Making money selling firewood,

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.

Itslay90

Feeling the Heat
Dec 16, 2022
429
Upstate,NY
Can you really make good money selling firewood ? From The downside of maintenance. Of your chainsaw, your pick up truck, and Buying logs,
 
Last edited:
Can you really make good money selling firewood ? From The downside of maintenance. Of your chainsaw, your pick up truck, and Buying logs,
Check out Ohio Wood Burner. He makes money by selling premium quality.


 
Define good money…. And your location probably has a big impact on everything.
 
I thought you were not ahead by 3 years?
I'd refrain from selling anything until you are ahead that much...

And no, it's not good money. It's honest hard work, sure.
But you can make way more almost everywhere else. For the work you have to put in.
 
The only way to make any real money is with a big investment in a large processor and lots of equipment. If you have kilns you can make even more
 
The only way to make any real money is with a big investment in a large processor and lots of equipment. If you have kilns you can make even more
Or have some strapping young men as children. That's how one of the locals operated until they left home and started their own businesses.
 
Or have some strapping young men as children. That's how one of the locals operated until they left home and started their own businesses.
Well yeah. But in that case not everyone involved is making much money
 
Or you own a tree cutting service selling firewood from the logs you receive from customers. You can sell mulch from the wood chips. My local tree service processes between 700-1000 cord of hardwood selling @ $300-$325/cord.
 
Or you own a tree cutting service selling firewood from the logs you receive from customers. You can sell mulch from the wood chips. My local tree service processes between 700-1000 cord of hardwood selling @ $300-$325/cord.
700 to 1000 cord with a regular splitter not a processor?
 
700 to 1000 cord with a regular splitter not a processor?
They upgraded their equipment last year to print consistent 16” splits. I’m actually not sure what it is. Will stop by and check it out. They also have a tumbler so no debris is delivered on a customer’s driveway.
 
They upgraded their equipment last year to print consistent 16” splits. I’m actually not sure what it is. Will stop by and check it out. They also have a tumbler so no debris is delivered on a customer’s driveway.
Probably a processor in that case. That's a crazy amount of wood to process without one
 
My 80 year old neighbor who is retired has a splitter, tractor and all the toys. Gets log length delivered free. Sells to a small group of customers including me for $250/cord. He does it has a hobby and has owned the equipment for years so makes some money in retirement.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mike van
Probably a processor in that case. That's a crazy amount of wood to process without one
Yes the piles are like mini mountains.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bholler
For me, I have a lot of firewood in my backyard that been drying for an year.I just can’t see myself selling my selling my firewood to anyone, it’s just not worth it, I bust my ass. It’s a lot of work but I love it tho. Now don’t get me wrong if a neighbor is in need that’s a different story.. and all the wood I cut is for my own property
 
  • Like
Reactions: stoveliker
Processors are not cheap
Both of those companies are out of Perth Ontario Canada
You would need to process and sell a lot of firewood to be able
to afford one
One processor just outside of Perth uses an Easton-made and processes
400 cords a year and is selling at 375 a cord delivered
Still after costs and overhead, I'd bet he doesn't make a lot of money
 
Processors are not cheap
Both of those companies are out of Perth Ontario Canada
You would need to process and sell a lot of firewood to be able
to afford one
One processor just outside of Perth uses an Easton-made and processes
400 cords a year and is selling at 375 a cord delivered
Still after costs and overhead, I'd bet he doesn't make a lot of money

Depends on how mechanized he is with harvesting and everything else, but man that's a tough way to gross $150k a year. If he can amortize the equipment over a decade he might keep a little better than half after all taxes and expenses are accounted for.
 
I've had a ton of people pull up in my driveway and some have even left notes on my front door asking me if I was selling firewood. I always tell them no, there's just way too much time involved to make any kind of money doing it. Doing it for myself is one thing, but if you sell it you have to start putting a value on your time, and a cord would get really expensive real quick
 
I am in the market to buy a hydraulic splitter for splitting 4 or 5 cord a year. Would this be big and strong enough?

(good lord, now that thing is huge.)

cord-king-monster-splitter-001.jpeg
 
  • Haha
Reactions: stoveliker
That cylinder is too small. I surmise this is photoshop.
 
I've had a ton of people pull up in my driveway and some have even left notes on my front door asking me if I was selling firewood. I always tell them no, there's just way too much time involved to make any kind of money doing it. Doing it for myself is one thing, but if you sell it you have to start putting a value on your time, and a cord would get really expensive real quick
I recently built a 1.3 cord little shed on my driveway. This is for emergency (soft) wood that I can use if the yearly bay of the 3-bay main shed in the back is empty before winter is over. The aim is to fill the small one back up with some softwood that should be good to go next winter (pitch pine was <16% in one year there). And one stack of firepit wood in the back of that shed.

So now my other neighbor (who saw me "truck" 15 wheelbarrows or so of locust to my elderly neighbors across the street) asked me if I was selling the wood - because I had so much, pointing at my baby-emergyence-shed...

I told here "nope, I use it for heating. Just like I don't sell my oil, I don't sell my stock of other heating fuel either", and I showed her the big wood shed in the back...

She'll be puzzled a bit because of the wheelbarrow business, but she has money, and is younger than the elderly ones that want my shorties and uglies to pile them in a tent for their small stove.
She is freaking buying bundles of wood at the ACE here for her weekend fires. (That's like $9 for 5 small splits or so.) I told her to get a pick-up truck delivered and stack it in her own back yard. She can afford it (being a lawyer and all).
 
  • Like
Reactions: vbu
To put some numbers to it. Let’s assume in your free time you could process by hand (chainsaw, maul ax) with equipment you already own. And could do a cord a week. 50 cords a year. ( Can you store 50 cords at once? ).
Sell it delivered at $300 a cord. You probably need to figure $25 a cord in expenses. It all depends on how much you pay for the wood. If I paid $200 a cord for wood making $75 a week is not worth it. If the wood is free. Then sure an extra $1000 a month would be worth my time.

But it’s not going to be 3-5 hours of work every week. When the season comes you will haul many loads a week. And then the wood won’t come one cord at a time.

If I did it this way I would deliver in the IBC totes and charge a deposit with free pickup or a stacking fee. The totes would be a substantial upfront cost. What
 
  • Like
Reactions: stoveliker
To put some numbers to it. Let’s assume in your free time you could process by hand (chainsaw, maul ax) with equipment you already own. And could do a cord a week. 50 cords a year. ( Can you store 50 cords at once? ).
Sell it delivered at $300 a cord. You probably need to figure $25 a cord in expenses. It all depends on how much you pay for the wood. If I paid $200 a cord for wood making $75 a week is not worth it. If the wood is free. Then sure an extra $1000 a month would be worth my time.

But it’s not going to be 3-5 hours of work every week. When the season comes you will haul many loads a week. And then the wood won’t come one cord at a time.

If I did it this way I would deliver in the IBC totes and charge a deposit with free pickup or a stacking fee. The totes would be a substantial upfront cost. What
My tree service sells log length at $85 a cord. If you process it and sell it for $350-$375 you can make some money.
 
If I did it this way I would deliver in the IBC totes and charge a deposit with free pickup or a stacking fee. The totes would be a substantial upfront cost. What
The upfront investment for 50 ibc totes would be significant...
 
The upfront investment for 50 ibc totes would be significant...
Yes but In my mind that’s how I save time and space. If you have spare of each you could get by with a utility trailer. The idea of making a motorized dolly for them and being able to put them wherever they fit for the customer seems like a service that the not serious wood burner would pay a premium for. Half a cord at a time delivered in its own rack.