How Much does it Cost to Process a Cord of Firewood?
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- Опубликовано: 1 авг 2024
- How much does it cost to process a cord of firewood. In this video I go through a breakdown of gas, oil, and fuel prices and how much it eventually cost to process a full cord of firewood.
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Thanks for watching. If you’re not subscribed to my channel now would be a great time. Thanks Ben.
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For tax purposes, don’t you need to have actual cost to declare profit, to pay your taxes?
@@daveschooley8514 Dave I’m not sure that’s why I pay to have it done. I’ll tell him what I make and provide him all my expenses and mileage. Everything from cell phones to chain files and depreciation on anything I own.
Did you ad on cost of chain saw, cost of tractor, cost of wood splitter cost of shed, cost of land the shed sits on, cost of land the trees sit grew on?
aproximate numbers:
6 gal fuel = 800K BTU;
1 cord red oak = 24M BTU
I have a large block of wood that I have two stacked car tires tied together, and the bottom one is screwed into the block.
I throw my sticks into that and split them with an axe. You don't have to go fetch those pieces off the ground, and you can throw like 15 of those pesky smaller sticks in and crack em all one after another. I can out split the gas splitter using it. Plus, I love splitting by hand with an axe.
I'll only use the wood splitter on the real bad ones full of knots.
Yeah I’ve seen that done works pretty well. I gave up the axe and maul for the most part. When I get time I’ll bring my splitter over and we can have a little competition lol. Thanks for watching.
Good job! Stay warm!
Thanks Joanne not a problem lately. I was putting up some cameras yesterday in shorts and flip flops. Take care, Ben.
That’s good price for everything you run
I try to be as efficient as possible. Thanks for stopping by.
These are some vary dam good videos makes me thinking i should do bundles too locally
Gabriel yes the bundles do very well. Thanks for stopping by take care, Ben.
Good stuff...
Thanks Eddy. Take care, Ben.
Add your cost for labor and if the tree guys charged for the tree. Don't forget your property cost.
So far I haven’t paid the tree guys for any of the deliveries. Actually all these trees were cut on my own property. Hopefully I can do another video and include my labor costs. Thanks for watching take care, Ben.
awesome
Thanks glad you enjoyed the video. Take care, Ben.
I did some figuring and I figured it was around 15 dollars a cord but my big expense came from my pickup as I cut 13 miles from my house. I split by hand so that saved me some and I load my trailer with a skid steer so a half hour of run time on that. Was interesting to see the cost but I always knew other than the truck it wasn’t much. I figured the time I have in just cutting splitting loading and stacking a cord without drive time is 2.5 hours per cord.
Wayne thanks for watching sir. Yes it’s not too bad until you get into the expenses of all the equipment. Hope to hear from you again take care, Ben.
Hi y'all from Talladega Alabama Roll tide Roll
Hey BMG thanks for stopping by really appreciate you watching. Take care, Ben.
hi there i thought did a good job on the video . now for the but part of the comment . first i don't mean it bad or negative just my thoughts on using the pickroon that way , its easier now but bad for you in the long run and takes more energy and time . here is some of my reasons i feel this way , it takes X amount of energy to get the log from the ground to the splitter . you can't change that , now you have to use more energy to stab then un hook the wood , 2 when you pick it up your back will be unbalanced . it is easier on your back because you are using your arms , they are in better shape because you use then for everything , 3 when you get a large round that the pickaroon wont lift your back wont be in shape to pick it up , i think i will do another video on this . not trying to say what your doing is wrong , just think about you may not really be saving the old back take care john
Thanks John for stopping by. Good points about the pickaroon. I just feel the less times I bend over I’m doing good. I’m hoping to never have to pick up a heavy round that is why I use the log lifter. I drag some of the larger rounds with the pickaroon to the lifter. My biggest problem is my right elbow I’m thinking it is worn out lol. It’s caused from grasping the firewood when moving so I’m trying to cradle more and become a lefty. Thanks again take care, Ben.
It's only going to get more expensive. Thanks for the breakdown.
Thanks for watching sir. Unfortunately I’m afraid you are correct. Hope to have you stop by again take care, Ben.
Good job👍👍
Thanks 608.
Have to add in the capital cost of all equipment and equipment maintenance amortized over their lifetime. That adds another $15 or so per cord. I figure about $30 per cord total to process a cord
Donald thanks for watching sir. Yes I know there is a lot more to the equation I wouldn’t even know where to start calculating. I’m about to change splitter hydraulic oil and filter that will cost $60. Chains and files seems the list is endless. Thanks for sharing the info hope to see you around again. Take care, Ben.
That's something I've been thinking of doing because I know I don't want to raise my rates but I might have to to survive.. its just getting stupid up here with the cost of supplies you need just to cut wood.. since covid the prices have increased from 1.12 to 1.47 for gas .. chains from 27 to 36 each... the list goes on
Yea I know I’ve even thought about running burnt motor oil as bar oil. I know people do but I just have a hard time pouring that in one of my saws. Thanks for watching take care, Ben.
@@OGAOutdoors heard of vegetable oil but never heard anyone crazy enough to use used motor oil
now take that to a different level, that sub 20$ chord of wood, if chunked and ran through a gassifier could power your truck going down the road in excess of 5000 miles. now 5000 miles in my v8 at 11mpg would be about 455 gallons of gasoline at a cost of 4.25$/gallon would cost me 1931.98$. so for a single chord of wood at your cost you would save about 1900$ in fuel cost. at your cost of wood production you could daily drive for less then a penny a mile traveled. wood is what i call the freedom fuel
Hey Ben, very informative your video, but I thought a cord was 4 feet high, by 8 feet long, or have a weight of a tonne
Thanks. A cord is any stack that equals 128 CF when you multiply length x width x height. Example 4 x 4 x 8 = 128.
No hurrying now...
Thank for the nice video as always. But you didn't figure in the cost of wear and tear on your equipment.
Paul thanks for stopping by. Yeah I didn’t get into any depreciation that’s the job for the tax man. I really wouldn’t even know what to figure in for this little experiment.
What do you estimate the time and labor costs?
To be honest I’m not sure. I try to keep up with my time and normally I make over $30 per hour.
Hello Ben, good cost ratio, it’s your time processing that adds up, Take Care 🪵🚜👍🏼🇺🇸
Yeah I just ballpark my time if I’m close to my desired hourly rate I’m good.
Beautiful wall of wood there Ben, maddening to think just a year ago your fuel cost was less than half what your paying now! I have the same pickaroon yeah it’s great. Take care, Bud
Thanks Mike yeah it’s crazy. The wall of wood is on its third or fourth year. The pick is great on the old guy backs for sure. Thanks again take care brother.
In addition to fuel, youhave to factor in equipment maintainence cost and the biggest factor is time. How many hours did you put in beginning with cutting down the tree to stacking the last piece of split wood onto the woodpile?
Yes I was just doing gas and oil on this one. I have a pretty good idea of what I’m getting paid per hour for my time. Take care, Ben.
Good breakdown of average cost analysis, I haven't taken the time to pay much attention to what it cost to produce a cord of wood. Great video and got me thinking how much more I spend due to tractor use and my slow splitter.
Thanks BF really appreciate you stopping by. Yes there are a lot of expenses involved I didn’t even touch on as you well know. A lot of I’m not even sure how you would calculate guessing it would have to be an annual cost. Take care, Ben.
What does the equipment cost to operate per hour. Not just the fuel.
Jon I really don’t know didn’t get that deep into the breakdown.
I think part of the cost savings also comes in when you use a saw, truck and tractor that you would already have to take care of your place. Of course, the splitter too. I realize this was just OM costs and not CAPX, but it still cost a lot to produce firewood, no matter how you look at it.
For sure tons of expenses everywhere. I dropped $100 to service my Ranger and my log splitter. Take care, Ben.
Buy a splitting axe. Save yourself some gas/money on those easy to split sticks, and it's also good for you.
Good video, so you at $20 a cord. Now how to the guys sell a half cord for $50 delivered? You know they are going to burn up $10 in gas or more delivering. That only leaves $30 net and that does not account for wear and tear.
I figured up my cost per truckload one time. I know I get about 5.5 cords per truck load. I usually don't buy e free gas. The store I sell bundles to sells e free gas. So I'll get some, if I need it when I am making a deliver or picking up a gun. He is also an FFL. I get my bar oil for free, the cheap farm store stuff does the job too. I'll have to do a video on that, probably a short suffice. I buy 2 cycle oil by the gallon, it was $30. My splitter uses a gallon of gas an hour. The conveyor uses less gas than the splitter. When the splitter runs out the conveyor is very close. The tractor uses .7 gal an hour, probably less moving logs. I don't have the numbers right now but I had it all figured up at one time. The cost was pretty low.
I also have a couple of observations processing wood. My conveyor uses the same amount of gas at an idle or full throttle. Your splitter probably would not use much more gas at full throttle. Also it seems to me like a big saw is more efficient than a small saw unless in small wood. I have not checked this but that seems to be the case.
Yeah I wasn’t going to do the $50 truckload comparison. I wouldn’t even get out of bed if I knew I was only going to make $30 per 1/3. I like that you get free bar oil that stuff is not cheap. At my saw shop last time I checked it was pushing $15 a gallon. There are just so many expenses and tools involved in firewood hard to calculate everything. I’m not sure about the splitter gas consumption at WOT seems it would use more but really no need because I can’t keep up with it anyway. Thanks for stopping by take care, Ben.
Ben, great video on Calculating the cost to produce a cord. I have done similar things and for me it is more like $25-30 to produce a cord. Thanks for sharing this with the firewood community.
Craig thanks really appreciate the feedback. Yea I know this is all over the place so many variables and cost involved. Hope to hear from you again take care, Ben.
@@OGAOutdoors, my dump truck gets 8 mpg with the big block so that is a lot of added expense for me.
@@craigwilson9560 Yeah 8 miles per gallon will add up in a hurry. Heck everything adds up quickly these days.
On just fuel costs that a good estment Ben.. Thanks for sharing..
Daniel thanks for stopping by. Yes I think it’s fair. If I went into everything involved it would be a two hour video. Take care, Ben.
Good evening Sir, You have a very nice such a very nice firewood quality 👌👍 Great informative video Sir and please be safe and keep warm Cheers 👍👌🍻
Thanks Dave for watching as always. Yes always working on the firewood got to keep the inventory up. Your the one that needs to stay warm you could probably sleep outside down here compared to your weather. Take care brother God bless.
Hi Ben, I like the stick in the pocket trick, think I’ll borrow that one!
Dave sorry but I have the patent on that. You will need to speak with my attorney before using the stick. Lol. No I like the fact that it’s always there because I always have to adjust cuts on every log. I get tired of marking and then having to do it over. I think I’m more accurate as well. Take care, Ben.
@@OGAOutdoors attorney Bernie? 😃 Thanks Ben I agree concerning the accuracy, easy peasy too! Stick to it!!
Investment of equipment
is your biggest cost? And your labor cost something?
Dave I agree completely I was just wanting to do fuel for this one. I really wouldn’t know where to start figuring equipment costs into the equation just so many variables. I just try to keep up with my time and pay myself a rate I’m happy with. Take care, Ben.
Fuel prices are a major consideration, but not the only one. You also have to include maintenance and depreciation on your equipment, because if it moves, it wears out.
I'm curious why you don't move logs TO the shed with your tractor forks and do your bucking into rounds and splitting there. To load split wood into the side-by-side bed, then unload again at the final stacking point seems extra labor ?
Ed I agree I was just figuring fuel this time. I just keep the logs at this staging area to keep everything out of the way and the mess down. I have several videos where I was processing at the shed. My shed would be buried under trash by now. Take care, Ben.
Maybe is you get a real saw instead of the hourly saw, it wouldn't take so long to cut. O and the horizontal splitter sucks, get a chair, turn that vertical and split way fast and save your back.
Who the hell needs a tractor? I haul my 8ft truck bed trailer into the woods, haul it all out and stack it! East coast red oak and white oak. Smfh
Thanks appreciate you watching glad you enjoyed the video. Take care, Ben.
Great video. I just got my Fiskars hookaroon after watching some of your videos. It works great!!
Eric really appreciate you watching sir. Yes the Fiscars pickaroon is a really slick tool. It’s a little lighter than others but works great. Thanks for watching take care, Ben.
What kind of wood is that?
Best I remember that is sweet gum. I stacked it on the side of the shed to keep it out of the weather. Take care, Ben.
All of that equipment you could be electric in the cost could be effectively zero. Nothing in their required the strength of a gas engine.
Actually I have an electric splitter that works really well. Split Fire of course. Thanks for stopping by.
Well Ben, I would say that is great. Compared to the price of other ways to heat your house. Great video and some good food for though for sure. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Boss for sure I just cringe when I think about a central unit running constantly on these cold mornings. Take care, Ben.
One piece of data you didn't factor in was how many HOURS you spent in this activity. If you're going to use $15/hr. for reference, you might then get an idea of what you should sell this processed wood for so you can cover your expenses and then some. After all, this is still America where the name of the business game is "profit." I hope you get an abundant share of it for yourself and your family.
Thanks for watching and stopping by. I shoot for $30 hour. I try to stay away from anything less. Take care, Ben.
@@OGAOutdoors May you live long, fell, buck, split, stack, bundle, sell and prosper.
Hi Ben! Good vid! I think it is spot on and gives me a good idea of where I am at. A lot of people tell me it costs more to heat my home them to pay for propane. Time excluded, I have always felt like I was ahead. I was right. Appreciate you sharing and take care. WST
Mike yes it doesn’t take a lot to process a cord. Just have to pay attention to your expenses. Take care, Ben
Good job, Ben. I'd be willing to pay double your cost for a cord. 🤣🤣😂 I enjoy watching your channel. Thanks, and have a great Sunday. Stay warm.
Thanks Chazz I’ll get one processed and heading your way. Always looking forward to Sundays. Church then home and just relaxing. Take care, Ben.
Great video
Thanks William really appreciate you watching sir. Take care, Ben.
Your costs also need to include the costs of your equipment. Once your equipment is paid off, then maybe just costs of maintenance and any added parts/tools should also be included.Thanks for sharing!
Jackie oh I agree this was just supposed to be based on just the fuel. Equipment and depreciation gets really complicated. I could make an entire video just on the chainsaw. Let me know if you like it lol. Take care, Ben.
That's not the Harvard/Wharton way! "Greed is good!"
That was to Jackie. OGA answers more like the business school model, right down to postage stamps, caviar, and toilet paper!!
Hey Ben, nice video. Great information also. Thats really nice to know. Keep the good videos coming.
Joey thank you sir hope y’all have a good weekend. Take care, Ben.
Good video Ben! I’ve been wanting to keep track and do a video like this but am scared to know the numbers 😳. I’d say less than $20 in fuel for a full cord is pretty good.
Thanks Mike I think I’m really close on the numbers. I guess I could eliminate the tractor but I don’t think my old back could take it. Take care, Ben.
Hello from Virginia Ben great videos brother 👍👍🇺🇸
Thanks Glenn for watching and stopping by. Good Lord willing I’ll keep putting them out. Take care, Ben.
enjoyed the video. thanks - at theloghog
Appreciate you watching sir catch you on the next one. Take care, Ben.
Ben, really enjoyed watching your videos today. New subscriber here!
That “wall of wood” looks great! Your passionate about firewood and it shows.
Those smaller splits you do, really make the stacks look nice for your customers.
I agree with your cost estimates, sounds about right to me. My saws would burn more fuel than two tanks, but I have larger cc saws than you do, so I suspect your getting better “mileage”with yours than some others.
For what it’s worth, I think your selling price is reasonable for the quality of the wood your selling.
Mark really appreciate you watching and subscribing sir. I try to provide a consistent product the best I can. The wall of wood is still standing barely. When I filled the shed the wall expanded a little. Thanks again take care, Ben.
$4 a gallon , diesel here is £1.50/litre. That's much nearer $8 a us gallon!
So double all your fuel costs...however my country is the size of Alabama so we do much less driving.
Tim that’s pretty high I would have to park the tractor at that price. Thanks for stopping by take care , Ben.
What make and model is your splitter? Have never seen one that splits both directions.
Jason really appreciate you watching sir. This one is my Split-Fire 2265. It definitely gets the job done. Here’s the link to the video showing it when I first got it. Thanks Ben.
ruclips.net/video/4yjyfKGMqZM/видео.html
No bad. Ur fuel prices there are crazy.
Crazy bad or good what are yours. Gas prices were for non ethanol gas $4 regular is about $3.
@@OGAOutdoors diesel is 3.30 and 2.50 for gas. We r n southwest Missouri
I don't know if we can even get non-ethanol gas at the pump here in NJ. You can buy it in those Quart? containers at the hardware store but they are cost prohibitive- Amy
@@ledzepcleo Amy I agree those premix quart or gallon containers are crazy. I think the gallon was like $20 at Lowes. Thanks for watching take care, Ben.
The cost you mentioned are only part of the equation , how much was the wood ? How much time did it take ? You don’t work for free. Bottom line, with firewood, what is the touch time, how many times did you touch ? The more automation like a wood processor, the less you touch it (lower labor cost). The people that make bigger money in firewood, touch it less.
All good points there are tons of expenses involved in firewood. I just try to keep track of the costs I can control and I guess depreciation and expenses will help at tax time. I’m working by myself self just trying to maintain a profitable hobby business. I have an hourly rate I want to maintain based on expenses and time. Thanks for watching take care, Ben.
How about your labor??? It takes time to do all this. Have a Safe Day
David this in depth study was just devoted to fuel lol. I have an hourly rate I shoot for if close to that I’m good especially since this is supposed to be a hobby. I need to go out and do a days work without making videos I can’t get anything done when making videos. Take care, Ben.
Hey Ben- Excellent work calculating the cost of fuel for processing 1 cord of firewood. I like that you’re looking at one single cost component. Nice video.
Chad yes it’s definitely a process as you know. It’s so hard to figure everything while trying to make a video. Appreciate you watching and commenting as always take care, Ben.
Hello Ben. What is size off firewood than at beside the road
Robet thanks for watching. The roadside stand bays hold about 5 cf so it takes about 25 of those to equal this cord. Take care, Ben.
Thanks you ben
It's not possible for my chainsaw to cutt a cord in two fills. Maybe 4. I'll try to count it this next time but it takes a tank to cut enough to fill my truck not real full. I figured 4-5:loads is a cord. So it may take 5 tanks
Two tanks was as close as I could figure with my Echo CS 590. I always figure 3 truckloads to be a cord. I’m guessing you may use more gas if cutting a lot of the limbs. Take care, Ben.
I don't think that is close to the cost of processing a cord of firewood.
Wear and tear, depreciation, labor, breakdowns, you have a lot more expenses.
Joe I agree I was just trying to focus on the fuel for this one. I really don’t calculate any labor just as long as I get paid the hourly rate I need at the end of the day. I haven’t even started to figure depreciation that gives me a headache with tax season approaching. Take care, Ben.
The missing question is how many hours did you spend cutting down the tree, delimbing, hauling brush, bucking rounds, and splitting to make that cord of firewood. Great video!
Mark I agree it’s hard to calculate because it seems every time I do anything I’m making a video. I’m guessing around 8 hours. I could probably improve on that if I wanted to get in a hurry. Thanks for watching take care, Ben.
@@OGAOutdoors
And that means eight hours times what? 25$/hour? 35$/hour? We are somewhere at 250$/cord in labour and miscellangelous. What is retail on a cord?
@@OGAOutdoors I understand the video takes even more time. I am trying to tip my toes into the market by selling some cords by taking down on my hunting property in North Alabama. I just have a single wedge splitter and it probably takes me 12 hours to cut, buck, split, and stack a full cord. I like to find straight trees in timber with no limbs!
@@johanneslaxell6641 The number I make per hour is north of $30. I’m selling my cord’s $360 picked up and $405 delivered plus mileage. Take care , Ben.
@@mgarc05 Mark I’ll have to do a full blown test for sure to see the exact time it takes to process a cord. Like I said 8 hours is a guess. So where you located I may have to come help you split.
Cost analysis is pretty good but not as good as the new beard. HAHA, take care.
Brother the new beard will be short lived as well as the little bit of hair under my hat. Teresa said I have more hair than she has ever seen. Take care, Ben.
Ben, that Fiskars picaroon looks like the best thing since sliced bread! Did you get it local or online? If online, where can I get one? The couple of stores I checked are sold out.
Looks like you are stocking up nicely!
Steve I actually got it from Amazon. The wait time was less than projected. Thanks so much for watching hope to see you again sir. Take care, Ben.
@@OGAOutdoors Ben, thanks for the info. I had about $20 left from an Amazon gift card, so I used that up and ordered one. Should be here first week of February. Appreciate the video and comments about the picaroon!!! 👍😁🌳🌲
@@OGAOutdoors Ben, my picaroon arrived. Unfortunately, it was a really cheap Chinese knock off. The package was super light, which I thought was weird. I tried to use it, but it wouldn't stick in the wood. I shipped it back and asked for a refund. Then, I found a Fiskars picaroon on Amazon and ordered it today for basically the same cost, about $50. I am not sure how I ordered that piece of junk, but I did. I am sure it would have broke soon after trying to use it, it was so cheap. At least Amazon let me return it. Now the 8 day wait begins again. Steve in Oregon.
@@stevepreston7030 Steve well I guess another week isn’t too bad. The fiskars is light with the hollow handle but works well.
Echo.... already at a bad start...
Thanks for watching John what saw do you prefer?
@@OGAOutdoors I run a husky 372xpw 32" bar.. or my farm saw stihl ms 311...
@@Hollywoodhouse74 Gets the job done for you cool. My Echos do what I need for now. Thanks take care, Ben.
@@OGAOutdoors if u like to waste ur time by not being most efficient then bye all means use a wanna be saw... my time is money and that's why I run a professional series saws