Good advice again! Oh boy... Those weeds in the garden! The stress alone they cause is not worth it... I'm firing a customer this year. Every year from the beginning I catered to every "issue" he had... Last year I played the game out to prove undeniably that he was looking for any excuse to get a deal on the wood or to get a little extra. Last year I stacked 4 full cord of the driest stuff I had in the most accessible location in the full sun and wind. It was good hardwood; ironwood, hickory, oak, cherry, ash, beech, maple.. I let is sit out for about 10 months like that. He missed scheduled days for pick up and one year the snow came and he had to leave half a cord sitting there. Anyway... Conclusion... He came and measured the stack, he measured the pieces, he brought his moisture meter... He was not able to find anything to complain about... He started chatting me up... He just had a baby, he just spent alot of money on redoing his chimney... Etc. Sure enough.... He started himming and hawwing about whether he could afford to buy all 4 cord... Then he talked about the distance he had to travel come get the wood and rent a trailer...etc. Then he asked since he was buying 4 full cord at 300 a cord... could he buy 5 full cord for 275 a cord... And acted as if it was a deal for me. I told him I advertise as pick up only. I told him the price is firm because my labour costs more than wood is worth. This guy tried everything in the book... To get a lower cost to the point it was getting bullish. He finally gave in. So this year I'm done with him with no regrets. I should have done it the first year. He caused me more stress and waiting around... Than I care to admit.
seen a lot of videos about firewood. yours is the best, by far. I am a 81 year old vermonter the heat my house 100% with wood and have for the last 60 years. I get out and cut about another 25--30 cord a year. Here the price is about $350 cord. The best advice you give is for EVERY business....know when to say "no I cannot serve you"
Yes great advice mate. I was doing your thing but age took over and I had to be honest with myself. I was not being reliable for delivery. No one wanted to pickup and continue my very successful wood business. In my area $450-600 is the going rate for a full cord delivered. The low end price is wet wood. So now I’ll watch you and do my own thing in the wood yard.
I almost feel guilty for getting $200 per face cord. I said almost. Lol I do deliver and stack for that price but most times people help me when I get there and a lot of folks give me nice tips as well. I have very nice, clean, easy to handle, wood, and my customers go on and on about that. Most of my deliveries are less than 5 mi. I have a lot of people that come to the yard and load their own wood. I get $150 per regular size truckload. They load from my "ugly wood" or "cookie" pile for $100 per pickup bed stacked high as they dare. The gift of gab is a must in this business. People love a smiling face and a good story. It goes a long way with them and helps them remember you and want to see you again. A lot of my customers stop by my yard all the time just to check on me. That makes you feel good but it can be detremental to churning out your product. A hospice nurse pulled in the other day just to make sure I was getting plenty of fluids. She said "Propel" is absolutely the best electrolyte replacement you can buy. It made a big difference for me in this 105 degree weather we have had consistantly for a month in Arkansas and no sign of rain in sight. I live and work in a wood kiln. Lol which brings me to another good point. My wood reads 17-19 within 6 to 8 months after splitting. The sound of my wood goes from clunk to clink in a short period of time compared to what I hear from the northern states. I always seem to write a book. But damnit boy, I have a lot to say! Great advice as usual Chris.
We are probably due for a price bump this fall. Inflation and equipment costs have gone up this year. It's easy to forget the drying/seasoning time investment in the price equation. It costs inventory space to produce ready-to-burn firewood.
Interesting points. Had 1 customer who didn't like anything I brought him. Always complain. When he call the first few times I said out of wood. The last time he called I just flat out told him I refuse to deliver because he always complain. Thought it was me sent a friend with a load of wood and the guy complain to him about the wood. Have a great day be safe.
Really appreciate all the information you shared here! Priceless. Here on Kodiak island our firewood is scarce. For years my primary solid fuel was driftwood. I’d sell my surplus and would never charge less than $350/cord. Now, an area of borough land which burned 6 years ago, is our only resource. Some wood is punky, but still burns. It’s all softwood, Sitka Spruce. We have cottonwood and alder but that’s it! I hate to say it as it didn’t sit well with me but we have been selling cords of the above mentioned wood for $500!! Recently, I restructured my business model, many thanks to you actually. I now sell face cords for $150. People in my area have never heard of a face cord, so I am having fun refining this limited market. People like being able to purchase an amount less than a cord. Face cords are so easy to measure and stack! I agree we all need to charge more. I drive 4 hours, spend 2 hours collecting, 2-3 hours splitting, stacking and delivering is a few hours yet. I don’t add gas/oil my lunch or any other expenses. I rounded my rate to $50/hour. It takes me approximately 10 hours to produce a cord of firewood, start to finish! Yeah, it’s hard work. I love it. Best job I have ever had!!!!
That is awesome! I would love to come there sometime! I have been to Alaska a couple times moose hunting up by Circle/Hot springs area...lots of relatives there in Talketna,Willow,Anchorage!
I read a post (I forget where) from a firewood seller who said that they were always running out of wood to sell, despite having a consistent source... My reaction to that is this: 'If one is running out of product, they clearly are not charging enough'. I am self employed (though I don't sell firewood), and the foregoing is just basic pricing vs supply and demand. Thanks for the well thought out post and good advice for small business owners- it was almost 100% spot-on. (I particularly liked what you said about costs and how they ought to be figured into to the price. Many small business fail because they don't account for things like sourcing materials, bids that one does not win, and, importantly: depreciation and maintenance, of ones capital investments.
A full cord goes for $260 to$350 Canadian $ , Nova Scotia. A mixture of Beech, Maple, Oak, and a small percentage of Birch. Depend on delivery distance and fuel prices at the time.
I love your videos cutting, splitting, delivering, showing equipment and tools in operation, etc. but this is probably the best video you have ever done. Great advice! I sell part time and I’m having a hard time accepting that I just can’t do the physical part like I used to. Torn rotator cuff, bad knee, loss of strength… all the things that come with approaching 73. I’ve raised my price this year to $125/face, $350/cord. I still hope to sell 15-20 cord… it’s become a hobby that I really enjoy.
I'm 70, for the past several years I've gathered, cut, split and stacked firewood. Going thru all that work taught me to respect anyone who sells "good" firewood. It is a LOT of work. LOL, my wife shakes her head at what I have stacked out back, but she doesn't seem to understand how long it takes to season it. She does love a fire though! Much respect for what you do, it is a never-ending job. FYI, I live in Ocala, Florida... we get a couple months of weather cold enough to justify a fire.
Hey Woolval! You gave me energy to keep going! I'm 64 and was thinking I'm too old for all this wood stuff! Full Speed Ahead! Um...maybe half speed! LOL!
Great tips and suggestions on this topic. The most important point is that firewood is really undervalued as a product like you said due the amount of intense labor that you have to put in it. Keep up the awesome video’s.
I also like your tip about offering a range of choices with different pricepoints. That ties right in with question #1 for people who don't really have any strong opinion, or know what to buy: What are you wanting to use it FOR. Like you said- all wood burns, some burns hotter, some faster, some is great for making coals, others are great for making nice bright cheery flames. And some produce especially nice smelling smoke. Pine , spruce, basswood, poplar, aspen, etc are great for recreational fires- they burn hot with nice bright flames. But not the best choice for smoking, or for heating. Pine/spruce also produce that classic campfire smell! (all of those woods also split easily, and make great kindling) Good heating woods- like oak, hickory, and locust burn slow, steady- and long. Perfect for a stove fireplace or boiler but not necessarily so perfect for the nice cheery blaze you want from a campfire. You're just spending unnecessary extra $$, if it's just for the firepit. Buy the good stuff for cooking and heating. For recreational burning, the less expensive varieties are often better suited for that purpose.
I think pine gets a bad shake from a lot of people, I've burned it for years now and it seasons out quickly and gets the stove going fast, once that bed of coals is made you can literally dampen down everything so far that pine will burn for a pretty long time, I've been able to get over 2hrs of burn out of pine only fires and the smell is always enjoyable outside or in, I've burned cedar as well another great smelling wood inside or out, the biggest thing with pine is just make sure it's well seasoned you don't want to burn moist pine because of the sappy resin inside which can produce really bad smoke and creosote, it only takes about half to 3/4 of a year to season out when split so if ever in a pinch it's a very good wood to have readily available, love the content as always keep it up, very informative and true facts being presented here with no gimmicks or false info...
@@michellemorrison5841 i've been quite surprised by how long spruce will actually burn on a campfire. Its not the POOF! wood everyone claims it is. Smells nice, to boot. Also makes a nice helper for those really dense chunks, or that new batch of wood that isnt as seasoned as youd hoped...
We're across the water from you in central/northern MI. This is our first winter selling and it's been kind of disappointing so far. I feel the market is saturated, $70 seems to be the average price and it's not selling. We're talking about dropping it to $65 but I really don't want to having a $10k dump trailer, the saws, the pickup, the splitter and a lot of time. Everyone tells me to be patient just starting out... especially since we didn't scramble around to start out until October when most people already had their wood.
I does take time to build up customers. My first year I sold about 40 face cords. You also need to advertise on craigs list, facebook marketplace, hand out business cards but above all offer free delivery. Good luck!
I'm in northern Ontario Canada. I sell jack pine for 120 per face cord maple birch 140. I'm out in the bush but it sells. I hate oak the smell bothers me. Canadian bushcord explained before my time pulp mills bought wood by the bush cord 4 foot sticks stacked 4X8. So firewood just moved away from that measure to assure your firewood would fit in a stove Even more confusing as I drove log truck logs are sold by the cubic meter . Was selling more but getting old 50facecords is enough
I’ve watched this video a couple times now. Great info. Been watching you along time now. I just don’t comment b/c you get so many. Thanks for the great info and videos Mr Chris!
We live in seacoast New Hampshire and are surrounded by trees. The going price for seasoned hardwood is about $375/ cord or128 cubic feet. I buy almost all red oak by the truckload. I paid $1250 for 2 loads in February that measured a total of 13.5 full cords. By the way, I think red oak smells like catsup when split. Takes a long time to dry, but I like it.
Good food for thought here Chris. In NE Tennessee, most customers have no idea what a cord is let alone a face cord. I have ended up selling by the load. The customers just want to see a truck that cannot hold another stick. This year I am giving them what they want, but the price is going up. $100 for mixed and $125 for oak, beech, hickory and walnut. My ad will read oversized truck load close to one half cord. Strange market. A lot a scammers out there delivering crap loads to folks. I have seen loads delivered that had literally sticks that could have been picked up out of any woods in the area. I have seen 2X4 blocks in the loads. My take is that I am going to offer what they want, give them what they want and the better customers will accept the higher pricing. Been doing this for three years now and have run out of wood every year. Will see what happens. Have a great day!
wanting to do firewood as i enjoy being out in the woods, using the saws, equipment, doing work like this, especially in the fall i get an urge to be in the woods but i look on marketplace and see cut and split wood for 150$ a cord... or you can have it delivered in full lengths for 150$ a cord.. and spruce slabs from sawmills are close to free maybe 20$ a truck load at most
@@InTheWoodyard yeah maybe 100k people at most and woods in every direction.. not seeing any change in firewood price even though furnace oil is now over 7$ a gallon and diesel is 8.40$ a gallon.. cost to heat with oil is higher and cost to produce the fire wood is higher yet no one is bumping their prices up
I live in Ireland and we have peat bogs here where we dry peat in the summer to burn in the winter. Wood is a premium product here and a face cord of dry Ash can cost 150-200eur. Luckily I can cut my own I have access to loads of Ash and Irish oak it burns great. American hard woods are better and more plentiful.
Stumbled on your video and enjoyed it. Good stuff. Another reason wood in Chicago is so expensive may be due to the fact that anyone delivering anything realizes that while they are in Chicago their lives are in much more danger than if they stayed where they were.
I usually get on Craigslist after storms to get free wood.But the time and effort to pick it up ,cut it to length,split w an axe and then stack it.I should just buy it but I don’t lol
I agree I’m in the same boat I’m to old and have two rebuilt shoulder’s, my days of selling firewood are over. Chris has done it the right way. Till just recently he has spent very little money and done very well. I have always believed, you make a good living keeping your business a one man show. You make a great living when your company in huge though your over head can be very high. You just don’t want to get in that middle area, where you purchase processors, trucks, tractors to early and the money goes flying away.
Chitcago suburbs checking in (Plainfield). Local prices : face cord of oak, cherry, birch or maple $175 picked up add $25 for local delivery and another $25 for stacking.
Full cord is 8L x 4H x 4W or any combination of those dimensions or 128cubic feet by volume, I use 14in or 16in bar chainsaws and that's my length of the rounds I cut and split, I just put my bar along side tree after felling and mark my tip placement then cut, rinse and repeat and this keeps my cords fairly uniform and consistent especially when people are using short box trucks nowadays lol, if I measure their truck box and divide those dimensions by 128 that gives me roughly the amount or loads needed to get them a full cord of wood if that's what they want... Again love the content and info and hope my info helps as well, it's true running any kind of wood selling business even a little side business is very demanding and most people take for granted what we all have to do and go through just to get a single cord of wood completely done from start to finish, felling, cutting rounds, splitting, hauling, unloading, stacking, and then helping load or delivering and unloading and stacking again, getting too old for this lmao...If we actually keep track of our hours of labor spent on doing a single cord on a good day, say our average pay is 10bucks an hour because hell you can flip burgers for that today, a single cord of wood for me doing it all myself takes roughly 4 to 6hrs, so right there is 60bucks for a single cord in just labor per hour costs, this doesn't include fuel expenses, equipment used and maintenance costs, which would easily cost another 40 to 60bucks per day of operation, so 1 cord a day plus operating expenses per day I'm looking at 100 to 120bucks per cord per day and thats if everything is perfect nothing breaks and no other surprises come up...Maybe this will help most people understand better how frustrating it can be to deal with people that want wood but don't want to pay the proper price for it, I usually say find someone cheaper then or do it yourself and see where you end up, guess what they end up right back at my doorstep with a humbled apology and I say don't worry about it I just wanted them to understand the truth of the matter and that I'm the cheapest place within a hundred mile to get a quick cord of wood albeit I don't have the best woods I mix everything and I say this is mix dirty wood 75bucks a cord and I help load or deliver and help unload I do not help stack though I do enough of that for myself lol...
Yup! I sell my wood for $120 a face cord and $360 a full cord and have found that I make the most $$$ with free tree service wood delivered to me and second most with bought wood delivered to me and least by going to my or others property and cutting trees down, cutting rounds , loading them up driving back , unloading, splitting and then stacking...way way way more time and effort to do that. But I only have been doing this now for 10 years sell in just 200 full cords a year and I am just learning.
YES SIR, you hit that right on the head. Firewood is the hardest job (I've) ever done. And let me tell you I've done some hard azz jobs before. The only job that comes close is clearing lots with only a backhoe, chainsaw, axe and your back... Firewood is SOOOOOO undervalued.
I liked your term: "Firing a customer.". Every business owner has to deal with such people from time to time. However, my advice wouldn't be to just walk away (except in extreme circumstances like non-payment, shady people, or poor safety). Rather, I sometimes double or more than double what would usually be my bid. This is a win-win: if one does not get the gig, well, no big deal, they didn't really want it anyway... And if one DOES win the bid- heck, the money's good enough compensation for dealing with the difficult customer, site, materials, etc.
I pretty much have been burning wood most of my life. All wood burns some better then others some faster then others some slower then others but non the less they all burn. I have watched many videos on people splitting wood and my honest opinion is they split the wood to small. I know why they split it small so it burns faster hotter and it will burn quicker meaning they will need more wood to heat so they will buy more wood. Unsplit wood burns a lot slower and a lot longer we call them all-nighters Toss a few unsplit logs in the wood-stove and go to bed wake up it is still hot in the house and the fire is still going. Toss in a couple hand full's of split wood and wake up the next morning and the fire is out and it is 20 below in the house.
90% of the people I sell wood to WANT smaller wood (fireplaces, small wood stoves, cooking, firepits) and only burn wood for fun (drinking) and want faster easier burning wood NOT all nighters for heating. Totally different wood burners than boiler people. I sell about 200 full cords every year and the number one comment I get is..."I like the size of your wood, the last guy brought me big huge pieces that my wife could not lift and the did not fit in our fireplace."
In Australia we measure in cubic meters, 1 cord is 3.6cubic meters In my area 1 cubic meter is $150, so the equivalent is $540 AUD per cord! Firewood is crazy expensive here in Aus.
Wow, that sounds great, I wish it was more valuable here. We have a lot of trees from where I live to the north and west so firewood is easy to get. Thanks for watching from the other side of the rock! I just checked out a couple of your videos and subscribed, good stuff!
20 years ago I sold cords for $180 Rick's $90 . Somebody asked the other day what I would sell a cord for I said $400 they told me they could get it for $180. Well I'm keeping my wood then. How does firewood price never go up after 20 years in my area? Everything else has gone up over the years.. I will just keep my day job and do my own wood. Maybe see about bundles because all I see in that market is at lowes only..
I really like how you just help everyone out on how you stated your business and to where it’s at now love your videos keep them coming. You have helped me out a lot. Just to hot to cut and split during summer here. It was 108 today splitter doesn’t like it lol
HOW TO FIND NUMBER OF CORDS IN ANY SIZE RELATIVELY SQUARE STACK OF FIREWOOD Use a calculator. 1. Measure the stack in inches. Inches Wide or Deep X Inches Tall or High X Inches Long = a big number. Example: 36 in wide X 69 in tall X 156 in long = 387,504 cu inches. 2. Now divide 387,504 by 1728, (cubic inches in a cubic foot) = 224.25. 3. Now divide 224.25 by 128, (cubic feet in a cord of wood) = 1.75 cords of firewood.
We are at around $70 to 80 per face cord up here. It's just the going rate. The math does look a lot better per bundle compared to selling by the face cord. We may jump into more bundle wood sales for that reason. Good chat Chris. GNI
@@twobeards6714 - Ted Nugent would always brag about the UP. Bigger Game up there! I'm in whitetail territory though (western NY). A shout back atchya.
Once I enter the bagged snd bundled firewood market, will be getting between $330-640 per full cord. At that point will be bags/bundles, along with various sized self-serve loose bulk and delivery of facecords. I'll be getting a bunch of "free" wood soon via small expansion of my woodyard. Most of my competitors sell in the same size loose bulk sizes with similar pricing. But I deliver.
I think you have some of the best serious business advice for firewood selling. You don’t over invest in equipment for your sales levels. There are many people in many businesses who over invest for their sales levels and they are no better off doing all the work. Sometimes buying on credit can yield interesting business results depending on how depreciation is accounted for in small businesses. Cash flow isn’t always net income in some situations so it can be useful to do credit financing, but debt also has its downsides.
I agree, that in general, borrowing money to finance equipment is not as optimal as cash. The only conditions that borrowing could make sense are: Production increases have hit a bottleneck and borrowing at a low fixed rate of interest can solve this bottleneck which results in lost margin dollars, or, the tax code has created an opportunity to generate free cash flow without generating taxable income. Sometimes it’s possible to earn a higher return on capital by borrowing on equipment and putting cash to work elsewhere. It’s important to review all options and scenarios, then make the best decision based on all the factors. There is always less risk in not borrowing, unless putting cash into equipment lowers one’s liquidity to the point that the business becomes durable asset rich and cash poor. In that case, a small amount of borrowing to cure a production issue resulting in greater margin dollars in cash flow might be worth considering because it makes the balance sheet more liquid. This of course gets back to the original concept of not over investing too fast in a business, which you seem to have a good handle on. No debt is fine, except in the circumstances it creates opportunity cost.
The firewood prices have gone so high that i can not afford to buy it anymore, so I have to cut my own. I stopped buying when it went to $200 a cord I jus can not pay that much on my budget. Prices have forced me to go find my own, sometimes I do buy slab wood from the mills. Last time I bought 2 cords delivered on a trailer, when I got it all stacked it came out to about 1 and 1/2 cords.
@@InTheWoodyard Yes 1979 was a long time ago, but I didn't start burning wood until 2002 and three years ago I payed $120 a cord, then it went sky high when the sellers decided that it was gold instead of wood. LOL A lot of these guy buy a nice splitter and and wood processor that allows them to produce a lot of firewood very fast with a lot less labor. I realize those machines are not cheap, but do they have to pay for them with the first order they send out.
All perfect points I like the firing the bad customer !!! In my area with the wood I sell I'm able to sell fire killed white and black spruce for $300.00 per 128 cubic foot (CORD) , Delivered locally. IN 12' LONG POLE LENGTHS. I charge $40.00 per cord to buck it to stove lengths and I will only do that after the customer has put the cash in my hand. I do not split wood. AND I don't have any extra wood left over. To get wood to my own house I have to sneak it trough town to get to my house. When you have the best burning firewood in an area that commonly gets to -40 and much colder at times. And there is a military base with Lots of civilian contract employees. Kinda all you need to sell wood is have readily available wood that can be able to deliver it. At least here when it hit 40 BELOW
I love this video! You are covering basic business financials. Market, capital, inventory, pricing, labor, etc. I really enjoy the “business” side of the business and you just did a great video on basic business economics. Fantastic video!
In Dallas TX they have redefined the "Cord". As of Dec 2022, a face cord, 16" - 18" cuts 4'w x 8'L is now called a Half Cord. Seasoned oak sells for $355 per face cord, or as they call it, per 1/2 cord. A Full Cord is two Face Cords, 4'x 16' x 16"-18". The Full Cord, two face cords, goes for $685.
Nice price! But a full cord is 128 CUBIC feet and 2 rows of 16" pieces 4'x 8' is only 83.2 cubic feet so something is wrong there?? It takes 3 rows of 16" pieces 4'x8' to make a full cord. SO.......there math is off a bit.
Its not wimpy, its cute. Can always add an airhorn and do it right. City delivered kiln dry hardwood all packed up neat is about $875 (bulk pallet) or you can go get dripping wet pine for near free and make it your own firewood but in a city people dont do that often
Ok Chris good video I get $110 for oak and a $125 for hickory. And my pine camp wood goes for $90. I get $25 to $50 for delivery. I'm in a good place to sell
Even though we have been metric in NZ for 45 years they still talk about cords of wood. Merchants love it because there's less and less people that know how much a cord actually is. More and more they are selling it by the cubic metre now A cord is 3.6 cubic metres. Prices depend a lot on if its wet or dry and the time of year. Ideally buy your wood green a year before you need it. Best time to sell wood is the end of winter when they've run out. Or advertise it on a cold wet miserable day.
So so many people are so afraid of sharing their knowledge because they feel threatened and are afraid that others will do better ! "Let our life be an open book......so that others can come and read and learn". "Nothing belongs to anyone because everything belongs to everyone". "Knowledge might give some people power, but character respect". Total respect 100% ...... ✔✔✔
So far I have only had 2 that were extremely picky before I got to load up in both cases I was all of a sudden out of wood and they went somewhere else.. One ine them my,wife seen the email and was asking me why I wouldn't respond. I told her to read it and you tell me what to do, after reading it she was like "oh I see well you don't need the extra stress" since this is a side job... All good points Chris see you tomorrow..
I'm in WNY and they charge $155-180 per face cord and even if you buy a full cord they chsrge you by the face cord. I just paid $465 for mixed hardwood delivered I feel ripped off. Last year I paid $145 just for a face cord. But everyone around me sells wood for a lot .
You are right about market pricing. I have been telling other suppliers they need to raise their prices. We should let bundles set the price and as you know the price has been going up.
Had to buy some to tide me over till my wood is dry enough to burn WELL, and I wanted some "Good stuff" to use for grilling. (I normally just woodhound for whatever I can get, but there's not much around atm) One guy wanted $80/face cord for Ash. Another was asking $100/face cord for cherry and/or hickory. The second guy was local, guy #1 would have to be delivered. The quite reasonable delivery fee of $20 would make that Ash $60 for half a face cord. The guy with the cherry, answered his phone first. It really was that simple, lol. He's a 10 min drive from me, so I went and picked it up. Where I live, woods are plentiful and there are lots of guys that sell firewood. (and I drove past one even closer- that I didn't know about- on my way) So prices aren't too bad. We also got hit HARD by the goddamn Emerald Ash Borer, so Ash is incredibly plentiful.
They get up to 400 a cord in some areas of Massachusetts ,in fact most people charge 400 a cord in my area ,it's just because of the work involved ,and it's slow and steady work unless u have a processor
Good morning Chris!!😀😀 Prices for wood is definitely based on a lot of different factors. I'm a hour away from you and am probably only able to get a little more than half what you are getting. Unless I am willing to deliver it long distances for almost free. Take care my friend!!😀😀 Logger Al
Why don’t you get local tree removal services to drop off their loads of wood at your property for you? It’s costs them less than a dump fee. It’s a win/win
So it’s now 2024…how do your prices compare from 3 years ago? Thanks. North Dakotan here..we don’t have much for firewood. Most of it is bundled, kiln dried stuff that comes on pallets from out of state and is roughly $8 for .75 cubic ft…or $1000 a pallet. Would like to get into this (normal firewood) as people need it but just can’t get any. Shipping logs into the state doesn’t really exist from what I have gathered but I figure that would be the way to go if a company would ship a couple hundred miles.
My prices are up a little bit but should me about 20% more because of costs to produce it! Yes I know that you do not have the heavy forests there that we have here, trucking costs would be high to get our logs there...
Nice Information, but if you put to high the prices people will stop and change to other ways of heating cause fire wood needs labour. Other systems of heating do not need any labour like fire wood! The other systems you just turn a dial or thermometer and your done !
The wood I sell is going to fireplace people not heating people with boilers, they burn for fun mostly! If I raise my prices and I still sell out I need to raise them again!
The problem is no one realizes actually how much work it takes to make a cord of wood. Same with maple syrup making. I bust my ass to make 100 - 150 gallons and people give ya a hard time about 25$ for a half gallon.
In my area the market is very saturated, more than the lawn care landscaping industry, ideally it’d help bring overall price up but the $99 guys way outnumber the rest of us. Around here $225 a cord is sky high for half the state. I quit selling at 200 just due to the time and labor that went into it wasn’t worth what I was making.
This is my 2nd year saling wood I have a Ford ranger small garden tractor and a wood splitter I just purchased a full size dodge. It's a side hustle but averaged about 10 k the last couple years but hoping to double that this year I wish I had big equipment
Great information new subscribe I run a tree service in Southern California and we can't even hardly give our wood away Most of the time we pay to dump our wood. Pretty sad in high school I used to split wood and sell it And now I can barely get rid of it.
@@InTheWoodyard because of the California Air Resorse Board ( CARB ) has a lot of no burn days, and stupid regulations. They killed the market on legit companies with fees and permits in high population areas . If you are in rural areas not such a problem they are more lenient.
If I was to buy firewood, what the hell kind of wood is it? Pine? Mahogany? Cherry? Spruce? Cypress? Surely the type of wood would determine the price. Okay...my ignorance is showing.
In N.E. Ohio average price for wood is $50-$80 a face cord if I decide to sell next year I'll probably just do roadside stand or got a place along road that people sell stuff here and there make more money that away. I'll charge $5 a bundle average price is $6-$7 a bundle.
here in the Netherlands, a cubic meter (one meter high, one meter wide, one meter long) costs 75 to eighty euros loosely deposited. a cub stacked is around one hundred and forty euros. and this is then mix wood. Oak you pay around one hundred and forty euros loosely deposited and about one hundred and ninety stacked
We call a face cord a "Run" here in VT but we don't sell runs here we sell full cords here for an average of 300-400 kiln dried 540 a cord crazy prices up here in communist county of VT
I remember back in the 70s and early 80s we got 25 to 30 bucks a face cord big money lol .delivered . we were kids back then so it was good money got the wood free at the farm we worked at .
I think I commented on this before but what the heck. $125.00 for a face cord, $335.00 for a full solid cord. $99.00 to stack a cord. 1.50 a mile for delivery for customers outside my local area but I'm going to $2.00 soon. I have had no complaints with my new pricing as a matter a fact I still can't keep up. Have a good day!
In my market it comes out to $1280 a cord when I bundle it by the cubic foot. No sense doing it any other way . All my stuff is for recreational use only. As you said, with all the work involved I want to make the highest margins possible. Bundling is my best bet with selling it in a roadside stand and no deliveries.
@@InTheWoodyard I live in Idaho outside of Boise in a town of 1900 people, they sell a full cord for 200 to 400 a cord, some guys sell logs not sliced up for 200 a full cord, that seems very high for not being bucked or split. I just cut up trees for myself, mostly Russian olive trees I get for free.
@@InTheWoodyard Hey Chris, I’ve done some looking and it seems 1 full cord = 3.62m3 or 3.62m3 = 128 cubic feet. On average pine/spruce sells at €70 a cubic meter which would be €253 for a full cord in the US. Interesting to see the difference in pricing. 👍
@@Boerkie1990 not many trees in Ireland in general only 11% forest cover compared to Germany 32%. Makes a big difference living near urban areas with limited supplies... All firewood here is mainly spruce as there is a major problem getting hardwood logs. 👍
Good advice again! Oh boy... Those weeds in the garden! The stress alone they cause is not worth it... I'm firing a customer this year.
Every year from the beginning I catered to every "issue" he had...
Last year I played the game out to prove undeniably that he was looking for any excuse to get a deal on the wood or to get a little extra.
Last year I stacked 4 full cord of the driest stuff I had in the most accessible location in the full sun and wind. It was good hardwood; ironwood, hickory, oak, cherry, ash, beech, maple.. I let is sit out for about 10 months like that.
He missed scheduled days for pick up and one year the snow came and he had to leave half a cord sitting there.
Anyway... Conclusion... He came and measured the stack, he measured the pieces, he brought his moisture meter... He was not able to find anything to complain about... He started chatting me up... He just had a baby, he just spent alot of money on redoing his chimney... Etc.
Sure enough.... He started himming and hawwing about whether he could afford to buy all 4 cord... Then he talked about the distance he had to travel come get the wood and rent a trailer...etc. Then he asked since he was buying 4 full cord at 300 a cord... could he buy 5 full cord for 275 a cord... And acted as if it was a deal for me.
I told him I advertise as pick up only. I told him the price is firm because my labour costs more than wood is worth.
This guy tried everything in the book... To get a lower cost to the point it was getting bullish. He finally gave in. So this year I'm done with him with no regrets.
I should have done it the first year. He caused me more stress and waiting around... Than I care to admit.
Yup, that is the kind of guy you need to send to your enemy! HAAAAA!
seen a lot of videos about firewood. yours is the best, by far. I am a 81 year old vermonter the heat my house 100% with wood and have for the last 60 years. I get out and cut about another 25--30 cord a year. Here the price is about $350 cord. The best advice you give is for EVERY business....know when to say "no I cannot serve you"
Thanks Jack! Yup, sometimes you need to fire a customer.
I agree with JackLinn3636. I'm a Vermonter too and it makes sense, a fair price is "value-for-value" or say no.
I'm just getting started and will be selling my first "crop" this winter. I agree with you, firewood should cost twice as much as it does
Yup, for the work and time it take for sure!
Yes great advice mate. I was doing your thing but age took over and I had to be honest with myself. I was not being reliable for delivery. No one wanted to pickup and continue my very successful wood business. In my area $450-600 is the going rate for a full cord delivered. The low end price is wet wood. So now I’ll watch you and do my own thing in the wood yard.
Wow, that is a good price, where are you at?
Sounds Australian...mate
I almost feel guilty for getting $200 per face cord.
I said almost. Lol
I do deliver and stack for that price but most times people help me when I get there and a lot of folks give me nice tips as well. I have very nice, clean, easy to handle, wood, and my customers go on and on about that.
Most of my deliveries are less than 5 mi. I have a lot of people that come to the yard and load their own wood. I get $150 per regular size truckload. They load from my "ugly wood" or "cookie" pile for $100 per pickup bed stacked high as they dare.
The gift of gab is a must in this business. People love a smiling face and a good story. It goes a long way with them and helps them remember you and want to see you again. A lot of my customers stop by my yard all the time just to check on me. That makes you feel good but it can be detremental to churning out your product.
A hospice nurse pulled in the other day just to make sure I was getting plenty of fluids. She said "Propel" is absolutely the best electrolyte replacement you can buy. It made a big difference for me in this 105 degree weather we have had consistantly for a month in Arkansas and no sign of rain in sight. I live and work in a wood kiln. Lol which brings me to another good point. My wood reads 17-19 within 6 to 8 months after splitting. The sound of my wood goes from clunk to clink in a short period of time compared to what I hear from the northern states.
I always seem to write a book. But damnit boy, I have a lot to say!
Great advice as usual Chris.
Thanks for the update and info!! Keep chatting with the customers, it is your secret weapon!
Enjoyed reading your “book.” :)
@@coopermurphy6422
Well thank you Cooper.
Stay tuned for the sequel. Lol
And KEEP PUSHING!
We are probably due for a price bump this fall. Inflation and equipment costs have gone up this year.
It's easy to forget the drying/seasoning time investment in the price equation. It costs inventory space to produce ready-to-burn firewood.
WOW, Those are great points!
Interesting points. Had 1 customer who didn't like anything I brought him. Always complain. When he call the first few times I said out of wood. The last time he called I just flat out told him I refuse to deliver because he always complain. Thought it was me sent a friend with a load of wood and the guy complain to him about the wood. Have a great day be safe.
Yup some people would complain if you handed them a $100 bill if it was wrinkled!
Really appreciate all the information you shared here! Priceless.
Here on Kodiak island our firewood is scarce. For years my primary solid fuel was driftwood. I’d sell my surplus and would never charge less than $350/cord.
Now, an area of borough land which burned 6 years ago, is our only resource. Some wood is punky, but still burns. It’s all softwood, Sitka Spruce. We have cottonwood and alder but that’s it! I hate to say it as it didn’t sit well with me but we have been selling cords of the above mentioned wood for $500!! Recently, I restructured my business model, many thanks to you actually. I now sell face cords for $150. People in my area have never heard of a face cord, so I am having fun refining this limited market. People like being able to purchase an amount less than a cord. Face cords are so easy to measure and stack! I agree we all need to charge more. I drive 4 hours, spend 2 hours collecting, 2-3 hours splitting, stacking and delivering is a few hours yet. I don’t add gas/oil my lunch or any other expenses. I rounded my rate to $50/hour. It takes me approximately 10 hours to produce a cord of firewood, start to finish! Yeah, it’s hard work. I love it. Best job I have ever had!!!!
That is awesome! I would love to come there sometime! I have been to Alaska a couple times moose hunting up by Circle/Hot springs area...lots of relatives there in Talketna,Willow,Anchorage!
I read a post (I forget where) from a firewood seller who said that they were always running out of wood to sell, despite having a consistent source...
My reaction to that is this: 'If one is running out of product, they clearly are not charging enough'.
I am self employed (though I don't sell firewood), and the foregoing is just basic pricing vs supply and demand.
Thanks for the well thought out post and good advice for small business owners- it was almost 100% spot-on. (I particularly liked what you said about costs and how they ought to be figured into to the price. Many small business fail because they don't account for things like sourcing materials, bids that one does not win, and, importantly: depreciation and maintenance, of ones capital investments.
Yup, lots to keep track of for sure, running a business is a hard thing to do.
What a great video! Thanks for sharing what you've learned!
Glad you enjoyed it!
A full cord goes for $260 to$350 Canadian $ , Nova Scotia. A mixture of Beech, Maple, Oak, and a small percentage of Birch. Depend on delivery distance and fuel prices at the time.
Yup, that is about it here too!
I love your videos cutting, splitting, delivering, showing equipment and tools in operation, etc. but this is probably the best video you have ever done. Great advice! I sell part time and I’m having a hard time accepting that I just can’t do the physical part like I used to. Torn rotator cuff, bad knee, loss of strength… all the things that come with approaching 73. I’ve raised my price this year to $125/face, $350/cord. I still hope to sell 15-20 cord… it’s become a hobby that I really enjoy.
When I get to be your age in a few more years I hope to be able to keep at it too, something to stay active and out of trouble!
I'm 70, for the past several years I've gathered, cut, split and stacked firewood. Going thru all that work taught me to respect anyone who sells "good" firewood. It is a LOT of work. LOL, my wife shakes her head at what I have stacked out back, but she doesn't seem to understand how long it takes to season it. She does love a fire though! Much respect for what you do, it is a never-ending job. FYI, I live in Ocala, Florida... we get a couple months of weather cold enough to justify a fire.
Thanks for the story and thanks for watching, keep cuttin'!
Hey Woolval! You gave me energy to keep going! I'm 64 and was thinking I'm too old for all this wood stuff! Full Speed Ahead! Um...maybe half speed! LOL!
Hey there! I heard you say you buy logs to cut for firewood? Would you buy my logs if I deliver them to you?
How do I sell fatwood?
Great tips and suggestions on this topic. The most important point is that firewood is really undervalued as a product like you said due the amount of intense labor that you have to put in it. Keep up the awesome video’s.
Thanks Den!
I also like your tip about offering a range of choices with different pricepoints. That ties right in with question #1 for people who don't really have any strong opinion, or know what to buy: What are you wanting to use it FOR. Like you said- all wood burns, some burns hotter, some faster, some is great for making coals, others are great for making nice bright cheery flames. And some produce especially nice smelling smoke. Pine , spruce, basswood, poplar, aspen, etc are great for recreational fires- they burn hot with nice bright flames. But not the best choice for smoking, or for heating. Pine/spruce also produce that classic campfire smell! (all of those woods also split easily, and make great kindling) Good heating woods- like oak, hickory, and locust burn slow, steady- and long. Perfect for a stove fireplace or boiler but not necessarily so perfect for the nice cheery blaze you want from a campfire. You're just spending unnecessary extra $$, if it's just for the firepit. Buy the good stuff for cooking and heating. For recreational burning, the less expensive varieties are often better suited for that purpose.
Mr. Pyro, I could not have said that better myself, thank you for your very good advice!
I think pine gets a bad shake from a lot of people, I've burned it for years now and it seasons out quickly and gets the stove going fast, once that bed of coals is made you can literally dampen down everything so far that pine will burn for a pretty long time, I've been able to get over 2hrs of burn out of pine only fires and the smell is always enjoyable outside or in, I've burned cedar as well another great smelling wood inside or out, the biggest thing with pine is just make sure it's well seasoned you don't want to burn moist pine because of the sappy resin inside which can produce really bad smoke and creosote, it only takes about half to 3/4 of a year to season out when split so if ever in a pinch it's a very good wood to have readily available, love the content as always keep it up, very informative and true facts being presented here with no gimmicks or false info...
@@michellemorrison5841 i've been quite surprised by how long spruce will actually burn on a campfire. Its not the POOF! wood everyone claims it is. Smells nice, to boot. Also makes a nice helper for those really dense chunks, or that new batch of wood that isnt as seasoned as youd hoped...
Good advice the ones that are allways price checking get rid of them . 😊
yup!
Best info on firewood is this channel right here.
Thanks a bunch Mr. Burch!
We're across the water from you in central/northern MI. This is our first winter selling and it's been kind of disappointing so far. I feel the market is saturated, $70 seems to be the average price and it's not selling. We're talking about dropping it to $65 but I really don't want to having a $10k dump trailer, the saws, the pickup, the splitter and a lot of time. Everyone tells me to be patient just starting out... especially since we didn't scramble around to start out until October when most people already had their wood.
I does take time to build up customers. My first year I sold about 40 face cords. You also need to advertise on craigs list, facebook marketplace, hand out business cards but above all offer free delivery. Good luck!
I'm in northern Ontario Canada. I sell jack pine for 120 per face cord maple birch 140. I'm out in the bush but it sells. I hate oak the smell bothers me. Canadian bushcord explained before my time pulp mills bought wood by the bush cord 4 foot sticks stacked 4X8. So firewood just moved away from that measure to assure your firewood would fit in a stove Even more confusing as I drove log truck logs are sold by the cubic meter . Was selling more but getting old 50facecords is enough
Thanks for the info!
I’ve watched this video a couple times now. Great info. Been watching you along time now. I just don’t comment b/c you get so many. Thanks for the great info and videos Mr Chris!
I appreciate that! I took a look at you videos, looks like you are doing a great job raising your kids!
@@InTheWoodyard Many thanks for taking the time to watch & comment. Your channel is the one I look for everyday when I pull up YT. Thanks again!! 👊🏻🇺🇸
We live in seacoast New Hampshire and are surrounded by trees. The going price for seasoned hardwood is about $375/ cord or128 cubic feet. I buy almost all red oak by the truckload. I paid $1250 for 2 loads in February that measured a total of 13.5 full cords. By the way, I think red oak smells like catsup when split. Takes a long time to dry, but I like it.
That is about the same price I pay. And yes it takes a long time to dry oak!
Good food for thought here Chris. In NE Tennessee, most customers have no idea what a cord is let alone a face cord. I have ended up selling by the load. The customers just want to see a truck that cannot hold another stick. This year I am giving them what they want, but the price is going up. $100 for mixed and $125 for oak, beech, hickory and walnut. My ad will read oversized truck load close to one half cord. Strange market. A lot a scammers out there delivering crap loads to folks. I have seen loads delivered that had literally sticks that could have been picked up out of any woods in the area. I have seen 2X4 blocks in the loads. My take is that I am going to offer what they want, give them what they want and the better customers will accept the higher pricing. Been doing this for three years now and have run out of wood every year. Will see what happens. Have a great day!
Sounds like you are in a market that will be easy to dominate with better quality.
wanting to do firewood as i enjoy being out in the woods, using the saws, equipment, doing work like this, especially in the fall i get an urge to be in the woods
but i look on marketplace and see cut and split wood for 150$ a cord... or you can have it delivered in full lengths for 150$ a cord.. and spruce slabs from sawmills are close to free maybe 20$ a truck load at most
in your area the price may be low because of few people and lots of trees???
@@InTheWoodyard yeah maybe 100k people at most and woods in every direction.. not seeing any change in firewood price even though furnace oil is now over 7$ a gallon and diesel is 8.40$ a gallon.. cost to heat with oil is higher and cost to produce the fire wood is higher yet no one is bumping their prices up
I like these talks you been doing !
Thanks Bruce, I have a bunch more coming!
Great video! Inflation has raised everything. Husqvarna/Stihl/Echo Chainsaw models have went up $25-$50 since 2020, Trucks have went throw the Roof!!
Great point! You are correct and it will get worse!
Great info for me. I just sold my first face cord! -Brad
All right, good thing you are retired, now you can get to work!
A full cord of seasoned wood sells here in Upstate NY for 55 to 70 bucks
and i thought you payed cash money for your equipment? respect always Iceman :)
No way! Maybe a face cord (1/3 of a cord) But not a full cord, $150 is really cheap anywhere for a full cord.
Yup, I do on most of it. It is all paid for now.
I live in Ireland and we have peat bogs here where we dry peat in the summer to burn in the winter. Wood is a premium product here and a face cord of dry Ash can cost 150-200eur. Luckily I can cut my own I have access to loads of Ash and Irish oak it burns great. American hard woods are better and more plentiful.
Yup, we have lots of trees and some freedom still too, it is going fast however. Not the trees though.
@InTheWoodyard The issue with freedom is an issue that affects most of us here in Europe, too. Anyhow, save cutting and don't work too hard. 👍
Very nice video but I good saw for 400$ is very rare. I am selling the cord for 300$ in New Brunswick and this is mixed wood. Soft and hardwood.
Sounds great!
Stumbled on your video and enjoyed it. Good stuff. Another reason wood in Chicago is so expensive may be due to the fact that anyone delivering anything realizes that while they are in Chicago their lives are in much more danger than if they stayed where they were.
Thanks for watching! There is over 850 more videos on my channel waiting for you to watch right now!
Who would have thought? Chris doing a chat sitting on his Tractor!😂 Take care my Friend, 🚜🪵👍🏼🇺🇸
HA! I want to sit on it more!
I usually get on Craigslist after storms to get free wood.But the time and effort to pick it up ,cut it to length,split w an axe and then stack it.I should just buy it but I don’t lol
Yup, good source.
Great idea Senior Firewood Homestead👍 tractor side chat with Chris👏👏
Thanks for watching John.
I agree I’m in the same boat I’m to old and have two rebuilt shoulder’s, my days of selling firewood are over. Chris has done it the right way. Till just recently he has spent very little money and done very well. I have always believed, you make a good living keeping your business a one man show. You make a great living when your company in huge though your over head can be very high. You just don’t want to get in that middle area, where you purchase processors, trucks, tractors to early and the money goes flying away.
Thanks Dennis, I have a plan!
@@InTheWoodyard Chris is this plan coming out in January???
Chitcago suburbs checking in (Plainfield). Local prices : face cord of oak, cherry, birch or maple $175 picked up add $25 for local delivery and another $25 for stacking.
Yup your right I am not far from Gurnee so you are right on with those prices for sure.
Yup more people= more $$$!
Full cord is 8L x 4H x 4W or any combination of those dimensions or 128cubic feet by volume, I use 14in or 16in bar chainsaws and that's my length of the rounds I cut and split, I just put my bar along side tree after felling and mark my tip placement then cut, rinse and repeat and this keeps my cords fairly uniform and consistent especially when people are using short box trucks nowadays lol, if I measure their truck box and divide those dimensions by 128 that gives me roughly the amount or loads needed to get them a full cord of wood if that's what they want... Again love the content and info and hope my info helps as well, it's true running any kind of wood selling business even a little side business is very demanding and most people take for granted what we all have to do and go through just to get a single cord of wood completely done from start to finish, felling, cutting rounds, splitting, hauling, unloading, stacking, and then helping load or delivering and unloading and stacking again, getting too old for this lmao...If we actually keep track of our hours of labor spent on doing a single cord on a good day, say our average pay is 10bucks an hour because hell you can flip burgers for that today, a single cord of wood for me doing it all myself takes roughly 4 to 6hrs, so right there is 60bucks for a single cord in just labor per hour costs, this doesn't include fuel expenses, equipment used and maintenance costs, which would easily cost another 40 to 60bucks per day of operation, so 1 cord a day plus operating expenses per day I'm looking at 100 to 120bucks per cord per day and thats if everything is perfect nothing breaks and no other surprises come up...Maybe this will help most people understand better how frustrating it can be to deal with people that want wood but don't want to pay the proper price for it, I usually say find someone cheaper then or do it yourself and see where you end up, guess what they end up right back at my doorstep with a humbled apology and I say don't worry about it I just wanted them to understand the truth of the matter and that I'm the cheapest place within a hundred mile to get a quick cord of wood albeit I don't have the best woods I mix everything and I say this is mix dirty wood 75bucks a cord and I help load or deliver and help unload I do not help stack though I do enough of that for myself lol...
Yup! I sell my wood for $120 a face cord and $360 a full cord and have found that I make the most $$$ with free tree service wood delivered to me and second most with bought wood delivered to me and least by going to my or others property and cutting trees down, cutting rounds , loading them up driving back , unloading, splitting and then stacking...way way way more time and effort to do that. But I only have been doing this now for 10 years sell in just 200 full cords a year and I am just learning.
Great tips on pricing. In my lawn business. I've had to fire customers. To use a saying from a trucker "know your worth" Have a Safe Day
Thanks David!
Thank you for your knowledge and your time
Thanks for watching!
YES SIR, you hit that right on the head. Firewood is the hardest job (I've) ever done. And let me tell you I've done some hard azz jobs before. The only job that comes close is clearing lots with only a backhoe, chainsaw, axe and your back... Firewood is SOOOOOO undervalued.
Well said!
I liked your term: "Firing a customer.". Every business owner has to deal with such people from time to time.
However, my advice wouldn't be to just walk away (except in extreme circumstances like non-payment, shady people, or poor safety). Rather, I sometimes double or more than double what would usually be my bid. This is a win-win: if one does not get the gig, well, no big deal, they didn't really want it anyway... And if one DOES win the bid- heck, the money's good enough compensation for dealing with the difficult customer, site, materials, etc.
Thanks! That is a good idea! I like it!
I pretty much have been burning wood most of my life. All wood burns some better then others some faster then others some slower then others but non the less they all burn. I have watched many videos on people splitting wood and my honest opinion is they split the wood to small. I know why they split it small so it burns faster hotter and it will burn quicker meaning they will need more wood to heat so they will buy more wood. Unsplit wood burns a lot slower and a lot longer we call them all-nighters Toss a few unsplit logs in the wood-stove and go to bed wake up it is still hot in the house and the fire is still going. Toss in a couple hand full's of split wood and wake up the next morning and the fire is out and it is 20 below in the house.
90% of the people I sell wood to WANT smaller wood (fireplaces, small wood stoves, cooking, firepits) and only burn wood for fun (drinking) and want faster easier burning wood NOT all nighters for heating. Totally different wood burners than boiler people. I sell about 200 full cords every year and the number one comment I get is..."I like the size of your wood, the last guy brought me big huge pieces that my wife could not lift and the did not fit in our fireplace."
Very good video, thanks 👍👍
Thanks you for watching Alan!
In Australia we measure in cubic meters, 1 cord is 3.6cubic meters
In my area 1 cubic meter is $150, so the equivalent is $540 AUD per cord!
Firewood is crazy expensive here in Aus.
Wow, that sounds great, I wish it was more valuable here. We have a lot of trees from where I live to the north and west so firewood is easy to get. Thanks for watching from the other side of the rock! I just checked out a couple of your videos and subscribed, good stuff!
20 years ago I sold cords for $180 Rick's $90 . Somebody asked the other day what I would sell a cord for I said $400 they told me they could get it for $180. Well I'm keeping my wood then. How does firewood price never go up after 20 years in my area? Everything else has gone up over the years.. I will just keep my day job and do my own wood. Maybe see about bundles because all I see in that market is at lowes only..
Because not many really try to make money with firewood they do not know how the NEED to price to STAY in business!
I really like how you just help everyone out on how you stated your business and to where it’s at now love your videos keep them coming. You have helped me out a lot. Just to hot to cut and split during summer here. It was 108 today splitter doesn’t like it lol
I appreciate that! Yes, the hydraulic fluid gets pretty hot! Try splitting real early in the day and in the shade if you can, it will help some.
HOW TO FIND NUMBER OF CORDS IN ANY SIZE RELATIVELY SQUARE STACK OF FIREWOOD
Use a calculator.
1. Measure the stack in inches.
Inches Wide or Deep X Inches Tall or High X Inches Long = a big number.
Example: 36 in wide X 69 in tall X 156 in long = 387,504 cu inches.
2. Now divide 387,504 by 1728, (cubic inches in a cubic foot) = 224.25.
3. Now divide 224.25 by 128, (cubic feet in a cord of wood) = 1.75 cords of firewood.
yup
We are at around $70 to 80 per face cord up here. It's just the going rate. The math does look a lot better per bundle compared to selling by the face cord. We may jump into more bundle wood sales for that reason. Good chat Chris. GNI
Yup, me too!
I sell bundles for $6. They are 10x10x16
**Up Here?**
Where is "Up here...." LOL
Curious minds wanna know, ya know.
@@JamminClemmons I'm located in Michigan's Upper Penninsula
@@twobeards6714 - Ted Nugent would always brag about the UP. Bigger Game up there! I'm in whitetail territory though (western NY). A shout back atchya.
Once I enter the bagged snd bundled firewood market, will be getting between $330-640 per full cord. At that point will be bags/bundles, along with various sized self-serve loose bulk and delivery of facecords. I'll be getting a bunch of "free" wood soon via small expansion of my woodyard. Most of my competitors sell in the same size loose bulk sizes with similar pricing. But I deliver.
Delivery is big!
I think you have some of the best serious business advice for firewood selling. You don’t over invest in equipment for your sales levels.
There are many people in many businesses who over invest for their sales levels and they are no better off doing all the work.
Sometimes buying on credit can yield interesting business results depending on how depreciation is accounted for in small businesses. Cash flow isn’t always net income in some situations so it can be useful to do credit financing, but debt also has its downsides.
Borrowing money is always bad. Unless it is for a guaranteed sales growth, not hoped for.
I agree, that in general, borrowing money to finance equipment is not as optimal as cash.
The only conditions that borrowing could make sense are:
Production increases have hit a bottleneck and borrowing at a low fixed rate of interest can solve this bottleneck which results in lost margin dollars, or, the tax code has created an opportunity to generate free cash flow without generating taxable income.
Sometimes it’s possible to earn a higher return on capital by borrowing on equipment and putting cash to work elsewhere. It’s important to review all options and scenarios, then make the best decision based on all the factors.
There is always less risk in not borrowing, unless putting cash into equipment lowers one’s liquidity to the point that the business becomes durable asset rich and cash poor. In that case, a small amount of borrowing to cure a production issue resulting in greater margin dollars in cash flow might be worth considering because it makes the balance sheet more liquid.
This of course gets back to the original concept of not over investing too fast in a business, which you seem to have a good handle on. No debt is fine, except in the circumstances it creates opportunity cost.
The firewood prices have gone so high that i can not afford to buy it anymore, so I have to cut my own. I stopped buying when it went to $200 a cord I jus can not pay that much on my budget. Prices have forced me to go find my own, sometimes I do buy slab wood from the mills. Last time I bought 2 cords delivered on a trailer, when I got it all stacked it came out to about 1 and 1/2 cords.
EVERYthing costs more now. 1979 was a long time ago. Things go up but not down.
@@InTheWoodyard Yes 1979 was a long time ago, but I didn't start burning wood until 2002 and three years ago I payed $120 a cord, then it went sky high when the sellers decided that it was gold instead of wood. LOL A lot of these guy buy a nice splitter and and wood processor that allows them to produce a lot of firewood very fast with a lot less labor. I realize those machines are not cheap, but do they have to pay for them with the first order they send out.
Great advice of selling wood, I know I need to raise my price. Thanks for the info. Take care
Thanks Larry, you have real nice wood too I watched you load up that trailer the other day!
All perfect points
I like the firing the bad customer !!!
In my area with the wood I sell I'm able to sell fire killed white and black spruce for $300.00 per 128 cubic foot (CORD) , Delivered locally. IN 12' LONG POLE LENGTHS. I charge $40.00 per cord to buck it to stove lengths and I will only do that after the customer has put the cash in my hand. I do not split wood.
AND I don't have any extra wood left over.
To get wood to my own house I have to sneak it trough town to get to my house.
When you have the best burning firewood in an area that commonly gets to -40 and much colder at times.
And there is a military base with Lots of civilian contract employees. Kinda all you need to sell wood is have readily available wood that can be able to deliver it. At least here when it hit 40 BELOW
Soumds like you have a good thing going there! Thanks for watching Glen!
I love this video! You are covering basic business financials. Market, capital, inventory, pricing, labor, etc. I really enjoy the “business” side of the business and you just did a great video on basic business economics. Fantastic video!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
Chris really knows his stuff Woodruff Woods.
@@JoesFirewoodVideos Thanks Joe!
Down here in eastern SC. I will sell this year for $150-$175 per face cord delivered and stacked.
That sounds good!
In Dallas TX they have redefined the "Cord". As of Dec 2022, a face cord, 16" - 18" cuts 4'w x 8'L is now called a Half Cord. Seasoned oak sells for $355 per face cord, or as they call it, per 1/2 cord. A Full Cord is two Face Cords, 4'x 16' x 16"-18". The Full Cord, two face cords, goes for $685.
Nice price! But a full cord is 128 CUBIC feet and 2 rows of 16" pieces 4'x 8' is only 83.2 cubic feet so something is wrong there?? It takes 3 rows of 16" pieces 4'x8' to make a full cord. SO.......there math is off a bit.
Shrinkflation all the way! Less product for more money. Who created the new definition?
Its not wimpy, its cute. Can always add an airhorn and do it right. City delivered kiln dry hardwood all packed up neat is about $875 (bulk pallet) or you can go get dripping wet pine for near free and make it your own firewood but in a city people dont do that often
Thanks for watching!
Ok Chris good video I get $110 for oak and a $125 for hickory. And my pine camp wood goes for $90. I get $25 to $50 for delivery. I'm in a good place to sell
That sounds great John!
Agree 100% priceless......I won’t sell it at any cost. I do give some away to people in need.....
That is because you are a good guy Guerry, wood is a lot of work!
Great advice, Chris! See you tomorrow. GNI
Thanks for watching Russ!
Even though we have been metric in NZ for 45 years they still talk about cords of wood.
Merchants love it because there's less and less people that know how much a cord actually is.
More and more they are selling it by the cubic metre now A cord is 3.6 cubic metres.
Prices depend a lot on if its wet or dry and the time of year.
Ideally buy your wood green a year before you need it.
Best time to sell wood is the end of winter when they've run out. Or advertise it on a cold wet miserable day.
Yes, those are all good points especially the end of winter selling!
Thanks for sharing the insightful pricing/market assessment info. The Kioti makes a great prop for shooting your video on.😅
Thanks Man, I can't wait to get busy this fall and winter using it more!
So so many people are so afraid of sharing their knowledge because they feel threatened and are afraid that others will do better !
"Let our life be an open book......so that others can come and read and learn".
"Nothing belongs to anyone because everything belongs to everyone".
"Knowledge might give some people power, but character respect".
Total respect 100% ...... ✔✔✔
Thanks for the kind words! I'll see you here again tomorrow morning!
Ha ha.
Yes you will ..... (◕‿◕) ,,
So far I have only had 2 that were extremely picky before I got to load up in both cases I was all of a sudden out of wood and they went somewhere else..
One ine them my,wife seen the email and was asking me why I wouldn't respond. I told her to read it and you tell me what to do, after reading it she was like "oh I see well you don't need the extra stress" since this is a side job...
All good points Chris see you tomorrow..
Yup, sometimes, just walk away and other times.....RUNNNNNNN!
Great content as always! It’s been super helpful for myself as I’ve started up a firewood business :)
Chris, as usual great video. Even though you have a lot of work to do! It's a refreshing break understanding the *firewood* business!
Thanks for watching and I wish you luck and good sales!
Thanks Arthur.
I'm in WNY and they charge $155-180 per face cord and even if you buy a full cord they chsrge you by the face cord. I just paid $465 for mixed hardwood delivered I feel ripped off. Last year I paid $145 just for a face cord. But everyone around me sells wood for a lot .
If that is the going rate maybe it is time to cut your own now! Go for it!
You are right about market pricing. I have been telling other suppliers they need to raise their prices.
We should let bundles set the price and as you know the price has been going up.
Yes, and that is a good thing!
Had to buy some to tide me over till my wood is dry enough to burn WELL, and I wanted some "Good stuff" to use for grilling. (I normally just woodhound for whatever I can get, but there's not much around atm) One guy wanted $80/face cord for Ash. Another was asking $100/face cord for cherry and/or hickory. The second guy was local, guy #1 would have to be delivered. The quite reasonable delivery fee of $20 would make that Ash $60 for half a face cord.
The guy with the cherry, answered his phone first. It really was that simple, lol. He's a 10 min drive from me, so I went and picked it up. Where I live, woods are plentiful and there are lots of guys that sell firewood. (and I drove past one even closer- that I didn't know about- on my way) So prices aren't too bad. We also got hit HARD by the goddamn Emerald Ash Borer, so Ash is incredibly plentiful.
Yup, there is a lot of ash now but in a couple years... there will be NONE!
They get up to 400 a cord in some areas of Massachusetts ,in fact most people charge 400 a cord in my area ,it's just because of the work involved ,and it's slow and steady work unless u have a processor
Yes, it is slow and steady work, but I like it!
Good morning Chris!!😀😀
Prices for wood is definitely based on a lot of different factors. I'm a hour away from you and am probably only able to get a little more than half what you are getting.
Unless I am willing to deliver it long distances for almost free.
Take care my friend!!😀😀
Logger Al
Yup, trucking and population makes all the difference.
I've been Watching our videos great stuff 👏
Keep up the great work 👍
Nova scotia 🇨🇦
Thanks, I will do that!
Why don’t you get local tree removal services to drop off their loads of wood at your property for you? It’s costs them less than a dump fee. It’s a win/win
I do,. lots of it!
So it’s now 2024…how do your prices compare from 3 years ago? Thanks. North Dakotan here..we don’t have much for firewood. Most of it is bundled, kiln dried stuff that comes on pallets from out of state and is roughly $8 for .75 cubic ft…or $1000 a pallet. Would like to get into this (normal firewood) as people need it but just can’t get any. Shipping logs into the state doesn’t really exist from what I have gathered but I figure that would be the way to go if a company would ship a couple hundred miles.
My prices are up a little bit but should me about 20% more because of costs to produce it! Yes I know that you do not have the heavy forests there that we have here, trucking costs would be high to get our logs there...
Nice Information, but if you put to high the prices people will stop and change to other ways of heating cause fire wood needs labour. Other systems of heating do not need any labour like fire wood! The other systems you just turn a dial or thermometer and your done !
The wood I sell is going to fireplace people not heating people with boilers, they burn for fun mostly! If I raise my prices and I still sell out I need to raise them again!
The problem is no one realizes actually how much work it takes to make a cord of wood. Same with maple syrup making. I bust my ass to make 100 - 150 gallons and people give ya a hard time about 25$ for a half gallon.
Yup, we should form a firewood/maple syrup union and triple the price market wide!! HA!
In my area the market is very saturated, more than the lawn care landscaping industry, ideally it’d help bring overall price up but the $99 guys way outnumber the rest of us. Around here $225 a cord is sky high for half the state. I quit selling at 200 just due to the time and labor that went into it wasn’t worth what I was making.
Yup, I am guessing you are in a low people area with lots of trees.
This is my 2nd year saling wood I have a Ford ranger small garden tractor and a wood splitter I just purchased a full size dodge. It's a side hustle but averaged about 10 k the last couple years but hoping to double that this year I wish I had big equipment
Very nice! Just keep cutting and reinvesting, it does not happen overnight!
Greetings from the Dixie state of Florida. I really enjoy your videos.
Thanks for watching!
I suggested to a customer once that "want you to be happy I seem unable to keep you happy so buy from someone else" .
Sometimes you have to fire a customer.
HA! I like that one Don!
Yup!
Most excellent brief I have seen on RUclips
Thanks !!
Great information new subscribe I run a tree service in Southern California and we can't even hardly give our wood away Most of the time we pay to dump our wood. Pretty sad in high school I used to split wood and sell it And now I can barely get rid of it.
Is it because of no market for burning wood or tree hugers or burning bans????
@@InTheWoodyard because of the California Air Resorse Board ( CARB ) has a lot of no burn days, and stupid regulations. They killed the market on legit companies with fees and permits in high population areas . If you are in rural areas not such a problem they are more lenient.
I'm in Southern California (Barstow), how far are you from me? Maybe we can work out a deal...
If I was to buy firewood, what the hell kind of wood is it? Pine? Mahogany? Cherry? Spruce? Cypress? Surely the type of wood would determine the price. Okay...my ignorance is showing.
Just call local suppliers and tell them you need help as to what works well for what you want and ask for help and knowledge as to what is available.
In N.E. Ohio average price for wood is $50-$80 a face cord if I decide to sell next year I'll probably just do roadside stand or got a place along road that people sell stuff here and there make more money that away. I'll charge $5 a bundle average price is $6-$7 a bundle.
Sounds like a good plan Kevin!
Very well said Chris! Business truth's!!! Keep up the great work sooner or later your gonna be producing more then just firewood my friend.
Thanks Ronald!
here in the Netherlands, a cubic meter (one meter high, one meter wide, one meter long) costs 75 to eighty euros loosely deposited. a cub stacked is around one hundred and forty euros.
and this is then mix wood. Oak you pay around one hundred and forty euros loosely deposited and about one hundred and ninety stacked
That is probably close to our pricing.
@@InTheWoodyard yes I thought that too. It's funny we are half a world apart and yet the prices are about the same
We call a face cord a "Run" here in VT but we don't sell runs here we sell full cords here for an average of 300-400 kiln dried 540 a cord crazy prices up here in communist county of VT
More people less trees to cut equals higher prices. Thanks for watching!
That’s what I charge $110 per face-cord. Started myself at $90 plus I charge $20 fee for delivery within a half hour of my location. 👌🏻🔥🇨🇦
As long as your customers are happy and you are making enough, that is great!
I agree. Doing firewood is very hard work and it should be worth more $.
Yes and YES!
I'll stick a pound extra per net this autumn. It's a lot of effort. Only got 300 net bags stacked. 55 by 80 cm. Unmixed hardwood
Nice!
My longest delivery was 64 miles one way. I charged $200 for half cord and $100 delivery fee.
Yup, those long ones are the ones you gotta charge a lot more for!
I remember back in the 70s and early 80s we got 25 to 30 bucks a face cord big money lol .delivered . we were kids back then so it was good money got the wood free at the farm we worked at .
Yes that was a while ago! You would loose your butt now at those prices!
I think I commented on this before but what the heck. $125.00 for a face cord, $335.00 for a full solid cord. $99.00 to stack a cord. 1.50 a mile for delivery for customers outside my local area but I'm going to $2.00 soon. I have had no complaints with my new pricing as a matter a fact I still can't keep up. Have a good day!
That is great, sounds like you are doing good!
And yes we do call it a bush cord here in Canada.
Yup, I have been told that, I like it!
Wisconsin Pride!!!! Eagle river fellar here. 1200 strong!
Nice town I have a friend named Dan up there! He is a photographer too and a big gun guy.
In my market it comes out to $1280 a cord when I bundle it by the cubic foot. No sense doing it any other way . All my stuff is for recreational use only. As you said, with all the work involved I want to make the highest margins possible. Bundling is my best bet with selling it in a roadside stand and no deliveries.
That is awesome, the only question then is what kind of volume can you sell and handle.
Very good information!
Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
@@InTheWoodyard I live in Idaho outside of Boise in a town of 1900 people, they sell a full cord for 200 to 400 a cord, some guys sell logs not sliced up for 200 a full cord, that seems very high for not being bucked or split.
I just cut up trees for myself, mostly Russian olive trees I get for free.
Good advice! Thanks Chris👍👍
Thanks for watching!
Great video! Very cool! THANK YOU!
Thanks Jim!
Great Video Chris, in Ireland 🇮🇪 and the EU 🇪🇺 we sell by the cubic meter (m3). Very interesting video 👍
Michael, do you know the conversion and comparison volume wise from a m3 to 128 cubic feet for a full cord? Thanks!
@@Boerkie1990 Thanks so much Boerkie, a few people have asked me and now I have an answer!
@@InTheWoodyard Hey Chris, I’ve done some looking and it seems 1 full cord = 3.62m3 or 3.62m3 = 128 cubic feet. On average pine/spruce sells at €70 a cubic meter which would be €253 for a full cord in the US. Interesting to see the difference in pricing. 👍
@@Boerkie1990 not many trees in Ireland in general only 11% forest cover compared to Germany 32%. Makes a big difference living near urban areas with limited supplies... All firewood here is mainly spruce as there is a major problem getting hardwood logs. 👍
Morning Chris. Another good information class. 👍
Glad you enjoyed it
Nicely Done....
Thanks !