Just Started a Firewood Supply Company and Overwhelmed with Customers!!

[JRServices]

So I started a Firewood Supply Company and am overwhelmed with customers. All my wood is green and my customers know this and I am 25 dollars more per cord than my competition and I am still getting kicked in the butt. I have way to many customers I cant handle them all. I am finding myself hiring more and more help everyday. I only have 4 chainsaws (Stihls) and 1 stupid logsplitter. I dont have the money right now to invest in anymore equipment but is there ANY advice you might be able to provide would be helpful. I love all the income I am bringing in I just hate working 15 hour days.

Thank you
JR Services

[mooleycow]

get used to the 15hrs.
debt is coming--new equipt. or repair old
decide what you can handle
consult the love of your life--don"t leave her out
talk to the accountant who does your taxes
create a mission statement and business plan
good luck

[chevytaHOE5674]

Where abouts are you located? Are you buying logs or cutting your own? Have you given any thought to buying a firewood processor?

[T Welsh]

JRServices, Good news! every thing mooleycow, stated is true,heed his wisdom! go spend some of your hard earned money and treat your self,maybe a bigger splitter that has a 4 or 6 way wedge on it come,s to mind. or maybe a bench grinder for all those chains that get dull. and then start to sock the money away for a rainy day! firewood is seasonal ;) it comes and goes! good luck and get used to the hard work,you,ll be in better shape for it. Tim

[beenthere]

Welcome to the forum.
How many cords have you sold this year?
How many years have you been selling firewood?

[zopi]

Yeah...fifteen hours a day working firewood is alot better than eight hours a day in a cubicle farm....yuck!

Having just converted my old splitter to a horizontal only type..I can attest that the higher end splitters are da bomb...not really sure if they are worth ten or twelve grand....but hey..
Heh...did a fifty five gallon barrel of pine kindling from sawmill slabs in twenty minutes yesterday...

[Bill Gaiche]

JRServices, Welcome to the FF. Tell us a little more about yourself and where you are located so when the wood business slows we will know where to sent you some customers. Good luck, bg

[leonz]

So, I started a Firewood Supply Company and am overwhelmed with customers.
All my wood is green and my customers know this and I am 25 dollars more per
cord than my competition and I am still getting kicked in the butt.

I have way to many customers. I cant handle them all.
I am finding myself hiring more and more help everyday.
I only have 4 chainsaws (Stihls) and 1 stupid logsplitter.
I dont have the money right now to invest in anymore
equipment but is there ANY advice you might be able to
provide would be helpful.

I love all the income I am bringing in I just hate working
15 hour days.

Thank you
JR Services

Welcome to the forum.

The issue is speed and speed only for your useage.

I would strongly suggest you look at the Chomper Firewood Processor.

It shears the firewood and splits it at the same time.

You can shear a 12 inch long round in six seconds with a
Chomper Firewood Processor using a fully automated
Chomper Firewood Processor.

The least expensive model is the Chomper P.T.O., model
which is powered by a tractor

The Chompers are very productive machines.

Please find link here for you to visit the home page and
watch the video showing you how versatile it is.


www.chomper.net

I have attached 2 files for your use.


I would have bought a Chomper but I found a brand new TW5-FC,
and I bought it as it was excesss inventory from the dealer I bought
it from.

I can recommend the TW5 to you very highly as an owner of one.

I think you will agree the chomper is the best option for your specific use.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Jeff]

Why does the above post sound exactly like an advertisement? I had a report to moderator that this was spam so I came and looked. Do you work for them?  I deleted the attachment. I'll allow the post, but the forestry forum is certainly not going to host advertising material for a company that does not sponsor the forum.

We have two companies that do to the left. Check out Logrite tools firewood machine for example. You can some videos for it at www.facebook.com/logrite

[DandB Mack]

Need more info.  But sounds as if your problems are the good ones to have.

[mrwood]

Hmm. Is this $25 more than a green cord or $25 more than a regular seasoned cord?  If your making all this money as you say, then upgrading some equipment should be a no brainer. You gotta spend money to make money.

[leonz]

Why does the above post sound exactly like an advertisement?

I had a report to moderator that this was spam so I came and looked.

Do you work for them?  I deleted the attachment.

I'll allow the post, but the forestry forum is certainly not going to host
advertising material for a company that does not sponsor the forum.

We have two companies that do to the left.

Check out Logrite tools firewood machine for example.

You can some videos for it at www.facebook.com/logrite

1. I do not work for or represent Rainer Hydraulics in any way shape or form.

a. I would have bought a chomper for my own use if I had the funds at the time as I
   I have been aware of them in use since they were brought into the
   market place in the late 1980's.


2. I simply wished to mention  the chomper firewood processor as a
   viable option to this young entrepreuer of firewood as it is the simplest firewood processor
   in the marketplace today  

3. The owners listing and information packet is available at the Chomper.net home page or if anyone
   would like copies they can send me a PM and I can email them with it
 

I would imagine the owner of Rainier Hydraulics would love to advertise his products on your home page if
you asked him as he no longer has a dealer network and sells via work of mouth, internet and phone contacts.  

[Jeff]

You certainly do seem to know a lot about the company it's product and its current status.  If a company and a product have a happy, excited and zealous customer that wants to post about it here as a recommendation to a request for information, I"m all for that, even if I'd never heard of them.  However I can't figure this one out. The poster said in the beginning he did not have money for equipment, and you said you did not buy one, so, like I said, I can't figure out the reason for the sales pitch.

[D4ster]

Congratulations on the new venture.  Having installed  a lot of equipment at firewood operations over the years (I install firewood Kilns), what has been interesting to me is who uses what.  What I think is, that unless you have to produce 1000's of cord ever year, there is not need to purchase a 100,000 piece of equipment- regardless of who makes it.  As I end up going to trade shows (part of the job), I am always interested in the variations folks come up with to make it cheaper/faster.  The Super Splitter (or others like it) seem a practical investment but demand more handling than the automated processors.  One product I saw recently (at the Paul Buynon show in Ohio) was a newer model from MultiTek that- unlike most MultiTek processors- was only $40,000 or so (they are usually around $100,000) and seemed like a good refinement of some newer ideas and taylored to those who were mid range producers in terms of volume.  For instance, it does not use a chain saw to buck firewood- it uses a circular saw with carbide teeth and operated in a vertical stroke.  Check out youtube and see what seems to match your needs- there is so much info out there it can become confusing.  I am sure the folks on this forumn will help anwser your questions and guide you alonge, as they have always seemed a helpful group.  Best of luck in your new venture.

[leonz]

I was not making a sales pitch for the Chomper.

If the gentlman is having this much trouble perhaps
he needs to examine how he/they are doing things.

It may be as simple as

1. separating the tasks of bucking and splitting:
   cutting a whole load and setting the rounds in
   one long row one day then splitting it with the four of
   them the next day by doing one specific task until it is
   completed entirely.  


2. segregating the large logs from the smaller ones upon delivery.
a. making sure the pile is no higher than 4 feet high when unloaded.  
3. cutting the logs into 8 foot bolts to maintain a fluid work load rather
   than dealing with a log length that is longer than the trailer if delivered
   that way and avoid having to roll the rounds to the splitter by working from one
   continuos length of stacked rounds leaving the larger rounds in a separated run at all times.



4. process the larger logs when the smaller ones are
  split and removed.


If his work area is too congested with logs and the cutters
that is an automatic NO NO as anything can happen at
anytime.




Its no different than a relative of mine stupidly doing his brand
of clear cutting for building lots by making a path that limits his
chance of a safe escape/egress route when felling timber and
my laboring to explain why he needed to work from the outside
in as it is the second growth white oak timber he was clearing
was too dangerous to work the way he was doing it period
and his telling me to )(*&^%^&*() off, fortunately for him,
he did not get anyone killed with his stupidity.




I was simply stating that the Chomper with its shearing and splitting
funtion in one movement is the fastest and simplest way to process
firewood as no chainsaw or log splitter is needed for wood up to
16 inchs in diameter.

It would be simple enough to uses band saw mill or a ripping mill to bring
the larger diameter logs down to a size that could be fed through the
chomper with ease.

   
My 30 plus years of experience involving hydraulic repairs and
rebuilding mining equipment provide me with enough knowledge
regarding mining equipment and hydraulics to see what works
and its simplicity in operation is what is important and so
effective in processing log length firewood for the user as it
uses a winch to pull the logs into the shearing chamber
eliminating any need  for a machine to load logs or an active/live
log deck.

Why work harder when you do not have to????????? eh eh

[tomsteve]

get used to the 15hrs.
debt is coming--new equipt. or repair old
decide what you can handle
consult the love of your life--don"t leave her out
talk to the accountant who does your taxes
create a mission statement and business plan
good luck

sound advise. 15 hour days will get ya hating it eventually. theres nothing wrong with making an honest, dependable, hard working employee( and preferrably one with knowledge of the business and some common sense) into a foreman and give him some responsibility.  dont be afraid to ask your employees if they have any ideas to get more production. it takes money to make money. and when the firewood season slows down, keep cuttin and stockin up.

[Jeff]

I was not making a sales pitch for the Chomper.

Is this large type your way of raising your voice to me?  I'd be a bit careful with that. More than one person saw your post as an ad. it is my job to investigate and make a decision on whether it is or not. That's my job here. One of many. If you say it isn't. I'm certainly willing to take your word for it but using that large font to do so sways me towards thinking the negative again.

[leonz]

I have poor eyesight that is why I use the larger type.

I have been cutting and burning wood and coal for 29 years.

EDIT: The Rainier Hydraulics Company only sells their line of firewood processors
directly from the factory.

[Jeff]

I'd say okay to that as well but have to ask why are all your other posts in normal font and why are you worried about making it bigger for yourself when it is meant for someone else to read? I can assure you for future reference, that my eyes are fine and I can read your answer without the boost in font size.

  Let us just leave it at this. You were not posting an ad, and you can't see very well. I'll take you at your word for both events and we'll drop the whole thing right here.

[zopi]

Heck, at the begonning stage of the game, I would even debate the need for a processor....a good quality splitter, yeah, but that big am investment when one is not completely sire of supply lines or or the reliability of the market? Nah...would be like running out and buying a shiny new lt_70 with the intention of starting up a sawing business...never having sawed a log or sold a stick of lumber...
Heck, I debate the use of big mechanozed processors in a small biz anyway...that is alot of coin to put down on one profit center which fluctuates....

[bull]

Wow its been ten days with no new reply from JR Services didja scare him away !!!

[sparky1]

I for one am all about working smarter and not harder.. And Its deffinetly true you have to spend money to make money.. and usually true you have to have money to make money  (the rich get richer sorta thing)...

So basically Im screwed, i dont have money to make money, nor can i spend money to make money!! :D.

[mrwood]

Boy sparky. I'll second you on that. I don't have nickles to rub together so I would not succeed either. That is why I have converted to the religion if hill billy. Fix everything cheap. Make it even cheaper and have a whole lot of free fun with other such hill billies

[sparky1]

hahaha :D

[jueston]

Boy sparky. I'll second you on that. I don't have nickles to rub together so I would not succeed either. That is why I have converted to the religion if hill billy. Fix everything cheap. Make it even cheaper and have a whole lot of free fun with other such hill billies

i think thats a better way of life then spending money to make more money and not enjoying any of it....