I would say check Craigslist in your area. That'll give you a sense of what a cord of softwood and a cord of hardwood is going for at this time of year in your area. Then just charge according to the amount you're selling based on the average. Then get beer. Rinse and repeat...
With 17 million acres of hardwood forest, Pa isn't the greatest place to start a firewood business., but I believe selling [real] "seasoned" wood could help your business get return customers.
Ya im not trying to start any businesses lol, just trying to make a couple extra bucks for my upcoming wedding. With the huge amounts of wood I see in my area just laying around, def a couple bucks to be made.
My buddy and you guys have also made me realize, I could charge for delivering and stacking also...Instead of having someone just come picking up a load and throwing it in their truck bed or something. Offer that I will deliver a truck bed full (which would be easier thing to say and do, what do you think a 6.5 foot truck bed full of split not seasoned wood would be? That way I can split, throw in truck bed, deliver and go stack wherever the customer would like.
A quick craigslist look: $250-$275 for "seasoned " firewood, which ubiquitously means a mountain of splits off a processor handled by a front end loader. Some charge for dump in your driveway delivery, I know the guy down the street (used to) delivers/dumps for free if he doesn't have to go too far. One guy selling pine slabs on pallets ( looks like about 1/6 of a cord ) for $100. Cash and carry. One guy selling pine $50 for a 8 foot bed pickup truck load, which isn't too bad, but he wants $20 plus his time to deliver. A couple years ago no one was even trying to sell pine. But, lots of fire pits and chimineas around. You just don't find wood to scrounge around here very often- any landscapers or arborists around here haul it off for $$$ - sometimes for more $$$ or sometimes to sell it. Except for pine logs and branches now and then.
Full size truck? I have a little Tacoma with a 6' bed. I stack it tight and get 1/3 of a cord. I image a full size truck with a 6.5' bed could carry a 1/2 cord? Also advertising "not seasoned" wood could hurt business. That is because the guy down the street is selling any wood in split form as seasoned around these parts. The couple times I bought wood I always had it delivered in the spring so a had the hot summer to get the moisture content down to an acceptable level. Guys want to move inventory, few are concerned if it is fully seasoned.
I get that, but if I split the wood and then sell it...smart people will notice the color is not "seasoned" I feel. But then again I think of the huge businesses around my way that sell firewood, and they always are the freshly split color wood (meaning not the greyish seasoned color). So maybe ill just say firewood, and not mention if its seasoned or not.
Don’t think too much into it. If you want, you explain to them exactly when you cut and split it. When selling, try not to let your pile sit for long. Day or two. I tried selling firewood for extra $$ last summer, a bin for $20 mix of wood. Especially when stores like safeway were selling barely half a cubic foot in wood bundling, I offered a bin that was closer to 5 cu ft. I offered the honest information for anyone who asked because my piles were stacked for the most part so they could see that. My yard can’t be hidden unless its the wood hiding the yard. So many people walking by asking about the wood. Sheesh now when I think about it.. Anyways if anything it’s best to just follow through on all stacking and whatnot at your place because you’re going to be thinking that all the wood is “ready” but its not true if its not stacked. In a pile all the moisture is at the bottom so if you want consistency, keep everything stacked. Then there is no middle ground as you keep the wood OFF the ground. Stacked piles lets people know you kept going on the process and made good on making sure the wood was never sitting.
