Wood Processor Recommendations

[My Oslo heats my home]

Chuck, what kind of overhead do you have in the operation you have now? And your tree length stock, how long does it take you to process a truckload by yourself? The tough part about getting tree length in my area is that the trees are usually from tree companies and the rounds are usually over 24". I pay about $100/cord right now.

 

[Chuck the Canuck]

Chuck, what kind of overhead do you have in the operation you have now? And your tree length stock, how long does it take you to process a truckload by yourself? The tough part about getting tree length in my area is that the trees are usually from tree companies and the rounds are usually over 24". I pay about $100/cord right now.

I get my trees for $130/cord. He generally drops 1 or 2 tandem loads which rank out at around 6 cord/load. My supplier is a feller that has his own operation cutting and selling mostly maple and yellow birch (and sometimes a bit of beech), bidding for parcels of crown land and such, although I'm sure he also delivers other suppliers wood sometimes as well. Loads are usually 12" - 24" which is ok, but he usually sticks me with a couple of honking big trees that are a PITA..... Based on my operation for the past 2 years, I'd use an average of 42 cord per year, so that works out to something like 1 cord every 1.238095238 weeks..... Hey, I just realized, that sounds pretty good for a hobby that a feller does in his "spare time"........... After all the processin, I sell an average of 75 bundles out of each cord at $5/bundle, which gives me $245/cord, or $1470 per tandem load processed, and a sore back sometimes.........

Cheers,

 

[curtis]

I get my trees for $130/cord. He generally drops 1 or 2 tandem loads which rank out at around 6 cord/load. My supplier is a feller that has his own operation cutting and selling mostly maple and yellow birch (and sometimes a bit of beech), bidding for parcels of crown land and such, although I'm sure he also delivers other suppliers wood sometimes as well. Loads are usually 12" - 24" which is ok, but he usually sticks me with a couple of honking big trees that are a PITA..... Based on my operation for the past 2 years, I'd use an average of 42 cord per year, so that works out to something like 1 cord every 1.238095238 weeks..... Hey, I just realized, that sounds pretty good for a hobby that a feller does in his "spare time"........... After all the processin, I sell an average of 75 bundles out of each cord at $5/bundle, which gives me $245/cord, or $1470 per tandem load processed, and a sore back sometimes.........

Cheers,

I just got out of doing that same thing pretty much. Had around 22 stores/campgrounds that I sold wholesale to. My bundles sound like they were a tad smaller than yours. I would get about 120 bundles out of a cord of wood. Last year we sold right around 11,000 bundles. I was doing it all with a chainsaw and splitter but with also working a full time job it got to be too much. I bought a Dyna sc-12 processor last year and that helped out a lot. We had two twister firewood wrappers and a 3/4ton dodge truck that I delivered the wood in.

 

[Chuck the Canuck]

11,000 bundles???? Wow! I've often wondered about getting a firewood bundler/wrapper. I wrap my bundles by hand using 2 straps of sisal twine (around 2200 this year)......

Oops, 1st picture was my old bundler; I've upgraded since then......

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

Is that the periodic table attached to your wall?

 

[Chuck the Canuck]

Is that the periodic table attached to your wall?

Sure it is... doesn't everybody have one of them in the shop??? Though come to think of it, mostly all I'm working with up there is various stages of carbon liberation....

 

[curtis]

11,000 bundles???? Wow! I've often wondered about getting a firewood bundler/wrapper. I wrap my bundles by hand using 2 straps of sisal twine (around 2200 this year)......

Oops, 1st picture was my old bundler; I've upgraded since then......

Ya the wrappers where very nice to have, my wife could do around 60 bundles and hour with it.

 

[Brogan007]

You never mentioned any help you have. So maybe getting a couple of good helpers...Hispanic day-workers around here are fantastic.....at $9/hr would make the biz flow better?

 

[Chuck the Canuck]

You never mentioned any help you have. So maybe getting a couple of good helpers...Hispanic day-workers around here are fantastic.....at $9/hr would make the biz flow better?

Hi. Other than my wife stacking wood as I bring it into the shop for final drying, I don't really have any help at all. It's pretty much like I said, a "one man operation....."

 

[scooby074]

I like the looks of the Wallensteins. I plan on adding a chainsaw "processor" to my home built splitter next year.