Electricity Price Increases

[WinterDeere]

You've got my interest here. How do you get the word out, or where does your customer base come from? I have thought I would like to start doing tree cleanup work to get off the couch since I have a sedentary job.

I was working for a nice medium-sized company (~200 employees on-site) at the time I installed my first wood stoves, and was talking with a few of my co-workers about the decision process on which to buy, etc. Well, I guess people talk, because over the next year or two, more and more people at work started approaching me about picking up downed or dead trees from their properties.

Then I started attending a church that had over 100 acres of wooded land, and between Hurricane Sandy and a tornado in 2019, there were hundreds of cords of downed wood.

Somewhere along the line, neighbors started noticing me haul all this wood, and as their ash trees began to succomb to the EAB, they were asking me to come take those.

I guess the only lesson in all of that is, mention as often as you can to as many people as you can, that you heat with wood. Next time those people have a friend our cousin or coworker mentioning they need a tree removed, your name will come up!

I will drop trees for people for free, as long as it's nowhere near a house or other major it can hit, since I'm not insured for that work. I leave the tops for them to deal with, unless it's an elderly person who just can't do it on their own, and take the trunk wood home.

I worked for my brother as his cleanup crew years ago when he had a tree business. I rather enjoy it, honestly. I am about to get a third function installed on my tractor.

Now that's a contact I wish I had! If your brother isn't in that business anymore, maybe some of his friends or former employees still are?

There's one local tree guy who used to be a neighbor, and I've used him once at this house for a very technical drop that was just a little too tricky to tackle myself. He calls me about once per year, stating he has a dump truck load or two of logs that he doesn't want to haul home, and can he drop it at my house? The wood is usually yard trees, less than the perfectly straight stuff I like to bring home myself, but it's free and delivered!

We also cut, split, and sold a lot of firewood when I was a teenager. My dad burned wood until he was 75 years old. My wife is against a wood stove, so I'm missing out, in my opinion.

If you enjoy it and it gets you off the couch or out of a sinking gym, then go for it! But it's a tough way to make any money, if that's the goal.

I haven't paid attention to recent pricing, but I think it's still holding around $250/cord around here. If you can get the wood for free and have a system efficient enough to get 1 cord per day, then I guess it'd be worth it as supplemental income for some. But most are going to spend closer to 2 days per cord for all of the harvesting + processing + storage + delivery time, using most homeowner equipment... maybe even more!

 

[ponytug]

You've got my interest here. How do you get the word out, or where does your customer base come from? I have thought I would like to start doing tree cleanup work to get off the couch since I have a sedentary job.

I worked for my brother as his cleanup crew years ago when he had a tree business. I rather enjoy it, honestly. I am about to get a third function installed on my tractor.

We also cut, split, and sold a lot of firewood when I was a teenager. My dad burned wood until he was 75 years old. My wife is against a wood stove, so I'm missing out, in my opinion.

Around here, there would be lots of arborists clamoring to get you. Personally, I wish that you were closer, as I'd love to hire you to help out my tree trimming for fire safety. Good luck!

All the best,

Peter

 

[ultrarunner]

You've got my interest here. How do you get the word out, or where does your customer base come from? I have thought I would like to start doing tree cleanup work to get off the couch since I have a sedentary job.

I worked for my brother as his cleanup crew years ago when he had a tree business. I rather enjoy it, honestly. I am about to get a third function installed on my tractor.

We also cut, split, and sold a lot of firewood when I was a teenager. My dad burned wood until he was 75 years old. My wife is against a wood stove, so I'm missing out, in my opinion.

Same for a lot of wives and wood stoves.

A few years back I posted free oak rounds at work and got an earful from a few and no takers.

On a semi rural road a tree guy had a pen to the side of his drive with free rounds and seemed someone was always helping themselves…

I asked if the guy moved and he said I’m the guy and the county asked him to stop…

 

[Mtsoxfan]

No solid fuel burn bans or prohibitions on installing wood stoves, fireplaces, etc. where you are?

It’s code here and was expanding to gas fired appliances until a recent pause.

Cali politics and policies are "unique" compared to most of the rest of the country. Without getting this off topic...
Some states or towns are banning outside wood burning furnaces due to the smoke. I can understand in a close neighborhood. I wouldn't want to live in a smoke filled area either. Many places, mine included, wood heat is very popular, as it is inexpensive and renewable. The more work you do, the less expensive it is. Although, $450 a cord of seasoned wood delivered is not uncommon.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

:-( ok… just a thought.

California had a similar situation with excess fuel load and growing.

One of out TBN members posted it’s difficult to get hardwood firewood in his part of Nevada…

I know moving firewood is often restricted in California.

Moving firewood across state lines in New England is prohibited for the most part due to insects hiding and "contaminating" another area. Emerald Ash Borer is at least 1 species that is obliterating trees around here.

 

[ultrarunner]

Moving firewood across state lines in New England is prohibited for the most part due to insects hiding and "contaminating" another area. Emerald Ash Borer is at least 1 species that is obliterating trees around here.

See the same between some counties…

 

[DarkBlack]

I thought the wood stove rebates were only Carter era during the energy crisis?

Nope. There’s been a federal biomass tax credit for the past 3 years, for wood burning appliances that meet stringent emissions and efficiency standards. It’s 99% the same tax credit application as installing pv panels.
The credit program is ending with the appliance installation date of the end of this year.

 

[DarkBlack]

Not an opinion, just some internet facts. A mature tree stores 1 ton of CO2 per year of life. That could be 100 tons of carbon that is rereleased into the atmosphere when it is burned. Is this better or worse than NG, LP or coal. I don't know.

In addition, burning wood produces a lot of PM5 and PM10 (smoke) which is a health hazard.

I can understand why an agency would ban wood burning. Me, I still burn wood so I guess I'm a polluter.

Wood burning is natural, renewable, and sustainable. Our government will always be at minimum, slightly opposed to it, for the simple underlying reason, that it doesn’t generate tax money. Every other energy source is a tax stream for politicians, from a 100% tax on PV panels which are imported , to multiple taxes on electric grid energy, to taxes on natural gas, propane, to #2 fuel oil.
A person who heats with wood, can simply buy wood for cash from someone locally, or pick/ cut up free wood locally, or even cut on their own land. This is all a means of personal self-sufficiency, and isn’t generating tax dollars for the government, so it’s not hard to see why the governments don’t have much incentive to put effort into improving the concept and technology.

 

[Yander]

I was working for a nice medium-sized company (~200 employees on-site) at the time I installed my first wood stoves, and was talking with a few of my co-workers about the decision process on which to buy, etc. Well, I guess people talk, because over the next year or two, more and more people at work started approaching me about picking up downed or dead trees from their properties.

Then I started attending a church that had over 100 acres of wooded land, and between Hurricane Sandy and a tornado in 2019, there were hundreds of cords of downed wood.

Somewhere along the line, neighbors started noticing me haul all this wood, and as their ash trees began to succomb to the EAB, they were asking me to come take those.

I guess the only lesson in all of that is, mention as often as you can to as many people as you can, that you heat with wood. Next time those people have a friend our cousin or coworker mentioning they need a tree removed, your name will come up!

I will drop trees for people for free, as long as it's nowhere near a house or other major it can hit, since I'm not insured for that work. I leave the tops for them to deal with, unless it's an elderly person who just can't do it on their own, and take the trunk wood home.


Now that's a contact I wish I had! If your brother isn't in that business anymore, maybe some of his friends or former employees still are?

There's one local tree guy who used to be a neighbor, and I've used him once at this house for a very technical drop that was just a little too tricky to tackle myself. He calls me about once per year, stating he has a dump truck load or two of logs that he doesn't want to haul home, and can he drop it at my house? The wood is usually yard trees, less than the perfectly straight stuff I like to bring home myself, but it's free and delivered!


If you enjoy it and it gets you off the couch or out of a sinking gym, then go for it! But it's a tough way to make any money, if that's the goal.

I haven't paid attention to recent pricing, but I think it's still holding around $250/cord around here. If you can get the wood for free and have a system efficient enough to get 1 cord per day, then I guess it'd be worth it as supplemental income for some. But most are going to spend closer to 2 days per cord for all of the harvesting + processing + storage + delivery time, using most homeowner equipment... maybe even more!

Money isn't really the primary goal. My job pays too well. I spoke to the guy I bought my tractor off and he has a customer who makes a lot of money doing storm cleanup though.

My brother has been out of that line of work for many years. It was work, and he wasn't a big fan of work. I'll leave it at that.

That would be my target customer. Selling wood is a lot of work for the money made. I've done it.

 

[Yander]

See the same between some counties…

Yes, in my area of Ohio it's county lines