Firewood business with my son

[Hay Dude]

Great job, keep them busy with outside projects they will thank you later.

Its TRUE!
And kids actually WANT direction and discipline. They might not agree with you or act like they don‘t. When their bodies are at rest is when the problems begin.
Heres my daughter battling 2 Appalachian State University field hockey players. She just got honored at 1/2 time of a game for making the Deans List as a bio-chem major and playing D-1 field hockey.
Born premature at 29 weeks and now tough as nails.

My kids now thank us for being very disciplined with them, but loving them with all we‘ve got.
Show them the way and find out the magic formula of what they are good at and what they love. Then guide them through the journey to follow their dreams.

 

[ddgood]

I think we are going to do $5 bundles in a self pay kiosk as well. That $100 rick can bring $200 if put into bundles. Our gas stations and grocery stores sell it for $7.50 per 0.75 sqft. I think 1 sqft for $5 or $6 is a great deal. 42 sqft per rick = $210 for pick of bundles.

@2LaneCruzer I am sure I could get a bit more for that pecan but we are just going to sell it with our ricks and bundles. One of my spots I want to put a self pay firewood kiosk is at a BBQ joint. Maybe I will trade him some pecan for letting us use his spot.

Good plan on a kiosk. If you have a road frontage with good traffic that might become a good business for him.

I saw this video a while back on a kiosk made with pallets.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

My kids now thank us for being very disciplined with them, but loving them with all we‘ve got.
Show them the way and find out the magic formula of what they are good at and what they love. Then guide them through the journey to follow their dreams.

That really is the magic formula isn't it? My boy is 10 and is just starting to dive in to figuring out what he wants to be good at. I just know he is going to be amazing at something, we just haven't figured it out yet. Mama was as D-1 soccer star and a professional figure skater, so luckily he has those genes.

 

[Hay Dude]

That really is the magic formula isn't it? My boy is 10 and is just starting to dive in to figuring out what he wants to be good at. I just know he is going to be amazing at something, we just haven't figured it out yet. Mama was as D-1 soccer star and a professional figure skater, so luckily he has those genes.

Yes sir!
It’s our duty as parents to help our kids find their passion. Whether its music, theatre, sports, 4-H, or a business passion, the great thing is when they are young, you can make sure that passion is one worth pursuing. If you don't, they may pursue passions that are dark or dangerous.

 

[lpakiz]

I figured out that piling wood was like hiring employees.
Depending on where you place the big end and where it is in the pile, can make the pile better or worse. There's a best place for almost every piece.
Employees are the same way- ya gotta find the best place to put them.
And there are a few pieces that just don't fit anywhere, so you toss them directly in the stove, or on top so they don't screw up the pile.

 

[ponytug]

I think we are going to do $5 bundles in a self pay kiosk as well. That $100 rick can bring $200 if put into bundles. Our gas stations and grocery stores sell it for $7.50 per 0.75 sqft. I think 1 sqft for $5 or $6 is a great deal. 42 sqft per rick = $210 for pick of bundles.

@2LaneCruzer I am sure I could get a bit more for that pecan but we are just going to sell it with our ricks and bundles. One of my spots I want to put a self pay firewood kiosk is at a BBQ joint. Maybe I will trade him some pecan for letting us use his spot.

Your local parks may take some as well.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Pretty much sold out of firewood already this year. Sold a nice trailer load for $200 and a few smaller loads for a grand total of $290 worth of firewood. Not bad for a 10 year old. He is tickled pink with his fat wallet.

We only had a few pallets full to sell this year, it was a bit of an afterthought this past spring to get this going. We now have all winter to stock up for next year. I told him if we work hard this winter we can sell a lot more next year. He is excited to up production and make some real money next year.

We never went the firewood kiosk route this year, ran out of time. It is always an option to maximize profits next year.

 

[sea2summit]

Thanks for the follow-up. That's cool.

I'm out of town so had to add my 16yo to my hay truck insurance so he could continue to make money off our work this year...well, we were money, holy crap the insurance doesn't want him driving a 25 year old 16' flatbed truck.

 

[kf4uda]

You are teaching him a lot of life lessons for sure. When it is all said and dome what he will appreciate the most however is getting to spend time with you. My Dad and I worked on projects for years. He has been gone a few years now but I still have those memories and all of the things that he taught me.

 

[Herness]

Lucky guy! With his 18 he will have a lot if useful experience

 

[m1garand762]

My 12 year old nephew works with me almost every weekend my parents and his parents keep him busy during the week Al summer and Saturday morning most weekends he is at the farm ready to work by 7 am and he shows up after church on Sunday. Never asking for a dime from anyone but we always give him something for helping

 

[airbiscuit]

My son is 10. ...

He did great today stacking the wood. Mostly pecan and oak with a little black walnut.

Black Walnut is too pretty to burn.

 

[Molalla1]

Black Walnut is too pretty to burn.

Makes for some nice gun stocks . . .

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Black Walnut is too pretty to burn.

I agree, gorgeous! I have a pretty good stock of milled black walnut and 3 or 4 logs to get to the mill yet. These were from limbs too small to mill.

 

[deezler]

Black Walnut is too pretty to burn.

I have hundreds of them growing on my property.... put dozens of small ones from our initial land clearing through the woodstove already.

When you get straight grain pieces from the main trunks or big branches, it splits so quick and cleanly with a satisfying POP. But then you see that beautiful purple heartwood inside and just feel kinda bad about where it's headed.

The other main species of tree I tend to saw up is black cherry - often a gorgeous dark orange inside and makes me feel similarly.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

I have hundreds of them growing on my property.... put dozens of small ones from our initial land clearing through the woodstove already.

When you get straight grain pieces from the main trunks or big branches, it splits so quick and cleanly with a satisfying POP. But then you see that beautiful purple heartwood inside and just feel kinda bad about where it's headed.

The other main species of tree I tend to saw up is black cherry - often a gorgeous dark orange inside and makes me feel similarly.

Black Cherry is my favorite wood to burn. Love walking out of the house and smelling that amazing smell. I am lucky enough to have a tote full of it for this year.

 

[deezler]

Black Cherry is my favorite wood to burn. Love walking out of the house and smelling that amazing smell. I am lucky enough to have a tote full of it for this year.

Same. I've got 8 IBC totes full of it (out of 15 total). Some of it was green and growing until September though, hope it cures up in time for the end of winter.

 

[deezler]

Pretty much sold out of firewood already this year. Sold a nice trailer load for $200 and a few smaller loads for a grand total of $290 worth of firewood. Not bad for a 10 year old. He is tickled pink with his fat wallet.

We never went the firewood kiosk route this year, ran out of time. It is always an option to maximize profits next year.

I need to get my 9-year old son more interested in doing this with me. He tends to complain about helping with the log splitter, but then begrudgingly runs the lever for me until I let him off the hook. Need to get a flash of cash in front of his face to show him how lucrative it could be!

Not sure I really want to (or have time to) build a delivery customer base, but I have enough space on my busy road frontage to set up a kiosk. Hopefully my adjacent neighbor wouldn't hate me for it (I should ask him).

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Same. I've got 8 IBC totes full of it (out of 15 total). Some of it was green and growing until September though, hope it cures up in time for the end of winter.

We don't have a ton of it down here unfortunately. I wish I had 8 totes of it.

I need to get my 9-year old son more interested in doing this with me. He tends to complain about helping with the log splitter, but then begrudgingly runs the lever for me until I let him off the hook. Need to get a flash of cash in front of his face to show him how lucrative it could be!

Not sure I really want to (or have time to) build a delivery customer base, but I have enough space on my busy road frontage to set up a kiosk. Hopefully my adjacent neighbor wouldn't hate me for it (I should ask him).

9 might be a TAD too early for him to give a crap about money. At 8 or 9 my kid had absolutely zero concept of money and what things cost. Over the last year that has changed a lot, he is almost 11 though. You still have time.

We were going to do a kiosk this year as well, but I ran out of time to get it up and running. If you have a good location you can turn a good profit that way. That $100 face cord turns into $200 sold as 1 sqft bundles. A bit more work on the front end bundling though, and you have to factor in a loss due to potential theft. We still on planning on doing it, maybe next year. My plan is to ramp it up a little bit bigger every year if I can keep him interested.

 

[Herness]

My 12 year old nephew works with me almost every weekend my parents and his parents keep him busy during the week Al summer and Saturday morning most weekends he is at the farm ready to work by 7 am and he shows up after church on Sunday. Never asking for a dime from anyone but we always give him something for helping

I am sure he will be a very successful man one day. Have another advice for all the business owner out there - please forget about the mailing list as it is a very small percentage of customer which actually read them The best from my experience is to use texting app for business instead of it and you can be sure that someone reads the information.