Honest wood seller..
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Reckless
Feeling the Heat
Bugs and dirt, what could be better? I have been considering selling firewood once I am well ahead in order to purchase my own splitter, but my dad has warned me against it as people have become insanely picky.
Reckless
Feeling the Heat
I figure once Im 5yrs ahead I can let one or two go a year just to cover gas and maintenance on saws and splitter. We will see.
Sounds like a plan, I would like to be able to sell up to five cords next year, but that would have to be mostly green unless I come into a lot more maple this fall.
Your dad is correct. I've been in the wood business for 24 years and it gets worse every year. I'm almost to a point where I'm not going to take any new customers. The regulars know what to expect and don't complain about anything.
BillLion
Minister of Fire
We're not picky, we just expect a mix of osage orange, black locust, apple & cherry seasoned for 2 years perfectly pristine and cut EXACTLY to 18" of length stacking in at 10% above a cord just to be sure we aren't being shorted!
Seriously, as someone who bought the last two years (and is working on self-sufficiency), I'd be curious to know what sellers think are reasonable and unreasonable concerns of customers.
As stated in the ad. Dirt and bugs. People really do expect wood to be clean. Dirt and bugs are the nature of the beast. If you want clean turn up the thermostat.
Delivery time. Don't call me Sept. 1 or at 9 pm after you threw your last stick of wood in the stove and expect delivery the next day. This time of year we are booked at least a month .
Staging area. Don't ask me to drive across your lawn or neighbors lawn and or septic system because you need the wood behind your house. I learned this one the hard way many years ago. Customer said his neighbor gave permission for me to back across his back field to get to the back of his house. It was all overgrown farmland (goldenrod). It was the dead of summer and the truck barely cut in. Turned out the neighbor didn't give permission and the property belong to a law firm. Cost me $2000 to landscape abandoned farm ground to deliver a $400 load of wood! A customer can piss and moan all he wants about having his wood in a certain spot but my trucks don't leave the driveway period.
I could go on and on but it's all common sense stuff.
Delivery time. Don't call me Sept. 1 or at 9 pm after you threw your last stick of wood in the stove and expect delivery the next day. This time of year we are booked at least a month .
Staging area. Don't ask me to drive across your lawn or neighbors lawn and or septic system because you need the wood behind your house. I learned this one the hard way many years ago. Customer said his neighbor gave permission for me to back across his back field to get to the back of his house. It was all overgrown farmland (goldenrod). It was the dead of summer and the truck barely cut in. Turned out the neighbor didn't give permission and the property belong to a law firm. Cost me $2000 to landscape abandoned farm ground to deliver a $400 load of wood! A customer can piss and moan all he wants about having his wood in a certain spot but my trucks don't leave the driveway period.
I could go on and on but it's all common sense stuff.
Some not so commonLEE understood. (Hey - whats with the name change?)
I sold two cords last year at a what I consider a premium and everyone was happy. Maybe it was due to delivering what I advertised and people finding seasoned wood at the end of the season.
If it was a business I'm sure I would find many impossible to please people.
BillLion
Minister of Fire
Fair enough; thanks. I guess every industry has its ups and downs and hard to please people.
You wouldn't believe the number of people that drop a mower off to be repaired, see your lot that has hundreds of machines on it, and ask if their machine will be ready tomorrow.
Paulywalnut
Minister of Fire
If I have a friend that asks if he can buy a bundle or two (serious) I just give him a quarter truck load.
They are used to the grocery store bundles.
They are used to the grocery store bundles.
BillLion
Minister of Fire
I just don't see how anyone (except pros handling large volumes) can make any money at it. When you consider the time and work put in it to sell just a few cords, it hardly seems worth it. For example, I pay $250 in my area for a cord of seasoned premium hardwoods (oak, maple, maybe some locust etc mixed in) delivered. That's high compared to many states, but I know it can push a little higher than that too. Even if you managed to process an entire cord (all aspects considered) in only 25 hours total, you're only making $10 an hour for your labor. That doesn't even include fuel/vehicle costs for delivery. So I think you'd make less. I know for pro tree guys it's a different story, they have tons of wood & equipment and it keeps everyone working in the winter. I could be wrong, and am happy to be corrected by those with experience selling wood...
Logistics and efficiencies are everything. My trucks haul more than just wood and 80% of the total miles run are loaded with a wide variety of products. We've evolved into more of a trucking/brokering/equipment sales company over the years than a processing company. I lost my rear processing wood!
BillLion
Minister of Fire
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