WTF?

[RandyBoBandy]

For what it’s worth I just started selling firewood with my neighbor. He has been in the forestry business for awhile with clearing lots, milling logs and kiln drying slabs and lumber. So we we decided to buy a processor and start kiln drying firewood. We process firewood straight into IBC totes. We can fit 16 into the small kiln. We cook them at 120-130 degrees for 7 days. Sell it at 150/ face. So not all sellers are Dbags. We are 40 totes behind the demand right now. We can’t dry it fast enough.

 

[Simonkenton]

"$450/cord is cut split and dried. Wood burning isn't as common here much anymore, and most of us that do cut our own with a $5 permit on crown land, or own land and cut from that. Firewood is generally sold in smaller quantities for backyard firepits, or for the once or twice a year users in their fireplaces. "

Wait a minute! I rode across Alberta on a freight train one time and I didn't see any trees. Just huge wheat fields.
Now, I was south from you, I was down in Calgary.

Here I am on the Canada-Pacific fast freight. There were no empty box cars, we had to ride in the third engine. The engineers were all in the first engine. Kind of warm in the summer with those giant diesels roaring under your feet, but, it beat hitch hiking.

 

[MR. GLO]

For what it’s worth I just started selling firewood with my neighbor. He has been in the forestry business for awhile with clearing lots, milling logs and kiln drying slabs and lumber. So we we decided to buy a processor and start kiln drying firewood. We process firewood straight into IBC totes. We can fit 16 into the small kiln. We cook them at 120-130 degrees for 7 days. Sell it at 150/ face. So not all sellers are Dbags. We are 40 totes behind the demand right now. We can’t dry it fast enough.

after the kiln what is the avg moisture content of your biggest pieces in the tote?

 

[Caw]

@RandyBoBandy if you dont mind sharing, what kind of investment did you have to make to get in and how are your profits for the time? I'm always curious how profitable that is.

And I'm also curious of the MC. Sounds fun!

 

[RandyBoBandy]

We don’t let anything bigger than 5” go into the tote. It’s a mix of hardwood. Oak, hickory, cherry, maple, elm and a small amount of basswood and poplar. We try and pull most of the basswood and poplar out and just mill it for building materials around the yard or just feed it to the boiler. Most everything we check after 7 days is usually 17-20%. We have learned to keep the oak on the smaller side or the centers just don’t dry enough. Most people who have reported back have said it’s the best firewood they have ever bought. Just goes to show what’s being peddled by every one else selling “seasoned” firewood.
The investment is big. The processor is a $55,000.00 cord king. I think we have just under $2,000.00 in IBC totes. And then there’s the monthly electric bill to run the kiln units. We definitely are not going to quit our day jobs for this. It’s going to take a long time to just break even. Especially seeing as how we want to build a permanent roof structure over the processor to keep the weather off of it and some sort of block storage bin with a canopy for dry firewood storage. For now it’s just another means of cash flow during the slow winter months (I’m a landscaper so no much of that going on right now). However, with how fast this side gig is growing who knows the limits at this point.

 

[Caw]

I just watched some Cord King videos and wow...those are some nice machines. It's cool just watching then work. Which model did you get?

 

[GENECOP]

I sold firewood for the better part of 27 years...I ran one ad in the beginning and never had to again...it was simple to me...give them what they are paying for! Many years I was sold out by the end of August...it was first come.. first served...I remember one gentleman in particular who called me early on and he was leary as he had been taken twice before...I offered to drop off a few days worth for him to try for free...he was floored by this offer and decided I must be legit....lol...I brought him the 2 ricks that he ordered and he asked me if all of that was his? I said yes it was a FULL 2 ricks...they had really skinned him before..I delivered to him every year for the next 25 years till his passing...I surely do miss him as we became fast life long friends..

Its so much easier to do business the correct way and treat people right, I’m always amazed how many people feel the need to cheat others.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

I just watched some Cord King videos and wow...those are some nice machines. It's cool just watching then work. Which model did you get?

It’s a M20-30. It’s pretty sweet what the thing can do for sure. There’s a few things in the design that need attention but overall it’s a beast of machine.

 

[ABMax24]

Wait a minute! I rode across Alberta on a freight train one time and I didn't see any trees. Just huge wheat fields.
Now, I was south from you, I was down in Calgary.

Here I am on the Canada-Pacific fast freight. There were no empty box cars, we had to ride in the third engine. The engineers were all in the first engine. Kind of warm in the summer with those giant diesels roaring under your feet, but, it beat hitch hiking.

View attachment 274478

That looks like an older picture, must have been a few years ago?

Alberta is a large place, we are 95% the size of Texas and 1.5 times larger than California. The southern parts of the province are grassland, as you move west to the foothills and mountains there is boreal forest, and as you move north it transitions to parkland and then boreal forest. Over 50% of the land mass of Alberta was at one point forest. Where I live we straddle the prairies in the north and east that have been cleared for farmland, and the foothills to the south and west covered in parkland/boreal forests.

We do hear that a lot though, visitors see one portion of the province and think it's all that way, especially visitors from Europe. The scale of this place is hard for many to understand. We are a city of 70,000 people and service the area 2.5hrs in every direction, the next large center is 4.5hrs to the southeast (Edmonton), and it's 7hrs southeast to Calgary. You get used to driving a lot to get anywhere, lately I've been working a lot in the field, 2.5hrs per day of driving is the norm. I've even been as far north as Whitehorse in the Yukon for a 2 day job, 18hr drive each way, turns a 2 day job into 5.

 

[Sailrmike]

For what it’s worth I just started selling firewood with my neighbor. He has been in the forestry business for awhile with clearing lots, milling logs and kiln drying slabs and lumber. So we we decided to buy a processor and start kiln drying firewood. We process firewood straight into IBC totes. We can fit 16 into the small kiln. We cook them at 120-130 degrees for 7 days. Sell it at 150/ face. So not all sellers are Dbags. We are 40 totes behind the demand right now. We can’t dry it fast enough.

150/face???? Just to burn it??? and I thought pellets were a rip at 300/ton. People amaze tge the chit outta me sometimes.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

150/face???? Just to burn it??? and I thought pellets were a rip at 300/ton. People amaze tge the chit outta me sometimes.

And we can’t even keep up with the demand. We are also not even the most expensive firewood source in the Ann Arbor area. People have even bought it to burn in their fire pits.

 

[Caw]

I've posted this in other threads but I think it fits here too...

 

[RandyBoBandy]

I've posted this in other threads but I think it fits here too...

I have seen this. It’s hilarious.

 

[WoodScrounger]

@Caw
You also need to remember north of the border our $s don’t go as far.$450CAD =around $350USD by current exchange rate.
Locally a lot of firewood guys are selling by facecord and call it a cord in advertising ,which sorta annoys me. Price is all over 70 -175 a face cord for hardwood.. That’s way too expensive for me to not scrounge or at least process my own . I enjoy the process even if I don’t have the time.

 

[Caw]

That's fair, I was not considering the exchange rate. In general buying split/seasoned just defeats the purpose of wood heat. Sure you're still not burning fossil fuels but you're not saving that sweet bacon $$$.

 

[Zombie]

Stopped in at a place today, they say they sell firewood by the Bobcat scoop and that 1 scoop is about half a cord, $60 a scoop and claims it's good seasoned wood, lol. I said "ok, how long has it been seasoning?" "The older stuff is about 6 months old and ready to burn, most of the other bin is about 2 months old." I jist laughed, shook my head and walked out.

 

[ClintonH]

Stopped in at a place today, they say they sell firewood by the Bobcat scoop and that 1 scoop is about half a cord, $60 a scoop and claims it's good seasoned wood, lol. I said "ok, how long has it been seasoning?" "The older stuff is about 6 months old and ready to burn, most of the other bin is about 2 months old." I jist laughed, shook my head and walked out.

What a monstrous bobcat scoop: 64 ft^3, or over 2 cubic yards?! even a 6' wide scoop 2' by 2' is only 24 ft^3, less than 1 yard.

 

[brenndatomu]

What is a rick anyway?

Chuck's younger brother...

 

[logfarmer]

Nobody has a clue what seasoned or a cord is around here. Had to buy a “cord” a couple times and got “burnt” on both deals! They think seasoned is sitting in rounds for a yr then split it or it’s been split for 3 months but it was standing dead!!

 

[peakbagger]

You know you are in trouble when they offer to sell specific lengths to order. It usually means that they are storing them as longs and running them through a processor when they get the order.

 

[Caw]

"Fully seasoned" then you pick up a 3 inch split that weighs 10 lbs. Don't even need the meter!

 

[lml999]

all my craigslist load are short and false claims about how they cut the wood a year ago. wood is all different lengths. So I asked send me a photo of one cord in truck before you come and they never get back to me. The kiln dry people mix wood. i got 26;percent today. You cant trust anyone. Im not paying over 300 a cord delivered. Im going to start rejecting crap loads.

First guy asked if I'd like to swing by and take a look at the wood before delivery. I declined as it was a good 20 minutes away and things worked out. Second guy delivered a short pile of crap. The third guy was so short that I stopped him to discuss it before he (we) manually unloaded it from the trailer. (At least it was clean). Funny thing is, the third guy didn't care how much money I gave him...he went right from a full cord price to a half cord price, and I think he had manually loaded the trailer, and had driven 30 minutes to get to me. He said he was just happy to get out of the house. Weird... And he was still short.

 

[MR. GLO]

First guy asked if I'd like to swing by and take a look at the wood before delivery. I declined as it was a good 20 minutes away and things worked out. Second guy delivered a short pile of crap. The third guy was so short that I stopped him to discuss it before he (we) manually unloaded it from the trailer. (At least it was clean). Funny thing is, the third guy didn't care how much money I gave him...he went right from a full cord price to a half cord price, and I think he had manually loaded the trailer, and had driven 30 minutes to get to me. He said he was just happy to get out of the house. Weird... And he was still short.

They wont even show the truck with a cord in a photo.... Wait till you ask them for the moisture content lol...
Craigslist full cord is worth 250 delivered max. Its wet wood and really green. The hunt for perfect wood continues... I see more and more selling by the wheel barrel.

 

[Caw]

Makes me want to sell all the extra wood I have by the log bag full. Here's the bag, $15 and you can fill it up. I'd make a fortune! Crazy how inconsistent the firewood market is.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

I'd love to have enough firewood to sell some. I sold a few cord over the years. Always pretty dry and always a full cord. One family tried starting a fire with it as I was unloading and said it wouldn't burn. I asked to see the fireplace and they had a few sticks spaced out on the grate and a box of matches. I put the splits together and grabbed some paper and it took right off. Not sure how they made out because I never heard back. Didn't make much on it, and was just trying to help out. You can't please everyone.