Turning Firewood Into Gold

By Rick Howland

Here's a riddle for you? What color are oak, maple, hickory and every other American hardwood?

Answer: Gold.

Obviously, that's a trick question with a trick answer. This time of year, especially, and in this economy specifically, all hardwood turns gold - when you turn it into firewood, that is.
How "gold" is firewood? Let's compare it with another gold, "black gold" also known as oil.

A national television news broadcast gave a statistic around Labor Day that $300 in firewood (the national average at the time) was worth about $600 in home heating oil. Putting it another way, you can use a floating estimate of the value of firewood as you listen in on the daily pricing of oil. On average, nationally, a cord of wood equals 150 gallons of home heating fuel. At about $4 a gallon, a national average, that's $600 a cord.

As each month goes by, there is increased demand for firewood - the traditional cut, split, 18-inch stove and fireplace logs. Similarly, there is accelerated growing demand also for other tree "waste" for heating or other energy sources. In past columns, we've touched on biomass - that is the use of specifically ground tree material for heat and energy. This time, we focus on the good-old-fashioned firewood industry, talking with some TCIA members, both veterans and newcomers, for their perspectives.

We start with Terry Hughes, longtime TCIA member, founder and head of Terry Hughes Tree Service in Gretna, Nebraska. Hughes should know a thing or two about the firewood business and tree care, having broken into the business in high school back in 1961. He's still very active working every day on the property, producing firewood and "planting a slug of trees."

Hughes utilizes not only his own take-down material but also material that comes into the company dumpsite (wood and lawn waste). He says the hardwoods such as ash and oak are separated. What is not generated as firewood gets processed into landscape mulch.

While you might think that firewood is seasonal, and most consumers do, the fact is that Hughes enjoys a robust year-round firewood business serving campsites (camping and open space recreation is popular in his region, and he's strategically located near three state parks) as well as pizzerias and restaurants. In fact, Hughes is the supplier to the famous Stokes Bar and Grille in Omaha, which uses his wood to flavor its food,
On any given day, he says the Hughes' operation "has three guys on firewood." Terry says that production adds 2 percent to 3 percent to the company gross - "and we gross a lot!" he says, meaning that the firewood division is a significant profit center.
"I bought my first log splitter in '68, a Vermeer LS200 that is still working!" he says. "We upgraded back in '95 the moment we got back from TCI EXPO, with a Brute, (now out of business, he says) along with a conveyor."

"I was stunned by the increase in production, some five-fold," Terry says, noting the increased throughput of that machine and also the material handling capability of the conveyor. "We use it three days a week until the weather gets cold, then we run it five days a week in busy firewood season. Logs go in one end and firewood, an easy 6-way split, comes out the other"

Hughes uses a skid unit, a Cat 236 loader, for lifting logs and shearing pieces that are too large to be processed as one piece. For logs larger than 20 inches in diameter, Hughes employs a larger Cat 924 with a custom made hydraulic shear "made by Morbark specifically for us." He's looked at wood processors but concedes that they won't work for his operation, since logs in his area of the U.S., he says, aren't straight enough for the equipment to be efficient.

The market is so strong that Hughes is in competition with his son, Stacy Hughes, for material. The battle is between firewood and mulch. Terry has said that if he didn't get to the logs one day, they would be mulch the next!

"If I had enough wood, I probably could go full time producing firewood year-round," Terry Hughes says.

On the other side of the timeline and with a slightly different take on making money in the firewood business is Lance Chambeau, Mobile Firewood Processing, a new TCIA member and an extension of the Chambeau Family Farm in Pawlet, Vermont.
"Technically," he says, "we are not in the firewood business. We are in the firewood service business."

As Chambeau explains it, "We go to guys who sell (firewood), and we process their material." That includes tree care professionals with material and loggers looking to process low-grade (non-lumber) pieces. Using a Multitek machine, Mobile Firewood Processing can custom-process logs from 6 inches up to 22 inches in diameter and 12 to 27 feet in length into firewood.

"Usually, wherever we go, people have equipment to load onto our machine's live deck and advanced processor. We researched everything, starting with a used machine just to test the market. After several months, we sold the first and bought a new machine, taking delivery just this August."

He described the custom-designed machine as a Multitek "Model 2020 on steroids," featuring the same engine as used on a Model 2040, and 60-inch circular cutoff saw instead of bar saw. Essentially, Lance explains, it's a Model 2040 on a 2020 chassis with a built in conveyor. That way, he can pull the machine onto a site as one piece of equipment and not have to rig a separate conveyor. This reduces setup time considerably, according to Chambeau.

"The advantage of mobile processing is that, for people who want a big pile of firewood, we make it easy to make a windrow of firewood, starting with a 1-minute setup and breakdown versus an hour. This is the first Multitek unit built with hydraulic levelers. Hit a button and the levelers retract so we can hook it up to a truck and move another 20-25 feet, push a button to re-level, drive the truck away and we're ready to go."

"We hope to get a solid 120 days of processing the first year to consider this a success. We can process 25-30 cords a day of regional hardwood (lower grade hardwood, not sufficient for furniture and cabinet veneers). For guys with land clearing businesses or larger tree care guys, we can set up on site and process firewood for about $50 for a full cord, which they can truck out and re-sell."

From a manufacturer's viewpoint, Peter Hincks, sales manager at Timberwolf, says demand nationally is exceptionally strong, obviously due to anticipated fuel costs for the coming heating season. "In some places it's almost a panic situation as people try to get equipment either to take care of themselves and their personal needs or by entrepreneurs who see the opportunity to make a profit."

In the Northeast, he says, there are extra pressures on firewood processors/sellers that are increasing, and will continue to increase, demand and prices for firewood. Due to an unusually wet summer, there is a shortage of logs for firewood, largely because the forest floors were so mucky - Maine especially - that conditions made it virtually impossible to get the big equipment in to cut and or process material into firewood. The lesson to be learned here is that conditions such as climate and weather, plus events such as fires, can affect costs in the short to mid-term, and therefore the end-price to consumers.

Not only does Hincks see the shortage of logs driving up prices, he also notes the irony of people trying to get equipment to process what they do have, which puts demand on the equipment supply chain. Then there is the potential fire danger with people trying to heat by burning "green" or unseasoned wood.

He's getting feedback from the marketplace that buyers are scrambling to find enough firewood to keep their processing equipment working and also to acquire equipment for increasing output - "anything to get more orders out." An interesting, pure-business observation he made is that, "if you can't keep up with orders, that just means your price is too low."

Conveyors are strong, he notes, but adds that the related challenge is ensuring that one has the right kind of equipment, namely loaders or skid loaders, to keep the conveyor, processor and the firewood crew operating at top efficiency.

Timberwolf offers 15 models of splitters for users ranging from the homeowner to the commercial processor, plus a complete line of firewood processors ranging from about $29,000, which will produce a cord an hour, to a $55,000 unit for what Hincks describes as the "serious commercial producer" looking to produce up to four cords an hour.
Rion Casey is a marketing specialist for Bailey's, a TCIA member and broad-line reseller that has been shipping woodsman tools for more than three decades.

"Based out of Laytonville, California, a small rural town in Northern California, most of our employees use some sort of wood heat, so they have both a professional and personal perspective of the firewood business. Firewood processing tools have always been one of our staple markets since the beginning of the company. We sell to professionals and homeowners alike, offering a large selection of the basic tree falling tools (saws, bars, chains, wedges, safety equipment, and all their accessories) as well as many specialized items for the firewood business owner and homeowner.

One specific example of a specialized tool for moving felled logs would include the Lewis Winch, which fits most chain saws and which can pull 4,000 pounds. It's the kind of tool that, according to Casey, once you've seen it, you wish you'd had one years ago! Other recent additions to the Bailey's Log Handling Tool line include a full line of portable arches from Logrite, which provides for easy transportation of logs. Plus, the Timberjack, which has always been a staple for moving and propping up wood to cut, he adds.

"For the high production consumer, our full line of hydraulic grapple and log trailers, from the ATV unit to the 10-ton trailer with grapple, can keep a firewood processors working at max capacity with ease," Casey adds.

"Still the most popular production tool for firewood processing, be it professional or homeowner, is the log splitter. Bailey's carries a broad line of professional grade log splitters made by Iron & Oak, from 8-ton to 34-ton capacity.

"Naturally, as energy prices rise, so does the demand for alternative ways to heat a home. We try to stay ahead of the curve on the latest and greatest in firewood technology. Some of the new items can increase production without a big dent in the budget."

For example, he cites the Smart Holder, which holds a log at waist height, reducing the need for constant bending and keeps the saw chain out of the dirt.

The Mingo Marker is a simple tool that marks your log in increments of 6, 12, 14, 16, 18 or 24 inches for precise firewood cutting.

"Another great tool just released," he says, "is the Smart Splitter Manual Log Splitter for those who don't want to swing an axe or maul. Otherwise, the 15 pound Mega Mule Maul will get through the toughest trunks - for those who can swing it.

The interesting thing about the firewood industry, at least for the next few years, is that regardless of which way oil prices go (and they were dropping in mid to late September) consumers will remain sensitive to the volatility and keep demand high for home heating and for home "atmosphere" fires, as well as the growing demand for wood by restaurants, hotels and camping areas.

While firewood may be the oldest heat source known to man (other than the sun), it remains, after millions of years, a primary source of energy - and a newly rediscovered source of gold, if you're so motivated.