WinonaRail's Wood Yard

X2 way to get it done Gary.

I have an extra wheelbarrow you could borrow!

 

If the wheelbarrow comes with a driver, I'll take it! Or better yet, an engine!

 

I'm fortunate to do most of my processing on or adjacent to my concrete driveway so it's easier to "roll" things around. You're definitely the king of adapting tools/processes to work for you. I'm still refining workflows.

 

This driver goes at slow speed. There's a "turtle" icon on the throttle!

Some of mine have two wheel drive!

 

I must have the same transmission - single speed. Slow and steady wins the race!

 

Smoker sales have really picked up. Met up with a guy Thursday for five hickory bundles. Guy stopped by tonight for five bundles..four apple and a cherry. Guy coming tomorrow morning for five cherry. Some other inquiries on FBM.

Moved some apple, cherry and white oak here today.

Question for you Gary (and any other smoking wood sellers seeing this) Some of the apple from my current inventory has bug damage. (Looks like ants.) Do you still mix it in? Sell at a discount?

 

For my $0.02 worth, I sell wood with bug damage as long as I'm confident that the bugs are gone. It goes in the bulk wood stacks along with any less desirable but not really ugly splits. If you have the ability to show a customer before they buy, they may be willing to take the wood with bug damage for smoking but I'd point it out and ask since they're paying a premium price. Congrats on the increased sales!

 

Had a guy drive 45 minutes for ten bundles of hickory and ten bundles of cherry. He was very pleased as was I. He was telling me that he smokes assorted nuts as well as meats.
New customer buying fresh cut green splits. Delivered half cord last week and another half going this week. Ill more than likely have more to sell him. He wants 3-4 cords.
How are your sales going Gary?

 

Ever sell cedar bundles? Ive had some cedar rounds in the way at the wood yard for too long now. Decided to split them up and sell for solo stoves on FBM.

 

Sales are fairly strong. I think a little below last year. The economy seems to have slowed a bit here. The weekend was pretty good.

While I helped a few customers on Saturday, I took orders for hickory and pear loose stacks (50 pieces each) to a guy that buys smoking wood from my stand and 1/4 cord of shorts and uglies to another guy that bought 1/8 cord of pine campfire wood.

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I haven't done cedar bundles, although I have a customer that I deliver bundles to and doesn't care what kind of wood I bring. I've mixed in some white pine and spruce.

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I had use of my father-in-law's skid steer for the weekend so I processed a lot of wood. My standard setup now is to roll large rounds onto pallets and place them on a stack of pallets next to the splitter. There is zero lifting. Smaller rounds are typically in a rack, which I also place next to the splitter and slide rounds onto the tray.

I also had to break out the canopy for the first time this year. The next step is to set up fans when it gets warmer. This old guy doesn't like to sweat more than necessary.

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Nice setup, Gary

 

Thank you sir. I've always been impressed by your ingenuity. I like trying new methods to improve the process.

 

I finally got back to the big maple job I was working on last year. I'm down to the massive trunk so everything has to be noodled. I got some loaded and the homeowner comes out to talk. His son lives across the street. They took down a tree at the corner of the house and wondered if I wanted that wood as well. I said hey let's go take a look.

I believe it was a juniper. It was all limbed so nothing left but the trunk sections. I cut it up and tossed it on top of the maple. It was definitely a full load. That will make good campfire wood and should dry quickly.

Being without the skid steer, I am using the pallet jack to move IBC totes and wood racks. I'm storing the filled racks in my barn until I can borrow the skid steer again and then I will move them back to my storage yard.

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Another good weekend for smoker sales. Guy picked up four apple on Saturday, another took ten yesterday (5 oak, 5 cherry) and another taking three today...maple and 2 cherry.

Im almost out of the oak. I have some four year old white oak rounds I never split in an abandoned area at storage. Ill have to split the heartwood out.

I was chatting with one guy and he was looking for pecan to smoke with. Said he would buy a lot. He was originally from Florida and also lived in Alabama so used it a lot. Too bad there wasn't a way I could "import" some of T.Jeff Veal's inventory. Jeff I'll trade you a cord of BL for a cord of pecan?

 

I'm wondering if we could just order a semi load of pecan from T.Jeff Veal and split it among a few of us hoarders? Northern folks would probably pay good money for it!

 

Kind of a dumb question...standing dead or old logs that have been on the ground for over a year. Does wood lose its smoking quality as it ages in nature?

 

How much apple do you have/sell? I just got 4 small logs last night from a farmer and plan to cut and split for bagged smoking wood. Hoping to get 4-5 bags to try it out.