51 year old green horn needs help!

[seekingjoy]

Hi all, just bought me a new little 20" chain saw to cut down some trees in my back yard and started thinking of ways to make $ with it. (yes, I'm sure I'll need something bigger)    though my knowledge is little I always loved wood.  I'm in the construction and home remodeling business and am used to hard work.

  I first thought of the idea when I heard the price on an old oak beam going for near a $1000.00!  maybe I heard wrong but am still very interested in learning as much as possible before I invest any money.

I'm looking for any suggestions on the best way to go about the business on a shoestring, wheather it's selling logs, cutting & selling beams, mulch, selling to lumber yards, firewood, etc...

any kind of info would be useful and appreciated!

Alan

ps. some of the forestry forum jargon is not understood yet so please bear with me.  thanks!

[Jeff]

ps. some of the forestry forum jargon is not understood yet so please bear with me.  thanks!

We can help with that.

http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=dictionary

Not knowing anything about what you would like to do, the best I can do to begin with is welcome you to the Forum and direct you to the search button above to explore.

[fishpharmer]

Alan welcome to Forestry Forum.  You are at the right place to find joy and lots of other useful information.  I too am still learning alot of the jargon. 

Your idea of starting a business on a shoestring sounds good.  That's generally how I do things. Now you have a chainsaw all you need is a splitting maul or mechanical logsplitter and you can start a firewood business.  Not sure where you are located but I think if you cut and split the wood starting now, most will be dry enough to use for firewood. 

Or you can get a Granberg Alaskan chainsaw mill for your chainsaw and saw your own beams and lumber.  I have seen several on craigslist.org in the last few days.

I am sure you will get many more good ideas from all the great members here, so get some coffee and hang around a while.  You may even may make some good friends.

[seekingjoy]

thanks guys, I'll be hanging around.  I'm already addicted to this forum! 

[seekingjoy]

another ? on my mind is, how do you determine approximate bf in say, a straight 50 ft. tall by 2 ft. diameter tree?

[Tom]

Click on that red forestry forum toolbox on the left side of the page, under the sponsors.  It goes to a bunch of calculators that were created by a couple or three forestry forum members.

[captain_crunch]

Just for Grins Scale it as 1- 50 ft log then mark 3- 16 ft logs and estimate scale end dia(small end) of all 3 , Add them up compared to the 50 fter and then you know why most mills DON'T want short logs

[JDeere]

The best advice I could give you is to take a chain saw safety course. I know you are probably very comfortable working with tools but a chain saw is very specialized and very dangerous. I worked in the woods for years and recently took a course and was amazed at how much I learned in 6 hours. Even cutting logs in a pile can be dangerous if you don't know what could kill you. Keep in mind that all the rules you will learn are the result of hard working guys who never planned on getting killed in the woods. Good Luck!

[MFinity]

I'd recommend finding an old hand - logger, faller, arborist, the older the better  to help you out - have him come and fall trees for you, buck logs, or go watch him do his work - pick his brain, get the benefit of his experience. The safest approach is to know when you're getting out of your area of expertise and get help.

[Ron Scott]

Ditto! to taking a chainsaw operators course and being tutored by one experienced in chainsaw use. Also be sure that you invest in all the chainsaw personal protective  gear.

[seekingjoy]

All great info. guys! I truely appreciate it

[BARPINCHER]

I'll Ditto a few others here about the chainsaw safety course.  I put myself and my guys thru Game Of Logging Levels 1-4 and highly endorse it.  Their national competition is in Ohio in September too.

[woodmills1]

!n 1986 I sold 6 cord of dry firewood produced using a saw a maul and a pickup.  In 1994 I was up to 100 cord with 2 saws a splitter and a dump.  In 95 I bought a woodmizer and stopped selling firewood, till this year.  see the post called update in sawmills and milling to see me now

[CX3]

Welcome to the forum.  I joined for the same reasons as you.  So far it has been very helpful.

I started out cutting firewood with a saw and a maul.  I usually did around 50 cord a year by myself.  Now two of us do closer to 300 cord but we have a doozie of a splitter and nicer saws and a skidder to bring the poles to the work area.  Makes life simpler, but the point is a man can make some honest money with just a chainsaw.  If you want my advice jump into the firewood game, you already own all the machinery necessary to begin, and it will let you know if logging is in the future.  If you can love every minute of cutting wood, you will adore every second of loggin.

[timberjake]

My best advice would be to make sure you don't get in so deep you HAVE to produce and move wood.    My dad and I have sold lots of firewood and quite a few burls.  Sawlogs and veneer is usually pretty easy to get rid of even in small quantities.

[Phorester]

I'll ditto the others on the chainsaw course for starters.  No matter what your experience level is, when you stick a chainsaw into a tree you have just entered one of the most dangerous professions in the USA.  Same dangers are there no matter what reason you're cutting a tree.

As far as a business, I'd suggest doing something similar to WOODMILLS1; starting with something simple to produce, like firewood, and building up over the years if you still have the interest.
  
Keep your eyes and ears open for ideas, network with businesses and individuals, develop contacts.