Selling paper wood vs selling firewood.

[Jstpssng]

That's one of the reasons I never liked my in-laws purchasing wood from them.... it was a mix of 16-24" wood. No uniformity. Their wood stove is wide, so 24" is no problem for them. I would need 16" for mine. I don't recall the splitter they use.

There's another tree service a mile south that has a processor, and a conveyor to pile the splits up. Again, one guy splitting anytime they aren't on a tree job.

If you have someone always splitting when there's downtime, even if it's not a full cord an hour, even half a cord an hour, paying someone $15-$20 an hour to generate $75-$150 an hour is still a good use of his/her time.

It's also a way to keep a good man working rather than send him home because they don't have other work for him.

 

[LouNY]

Is the term "paper wood" common in TN? I've don't remember hearing anything but "pulp wood" and TN and SC are very close. I'm pretty sure the term in Yazoo Mississippi is pulp wood too or Marcel Ledbetter would have never had a pulp wood truck.

I'm surprised that no one else picked up on the Jerry Clower references, he was quite the character I really enjoyed his stories.

 

[TheMan419]

It's also a way to keep a good man working rather than send him home because they don't have other work for him.

Yep. They keep the guy working and make a few bucks. I suspect the profit from the fire wood is only part of the motive. If they don't process it into fire wood they need to get rid of the logs somehow.

When we had a large tree cut down and removed they cut it to lengths I estimated to be 2-4 feet long. Easier for them to handle to get in the trailer to haul away.

Now as I think of it easier to cut into fire wood once they get back to the yard.

But yes I am glad to see a business keeping their good help busy even during slow times. Good management practice right there.

 

[MossRoad]

Yep. They keep the guy working and make a few bucks. I suspect the profit from the fire wood is only part of the motive. If they don't process it into fire wood they need to get rid of the logs somehow.

When we had a large tree cut down and removed they cut it to lengths I estimated to be 2-4 feet long. Easier for them to handle to get in the trailer to haul away.

Now as I think of it easier to cut into fire wood once they get back to the yard.

But yes I am glad to see a business keeping their good help busy even during slow times. Good management practice right there.

Most of these tree services have 80 acre plots. Anything they don't use, they just pile up along the back and it rots into the ground. No overhead on that part.

The first one I mentioned has two businesses. He has the tree trimming and removal service/firewood business, and his wife runs a dog grooming business and boarding kennel in the front. They are not poor... :laughing:

The 2nd one with the firewood processor keeps investing in new equipment. Recently he got a tracked man-lift. Pretty nice machine.

 

[ddbackhoe]

I don稚 think that would be a big success here. A cord of split firewood is only worth about $150.

Charge 200 a cord, all hardwood plus delivery outside 15 miles. No pickup (insurance fiasco). Comes off the processor then gets stacked on racks to ensure customer gets 1 full cord

 

[crazyal]

Almost everything cut by tree services around here is chipped and either sold to a wood chip power plant or it's sold to make wood pellets. Normally they show up with a truck with a chipper in tow and as branches are cut off they go right into the chipper. I've heard (but can't confirm) some of them can chip a 24" diameter tree. I don't know how popular pellet stoves are down there but a number of companies have popped up that focus just on pellets. If it's a bad winter they will have trucks lined up. As the bagged pellets are put on a pallet they go right onto to a waiting customer's truck.

Off topic but If someone came up with a viable way to dry wood chips and design a wood stove that could feed them from a hopper like a pellet I would switch over in a heartbeat.

 

[MossRoad]

It would be hard to control the uniformity of the chips for an auto feeder, I'd think.

 

[4570Man]

Almost everything cut by tree services around here is chipped and either sold to a wood chip power plant or it's sold to make wood pellets. Normally they show up with a truck with a chipper in tow and as branches are cut off they go right into the chipper. I've heard (but can't confirm) some of them can chip a 24" diameter tree. I don't know how popular pellet stoves are down there but a number of companies have popped up that focus just on pellets. If it's a bad winter they will have trucks lined up. As the bagged pellets are put on a pallet they go right onto to a waiting customer's truck.

Off topic but If someone came up with a viable way to dry wood chips and design a wood stove that could feed them from a hopper like a pellet I would switch over in a heartbeat.

I’ve already thought of that and had most of the details worked out and can get free chips. Unfortunately I don’t have a way to implement such a system.

 

[MossRoad]

We only have one sawmill here that I know of, and a couple weeks ago, driving by it, my mother-in-law said there hasn't been a log in there for months. The yard is empty. I think it went out of business. Not lights, fork lift, logs, and no steam/smoke from the equipment. Bummer. There just isn't enough forest around here to support it anymore.

 

[stuckmotor]

I'm surprised that no one else picked up on the Jerry Clower references, he was quite the character I really enjoyed his stories.

Back in the 70's I had one of the great thrills of my life when an old raggedy pulp wood truck drove through town with lettering on the door saying "Marcels Pulpwood Company".