Processing Firewood? Hire it done?

[foggy]

Some have discussed how to get some money out of their property. Here's one way to do it:http://brainerd.craigslist.org/grd/5091626312.html

With good firewood bringing $150 to $200 / cord.....getting the wood processed might be a good way to pull some money out of your timberland......and create better deer habitat.

 

[BJE80]

Who cuts down the trees and hauls them to the processing location at that price?

 

[MoLandOwner]

Making the firewood is the easy part. Delivery is the expensive part.

 

[foggy]

^ Yep. Might not be for everyone. But it could be viable for a few situations. I can see felling the trees and prepping the wood for the processor.

Edit: After I posted this.......I thought of MYSELF. The power company came thru my land three years ago.....and cut down a bunch of trees and stacked the timber along the property line (oak, aspen, and some jack pine). I got the guy coming to look at it tomorrow.....because he is working in the area. Might have 20 cords to have him process. My cost would be about 400 for as much as $4000 worth of wood. At least it wouldn't go to waste.

The guy operates all over northern MN. He's kinda a "one-man band".....with a bobcat to load and his processor to cut it up and pile it or haul it away. With my back being what it is....I could never get this done myself.

 

[bowhunternw]

Does anyone process their own, I have thought about doing this with my son as kind of a winter project and giving him the profits. I am wondering if their is a market for aspen or do you need to mix it with oak, or a another hardwood to be appealing.

 

[dipper]

Otherwise my woods heats my house, garage and hot tub. Nothing better than sliding in the hot tub after a good day cutting wood, and caring less about the thermostat.
I'd suggest selling local, and burning your own. After trying to be a tough guy for way too long, buy a splitter!

 

[bueller]

Several of my neighbors pay a couple hundred bucks to have large tree trunks dropped off to them. They then cut, split, and stack the wood themselves. They burn it to heat their homes during winter. Between paying for the wood and all the gasoline and wear and tear on their equipment I can't see how they think its worth it. And then all that time and labor invested, not for me.

 

[wiscwhip]

One thing a guy has to be very conscious of now is the restrictions against moving firewood from one location to another. The little bit of true profit a guy could make from an endeavor like this would surely be down the tubes if one were to have to pay fines for illegal transport of firewood. Here are the links to both WI and MN rules.

http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/invasives/firewood.html

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/firewood/index.html

As far as whether or not a softwood like aspen is "worth" anything as firewood, it really depends on the consumer. Back in the mid/late 80's when I was in high school, a buddy and I were dating a few gals from Barrington Hills, IL and one of the gals fathers asked us to bring him some wood for his fireplace for when he was entertaining guests. He wanted the "stuff with the white bark that crackles when it burns". Apparently that was the "cool" thing to burn and he paid us well for it. After supplying him with a half a pickup bed full, he told his buddies and we had a steady cash flow gig every other weekend for the whole summer driving loads of aspen and birch to the Chicago area so rich folks could impress their neighbors and we were getting some of that IL "stuff" to boot.;) We paid for our weekend trips to IL and had money left over when we got back to WI.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

" Fringe benefits " huh, Whip ???:D I take it the wood and spending cash was a means to an end ???;)

Maybe it's just me, but I enjoy cutting firewood. I heat the house ( mainly ) with wood, and using the utility's winter cost calculator, we've saved over $ 40,000 since we've lived here. I have a ready supply of wood and make no special trips to get it as I'm already there to hunt. I might as well bring the truck home " full " as empty. I cut a year or 2 ahead to allow for seasoning. AND ..... I like the feeling of satisfaction I get when I see those piles of ranked firewood ready for a cold, crappy winter. Wife loves a fire in the fireplace insert woodstove in cold weather !! ( hydraulic splitter tho - no young pup anymore !!! )

 

[Bowsnbucks]

NH - It's funny you mentioned you remember some pieces. I do too. The ones I remember are the " cookies " I cut from the stumps of trees that others have left. On state timber sales near me, guys let 2 or 3 ft. of usable wood on stumps. I drive by and see them and cut several " slices " from the butt end about 3" thick. They dry quickly and when too big to fit in the stove, I just tap 'em with my hatchet and they break into manageable pieces. The oak ones make a great " over-nighter " before going to bed. I just lay them on top of the coals and they go all night. I hate waste - left wood becomes MY wood. I remember where I cut those especially.

 

[foggy]

^ I remember clearing land for a new home I built some 40 years ago. Lotsa red elm trees that died due to elm disease. I was quite fit and able-bodied....and probably not too bright. I was manhandling elm stumps onto a semi trailer to haul them away.....when I hurt my back. Simply lifted more than I should have and remember a "popping" event.

After that event....I hurt my back repeatably making wood and during other work and recreational events. Lotsa pain.....and surgery finally followed. It was not worth it and I regret anything about wood burning. It's sure putting a damper on what I can do now. I got either injections..... or another surgery to come in the next weeks/month.

I'm currently on the injured reserve list and unable to do much due to my lower back injury resulting from lifting wood. Grrrr. Take care of your back.....and don't overdo it.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Cutting firewood or doing a lot of other ordinary chores ....... backs need caution & care. You're absolutely right, Foggy. One bad event can ruin you for life.

 

[Jim Timber]

I'll be running my new splitter for the first time this weekend if it's not too muggy out. I have a trade lined up for a generator in exchange for 2 cords of oak. I already have the stuff cut and most of it bucked, but I need to split and move it.

Swinging a maul is good honest work, but I'd rather just lift the round onto the splitter and pull the valve open. :)

 

[wiscwhip]

We put up a lot of firewood when I was a kid. We burned it for supplemental heat in the house, primary heat source in the garage/workshop, and we also burned plenty during the summer months for camping and get-togethers. The part I hated most was the stacking. I would run a saw or even swing a splitting maul before I would volunteer to be the guy stacking the wood.

 

[sandbur]

I paid for lots of college with firewood sales.

I've got a story to divert the thread..
There is an older gentleman who is a friend of mine and he lives about 15 miles north of foggy's hunting ground. He is 83 or 84 and wants to have 3 years of wood on hand. He was under the knife for cancer and now has a bit of pain/bulge in that location. Maybe hernia, maybe worse.

Doc says he does not want to cut on him any more and asks what he has been doing. He says he cuts wood and then lifts the 50 pound blocks on the splitter, then stacks it. He says he can only go about 2 hours and has to take a break/nap. Fifty pounds is about all he can lift.

Doc taps him on the leg and just tells him to keep doing what he has been doing!

Not related to the thread, but a neat story.