So as many of you’ve followed “the chase to 150” thread, I sell a lot of wood but am all out for the year. Well I had a guy contact me about buying what he has cut split and sitting in a large pile. I haven’t talked number either him yet but I did go look at it today. It’s two miles from me and probably about 60 cords at least. He said it’s been split since January last year and I believe him but my concern is the pile itself. It’s about as wide as a school bus is long and was stored in partial not full sun. The outside looks pretty good but I’m concerned about the inside of the pile. I know I could easily sell it all but not sure if the quality is up to my normal standard. Lengths of cuts and sizes of splits vary more than I make but I know that’s not a big deal to many. If I do pull the trigger on this, it won’t be for any less than $100 mark up per cord. This could be easy money or it could end up a mess. Thoughts?
Well I would take it on for the right price if you can sit on it for a year. That way if it's not dry enough this year you have money in the bank for next year.
Maybe the top layer or so has started to season but I doubt the inner 2/3 is anywhere near ready to burn. I'd take a moisture meter and a splitting tool and dig way down in different spots and get readings on fresh splits. If it comes out too high its a bargaining chip in your favor. If not, you've got a sellable product. It seems it would be financially embarrassing to load it, haul it, restack it, let it season until next year and then sell it, unless you received a truly great deal on it. And it could be equally embarrassing to sell unseasoned wood. In the end the decision is yours. How much is your wood selling reputation worth to you?
Can you get a load to look over and moisture test? If it is good then make the deal, if not then save it for next year. Or buy it and when you have people call tell them you do have some, but it may be subpar...
jrider , I think this is the real question. That stuff is not up to the quality of your normal product. I'd say only if you can sell at a discount & still turn a profit.
jrider I assume it’s not the moisture content, that’s concerning you. As you split in the summer and sell in the fall. No criticism just observation, so is it the size and consistency of the cut and split that’s concerning you?
you have to compare how much work and cost is it to you to haul it away and restack and sell next year if MC is too high vs how you usually process your firewood to sell. If price was right I would be on it. Guy is close by and you'll be ahead of game for next year. Just my .02
Would this be sold via advertisement, or to your existing customer base? If to your existing customers, I would let them know that you have sold out all of YOUR wood, but you have access to wood that has been cut for nearly a year, but since it isn't yours, you cant guarantee it will be the quality and size that yours is. Winter is here, so beggars can't be choosers. Work out a per cord rate, and only buy what you can sell?
If you check it out and can work a price you can live with then if I am on your wave length I think you are wanting sell to people that are still inquiring. If so just be honest and tell them you purchased it.
I would carefully survey the wood and compare the quality to what you normally sell. Is it sellable as seasoned now? If the price is right can you move the wood to your location when ground is frozen and sell it next year as "super seasoned". PITA to move it twice but all the hard work C &S is done. OR after purchase sell the wood you know is good for this burning season and let the wet stuff dry at your location. Sort it out based on your specifications. Yes it ties up your capital if you dont sell it now but its over half of your average production based on what youve told me. If it isnt up to your "seasoned" standards then i would haggle the hell out of the guy, buy it CHEAP, bring it home and make money next Fall. Obviously you dont have a problem selling the wood, but tying up the capital is the issue IMO! Reputation is everything too. It'd be a TOUGH decision for me as i never pay for wood and have minimal expenses for processing/storing it. Just so i understand, was it January 2018 or 2019?
Are you worried about finding a moldy mess in the middle? It’s happened to me when I dumped in a big pile and never got around to stacking it for a year. Partial sun conditions. For me it was only tulip and catalpa. I picked through the pile, took the good outer shell. Anything touching the ground in the middle was a black slimy (probably toxic) mess. Dumped that in one of the state mud trails near my house to fill in the ruts. I think, not sure, but think if you were to restack any black moldy stuff in the normal fashion most of us employ after a year uncovered and in the sun it would bleach out and clean up. Obviously not up to your normal standards. You’d have to have a fire sale So the question would be, how do you plan to move this wood? By hand, picking out the good stuff, if there is mold? Or a machine that will not separate?
Don't no if this helps but I didn't get two cord of this picked up and stacked until Nov. It got dropped in the spring and all but the top was wet. The bottom was soaked. Im glad I took care of the other 6 cords Im burning better than this. I am still on the one year plan.
If it’s round figures 60 cord, all you have left to do is wonder if you’re interested in going for the 150 cord on top of that or just do some 100 cord in the summer and sell on the course of demand. You could at least tell people what you have to offer and sell that first... Reiterating on most advice here, its finding out how much you can get it all for. If you’re able to get it for say under 50 a cord, providing the splits seem to be OK in terms of moisture, rot, content of the wood itself... Sounds like you might be able to squeak a profit then. We’ll be eager to know what you decide. Nice project for ya though.
I've never had much luck with heaped piles, but mine have been one cord or so lumps dumped at the end of a short driveway. That the tarps always blew off of and probably only made things worse anyway. So figure the outside of the pile is sellable and sit on the rest ? Do you have to move it to sit on it ? Cost to move it ?
Moisture content is definitely a concern of mine. Full sun and wind plus a south Jersey summer does wonders for drying wood. Small splits also dry much faster. Is the wood I split near the end of summer down to 15% by burn time, of course not but it won't pour sap out the ends when burned either. The main concern is the overall quality.
I took some splits from random places in the pile and burned in my fireplace last night. I threw them in once I had a decent fire going. Half of the splits burned great while the other half was hissing lots of water out the ends. After a lot of consideration of looking at moldy, wet to the touch, and dirty pieces of wood that varied in length and split size I decided to pass on this one. As others have mentioned, it just isn't worth ruining the reputation I have built up over the last 20 some years of selling wood. Plus, after hand loading and delivering 180 cords since September, I've had enough. Haha After declining, we spoke about potential prices as an after the fact conversation. We both figured there was around 60 cords there so that was good. He said he was hoping to get $150 a cord from me which would have been a little more than I wanted to spend.
IMO smart move, as tempting as it was. My other thought was the moving and sorting of all that wood. After the 180 id be burnt out too.
