We've finally processed all the free wood stacked up in the wood yard. We're moving on to the barkless pine! #firewood #smallbusiness #pine #firewoodproduction #maine
Time is so very important in the firewood business I ended up buying all my wood it was delivered I did not have wear and tear on my truck and trailer but I did not have a saw mill as you do. I was doing 50 tri-axle loads per year and I needed good pole wood for the processor every ones firewood business is different and you have to do what is best for your operation. stay safe and keep that thumb out of the way
Your right time is key . Just hard to wrap my head around buying wood but numbers don’t lie so we’re gona try doing things a lil differently this yr . Free wood is like a drug lol hard to give it up but I’m going to slowly ween myself off of it by buying in loads . Should give me more time in the Woodyard to be making wood .
Karen, wanted to share with you an old remedy, I as a kid in high school on the weekends during the winter I shopped corn for a farmer.They invited me in for lunch one day and I was froze I could not keep my legs from jumping.She said are you cold we will fix that before you go back out she put a piece of steel in the oven while we ate and when we were done eating we were getting dressed to go out I got my coveralls on she reached in the over with pliers pulled out the little piece of steel put it in a sock rolled it up put it in my left pocket warm the rest of the day I hope this makes scenes 😊
For the size of operation you guys have the barkless loads would be the way to go for camp wood, but from the way you said, Phil, i don't think you will get enough to make it through the year for sales. I'd say go get the tree service wood when you can. It would be nice if their jobs were a little closer. I haven't personally purchased any logs, but i don't have the sales nor the operation you guys have. At least 80% of the wood I've gotten over the last year, tree service guys have brought it to me. 😁 They save a little money from no having to pay dump fees at the landfill. Anyways, keep up the great work! 👍
I belive I can get more loads from another guy but he’s a lot more expensive. I might just buy one load an see if it works out . Every yr we get more efficient and need more wood so I’m gona have to start buying in loads . I think my time is better spent in the Woodyard but I’m gona keep 2 of my best tree guys that I pick up from . I do have a few guys that bring it to me like you and I like that as long as they don’t dump a load of junk that I have to haul off .
Definitely buy all the reasonably priced sawmill reject loads. Even 4-5 loads a year @ 80% yield for bundle wood is huge. Buying good quality raw materials is the best way to focus on your products and maximizing your profits… Firewood production is a prime example of “garbage in garbage out”
That’s the plan . The yeald is so good on the sawlogs compared to tree service stuff . I might even pay a lil extra to get a load from another guy I know . The deal with the tree guys is I take it all hardwood and pine so they might not be happy if I don’t take the pine .
lol should do a video on just that ha ha . Gona take all day to clean that truck at this point . Maybe next crappy do I will pull it in the shop an get started .
Hello Phil and Karen. The time you waste traveling to get the free wood, the loss with trimming the bark off and the clean up of all the waste tells me you are better off getting the barkless wood. You can still pick up free wood when the other stuff isn’t available. Maybe you can charge more for the metal infused wood because the metal will carry higher heat for a longer time. Thanks for another good video
I think ya right dono working with the barkless logs really has changed my mind about going to go get so called free wood . You might be onto something with the metal infused wood lol . Was splitting today and got a bunch of lead from some of the rounds .
Sawmill rejects can be fun have a lot of cool souvenirs on the wall in the shop. Looking forward to the all wood bs buster. Big wood makes nice bundle grade.
It’s up to you Phil, I’m not in the firewood business but I have watched you for a long, long time and I am somewhat familiar with your operation. If it was me I would rather someone deliver logs to me and pay the extra cash just for the convenience alone. Have you ever calculated the cost for fuel, tires, wear and tear on your trailer, and your time plus the liability and risk involved towing a trailer load of logs down a busy highway. And your time has to be worth plenty, I’m sure when you two are producing firewood together it’s worth at least 1 Benjamin an hour? Free wood is nice, but it’s far from free, unless they deliver. Just my 2 cents worth Phil, your videos are great. 😊
Oh yeah the backless pine delivered is way more beneficial to us. But we’ve calculated the cost Togo pick up the tree service wood and we’re not ahead of the game there but it gives us our hardwood that we sell for heating wood and also the saw logs that we produce lumber with that sells for a premium price. A lot of pieces to the puzzle and I think we need all of it to keep thriving and keeping our business growing
@@AllenFamilyFirewood what is the cost of buying hardwood delivered vs two people picking up free wood as your man hours are actually double the 2-3hrs required.?
I have done both over the last few years, and it seems to work out well for me. For my free wood from the time i leave the house and get back, I am gone 2.5 to 3 hours, and i have little over a half cord cut and split. I dont think that's too bad of a trade-off.😉👍
Hello guys I found out this year just for me I went and cut trees for my self and had wood delivered and I never ran out of wood but the wood that was delivered was from my logging buddy it wasn't the greatest it all clean up from a logging job. I made do Time to process the wood is the key. Thank guys
I’m learning that time spent in the Woodyard makes us more $ than out driving to get free wood but I like the change up . We’ve goten a few partial loads of hardwood from the log truck and it’s all tree service wood but the price is right .
I think you need both The bark less logs are pine. But you need hardwood too. And the backless logs are in short supply. Ideally paying somebody to pick up the free stuff would be an alternative.
We definitely need both Steve. We’ll probably keep picking up the tree service wood as I think paying someone to haul it would cost us more. But we’ll be examining that too to see if it would work. One thing at a time, right now we’re focused on producing wood and getting it stacked up for drying. Building that inventory
I have one further comment and I am sure not one you want to hear. The two of you cannot keep up this seven day a week frenzied pace and remain healthy and productive forever. You need help with something, even a part timer looking to keep busy. And Phil wanting more stands puts more strain on the process (you struggled to service the stands you had last summer!!!!). I love watching your videos but it is hard to watch the overworking at times.
Looking formal to your collaboration with russ. As for the wood when you include saw logs it sounds like some of both options is the best. See ya on the next one phil and Karen
I think we’re gona keep the 2 best tree company’s . I went an got a load yesterday and he gave me a $50 bill for coming to come pick up the wood . Hard to say no to that . Hopefully we can get more loads of that barkless logs it’s the. That Al wood is gona be fun to play with .
Hi Phil and Karen. You are much better served to have wood delivered rather than go get it. Time is money. You could pay as much as $150 to $175 per cord of pine logs and still make out way better than picking up logs yourself. In 15 to 20 hours, you can cut and process at least 10 cords of firewood. I think you would make your money back in efficiency alone and be way ahead for the bundle season. Thanks for teaching us some things today. Keep up the great work!
I think ya right especially on the pine . Tree company’s want me to take all of it hardwood and pine . The hardwood is definitely worth going to pick up but not the pine . I sure do like them loads of barkless pine .
@AllenFamilyFirewood You know how to make quick work of them. You set a pretty high bar for others to strive for. You and Karen are great mentors for the firewood community. Cheers!
It's all a good deal. Figure out a way to streamline stacking and bagging and you have a gold mine. Taking a ride gives you some time to think and make plans.
I think this coming Tuesday we are going to talk about some of the changes we are going to make to how we get wood . We got a lot of good ideas from the comments so it’s time for a few changes .
Been reading through comments and it sounds like not much is going to change but I would also say that if you can only get 5 or 6 loads of the bark less at the price you want, you’ll have to keep picking up the free stuff. Either way, you’ll run the risk of metal especially in homeowner yard wood (that isn’t tagged at all). Maybe consider keeping the travel distance shorter? 2 hour round trip travel seems a bit excessive. Not sure if that will kill the free wood altogether, but it’s worth considering. I guess it boils down to the need at the time. Keeping a good relationship with the tree service guys is important but so is your time. And don’t forget, sometimes a little windshield time is good for your sanity!
Couldn’t have said it better! All true points. Honestly when it’s 80 degrees and humid in the summer it’s not so bad to hop in the air conditioned truck and go for a ride to get wood. Thanks for your thoughts!
That’s exactly what we’re going to do. Can’t put all our eggs in one basket and we need both. Sure is nice having it delivered though and we’ll take full advantage of it
You are making me miss my Jonsered. Those are some good-looking logs. That metal would really mess up a sawmill..They break your heart when you hit them with a chainsaw too. You guys now have the snow and cold and we are a thawed out muddy mess. A lot of the free wood is hardwood isn't it. One mile down the road from me there are hundreds of pine trees as big as the ones you are cutting that have been pushed over and no one wants them but we can't hardly give pine away around here.
I love running that 2171 jonsered it’s my favorite saw . Got 2 more big storms coming later this week that are going to dump a fair amount of snow . The tree guys tend to have more pine than hardwood but I’ve always taken it all .
We perdy much can’t keep up with what we’re doing so we’re gona change things up an try to do less of the stuff that don’t pay and more of the stuff that does . We’re going to talk about the changes in Tuesdays video .
I'd go with the Barkless but you're only getting four or five loads a year you're still going to have to go get free wood to keep up with how much you sell
phil what i did almost 10 years ago with tree service wood was if they bring out a almost full load in either their dump trucks or dump trailers I give them 25 bucks.. now thst im away from the wood yard up north i have them click a pic of the load and a pic of it dumped and I cash app em. they like it cause it pays their gas or diesel to my place and yes when i have the opportunity i buy logs from mills and loggers. farmers are my biggest suppliers but i go get it.. but im set up for it too. a 40 ft triple axel 9 ton axel trailer i pull with an old kenworth semi. but alot of tree service wood goes in my burn hole cause some aint worth dealing with like crotches ..just buzz em out and toss em.
If I had a log truck or a self loading trailer I could have more wood than I could possibly use . The crane guy produces 10-15 cord a week yr round but I’m no good at fixing stuff and them log trucks need lots of maintenance. I just don’t want all my eggs in one basket so I’m gona try a few new things this yr an hopefully not make the wrong decision.
Yes, the barkless pine has metal in it, but its luck of the draw if you hit is. The barkless makes a lot of nice bundle grade, which brings in $$$$. I think the barkless wood is the btter bang for your buck because you save on wear and tear on your truck and your time. Time is money! 😎
I’m thinking the same thing but the deal with the tree guys is I take it all pine , hardwood and sawlogs . I’m gona talk to them an see if they can find a guy to take there pine .
I agree with your reasoning to get more of the barkless logs. What would also be interesting is if you could get a lead on loggers that do clearing jobs in your general area that want to sell firewood. Mostly that would be lower grade wood than the barkless logs, and you would have to factor in the transport costs as it is usually a bigger part of the cost. But both Chris from "in the woodyard" and Joe from "ohio woodburner" use these as their main supply. I personally think your time is worth more than you get out of hauling these trailer loads. Just do the math, you get maybe 2 cord per trailer at a cost of 3.5 hours and you can probably cut and split 4 or 5 cords in that time. Like Chris always says, time is the only commodity you cannot get back.
I think the barkless logs are a no brainer . As for hardwood everyone wants $150- 160 pr cord and that’s a loggers cord so it would take 9 cord to make 8 of what I sell . I have goten a few partial loads from my trucking guy but it’s tree service wood not the strait poles that bring top $ . I think I can work with the price I’m paying for it . Figuring in that if I’m not out driving to get a load and instead I’m splitting it should average out .
Gooooooooood afternoon guys . I use to get cull logs from Weyerhaeuser full of iron . After a while it was not worth the free price of time and chains . The best wood was cull post I use to could get . All pine and 4 way splits and go . I don’t sale a lot of pine here in NC . Mostly hard wood .
Time and money......when I have money, I buy logs delivered, super easy. When I've got a lot of money tied up in log, my time gets invested instead. Either way, keep it coming 🔥
Free wood vs sawmill wood they both have their good and bad points one thing with the free wood you’re getting the hard wood to sell for dry wood and the barkless Pine, you’ll makeout better on too but the one thing that I can tell you that in the last 16 months in New Hampshire, we’ve had somewhere around nine sawmills go out of business so that’s something that might wanna keep in the back of your mind but what you were saying is all good points I still would do both. I take the free and with my own truck I pick up the ironwood and I pedal that off. Let us know what you decide but remember if those mills that you’re getting it from go out where will you be Great video great questions and again let us know what you find out. I’ll be watching for Friday, but as far as this video goes great job you two keep them coming. Have a good week and be safe week Lee Hillsgrove Trucking signing off 👍
I think if I had the saw logs I could sell all the 12 in wide pine I could make . Smaller boards the 8 and 6 in don’t sell very good for us . I think I’m going to keep my 2 best tree company’s an keep hauling there wood . I went an got a load yesterday and he pd me $50 for coming to get it , hard to beat that as it was all hardwood . I’m also gona try an get more loads of the barkless logs . The yeald on the bundle grade really makes it worth paying for them .
@ that’s what I’ve been doing for the last 42 years keeping as many doors open as possible some I don’t make as much as others, but it all balances out and so long as I can pay my bills lol thanks for getting back to me
Phil and Karen it’s a shame that blue couldn’t help out in the wood yard 👍looks like things are going pretty well for you guys in the wood yard so far 😮😊❤
The old saying is time is money. You can always make money but you can't make time. I owned my business for many years and it took me 15 of those years to realize one thing . If you follow this rule you will make the right choice every time . If you work more to make more you win but if you work more to make more than spend more you loose. Your looking at the right way.
@@AllenFamilyFirewood You can look at it this way your time is worth $65.00 an hour your equipment is worth $100.00 and hour and any works time is worth $30.00 an hour then add in $20.00 an hour for maintenance, then your fule of that equals $215.00 plus fule for every load you pick up then add in the loss of production on top. If that is a cord an hour then add in how many loads it will take you to equal one truck load of logs. I'm thinking up front you might put out more until the sales come in. You can always keep the self pick up for good saw logs that your not going to get from the mills and if the mills shut down. Your looking at thing the Wright way.
I would do both if you can. There is a lot of value in the bought logs as far as being mostly bundle wood. The so called free wood gets you the saw logs. Instead of peeling the bark, just throw that in your bulk camp wood. If you say no to the free wood, it opens up the door for someone else to get in and take it all. Just my $.02.
The tree service guys have been really good to me over the years so I won’t stop picking up the wood. But it’s a bonus getting these barkless logs delivered so I can’t complain
As much wood as you guys go through I think keep doing both. Plus the tree service pick ups give you content for videos to make gobs of money on RUclips😂 Have a great one👍👍
I think we’re gona keep our 2 best tree guys to go pick up from . It’s definitely worth picking up the hardwood but not the pine . I still say we could make more money for our time spent picking up cans on the side of the rd for the 5 cent deposit than we make on RUclips lol .
But its 4 loads you don't have to be aggravated worrying about hitting the tree service schedule. I am waiting on Friday to decide on my venture with splitters.
It’s definitely more productive for us to get the log truck loads and be here splitting instead of out driving to get it . There’s so many manufacturers out there . Wolf ridge , all wood , Easton made ,split force are all good choices in my book . I’ve never been a brand guy I look for what fits my need at a price I can live with . I can say any of the companys I mentioned all make top quality splitters .
As far as all the shot chunks you should find some people with small pizza ovens we sell boxes and boxes of it that’s where I make $27,000 a year and pizza Greenwood those little one footers they love it
We advertised pizza wood once and didn’t get any calls . I think if we built another stand at all our locations an bagged up the chunks it would sell faster than we produce it . We had luck just advertising it as camp fire wood . We sell the split chunks for $50 pr tote if they come pick it up $100 if I have to deliver it . Sold about a dozen totes full last yr hopefully we sell more this year.
Looking forward to the splitting race 😊 I'd say getting the truck loads would be better than the tree service wood, but it's hard to turn down free (plus costs of picking it up).
Really like getting the barkless pine but we’ll always take the free wood too. We’ll take advantage of being able to keep going in the woodyard while we’re working through this big pile
It's a no brainer. Time = $$. Have it delivered. Also consider hiring a person to just go get the Tree Guys wood when you get that call. That way you have the best of both worlds. Great Video ❤💜
Would love to have someone pick it up and bring it to me but that would cost a lot more than me picking it up myself. We’re making out pretty well doing both so far. Thanks mom
I got a feeling ole buster might stand a chance single wedge against single wedge but that all wood has a 4 way and a 6 way and would eat ole buster for breakfast in a production competition.
In an older video from Chris at In the Woodyard he calculated he makes more money per hour buying semi loads of logs vs getting free wood any distance away. The only time tree service wood is really free is if you get it delivered to your woodyard. As for the small amount of saw logs you get from tree services, I would find a local mill and get some of their mill rejects (not because of metal) and get those delivered. It might be more work to mill them if they are small or really crooked, but they still produce good lumber.
I think we’re going to be getting more an more of the log truck loads . For the price and time saved it just makes sence . I’m gona keep 2 of my best tree service guys an keep getting wood from them as well . I kinda like the break from the Woodyard every now and then when I go get loads . Hopefully they can get us more saw logs this yr for the mill .
I believe the video you are referencing maybe had more to do with actually felling and limbing plus loading not just show up at job site and get loaded.🤔
Phil, great video. The saying goes dam if you do & dam if you don’t. Watching how you process the mill logs & how much bundle wood you get out of each piece, I say purchase all you can from the mill. Free wood is good wood but how much is your time worth. Is Wiley’s Firewood bringing his new splitter down or did he stop on his way home last week? I think that All Wood splitter is about the fastest horizontal splitter around for a commercial splitter. TY Phil & Karen for the informative video. Dave from Maine.👍🇺🇸
@, oops, did I blow your surprise? Sorry if I did. I don’t think there is a Horizontal splitter in Maine as fast as the All Wood. I would love to see that one in action. Can’t wait for the video to be downloaded. As Joe @ OWB would say, Have a great day.👍 Dave from Maine.
Get the peeled logs when possible, the not so free wood as a back up, you have to weight it and see, yes the saw logs are great, but how many do you get. Not an easy decision except it’s easier on you, Karen and your truck, trailer maintenance and fuel to buy peeled logs. Best advice ask Karen, as she is the brains in the outfit. lol cheers my friend.
Scott’s recreation in turner is ware we got it . They have a website that list all the stuff they sell and the prices . I think we pd $1200 but we also had a friend make the back of the bucket taller so the rounds wouldn’t fall back on the nose of the tractor. That was an additional $500 .
Haha the safety police are out there, sorry but I'm old school and ya it will probably bite me in the ass, I know, I know. Lol, clean the house, get food. 24 hours isn't enough 😅. Looking forward to Russ and Kevin joining the show.
I should do a video without the chaps on to see if there still watching lol . Gona be fun running that . If I lay down next to it when I run it it should be just like running buster lol.
Figure your time @ $100 per hour going to get wood. If you pay for wood to be delivered that gives you more time producing sellable wood. You will find yourself farther ahead and you'll get inventory built up faster and may be able to take a day and goof off.
A day off ??? You mean people take time off lol . I think ya $100 pr hr is spot on if ya add in the cost of the truck gas ins and pay myself $30 pr hr . Think I’m gona start doing more bought in wood .
That is a loaded question. I am willing to bet you will never get a stick of cherry in your purchased load. Not to mention all of the free pallet logs you mill. I have watched you make some beautiful planks from the free wood as well. As well as the hardwood you sell from the jobs. Then there is also the quality time you get from time to time with your wonderful wife. If the 20% better yield will pay for all of that, then I would say you would be a fool to chase the tree service. But you can look at it a different way as well. If the sales from the free wood pays for everything including purchasing and processing the peeled logs, the 20% is no longer a fictitious number. But free profit. Otherwise the higher yield is eaten up by the cost of the logs and pallets. Not to mention the sales from the hardwood. You will be right back where you started! In short I would have to say keep doing both.
It’s a tough one . I think we’re gona keep getting the tree service wood for the hardwood and saw logs and keep buying the pine . I’m just not sure how it’s going to work out with the tree guys as I have always taken all of there wood . The more we upgrade the Woodyard and get better equipment the faster we are making wood so I think that eventually I will have to buy in more an more as we get more efficient.
Pretty sure you guys already know which way is the most efficient. It's also way less aggravation. Just the ease of stacking alone would make up my mind. (if I stacked wood, that is)
The time savings of not having to go get the free wood alone makes it worth it and add in the time saving of not having to de bark each round definitely makes buying them well worth it . The yield of bundle grade just sweetens the deal .
I struggle to find wood to split. You struggle to keep taking free wood or buy beautiful barkless logs on the cheap😂 I say do both but just limit picking up tree service wood unless that will ruin your relationship with them! Tree service will also get you more varieties of species, cherry, oak and even saw logs there’s that! Those skinless logs sure do speed things up and get more profit at the end of the day? You also have to consider how many free tree service saw logs you have gotten a lot of sellable lumber out of and all the pallet wood you have made🤷♂️ Man I wish too much wood was my struggle like it is yours😂 Take care Phil and Karen👊🏻
I’m gona keep my 2 best tree guys that I pick up from and tell the rest no more pine but hardwood is ok . . Them barkless logs are the way to go for bundle wood I’m just not sure I can get enuf of it . By keeping the 2 tree guys I will still get a fair amount of the saw logs plus I have a few guys that bring loads of mixed wood here . I went an got a load the day before that was hardwood and he pd me $50 for coming to get it and it even had some cherry in there , can’t go wrong with that .
Phil/Karen, y'all know I'm not in the firewood business. Just an interested viewer. But I think the physical/mental break you get when you go get the "free" tree service wood is beneficial. Yeah sometimes you might only get one or two saw logs. But when you do get them, Phil, your face lights up. So sure, buy all the mill log loads you can. But I don't think they can keep you fully supplied. (You pretty much said that in the video). Y'all take care. Come on Friday!
Looking forward to the race. Is it Heath's 1 cord 2 guy challenge? Buster is fast but those allwoods. My money is on you guys. I'd definitely get b your 4 loads per year and still get the free wood lol. I want both! 😂. Great video
Me a buster had a chat and we have come to the realization that I’m the weak link so I won’t be doing the 1 cord challenge. When we did the 1/3 challenge it about did me in . That all wood is wicked fast especially with a 4 way or a 6 way , it also has the grunt to just send the wood through . I think I’m gona keep my best 2 tree company’s and start buying in more wood .
Been sometime since last on YTube, always great catching up on videos. I have to ask, what happened to Dana and S'more Firewood. Can't find his content anywhere. Hope all is well with you 2! Cheers 🪵🪓
Dana ended up shutting it down . They just didn’t have the time to keep it going with the return they were getting from it . I’m sure he will be in some of our future videos .
I’ve never sharpened it . When Dana built it he had it so you could shave with it . It’s not that sharp anymore but it seems to cut right through the knots most of the time .
Definitely buying wood. You can make more profit I am sure. I got guy last year started bringing me loads of wood. If I kick him a 50 it saves me so much time over going getting it myself.
It truly does make more sense and ups production. But we can’t cancel out the tree service wood because we get our hardwood and saw logs from those loads. But we will hopefully be in a much better position with our bundle wood this season by getting the barkless pine delivered
@ I do all tree service wood. I need to find one more guy to bring wood to yard. Load logs here expensive plus I am on 1 acre lot so not tons room. I do it for exercise I go broke if it was for money. It all go towards equipment. Chainsaws splitter
When we did fire wood we were whore’s we got tree service, land clearing wood ,we cut our own down and mill seconds . Most of our tree service wood we picked up at there yard sometimes they would deliver to us
lol I’ve always been a wood whore myself that’s why it’s hard for me to spend $ on buying wood but the numbers don’t lie . I think I make more splitting than driving to go get it . Gona try both this yr an see how it goes .
Square tree. There use to be a co-gen plant that produced steam with propane, but still bought hog fuel to burn for when the price of propane got too high. Options and diversity keep your customers.
I’m putting my bet on Buster to be just a bit faster cycle time full stroke. And I’d say do it all. Never know when one way or the other of wood supply may slow up or end.
The plan is to keep our 2 best tree company’s an limit them to hardwood only unless they have saw logs . All said an done it’s more productive and cheeper to buy the barkless logs . We made that video today and had a lot of fun racing them .
Exactly, we will keep taking both because the loads of barkless alone won’t produce all we need. We need the tree service wood for our hardwood and saw logs. Can’t put all our eggs in one basket
Never. The barkless pine loads are really nice but I’d never give up on the tree service wood. That feeds us hardwood and sawmill logs to turn into lumber. It’s been something we’ve tossed around though. Just trying to stay the most productive we can
I think you should keep getting all the saw mill will let you have and then pick the other wood when it’s closer to you or try to set days you can get the wood that’s free. There is nothing for free my friend it all cost you
I’ll definitely keep getting the saw mill logs when they have them. I pretty much have to pick up the tree service wood when they have the job so it’s hard to make any kind of a schedule with them
Keep doing what you are doing get what you can for wood or you lose out on the saw logs and the other free wood which also brings in a income and you are limited on the amount of loads you can get of the bundle grade and you still get bundle grade from the tree service if it's not broken don't fix it
Mr Phil I have always felt that people feel blue collar workers are only muscle and not brains. Suggest that you start at the result and work backwards, you and Mrs K need to know how much money you want to make per hour and then start running the numbers backwards including every business cost you spend to produce a cord of wood, keep shuffling those cost around till you can reach the per hour you are looking for. When I say business cost I mean every item you spend to the closest dollar. This means you need to keep very good records and keep running those numbers till they reveal the best combination, including where you acquire your raw produce, to get to the bottom line. I know you and Mrs K probably do much of what I have suggested but I often guessed, in my business, rather than take the time to do the work on the books. Thanks for the video!
Numbers don’t lie but it breaks every rule I’ve ever had about buying wood . My brain say free wood is the best but my wallet says buy it cause it’s gona make us more $
The return on investment on the clean stuff seems far more valuable. . Going a distance to get wood makes its questionable, but if your limited on the number of other loads you can get, id be wanting to maximize the amount per trip. Or reduce fuel costs through other means like the used veg oil i get from several county fairs. But at the same time, you spend time making fuel, your not makeing money making product. . Its defently a 2 edged sword. . We had one tree we decided not to mill as it was a lightning strike. after the 2nd log up the tree had burns throughout it. The butt log ended up haveing 8 railroad spikes in it, the chainsaw missed buy a fraction of an inch. Would have absolutely blown sky high, on the circular saw mill we have.
@@BGWenterprises it’s always a challenge trying to save a buck but like you said travel time is lost time making wood . Wow a railroad spike can’t say I have found one of them in a tree yet . I could see it being real bad on a circle mill .
Phil and Karen I think you guys just keep things that work out best for the both of you Karen tell Phil that you’re going to go on strike for better wages because you’re doing three different jobs every day of the month 😮😊❤
That’s exactly what we’ll continue to do Todd. So far we’re ahead of where we were last year so that’s a good thing. Oh, Phil wouldn’t even listen to it…he only hears what he wants to hear lol. Welcome to my world! 😂🤪
Without knowing the numbers it's kinda hard to figure out what is cheaper.. as a business owner all you have is time to offer.. so where is your time better off?? Myself if I had the same opportunity I would probably do both ..
Well for me personally, I prefer buying a truckload. It’s not cheap, but it’s ready to go. Otherwise, I have to cut a tree down on my property, deal with all the branches and whatnot that won’t be used for firewood, haul it back to the splitter; whereas my logger will just park 9 cords right at the splitter and it’s go time. For me to cut down 9 cords and process it would take me a lot more time than it does him. I guess what I’m trying to say (badly) is that it’s faster and cheaper to buy 9 cords from my logger than it is for me to log my own trees.🌴
That’s a lot more work to have to cut them down than to just go pick them up. We’d never be able to do that. We’re really liking the barkless pine but we’ll continue to get the tree service wood also. It just makes sense with what we’re doing and what we need for wood
As far as bundle grade that’s your grading I make $27,000 in here just taking care of pizza restaurants so campgrounds don’t care if it’s bundle grade or if it’s campfire grade they just want wooden your campfire I think what it is is you’re trying to have nice clean wood and bundle bags which if you can make profit fine you got a figure all the work you’re doing is it really worth it I would just do the camp firewood and go with that
With the cost of going to get the free wood the cost of delivering it that would leave me about $100 pr day if I just did pine bulk wood . The pine bulk wood is a looser for me but we need to get rid of it . The bundle wood makes me double that and bulk hardwood pays just a lil more . Hard to make a buck on wood here in Maine that’s why I run the sawmill an do stump grinding . I should focus more on stump grinding as that pays me $1300 pr day but I like doing the firewood
Without knowing what you pay for logs it’s hard to say but it seems you answered that question yourself. I wouldn’t limit myself to just the log truck deliveries and end up losing the other supplier either.
I would stick with buying barkless pine remember you had 8000 bundles out of one stand. And you can have dry pine done early so no scrambling around for dry wood for bundles and anytime you don't have to leave the wood yard to stop production is a good thing
I completely agree with you but the barkless pine loads are limited so I’ll have to keep getting the tree service wood. I’m just going to take advantage of any loads I can get delivered. So far we’re ahead of where we were last year so the plan is to not run out of dry bundle wood this year. We’re working like crazy so that doesn’t happen again
You said you can get 4 or more loads of barkless wood a year. Commit to it now and tie it up with lumber yard. As far as free wood it's never free unless they bring it to you and they unload it and it is free of metal. Most places in the south will not take any wood from a yard that is cut by a tree surgeon because of the metal probability. You spend less time with the barkless wood because it's cleaner wood. Remember the dirty wood you got last year? That was free. WRONG. money equals time in business so spend your time wisely. Your videos are great and informative. This one especially when you ask our opinion.
I don’t have the conection for the barkless logs it’s the guy with the log truck that has the contract with the mill . There is another log truck guy that I know that has a contract with a different saw mill but he wants $150 more pr load . I might just pay the extra to try a load if my reg guy can’t get more loads . It does make sence with the extra yeald we get from the saw mill logs .
Absolutely Bob. There are costs involved with both tree service wood and buying in loads of logs. Bottom line the more time we can spend in the woodyard processing it is time better spent
I’m biased but I think I’d make the trip..it’s good if you get to shoot the bull with the guys who you get it from. It keeps people close. I LOVE to chase “free” firewood but in all honesty it’s not worth my time…BUT if it’s a good friend or logger here I’ll go grab it. I did 3 dump trailer loads of off cut Oak, I ended up with maybe 4 cords…I took my tractor to load, saws, trailers and spent like 5.5 hrs, absolutely not worth it but I did it with my oldest son and we had a great day. It’s good and bad haha. So maybe just do what you feel is right. Thanks guys, sorry to ramble.
We’re definitely going to change things up a lil bit. Probably just keep our 2 best tree guys and see if we can limit it to hardwood only . I do enjoy getting away to go get loads every now and then . Can’t be grinding in the Woodyard all the time like you said it’s good to get out an shoot the bull . Sounds like you got to enjoy some family time and get a bunch of wood .
Great video! Oooh 3 fastest wood splitters!! Can’t wait!
lol, thanks Sue!
Time is so very important in the firewood business I ended up buying all my wood it was delivered I did not have wear and tear on my truck and trailer but I did not have a saw mill as you do. I was doing 50 tri-axle loads per year and I needed good pole wood for the processor every ones firewood business is different and you have to do what is best for your operation. stay safe and keep that thumb out of the way
Your right time is key . Just hard to wrap my head around buying wood but numbers don’t lie so we’re gona try doing things a lil differently this yr . Free wood is like a drug lol hard to give it up but I’m going to slowly ween myself off of it by buying in loads . Should give me more time in the Woodyard to be making wood .
Hey Phil and Mrs Karen , that pine made some really nice bundle wood . Take care 👍🏻🔥🪵🇺🇸
Thanks Del, it really did. Take care!
I can’t wait to see all the splitters in action, guys. Well done.
I think your gona like Fridays video .
Karen, wanted to share with you an old remedy, I as a kid in high school on the weekends during the winter I shopped corn for a farmer.They invited me in for lunch one day and I was froze I could not keep my legs from jumping.She said are you cold we will fix that before you go back out she put a piece of steel in the oven while we ate and when we were done eating we were getting dressed to go out I got my coveralls on she reached in the over with pliers pulled out the little piece of steel put it in a sock rolled it up put it in my left pocket warm the rest of the day I hope this makes scenes 😊
Good morning Phil and Karen
Morning Larry
For the size of operation you guys have the barkless loads would be the way to go for camp wood, but from the way you said, Phil, i don't think you will get enough to make it through the year for sales. I'd say go get the tree service wood when you can. It would be nice if their jobs were a little closer. I haven't personally purchased any logs, but i don't have the sales nor the operation you guys have. At least 80% of the wood I've gotten over the last year, tree service guys have brought it to me. 😁 They save a little money from no having to pay dump fees at the landfill. Anyways, keep up the great work! 👍
I belive I can get more loads from another guy but he’s a lot more expensive. I might just buy one load an see if it works out . Every yr we get more efficient and need more wood so I’m gona have to start buying in loads . I think my time is better spent in the Woodyard but I’m gona keep 2 of my best tree guys that I pick up from . I do have a few guys that bring it to me like you and I like that as long as they don’t dump a load of junk that I have to haul off .
Definitely buy all the reasonably priced sawmill reject loads. Even 4-5 loads a year @ 80% yield for bundle wood is huge. Buying good quality raw materials is the best way to focus on your products and maximizing your profits… Firewood production is a prime example of “garbage in garbage out”
That’s the plan . The yeald is so good on the sawlogs compared to tree service stuff . I might even pay a lil extra to get a load from another guy I know . The deal with the tree guys is I take it all hardwood and pine so they might not be happy if I don’t take the pine .
@ take it all. Just can’t pass up the quality opportunity from the sawmill logs.
Boy those square tree make splitting easy. Should grow more of them
They grow all over the place up here! 😂
I initially thought Fridays never before seen video was going to be Phil cleaning out his truck.
lol should do a video on just that ha ha . Gona take all day to clean that truck at this point . Maybe next crappy do I will pull it in the shop an get started .
Sounds like to me that you need to keep getting both since you are limited on the saw mill wood😢😅
That’s what we think too. The barkless pine is really good for our bundle wood but the tree service wood gives us our hardwood and saw logs
Hello Phil and Karen. The time you waste traveling to get the free wood, the loss with trimming the bark off and the clean up of all the waste tells me you are better off getting the barkless wood. You can still pick up free wood when the other stuff isn’t available. Maybe you can charge more for the metal infused wood because the metal will carry higher heat for a longer time. Thanks for another good video
I think ya right dono working with the barkless logs really has changed my mind about going to go get so called free wood . You might be onto something with the metal infused wood lol . Was splitting today and got a bunch of lead from some of the rounds .
Sawmill rejects can be fun have a lot of cool souvenirs on the wall in the shop. Looking forward to the all wood bs buster. Big wood makes nice bundle grade.
Found a lot of neat stuff in trees over the yrs lol . Just heading out now to go do Fridays video . Should be a fun day it’s 8 degrees out .
@ it’s 0 here currently was 10 at midnight
It’s up to you Phil, I’m not in the firewood business but I have watched you for a long, long time and I am somewhat familiar with your operation. If it was me I would rather someone deliver logs to me and pay the extra cash just for the convenience alone. Have you ever calculated the cost for fuel, tires, wear and tear on your trailer, and your time plus the liability and risk involved towing a trailer load of logs down a busy highway. And your time has to be worth plenty, I’m sure when you two are producing firewood together it’s worth at least 1 Benjamin an hour? Free wood is nice, but it’s far from free, unless they deliver. Just my 2 cents worth Phil, your videos are great. 😊
Oh yeah the backless pine delivered is way more beneficial to us. But we’ve calculated the cost Togo pick up the tree service wood and we’re not ahead of the game there but it gives us our hardwood that we sell for heating wood and also the saw logs that we produce lumber with that sells for a premium price. A lot of pieces to the puzzle and I think we need all of it to keep thriving and keeping our business growing
@@AllenFamilyFirewood what is the cost of buying hardwood delivered vs two people picking up free wood as your man hours are actually double the 2-3hrs required.?
I have done both over the last few years, and it seems to work out well for me.
For my free wood from the time i leave the house and get back, I am gone 2.5 to 3 hours, and i have little over a half cord cut and split.
I dont think that's too bad of a trade-off.😉👍
Ain’t nothing wrong with that . I’m spending that much time just to go get a cord or 2 and then I still gota cut an split it .
Hello guys I found out this year just for me I went and cut trees for my self and had wood delivered and I never ran out of wood but the wood that was delivered was from my logging buddy it wasn't the greatest it all clean up from a logging job. I made do Time to process the wood is the key. Thank guys
I’m learning that time spent in the Woodyard makes us more $ than out driving to get free wood but I like the change up . We’ve goten a few partial loads of hardwood from the log truck and it’s all tree service wood but the price is right .
I think you need both The bark less logs are pine. But you need hardwood too. And the backless logs are in short supply. Ideally paying somebody to pick up the free stuff would be an alternative.
We definitely need both Steve. We’ll probably keep picking up the tree service wood as I think paying someone to haul it would cost us more. But we’ll be examining that too to see if it would work. One thing at a time, right now we’re focused on producing wood and getting it stacked up for drying. Building that inventory
@@AllenFamilyFirewood Perhaps it does not require two people to pick up one load of free wood! either that or pay someone else.
I have one further comment and I am sure not one you want to hear. The two of you cannot keep up this seven day a week frenzied pace and remain healthy and productive forever. You need help with something, even a part timer looking to keep busy. And Phil wanting more stands puts more strain on the process (you struggled to service the stands you had last summer!!!!). I love watching your videos but it is hard to watch the overworking at times.
Good evening Phil and Karen 😊.
Good evening Leonard!
You need more of both free is great but buying wood is good too. What you are doing is working great
Both ways are working really well for us Arne thanks for always watching
Looking formal to your collaboration with russ. As for the wood when you include saw logs it sounds like some of both options is the best. See ya on the next one phil and Karen
I think we’re gona keep the 2 best tree company’s . I went an got a load yesterday and he gave me a $50 bill for coming to come pick up the wood . Hard to say no to that . Hopefully we can get more loads of that barkless logs it’s the. That Al wood is gona be fun to play with .
👍
Hi Phil and Karen. You are much better served to have wood delivered rather than go get it. Time is money. You could pay as much as $150 to $175 per cord of pine logs and still make out way better than picking up logs yourself. In 15 to 20 hours, you can cut and process at least 10 cords of firewood. I think you would make your money back in efficiency alone and be way ahead for the bundle season. Thanks for teaching us some things today. Keep up the great work!
I think ya right especially on the pine . Tree company’s want me to take all of it hardwood and pine . The hardwood is definitely worth going to pick up but not the pine . I sure do like them loads of barkless pine .
@AllenFamilyFirewood You know how to make quick work of them. You set a pretty high bar for others to strive for. You and Karen are great mentors for the firewood community. Cheers!
@@jasonracette6143 Not sure about mentors lol but we do like to have fun getting our work done .
It's all a good deal. Figure out a way to streamline stacking and bagging and you have a gold mine. Taking a ride gives you some time to think and make plans.
I think this coming Tuesday we are going to talk about some of the changes we are going to make to how we get wood . We got a lot of good ideas from the comments so it’s time for a few changes .
Been reading through comments and it sounds like not much is going to change but I would also say that if you can only get 5 or 6 loads of the bark less at the price you want, you’ll have to keep picking up the free stuff. Either way, you’ll run the risk of metal especially in homeowner yard wood (that isn’t tagged at all). Maybe consider keeping the travel distance shorter? 2 hour round trip travel seems a bit excessive. Not sure if that will kill the free wood altogether, but it’s worth considering. I guess it boils down to the need at the time. Keeping a good relationship with the tree service guys is important but so is your time. And don’t forget, sometimes a little windshield time is good for your sanity!
Couldn’t have said it better! All true points. Honestly when it’s 80 degrees and humid in the summer it’s not so bad to hop in the air conditioned truck and go for a ride to get wood. Thanks for your thoughts!
so are we
I would buy the debarked wood when it was available. And still get the tree service wood when it's not to far away.
That’s exactly what we’re going to do. Can’t put all our eggs in one basket and we need both. Sure is nice having it delivered though and we’ll take full advantage of it
You are making me miss my Jonsered. Those are some good-looking logs. That metal would really mess up a sawmill..They break your heart when you hit them with a chainsaw too. You guys now have the snow and cold and we are a thawed out muddy mess. A lot of the free wood is hardwood isn't it. One mile down the road from me there are hundreds of pine trees as big as the ones you are cutting that have been pushed over and no one wants them but we can't hardly give pine away around here.
I love running that 2171 jonsered it’s my favorite saw . Got 2 more big storms coming later this week that are going to dump a fair amount of snow . The tree guys tend to have more pine than hardwood but I’ve always taken it all .
Both free wood and by wood
I don’t like all my eggs in one basket so that’s probably what we will do
Hope Russ and Kevin are all over the sickness. Should be a good show
We shall see Bob lol we agreed no hugging haha
Continue to do both get all the wood you can. Have a great day😃👍🙏. Do both on bundles and cord delivery. Sell Al that you can👍
We perdy much can’t keep up with what we’re doing so we’re gona change things up an try to do less of the stuff that don’t pay and more of the stuff that does . We’re going to talk about the changes in Tuesdays video .
I've used the one that's coming to your woodyard already it's a lot of fun feeding it that's for sure
I'd go with the Barkless but you're only getting four or five loads a year you're still going to have to go get free wood to keep up with how much you sell
I see you was in one of the videos . I just don’t have much experience on a horazontal but I do like fast .
@@AllenFamilyFirewood I just talked to him he's coming over my place tomorrow and he stated buster is fast LOL
@@robertdaigle5529 we had alot of fun today playing with all the machines .
@@AllenFamilyFirewood I bet you did
phil what i did almost 10 years ago with tree service wood was if they bring out a almost full load in either their dump trucks or dump trailers I give them 25 bucks.. now thst im away from the wood yard up north i have them click a pic of the load and a pic of it dumped and I cash app em. they like it cause it pays their gas or diesel to my place and yes when i have the opportunity i buy logs from mills and loggers. farmers are my biggest suppliers but i go get it.. but im set up for it too. a 40 ft triple axel 9 ton axel trailer i pull with an old kenworth semi. but alot of tree service wood goes in my burn hole cause some aint worth dealing with like crotches ..just buzz em out and toss em.
If I had a log truck or a self loading trailer I could have more wood than I could possibly use . The crane guy produces 10-15 cord a week yr round but I’m no good at fixing stuff and them log trucks need lots of maintenance. I just don’t want all my eggs in one basket so I’m gona try a few new things this yr an hopefully not make the wrong decision.
Yes, the barkless pine has metal in it, but its luck of the draw if you hit is. The barkless makes a lot of nice bundle grade, which brings in $$$$. I think the barkless wood is the btter bang for your buck because you save on wear and tear on your truck and your time. Time is money! 😎
I’m thinking the same thing but the deal with the tree guys is I take it all pine , hardwood and sawlogs . I’m gona talk to them an see if they can find a guy to take there pine .
@AllenFamilyFirewood that is smart! If you give up one, you gotta give up all, and also, like you said, the sawlogs are nice to get for "free"
I agree with your reasoning to get more of the barkless logs. What would also be interesting is if you could get a lead on loggers that do clearing jobs in your general area that want to sell firewood. Mostly that would be lower grade wood than the barkless logs, and you would have to factor in the transport costs as it is usually a bigger part of the cost. But both Chris from "in the woodyard" and Joe from "ohio woodburner" use these as their main supply. I personally think your time is worth more than you get out of hauling these trailer loads. Just do the math, you get maybe 2 cord per trailer at a cost of 3.5 hours and you can probably cut and split 4 or 5 cords in that time. Like Chris always says, time is the only commodity you cannot get back.
I think the barkless logs are a no brainer . As for hardwood everyone wants $150- 160 pr cord and that’s a loggers cord so it would take 9 cord to make 8 of what I sell . I have goten a few partial loads from my trucking guy but it’s tree service wood not the strait poles that bring top $ . I think I can work with the price I’m paying for it . Figuring in that if I’m not out driving to get a load and instead I’m splitting it should average out .
Gooooooooood afternoon guys . I use to get cull logs from Weyerhaeuser full of iron . After a while it was not worth the free price of time and chains . The best wood was cull post I use to could get . All pine and 4 way splits and go . I don’t sale a lot of pine here in NC . Mostly hard wood .
I seem to hit iron in one outa 10 logs so that’s not to bad . I find a fair amount of iron in the tree service wood also .
Looking forward to Friday splitter race with Phil and Karen. Nice video keep on keeping on.
Thanks, should be interesting!
Time and money......when I have money, I buy logs delivered, super easy. When I've got a lot of money tied up in log, my time gets invested instead. Either way, keep it coming 🔥
Exactly. That’s just the way it works. The key is to keep it all moving and keep increasing our production. Thanks!
All depends on how good the bull sessions are
lol well them trips to get wood also help mix up the videos and I’ve been known to shoot the bull for quite a while lol .
Free wood vs sawmill wood they both have their good and bad points one thing with the free wood you’re getting the hard wood to sell for dry wood and the barkless Pine, you’ll makeout better on too but the one thing that I can tell you that in the last 16 months in New Hampshire, we’ve had somewhere around nine sawmills go out of business so that’s something that might wanna keep in the back of your mind but what you were saying is all good points I still would do both. I take the free and with my own truck I pick up the ironwood and I pedal that off. Let us know what you decide but remember if those mills that you’re getting it from go out where will you be Great video great questions and again let us know what you find out. I’ll be watching for Friday, but as far as this video goes great job you two keep them coming. Have a good week and be safe week Lee Hillsgrove Trucking signing off 👍
I think if I had the saw logs I could sell all the 12 in wide pine I could make . Smaller boards the 8 and 6 in don’t sell very good for us . I think I’m going to keep my 2 best tree company’s an keep hauling there wood . I went an got a load yesterday and he pd me $50 for coming to get it , hard to beat that as it was all hardwood . I’m also gona try an get more loads of the barkless logs . The yeald on the bundle grade really makes it worth paying for them .
@ that’s what I’ve been doing for the last 42 years keeping as many doors open as possible some I don’t make as much as others, but it all balances out and so long as I can pay my bills lol thanks for getting back to me
Looking forward to Fridays video! The ol Jonsored out of retirement?
We sure had a fun time
hi there both , john
Hey John!
Phil and Karen it’s a shame that blue couldn’t help out in the wood yard 👍looks like things are going pretty well for you guys in the wood yard so far 😮😊❤
Things are going pretty well Todd. We sure wish Blue could help too! lol
The old saying is time is money. You can always make money but you can't make time. I owned my business for many years and it took me 15 of those years to realize one thing . If you follow this rule you will make the right choice every time . If you work more to make more you win but if you work more to make more than spend more you loose. Your looking at the right way.
I like ya way of thinking I just need to convince myself that buying wood is the right thing to do .
@@AllenFamilyFirewood You can look at it this way your time is worth $65.00 an hour your equipment is worth $100.00 and hour and any works time is worth $30.00 an hour then add in $20.00 an hour for maintenance, then your fule of that equals $215.00 plus fule for every load you pick up then add in the loss of production on top. If that is a cord an hour then add in how many loads it will take you to equal one truck load of logs. I'm thinking up front you might put out more until the sales come in. You can always keep the self pick up for good saw logs that your not going to get from the mills and if the mills shut down. Your looking at thing the Wright way.
Buy all the barkless rejects from the mill that you can get and if you need more, go get the tree service stuff as needed.
That’s exactly what we plan to do. I can’t turn down the tree guys though they’ve been really good to me over the years
Chris in the woodyard is always more either way more is my answer 23:05
Bingo! Always more lol
I would do both if you can. There is a lot of value in the bought logs as far as being mostly bundle wood. The so called free wood gets you the saw logs. Instead of peeling the bark, just throw that in your bulk camp wood. If you say no to the free wood, it opens up the door for someone else to get in and take it all. Just my $.02.
Completely agree with you Tim!
Do both. 😀. Chip /TN
We are! Thanks Chip
I think it depends on what you like doing. Friendship with the tree service guys is worth something.
The tree service guys have been really good to me over the years so I won’t stop picking up the wood. But it’s a bonus getting these barkless logs delivered so I can’t complain
As much wood as you guys go through I think keep doing both. Plus the tree service pick ups give you content for videos to make gobs of money on RUclips😂 Have a great one👍👍
I think we’re gona keep our 2 best tree guys to go pick up from . It’s definitely worth picking up the hardwood but not the pine . I still say we could make more money for our time spent picking up cans on the side of the rd for the 5 cent deposit than we make on RUclips lol .
But its 4 loads you don't have to be aggravated worrying about hitting the tree service schedule. I am waiting on Friday to decide on my venture with splitters.
It’s definitely more productive for us to get the log truck loads and be here splitting instead of out driving to get it . There’s so many manufacturers out there . Wolf ridge , all wood , Easton made ,split force are all good choices in my book . I’ve never been a brand guy I look for what fits my need at a price I can live with . I can say any of the companys I mentioned all make top quality splitters .
As far as all the shot chunks you should find some people with small pizza ovens we sell boxes and boxes of it that’s where I make $27,000 a year and pizza Greenwood those little one footers they love it
We advertised pizza wood once and didn’t get any calls . I think if we built another stand at all our locations an bagged up the chunks it would sell faster than we produce it . We had luck just advertising it as camp fire wood . We sell the split chunks for $50 pr tote if they come pick it up $100 if I have to deliver it . Sold about a dozen totes full last yr hopefully we sell more this year.
Looking forward to the splitting race 😊 I'd say getting the truck loads would be better than the tree service wood, but it's hard to turn down free (plus costs of picking it up).
Really like getting the barkless pine but we’ll always take the free wood too. We’ll take advantage of being able to keep going in the woodyard while we’re working through this big pile
Get all of the barkless pine you can get. Also all of the free you can get unless it's a long ways from you. Old Arkie
That’s exactly what we plan to do. It just makes sense
It's a no brainer. Time = $$. Have it delivered. Also consider hiring a person to just go get the Tree Guys wood when you get that call. That way you have the best of both worlds. Great Video ❤💜
Would love to have someone pick it up and bring it to me but that would cost a lot more than me picking it up myself. We’re making out pretty well doing both so far. Thanks mom
Oh that darn green all wood must be showing up get buster to teach it a lesson lol single wedge to single wedge of course
I got a feeling ole buster might stand a chance single wedge against single wedge but that all wood has a 4 way and a 6 way and would eat ole buster for breakfast in a production competition.
@AllenFamilyFirewood yes but that's not a fair comparison he needs to use the single wedge lol
Nice video nice job. Sunday was my birthday
Thanks Ralph. Happy birthday friend! Hope it was a good one!
In an older video from Chris at In the Woodyard he calculated he makes more money per hour buying semi loads of logs vs getting free wood any distance away. The only time tree service wood is really free is if you get it delivered to your woodyard. As for the small amount of saw logs you get from tree services, I would find a local mill and get some of their mill rejects (not because of metal) and get those delivered. It might be more work to mill them if they are small or really crooked, but they still produce good lumber.
I think we’re going to be getting more an more of the log truck loads . For the price and time saved it just makes sence . I’m gona keep 2 of my best tree service guys an keep getting wood from them as well . I kinda like the break from the Woodyard every now and then when I go get loads . Hopefully they can get us more saw logs this yr for the mill .
I believe the video you are referencing maybe had more to do with actually felling and limbing plus loading not just show up at job site and get loaded.🤔
@@iffykidmn8170 Maybe so. Regardless as Phil pointed out to get 1 trailer load of logs from that tree service is a 3 hour round trip.
@@bwillan Yep! does not help that 2 of them go to pick up one load of logs.
Phil, great video. The saying goes dam if you do & dam if you don’t. Watching how you process the mill logs & how much bundle wood you get out of each piece, I say purchase all you can from the mill. Free wood is good wood but how much is your time worth. Is Wiley’s Firewood bringing his new splitter down or did he stop on his way home last week? I think that All Wood splitter is about the fastest horizontal splitter around for a commercial splitter. TY Phil & Karen for the informative video. Dave from Maine.👍🇺🇸
@@DaveDunehew-e1f he’s bringing it down for a play date with buster an axis
@, oops, did I blow your surprise? Sorry if I did. I don’t think there is a Horizontal splitter in Maine as fast as the All Wood. I would love to see that one in action. Can’t wait for the video to be downloaded. As Joe @ OWB would say, Have a great day.👍 Dave from Maine.
Get the peeled logs when possible, the not so free wood as a back up, you have to weight it and see, yes the saw logs are great, but how many do you get. Not an easy decision except it’s easier on you, Karen and your truck, trailer maintenance and fuel to buy peeled logs. Best advice ask Karen, as she is the brains in the outfit. lol cheers my friend.
We are definitely gonna try that and see how it works . Karen will let me know real fast if I start spending more than I’m making lol .
Where did you get that rock bucket from and do you remember the cost?
Scott’s recreation in turner is ware we got it . They have a website that list all the stuff they sell and the prices . I think we pd $1200 but we also had a friend make the back of the bucket taller so the rounds wouldn’t fall back on the nose of the tractor. That was an additional $500 .
Haha the safety police are out there, sorry but I'm old school and ya it will probably bite me in the ass, I know, I know.
Lol, clean the house, get food. 24 hours isn't enough 😅.
Looking forward to Russ and Kevin joining the show.
I should do a video without the chaps on to see if there still watching lol . Gona be fun running that . If I lay down next to it when I run it it should be just like running buster lol.
@@AllenFamilyFirewood I did notice the lack of safety glasses but I didn't say anything. 😉🤪😁
Figure your time @ $100 per hour going to get wood. If you pay for wood to be delivered that gives you more time producing sellable wood. You will find yourself farther ahead and you'll get inventory built up faster and may be able to take a day and goof off.
A day off ??? You mean people take time off lol . I think ya $100 pr hr is spot on if ya add in the cost of the truck gas ins and pay myself $30 pr hr . Think I’m gona start doing more bought in wood .
That is a loaded question. I am willing to bet you will never get a stick of cherry in your purchased load. Not to mention all of the free pallet logs you mill. I have watched you make some beautiful planks from the free wood as well. As well as the hardwood you sell from the jobs. Then there is also the quality time you get from time to time with your wonderful wife. If the 20% better yield will pay for all of that, then I would say you would be a fool to chase the tree service. But you can look at it a different way as well. If the sales from the free wood pays for everything including purchasing and processing the peeled logs, the 20% is no longer a fictitious number. But free profit. Otherwise the higher yield is eaten up by the cost of the logs and pallets. Not to mention the sales from the hardwood. You will be right back where you started! In short I would have to say keep doing both.
It’s a tough one . I think we’re gona keep getting the tree service wood for the hardwood and saw logs and keep buying the pine . I’m just not sure how it’s going to work out with the tree guys as I have always taken all of there wood . The more we upgrade the Woodyard and get better equipment the faster we are making wood so I think that eventually I will have to buy in more an more as we get more efficient.
You need a Mingo marker to mark 16" rounds
I’ve always used a stick and I probably always will. It just works for me. Can’t teach an old dog new tricks lol
Pretty sure you guys already know which way is the most efficient. It's also way less aggravation. Just the ease of stacking alone would make up my mind. (if I stacked wood, that is)
The time savings of not having to go get the free wood alone makes it worth it and add in the time saving of not having to de bark each round definitely makes buying them well worth it . The yield of bundle grade just sweetens the deal .
I struggle to find wood to split. You struggle to keep taking free wood or buy beautiful barkless logs on the cheap😂 I say do both but just limit picking up tree service wood unless that will ruin your relationship with them! Tree service will also get you more varieties of species, cherry, oak and even saw logs there’s that! Those skinless logs sure do speed things up and get more profit at the end of the day? You also have to consider how many free tree service saw logs you have gotten a lot of sellable lumber out of and all the pallet wood you have made🤷♂️ Man I wish too much wood was my struggle like it is yours😂 Take care Phil and Karen👊🏻
I’m gona keep my 2 best tree guys that I pick up from and tell the rest no more pine but hardwood is ok . . Them barkless logs are the way to go for bundle wood I’m just not sure I can get enuf of it . By keeping the 2 tree guys I will still get a fair amount of the saw logs plus I have a few guys that bring loads of mixed wood here . I went an got a load the day before that was hardwood and he pd me $50 for coming to get it and it even had some cherry in there , can’t go wrong with that .
I take it Russ from Willeys firewood is coming to town?
That’s the plan
Phil/Karen, y'all know I'm not in the firewood business. Just an interested viewer. But I think the physical/mental break you get when you go get the "free" tree service wood is beneficial. Yeah sometimes you might only get one or two saw logs. But when you do get them, Phil, your face lights up. So sure, buy all the mill log loads you can. But I don't think they can keep you fully supplied. (You pretty much said that in the video). Y'all take care. Come on Friday!
Very true Clell, but Phil doesn’t even know what a mental break is. He has one speed…GO! Lol Friday should be interesting!
Looking forward to the race. Is it Heath's 1 cord 2 guy challenge? Buster is fast but those allwoods. My money is on you guys.
I'd definitely get b your 4 loads per year and still get the free wood lol. I want both! 😂. Great video
Me a buster had a chat and we have come to the realization that I’m the weak link so I won’t be doing the 1 cord challenge. When we did the 1/3 challenge it about did me in . That all wood is wicked fast especially with a 4 way or a 6 way , it also has the grunt to just send the wood through . I think I’m gona keep my best 2 tree company’s and start buying in more wood .
@AllenFamilyFirewood at our age we are the we link.
In spring you going to get Lost wood well done
We’re hoping we’ll be in a great position to start out our bundle season. Fingers crossed lol
Been sometime since last on YTube, always great catching up on videos. I have to ask, what happened to Dana and S'more Firewood. Can't find his content anywhere. Hope all is well with you 2! Cheers 🪵🪓
Dana ended up shutting it down . They just didn’t have the time to keep it going with the return they were getting from it . I’m sure he will be in some of our future videos .
@AllenFamilyFirewood Well that's abit unfortunate, loved his short content. Gotta do what you gotta do tho.
Stay warm and keep on splitting!
How often you sharpen your wedge? Or does it sharpen itself as you split? 😊
I’ve never sharpened it . When Dana built it he had it so you could shave with it . It’s not that sharp anymore but it seems to cut right through the knots most of the time .
🤭🤭🤭. Too many mountain dews this morning Phil. ?? 🤭🤭
Some mornings I’m just wound up tight . Could also be I was on my 5 th can of mt dew lol . Thanks Noel .
🤭🤭. Karen be sending you to mountain dew anonymous 🤭🤭
I think it's a no brainer
It really is. We’ll do both because that’s what keeps us going
Course like you say there's the saw logs also, maybe do both, if that makes sense
Definitely buying wood. You can make more profit I am sure. I got guy last year started bringing me loads of wood. If I kick him a 50 it saves me so much time over going getting it myself.
It truly does make more sense and ups production. But we can’t cancel out the tree service wood because we get our hardwood and saw logs from those loads. But we will hopefully be in a much better position with our bundle wood this season by getting the barkless pine delivered
@ I do all tree service wood. I need to find one more guy to bring wood to yard. Load logs here expensive plus I am on 1 acre lot so not tons room. I do it for exercise I go broke if it was for money. It all go towards equipment. Chainsaws splitter
When we did fire wood we were whore’s we got tree service, land clearing wood ,we cut our own down and mill seconds . Most of our tree service wood we picked up at there yard sometimes they would deliver to us
lol I’ve always been a wood whore myself that’s why it’s hard for me to spend $ on buying wood but the numbers don’t lie . I think I make more splitting than driving to go get it . Gona try both this yr an see how it goes .
Square tree. There use to be a co-gen plant that produced steam with propane, but still bought hog fuel to burn for when the price of propane got too high. Options and diversity keep your customers.
Very true. Yes those square trees grow all over the place up here 😂
I’m putting my bet on Buster to be just a bit faster cycle time full stroke.
And I’d say do it all. Never know when one way or the other of wood supply may slow up or end.
The plan is to keep our 2 best tree company’s an limit them to hardwood only unless they have saw logs . All said an done it’s more productive and cheeper to buy the barkless logs . We made that video today and had a lot of fun racing them .
👍🏻👍🏻. 👍🏻👍🏻Sure will be watching Friday. 👍🏻👍🏻👋👋
If you are limited to 4/5 loads I would say do both so you don’t run out
That’s exactly what we’ll be doing. I’m just going to be spoiled having to go back to splitting pine with bark on it lol
If you only get 4 barkless wood a year is that enough to keep you in bundle wood my opinion I would take both
Exactly, we will keep taking both because the loads of barkless alone won’t produce all we need. We need the tree service wood for our hardwood and saw logs. Can’t put all our eggs in one basket
Don't bite the hand that feeds You!!!!
Never. The barkless pine loads are really nice but I’d never give up on the tree service wood. That feeds us hardwood and sawmill logs to turn into lumber. It’s been something we’ve tossed around though. Just trying to stay the most productive we can
It all depends on how much you value your time I think I'd have as much delivered as possible
I agree with you 100% on that. I’d rather spend more time in the woodyard processing than driving but we’ll have to do both.
I think you should keep getting all the saw mill will let you have and then pick the other wood when it’s closer to you or try to set days you can get the wood that’s free. There is nothing for free my friend it all cost you
I’ll definitely keep getting the saw mill logs when they have them. I pretty much have to pick up the tree service wood when they have the job so it’s hard to make any kind of a schedule with them
Keep doing what you are doing get what you can for wood or you lose out on the saw logs and the other free wood which also brings in a income and you are limited on the amount of loads you can get of the bundle grade and you still get bundle grade from the tree service if it's not broken don't fix it
Very true. We’ll definitely continue getting both and hopefully we won’t run out
Mr Phil I have always felt that people feel blue collar workers are only muscle and not brains. Suggest that you start at the result and work backwards, you and Mrs K need to know how much money you want to make per hour and then start running the numbers backwards including every business cost you spend to produce a cord of wood, keep shuffling those cost around till you can reach the per hour you are looking for. When I say business cost I mean every item you spend to the closest dollar. This means you need to keep very good records and keep running those numbers till they reveal the best combination, including where you acquire your raw produce, to get to the bottom line. I know you and Mrs K probably do much of what I have suggested but I often guessed, in my business, rather than take the time to do the work on the books. Thanks for the video!
Numbers don’t lie but it breaks every rule I’ve ever had about buying wood . My brain say free wood is the best but my wallet says buy it cause it’s gona make us more $
The return on investment on the clean stuff seems far more valuable.
.
Going a distance to get wood makes its questionable, but if your limited on the number of other loads you can get, id be wanting to maximize the amount per trip.
Or reduce fuel costs through other means like the used veg oil i get from several county fairs.
But at the same time, you spend time making fuel, your not makeing money making product.
.
Its defently a 2 edged sword.
.
We had one tree we decided not to mill as it was a lightning strike. after the 2nd log up the tree had burns throughout it. The butt log ended up haveing 8 railroad spikes in it, the chainsaw missed buy a fraction of an inch.
Would have absolutely blown sky high, on the circular saw mill we have.
@@BGWenterprises it’s always a challenge trying to save a buck but like you said travel time is lost time making wood . Wow a railroad spike can’t say I have found one of them in a tree yet . I could see it being real bad on a circle mill .
I think it is more profitable to have it all delivered
It definitely is. But those loads are limited so we have to do both. Hesitate to put all our eggs in one basket
Phil and Karen I think you guys just keep things that work out best for the both of you Karen tell Phil that you’re going to go on strike for better wages because you’re doing three different jobs every day of the month 😮😊❤
That’s exactly what we’ll continue to do Todd. So far we’re ahead of where we were last year so that’s a good thing. Oh, Phil wouldn’t even listen to it…he only hears what he wants to hear lol. Welcome to my world! 😂🤪
Without knowing the numbers it's kinda hard to figure out what is cheaper.. as a business owner all you have is time to offer.. so where is your time better off?? Myself if I had the same opportunity I would probably do both ..
Tuesdays video we are going to talk about the changes we are making .
Seems you need both since you stated in another video your about out of wood.
We do need both. The barkless pine loads delivered are nice but that is limited and doesn’t serve all needs for firewood, lumber, etc
Well for me personally, I prefer buying a truckload. It’s not cheap, but it’s ready to go. Otherwise, I have to cut a tree down on my property, deal with all the branches and whatnot that won’t be used for firewood, haul it back to the splitter; whereas my logger will just park 9 cords right at the splitter and it’s go time. For me to cut down 9 cords and process it would take me a lot more time than it does him.
I guess what I’m trying to say (badly) is that it’s faster and cheaper to buy 9 cords from my logger than it is for me to log my own trees.🌴
That’s a lot more work to have to cut them down than to just go pick them up. We’d never be able to do that. We’re really liking the barkless pine but we’ll continue to get the tree service wood also. It just makes sense with what we’re doing and what we need for wood
Good looking wood can't give pine away here too many oak snobs and they won't pay over 50 a face cord so I just burn all of my wood
We’re fortunate we can sell all the pine we can produce to the campers
Do all three, more wood is better.
We’re definitely going to change things up . I belive next Tuesdays video will cover all the changes we are going to make .
As far as bundle grade that’s your grading I make $27,000 in here just taking care of pizza restaurants so campgrounds don’t care if it’s bundle grade or if it’s campfire grade they just want wooden your campfire I think what it is is you’re trying to have nice clean wood and bundle bags which if you can make profit fine you got a figure all the work you’re doing is it really worth it I would just do the camp firewood and go with that
With the cost of going to get the free wood the cost of delivering it that would leave me about $100 pr day if I just did pine bulk wood . The pine bulk wood is a looser for me but we need to get rid of it . The bundle wood makes me double that and bulk hardwood pays just a lil more . Hard to make a buck on wood here in Maine that’s why I run the sawmill an do stump grinding . I should focus more on stump grinding as that pays me $1300 pr day but I like doing the firewood
@@AllenFamilyFirewood so kind of like a hobby.
Without knowing what you pay for logs it’s hard to say but it seems you answered that question yourself. I wouldn’t limit myself to just the log truck deliveries and end up losing the other supplier either.
Right. I’ll always get the tree service wood but these loads of barkless pine being delivered sure is nice.
I would stick with buying barkless pine remember you had 8000 bundles out of one stand. And you can have dry pine done early so no scrambling around for dry wood for bundles and anytime you don't have to leave the wood yard to stop production is a good thing
I completely agree with you but the barkless pine loads are limited so I’ll have to keep getting the tree service wood. I’m just going to take advantage of any loads I can get delivered. So far we’re ahead of where we were last year so the plan is to not run out of dry bundle wood this year. We’re working like crazy so that doesn’t happen again
You said you can get 4 or more loads of barkless wood a year. Commit to it now and tie it up with lumber yard. As far as free wood it's never free unless they bring it to you and they unload it and it is free of metal. Most places in the south will not take any wood from a yard that is cut by a tree surgeon because of the metal probability. You spend less time with the barkless wood because it's cleaner wood. Remember the dirty wood you got last year? That was free. WRONG. money equals time in business so spend your time wisely. Your videos are great and informative. This one especially when you ask our opinion.
I don’t have the conection for the barkless logs it’s the guy with the log truck that has the contract with the mill . There is another log truck guy that I know that has a contract with a different saw mill but he wants $150 more pr load . I might just pay the extra to try a load if my reg guy can’t get more loads . It does make sence with the extra yeald we get from the saw mill logs .
8-minute cord of split firewood?
Noooooo! lol I’m running a single wedge it’s fast but
Barkless Saw mill logs make sense in time, money and bundle grade wood but figure on destroying a few chains at $30 +
Absolutely Bob. There are costs involved with both tree service wood and buying in loads of logs. Bottom line the more time we can spend in the woodyard processing it is time better spent
I’m biased but I think I’d make the trip..it’s good if you get to shoot the bull with the guys who you get it from. It keeps people close. I LOVE to chase “free” firewood but in all honesty it’s not worth my time…BUT if it’s a good friend or logger here I’ll go grab it. I did 3 dump trailer loads of off cut Oak, I ended up with maybe 4 cords…I took my tractor to load, saws, trailers and spent like 5.5 hrs, absolutely not worth it but I did it with my oldest son and we had a great day. It’s good and bad haha.
So maybe just do what you feel is right. Thanks guys, sorry to ramble.
We’re definitely going to change things up a lil bit. Probably just keep our 2 best tree guys and see if we can limit it to hardwood only . I do enjoy getting away to go get loads every now and then . Can’t be grinding in the Woodyard all the time like you said it’s good to get out an shoot the bull . Sounds like you got to enjoy some family time and get a bunch of wood .