/days put in, you aren’t getting paid. With the right log splitter you could cut your time spent splitting dramatically.

 

Thank you for the welcome! A lot of friendly members here! They are very handy pieces of equipment, that’s for sure! I do plan to get a good log splitter for the long run because I do intend to grow my business so it would definitely be a good investment. But I also intend to split by hand as much as I’m able to and as much as is still beneficial to the business. I ado agree with you 100%!

 

I do agree in the long run a log splitter is definitely a good investment! And I do intend to maybe get a couple of them. But I always intend to split by hand as well. I really enjoy it and it is so good for the body and for the mind as well! And also a great way for people to start up who maybe aren’t financially as able to get a log splitter. You are absolutely right though! A log splitter is definitely a great investment for a firewood business!

 

I do lawn care and landscaping in the summer time and it’s a great time to split of the evening to get the wood stacked for the winter season as well!

 

Back when I first started selling wood, I split by hand for a while, then used the machine and then finished up with more hand splitting because like you, I liked it and the exercise it brought. Once I got a splitter with a multiple wedge, I felt differently real quick as I watched the splits pile up so much faster. And I agree, splitting by hand is a great way to get started because you may not have much money. If you are serious about this endeavor, instead of buying multiple splitters I would go in on a commercial unit of some type.

 

That sounds like great advice! I honestly didn’t think of a commercial splitter but that makes sense. That’s what I will intend to do. I appreciate the advice! You sound like someone who has had the experience. And I believe if I intend to grow it would be requirement. I usually try to have a lot of extra wood stacked on hand and I try to continue splitting when I have time outside of delivering and family time. Liheap will send me orders through email and they usually send around 3 at a time. Each one is a cord of wood to deliver. So I try to always keep stacking the wood up if I can. A log splitter would make that a lot easier!

 

Thanks for the welcome! While I do agree that a log splitter is great, I respectfully disagree that splitting by hand will ruin your body. I believe it actually does the contrary. It gets the heart pumping and strengthens the back and shoulder muscles. And it helps with stress as well, at least for me. I feel like I get a great workout for my body and also feel ready to go mentally after hand splitting. I would encourage anyone to do it more often! I do think log splitter a are great pieces of equipment though but I personally prefer splitting by hand myself. I do respect your opinion though and wish you the best! And I’m glad to hear your splitter is doing well. I rented a 24 ton I believe it was, and it did great. Thanks and God bless!

 

Most of the wood I get around here is white and red oak. Also locust and cherry. They all seem to be great firewood. And some wood seasons different than others and takes longer. Oak for example. The farmer that I get it from has stuff that he cuts down and it sits for a couple years or so. I split it and sell it as it is.