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Trees and firewood

#1

mystreba

mystreba

Anyone here do trees and firewood as a business? I recently hired a tree company to take down a huge oak - 4 foot diameter. It was overhanging the house and they brought it down in an hour without a crane - simply amazing. They left the wood (minus the small branches, which they chipped). Cost was around $1200 when all was said and done. Plus another $100 to another contractor to grind the stump.

Well this weekend I rented a splitter. Cost $100. Split the whole thing (with help from the neighbor) and racked/stacked it all. I estimate two cord total.

I'm not just sore. My body is broken.

How can people do this for a living?


#2

L

LandN

Hey, nice avitar mystreba, your right man, that is really hard hard work and unless you start young and build up your body strength,you'll wreck yourself trying to do that work when not used to it.that price was about right though i had an estimate for about half that work for about $500.00 and that guy was an older man built like a brick---house.been doing it whole life,so what are you going to do with the wood burn it or sell it . if you got the room load up for the winter. 10 years ago i had an uninsured guy want to take down a ash tree that was split and bolted together(2 halves) i said now way, no insurance no job,i then hired a regular tree company.


#3

mystreba

mystreba

LandN said:
Hey, nice avitar mystreba, your right man, that is really hard hard work and unless you start young and build up your body strength,you'll wreck yourself trying to do that work when not used to it.that price was about right though i had an estimate for about half that work for about $500.00 and that guy was an older man built like a brick---house.been doing it whole life,so what are you going to do with the wood burn it or sell it . if you got the room load up for the winter. 10 years ago i had an uninsured guy want to take down a ash tree that was split and bolted together(2 halves) i said now way, no insurance no job,i then hired a regular tree company.
Click to expand...

I racked it and figure it will be just about right for burning next winter :thumbsup:


#4

Two-Stroke

Two-Stroke

I've been heating with wood for over 20 years and I agree that it is hard work: cutting, splitting (no mechanized splitter for me) and stacking -- with some hauling mixed in. I consider it good cross-training.

However I rarely do more than about three hours of it in a stretch. Trying to do too much in one session could result in injury - without conditioning, your body isn't ready for a jolt of that much of a good thing.

Next time work into it more gradually.:biggrin:


#5

S

steved

The guys that do it commercially typically have a firewood processor...stick a pole (log) in one end and split firewood comes out the other...load it into a dump body with a loader...done.

I just got done cutting up about 15 tree this past weekend with my father...he does the tops, I handle the butts. Between the two of us, a typical 18" diameter, 75-foot tree takes about 20 minutes. I burn around two to three cords per year, they burnt (and have been cutting extra deadwood to continue burning) 13 cords this past winter.


#6

grnspot110

grnspot110

Two-Stroke said:
I've been heating with wood for over 20 years and I agree that it is hard work: cutting, splitting (no mechanized splitter for me) and stacking -- with some hauling mixed in. I consider it good cross-training.

However I rarely do more than about three hours of it in a stretch. Trying to do too much in one session could result in injury - without conditioning, your body isn't ready for a jolt of that much of a good thing.

Next time work into it more gradually.:biggrin:
Click to expand...

I agree! I heat my shop with wood, quit heating the house with it a few years ago. I do have a homemade 3-pt splitter, but prefer to split by hand, a little at a time! I enjoy working in the timber, but a lot slower than I used to! ~~ grnspot


#7

Briana

Briana

Hey mystreba,

I moved your thread to the Commercial & Residential Lawn Mowing Forum. You could get some great insight from those in the lawn care business there. :smile:


#8

K

KennyV

I always thought you were suppose to do that type work in the winter ... because splitting wood heats twice... once when you cut & split it, and again when you burn it... I have not done any of it in years... can't say that I ever hope to split another rick of wood... :smile:KennyV


#9

mystreba

mystreba

KennyV said:
I always thought you were suppose to do that type work in the winter ... because splitting wood heats twice... once when you cut & split it, and again when you burn it... I have not done any of it in years... can't say that I ever hope to split another rick of wood... :smile:KennyV
Click to expand...

Except when two cord of unsplit wood is sitting on your lawn just out your back door! Actually, all that wood will be just right for burning next winter, after it's good and seasoned.


#10

mystreba

mystreba

steved said:
The guys that do it commercially typically have a firewood processor...stick a pole (log) in one end and split firewood comes out the other...load it into a dump body with a loader...done.

I just got done cutting up about 15 tree this past weekend with my father...he does the tops, I handle the butts. Between the two of us, a typical 18" diameter, 75-foot tree takes about 20 minutes. I burn around two to three cords per year, they burnt (and have been cutting extra deadwood to continue burning) 13 cords this past winter.
Click to expand...

Ah, that makes sense. I tip my hat to you pros that can take trees down that quick!


#11

W

wrottin

Quick and a fair price to boot. I prefer to burn wood that has been seasoned for at least a year though.


#12

B

benski

The tree fellers that are good are a marvel to watch. By the time they pay their people, fuel, maintenance, and INSURANCE bill, bids for felling danger trees begin to look somewhat affordable.:eek:
I personally find kneeling down, moving maple rounds and madrona rounds (ugh!) into a splitter is about as thankless as it gets. By the time I fall a tree, limb it, buck it up, split it, load it, unload it, stack it, and move it into the house, it is a lot easier to just walk to the thermostat and bump it up some. Money aside, of course, and there is something about a genuine wood fire that is hard to beat.:biggrin:


#13

D

domsriltz123

I agree! I heat my shop with wood, quit heating the house with it a few years ago. I do have a homemade 3-pt splitter, but prefer to split by hand, a little at a time! I enjoy working in the timber, but a lot slower than I used to!


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