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its wood sellin time

Started by OH logger, September 09, 2017, 08:31:09 PM

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GRANITEstateMP

Quote from: woodshax on September 20, 2017, 08:15:34 AM
So....I gotta ask....how do you guys get your processing costs down so you can make a profit at some of the lower price points......even with free trees My labor costs are still about $150 a cord......I guess if I did all the labor then that would be my profit minus gas and wear and tear on equipment.....but it is hot here in Texas and I am old.

woodshax,

  $150 a cord seems pretty darn steep.  I am very lucky, my guys / helpers, trade off labor for discounted firewood.  I sell them their cords at or bellow what I pay for the wood.  It works good for them and good for me.  The only real "labor" costs I run into is tossing some money to my dad, he's a big help and doesn't burn wood, and pay a local high school kid or two to stack wood to dry down for next year.  We aren't a super big time operation but we move some wood and I try to keep overhead LOW.  We've put out just under 70 cord so far this year and I figure we'll be somewhere in the 85ish range by the time we call it a season.  Hope that helps.

ps - We process on a Hakki Pilke 1x37 processor.  Not exactly a world stopper, but it beats doin' it by hand.

Matt
Hakki Pilke 1x37
Kubota M6040
Load Trail 12ft Dump Trailer
2015 GMC 3500HD SRW
2016 Polaris 450HO
2016 Polaris 570
SureTrac 12ft Dump Trailer

OH logger

I get about $30-$33 per cord in splitting it. maybe $30/cord delivery (not real sure). wholesale wood is cheaper but my bro delivers a semi of wood for $16 a cord sinse the truck is goin close to the customer any way.  I get the wood for "free" as its a by product of my logging. the landowners seem to like it cause its less mess they have to look at. however I don't pull firewood out of the woods unless its FAST AND EASY. if its not both of those it stays where it lays. I'm already goin to the job but I know my truck drinks extra fuel pullin the gooseneck and 3 or 4 cord of wood. and more wear and tear...heck after all this stuff addin up maybe I'm not chargin enough  ;D.  I would love to charge more but I'm makin a little extra coin which is great when its too wet to log. also I'm already the most expensive around here. its really all relative. I don't sell my wood for as much as some on here can but maybe I don't have the inputs that some on here do. it all prolly comes out in the wash  ;)
john

Gearbox

I figure if they don't want to pay top dollar for 2 year dry now . Someone will in January or Feb. I won't deliver in the winter if they don't want it in the fall they can come get when they run out .
A bunch of chainsaws a BT6870 processer , TC 5 International track skidder and not near enough time

rjwoelk

Quote from: woodshax on September 20, 2017, 08:15:34 AM
So....I gotta ask....how do you guys get your processing costs down so you can make a profit at some of the lower price points......even with free trees My labor costs are still about $150 a cord......I guess if I did all the labor then that would be my profit minus gas and wear and tear on equipment.....but it is hot here in Texas and I am old.
You say your labour cost is 150 a cord. please explain. It takes 1 hr to process a cord by myself. It takes a couple of min to put the 1/3 cord vented bag away with the loader, and a couple of min to put it on the customers truck. My expense is 220 a cord to get it to my place,(5 hr drive) then add investment, processor, tractors support equipment, fuel  repairs chains oil etc labour,The less manual labour the greater the return. then the dirty word PROFIT :D If i cant make a good profit why would I do it. We sell for $475 a cord.
Lt15 palax wood processor,3020 JD 7120 CIH 36x72 hay shed for workshop coop tractor with a duetz for power plant

Tim

Quote from: woodshax on September 20, 2017, 08:15:34 AM
So....I gotta ask....how do you guys get your processing costs down so you can make a profit at some of the lower price points......even with free trees My labor costs are still about $150 a cord......I guess if I did all the labor then that would be my profit minus gas and wear and tear on equipment.....but it is hot here in Texas and I am old.

Are you counting in bagging Woodshax
?
Eastern White Cedar Shingles

woodshax

Yes,  Bagging as well.  My only processing automation is a wood splitter, skid steer for moving totes, a bagging table we made and a bundler we made

woodshax

So it is a toss up for me.....invest in a processor, conveyor and more automated bagging equipment or take the higher costs and pay for split wood at 18 inches in totes or dino bags at $225- 250 a full cord and then another $50 to $75 a cord to bag.  We will do about 200 cords this year with 75% being bagged in 2 CF by volume bags and the other 25% as .75 cuft bundles...... then they are delivered to State parks and stocked.... but price to the camper is about $1200 a cord so the delta is still pretty good but could be better if we automated the entire process

Tim

How many cord a day are your people putting up Woodshax?
Eastern White Cedar Shingles

woodshax

Depends on the wood source ......wood lots with free wood we can cut down cut split and bag and transport about 2.5 cords a week

Log length about 4 cords a week

Already cut and split (with resplitting some larger cuts) 4 cords a day....but most of the summer it is over 100 degrees here every day so if I have them out too long or too many days in a row they are liable to catch fire

rjwoelk

Sorry woodshax did not realize you were doing small bags.  When we do it we have the vented bag beside the packer, from there to a pallet, put 15 per pellet more than that seems to just fall off. I had 2 cord done up for him he gets payed a $1 per bag and he did 120 bags (bags are $1.25 each) in 5 hours. We did it by the bag so the faster they work the more they make a hr. We are not sure if we will continue with the bags,    we do sell them for $13 for the bigger bag, the packer is 2 ft long by 13 inch wood. It is about 66 bags to the cord .So we do better  but dont sell many bags. We dont do any deliverys if they want wood they stop at the  farm and pick it up. All depends if we can get Jack pine in , small logs, most of the time 1 split. They are to0 difficult to pick up with the forks, want to fall off  etc, and if we do birch we would fill the bags only half full or they would be too heavy, would be about 60 lbs, the bags may not take that.
Lt15 palax wood processor,3020 JD 7120 CIH 36x72 hay shed for workshop coop tractor with a duetz for power plant

Brandon1986

$275 per cord for seasoned birch up here in AK.. 5 cord an hour peak production on a 48" Cord King..

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