Here is a good strategy… I think. Approach the bbq restaurants you sell to. Offer to package the wood chips with the restaurant’s branding instead of yours. Customers would buy the wood chips from them because they want the same great flavor at home. Require a minimum order amount from the restaurant and give them a wholesale price.
I passed this on too my daughter. Doesn't have any equipment and IMO doesn't need it. Rent it, one day. Bust butt and take it back until you make enough to buy it outright. While doing so, start looking for a deal on used equipment. Even rental companies sell older equipment if you can fix it deal. HOW do you find Cherry, Apple, Oak, Hickory wood. Source seems to be the biggest pain the tale. Nothing happens with no wood, which you inferred to I believe.
Just a thought for rusty gear heads, if you have the space to build a small pole building. You could pipe heat from a sealed water outdoor furnace into a building that will dry the chips if you have a metal weave basket that can be moved by forks. Cherry wood is good and so is apple. Sugar maple, if you could get some, hickory and of course oak. Sassafras should do well but it would require more than what one would think considering sassafras doesn't get real big. Should bring a better price too.
Hey Joe, you are such a mentor to me. Many businesses would never share their “secrets” or ideas for others to profit. You make me think more and more about firewood while I’m at my real job. Thank you!
Idea to make hand loading chips into the bag easier: insert a short length of stove pipe into the bag. The bag should stand up while you toss double handfuls of chips into it. When the pipe is full, you have the correctly measured amount for a bag full of chips.
Issue I see could be too close the speed with bullet the wood and destroy the bags. Your point on a chute under the chipper the metal stops it, with a slope tapered to fit your bag just site there and feed the bags. Have a couple ideas on a bag holder. Of all the things, filling the bags looks like the most work at this end.
@@IndyTiger1050 use potato type bags. stronger so you can shoot directly into bag, no need to put holes in them, the customer can burn the whole thing at once, use it for kindling, and no plastic for the ocean (where 90% of plastic ends up). then you can add your business is environmentally conscience which is a huge selling point nowadays. or use the plastic bags and you can put a funnel where the bin is, then funnel to a slide to a double gate and between gates would be the same amount of product for each bag.
the extension shute could be made from perforated steel sheet so that the exhaust air can escape and make a manual conveyor to move the bags when full.
7:32 It's interesting, I was always curious how the barcodes are assigned to products, never would I thought that I learn this in wood-working video :-)
Yer durn tootin yer onto something there! That's BRILLIANT! BRILL-EE-ANT!!! We have a splitter, a chipper, a dump trailer, several tractors, a shrink wrap machine, firewood totes of my own design for storing and drying, label makers... and now a FANTASTIC idea for putting it all to use! THANKS!
Looks like a great business venture. Maybe load the bags on a scale. That way you can load to the exact same weight every time. Boosting profits. Less overfilling.
It's a good idea. One concern though, you MAY need to make sure everything is food grade since it COULD be used to directly heat food. If someone smokes their fish with this, and a glob of grease falls into your process, or a dead mouse gets sent thru the chipper because he is hiding inside a piece of wood... 1) you may want to use a food grade grease, and 2) you may need to inspect the chips for 'foul' things. You know this litigious country we live in, you almost can't be too cautious. Hope it works out for ya!
Diversifying inside your core competency is a testament to creativity and ingenuity. So many people chase squirrels all over the park to try to diversify. You my friend, have found a way to just make more lanes (revenue streams) on the same road. Well done! I enjoy the channel.
Improvements: Find the largest tube that your bag will slip over one end. Looks like about eight inches here. Put bag on end and stand up on table. Fill tube to correct level . Then lift tube out letting chips fall into bag. If need be you can make flare end at top like funnel. Also once you get the volume in the tube correct, make a "full" mark on the tube for future fills. Now you have a consistent volume that is fast loading. Another one would be to get special bag that is zip lock but has longer piece beyond the zipper so you could heat seal with a "seal-a-meal" type heat element so it is permanently sealed until customer cuts off the excess and yet they can still zip shut between uses. No bags popping open on shelf for your customers. Also no risk of tampering that way. Questions? Are you selling by weight or by volume? Need to know and what local laws apply! Is that required labeling where you live and sell. If by weight you need a "commercial" certified scale for this use. If by volume make sure that every bag is "over full" and check the local laws on how they would require that you measure that on "fluffy" items like these chips. Compressed or not? Don't want to get this wrong. Weights and measures departments in many states are real headaches. Not an issue if you do your homework and always get it right, but don't just skip it and end up with issues. PS that overfull I mentioned is not lost product, but that way any single bag they randomly sample will pass. Call it insurance and figure the cost into the pricing. No one will complain about getting more, but if you are 5 percent less it becomes a federal case and they call you a robber. People are not rational. Some have lawyers on retainer. All in all a pretty good idea IF you stay local and small. DO NOT TRY TO BID FOR PLACEMENT IN WALMART. They are notorious for driving their vendors into bankruptcy by getting them to invest in machines that increase scale and help you borrow money to do that. Then they drive your price down to where you lose money and go bankrupt.
Very nice post Mark. I think I should start heat Sealing but I'm not sure if these bags would be appropriate but that is on my list of things to do. I have my volume listed on the label and I know that I am well over the amount with what I'm filling.
@@ohiowoodburner a cheaper option would be to use a heavy card type hanger and staple it into place. Or even just get your hands on some index poster board, cut it into strips, fold it over the zip end of the zip-loc, staple it into place, hole punch and you are set. This would almost completely eliminate the bag opening and would give a more professional look to the product. No printing require as your label does that already. And you can use the tools you are already using.
Love the videos. Is there any chance you would post the U-Line product number for those bags you use? I’m not finding any of that size with a small gusset. Thanks!
Check with the USDA I think it must be bark free as well. A kiln when/if it fits in your operation would eliminate the insect issue if your area becomes infested and fire wood transport is restricted or banned, also another value added perk of your premium product. See if you can find perforated bags for your next batch. Make a small hopper to put the chips into and open and close the gate on the pipe that fits nicely in your bags. Consider an electric motor to run the chipper. Just some quick thoughts that might make your life easier as this grows BIGGER! Praying this works out well for you.
Hi Joe, I would recommend using a bulk bag, 1m3 in size to catch these in. You can get them with the mesh sides on so that you could potentially chip green wood and then store them away to dry out somewhere else until seasoned. Those bags have loops on the four corners so you could use the tractor forks to move them around. I would find out what scoop or container when filled gives you a the desired quantify for the bags each time. If you want to make any sort of funnel I would suggest making it from PVC/Plastic rainwater or stormwater piping/guttering goods as they are readily available, comes with brackets and no doubt there are already funnel like components for capturing the debris out of the guttering. You can make any chute or funnel required to tour requirements cheaply and easy to change out parts. Perhaps have your rig set up on a pallet so it can be again moved by the tractor when needed. Clever idea to sell the wood chips. Maybe you can set up a tarp so under the wood splitter and collect any suitable debris that falls to the ground where splitting the wood daily. I know you have a few machines now and they may already collect the debris for you. Then it may only be a case of sifting out the dust from the chips and possibly putting these through wood chipper. After watching this I am now wondering if the chips would be suitable to burn in a pellet stove as they are quite popular here, I could offer these at a similar price point to the local hardware store. Cheers 👍
Hi Joe, great and logical idea. You may want to consider putting the chips through a screen of some type to remove the smallest bits. That way they would be more consistent.
Absolutely fantastic new endeavour Joe, you're an inspiration! A few very obvious observations regarding the chipping setup, which I've no doubt you've already thought of: Position the SuperSplit so that you can toss the raw materials straight into the chipper, and position the chipper to blow the product straight onto the drying 'platform'. Pre-perforated bags are widely used in the fruit and vegetable industry, so they'd eliminate a small step from your process. And of course, a nice scoop of some sort would greatly simplify filling the bags.
I kinda do everything you have mentioned now Ivor. I just simplified everything for the sake of the vid. Still, my first ones were made just like what you saw today. Volume from sales drives efficiencies for me!
What a great business idea! You are a smart guy and it is so entertaining to see your business develop! Maybe you can sell a t-shirt and a bag of wood chips on your merch site! Congratulations and good luck, this could be larger than your present firewood business! Also kudos to your daughters making the very informative and entertaining videos. The camera angles and close-ups and audio are perfect. The great editing of your story makes these videos something I am looking fwd to.
Love your idea. I am always looking for new ways to make more money in firewood. I lost my job last September and have been selling bulk firewood and a few bundles. But this is a great idea. Thanks for sharing . Keep brainstorming, and have a great day...
I hope you can bounce back Ken. One of my big motivators when I stepped away from work was not having that safety net. It really got me kicked in gear to get OWB moving
Cool video. You can either use old cotton pillow caes or burlap bags or something like it that will breathe and affix them to the out chute of the chipper. Your chips will go into the bag, and you can store them that way. Cool idea to do an add on. You can also look at making hardwood mulch from all of the bark and leftover scraps.
Joe awesome video. Thanks for sharing your recipe for success. I had put some cherry through my chipper last year and was going to put it in burlap bags but the idea of drying on my dump trailer is awesome and plastic bags makes sense. Thanks again
Great product. I just landed my first hardware store to wholesale bundles. They currently have moldy .75 cf bundles retaling at $9 each. I'll have to see what they have for smoker chips. Applewood would be another great product. Michael
Such an amazing idea for otherwise "trash" wood. I mill slabs and lumber and have a ton of waste that I don't know how to get rid of. Mainly small limbs and off cuts from making slabs. I have a wood chipper and get all my wood pretty much for free. I am going to look into this idea for sure. So very glad I found your channel. Thanks!
I understand Mr. Ford designed the wooden shipping box that one of his raw material providers used so he could take the box apart and make the floor boards for his cars.
I love this video, I live on a hill in the woods surrounded by maple, I had been thinking getting into the firewood market, your advice about not waiting until the perfect moment is spot on. I'll start small and see how it goes.
Good for You!! I've found the secret to success is NOT massive growth. But finding your niche and running with it. I run a small pressure washing business making more money than I did working 40 hours a week. And I'm home by noon every day.
For the bagging process , put a conveyor belt in the trailer with a funnel attachment on the end of it smaller than the bag. Make a basket to hold the bag with a scale under it so the bags are the same weight.
I thought bout this a few ago, and was told to do it by the lady I sell my honey too... I have all the equipment (tractors, chippers, AND locust rees by the hundreds) After watching your video, its time to package and sell them. Thank you.
To speed up your fill process get a flat table and cut a hole in it, then screw a traffic cone to the bottom of the hole (cut off the point and you have a funnel that you can put your bags around. You probably need to play with the table height to get the ergonomics right but it is like how they fill sand bags. Then just slide chips through the hole in the table and gravity fill the bag. Also, all the bark from the debarking operation could be sold as Tanbark. We used to use that as a ground cover in our garden.
@@ohiowoodburner Your welcome. If things work out you could build a metal shed and paint it black for drying. Put a wood stove in there and you have year round drying capability.
I agree I laugh when people criticize about not having a completely efficient operation. To each their own but I'm operating and putting money in the bank I'll take that for now LOL
Hey, great advice, Joe! I'm in early stages of starting a pressure washing business here I'm sunny Fremantle Western Australia It's actually taken me way longer than it should have coz, as I wanted everything perfect. I wish I had come across your videos a year ago because I struggled so long without any income coz... Things just had to be perfect! Thanks again Joe Your friend from DownUnder 🇮🇹
Another idea, use the trash that come off the splitter when processing rounds. It might have a lot more fines in it, test and see. Now if you could get a pellet maker you can use those fines to make pellets for pellet stoves, grills, and smokers. That will cut your wood waste down to almost 0.
Irlts pretty cool you're sharing your idea to the world so others, if they have the drive, can use it and make their own ideas from it. I respect the hell out of you for this, and this is the first video I've ever seen of yours.
Thanks for letting me in on your secret joe many people used to say, money doesn't grow on trees son, but for the last 25 years doing tree work I've proved it does grow on trees this is a nice little side line you've got ,I'll try it some time
A similar product suggestion. Take the chips and wax coat them for a firestarter. Mike and Melissa Morgan were using some that someone gave them to start their fire ring. They has a similar bag that someone had given them and just grabbed a small hand full a it made the perfect quick firestarter. You could use any wood including pine for the firestarter. Would have to look into methods of coating the chips with melted wax.
Great idea. I do have a tractor, I do have a Chipper, I do have a honor-based cash stand (for flowers). I ordered already wood to split but why not also take some sticks and splitter them? During summer time in a green house it should not be to difficult to get the chips dry in some days. Perfect. Thanks.
Hi Joe!!😀😀 What a great idea for another product from firewood. I love the way they look. I really hope it works out for you and you can get a bunch of places that you can sell them at. I think people are going to definitely be interested in buy them. I do think that 10 to 15 dollars is a little high for a price. But if you can get that much money more power to you. Even if you only get 5 dollars per bag it would be definitely worth doing it. Good luck with the new product. Take care my friend!!😀😀👍👍💚 Logger Al
Thanks Al. I have seen these for sale at prices that I would never pay but it seems people are. I have used my network of retailers to zero in on an MSRP.
@@ohiowoodburner I haven't checked out what they are getting for a product like this. It will definitely be worth while to do Especially if people are willing to pay 10 to 15 per bag. Good luck buddy!! I'm rutting for you!!
what a clever idea. l hope it takes off for you. Another great video always very interesting. looking forward to Sundays video. kind regards to the family from across the pond
Great looking product! I've had a similar idea, but I don't have a chipper yet for my tractor. I tried selling bundles of fruit wood sticks at my farm in Columbus one year and just didn't have the sales, but bagged chips are great for retail, and that's an attractive package. With the system you've got there, it might be cost effective to simply purchase cordwood or logs locally and process it into chips. I've known a couple cheesemakers who followed the same path. They started out raising goats, and just got into cheese as a way to make more money on their milk. But it was so successful that it was no longer worth their time to bother with the goats! They just started buying milk wholesale and manufacturing the cheese, and it's gone great. I don't know how or where you source your wood, but I'd bet arborists could keep you busy if you provided them a place to dump logs. I compost commercial food waste, so I'm always needing wood chips. I've tried ChipDrop and AEP with little success. I've got a tiny gas-powered chipper, but that isn't cutting it. I don't need smoker quality or dyed mulch. Just something to rot into compost. I'd pay to have that delivered if I could find a reliable source. I used to buy sawdust from sawmills (shoveled it myself & paid $20 a pickup load) to use as chicken bedding, but my sources dried up. I haven't found a feasible way to produce that much sawdust on my own. Do you have any thoughts on that? I've been inclined to switch to sand as bedding, but I'd still like to know how I might go about making my own sawdust in large anounts, especially now that I have a tractor.
Another great episode Joe. Maybe you could put a pipe or 5 gallon bucket with no bottom hung from the end of your chipper. Then connect/fasten onion bags to that once they are full you can let lay to dry before bagging. If you don’t want bark in your wood chips split the bark side often put in your bundles from Jeff in Maryland thanks again
I appreciate you sharing this with your audience, this is my first time to your channel but you earned a subscriber out of me! Before I even finished the video I shared it with my buddy who is a small business owner thinking maybe this is worth pursuing, which I definitely think that it is!
I'd like to make a couple of points. 1) This is an EXCELLENT business school lesson! I'm a business school graduate and after a bit of thought, this video touches on many aspects of business. There are so many different lessons for business students in this video I don't even think I can count them all. 2) I'd like to offer an approach from the perspective of a consumer. I like to cook with wood as it's less expensive. I cook with small sticks in a rocket stove and with WOOD PELLETS in a forced air wood burner (Biolite Campstove2+). Wood pellets are made from sawdust. Perhaps you could, when cutting the wood, take the sawdust and make wood pellets for people to burn in their wood pellet grills. Sawdust is a by-product of the cutting of wood so you don't have to do anything else to get the sawdust aside from collect it efficiently and then use a pellet maker to make bags of pellets that can be sold for a profit.
thanks for the nice post Mike. I have thought of doing stuff with the saw dust but not sure what direction to go. All of this requires bandwidth and personal interest and right now I'm not sure I have either. Those presses look cool and I'm wondering if I can make it work? I'm very process oriented despite what you see on camera lol and would have to make sure I have a good input and output. Joe
Oh! You’re on to something new again. Elaine from Canada here, marvelling at your business prowess. This idea of selling your chips is great. I wish you all the best success, and I see some other good ideas in the comments for filling the bags, drying etc. and as always, you’ll figure out what works best for you…at your own pace. Way to go Joe!
THIS concept is GENIUS. It totally exemplifies the concept of working (or playing) SMARTER Not Harder. I mentioned the idea of using every part of the tree, to a Firewood company fellow here on UA-cam the other day, and specifically questioned him (a seasoned Firewood producer) that instead of spreading the sawdust and wood chips on his farm field as a waste by-product, why not bag the chips and sell it as FireStarter. He courteously thanked me for leaving the comment on his channel but proceeded to enlighten me to the fact that in his township they give this stuff away for free from the Public Works department to residences to be used as mulch in gardens or landscaping, so why would anyone in their right mind pay $10 or $15 for just a bag (of the same product) essentially. Well, the answer is PACKAGING and MARKETING plain and simple. This brings me to another idea, as I write this comment, and that is why even bother cutting, splitting and multiple handling of the tree at all ... WHY not make arrangements with your particular township or even multiple Townships to take delivery of this product ... Already made. Then all the small business owner needs to do is Package and Market. Virtually NO equipment cost layout for a GOLDMINE business model. THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS. You, Sir, are a Very Smart fellow. Greetings from Ontario, Canada.
Here is the link to our online store!! Check us out for your super cool, iconic OWB Tshirts and stickers!
ohiowoodburner.square.site/
Please remove the bark before making chips for wood smokers.
Here is a good strategy… I think. Approach the bbq restaurants you sell to. Offer to package the wood chips with the restaurant’s branding instead of yours. Customers would buy the wood chips from them because they want the same great flavor at home. Require a minimum order amount from the restaurant and give them a wholesale price.
I passed this on too my daughter. Doesn't have any equipment and IMO doesn't need it. Rent it, one day. Bust butt and take it back until you make enough to buy it outright.
While doing so, start looking for a deal on used equipment. Even rental companies sell older equipment if you can fix it deal.
HOW do you find Cherry, Apple, Oak, Hickory wood. Source seems to be the biggest pain the tale. Nothing happens with no wood, which you inferred to I believe.
Just a thought for rusty gear heads, if you have the space to build a small pole building. You could pipe heat from a sealed water outdoor furnace into a building that will dry the chips if you have a metal weave basket that can be moved by forks. Cherry wood is good and so is apple. Sugar maple, if you could get some, hickory and of course oak. Sassafras should do well but it would require more than what one would think considering sassafras doesn't get real big. Should bring a better price too.
Joe where do you get your labels
Hey Joe, you are such a mentor to me. Many businesses would never share their “secrets” or ideas for others to profit. You make me think more and more about firewood while I’m at my real job. Thank you!
Get your plans put to action buddy. You got this!
Idea to make hand loading chips into the bag easier: insert a short length of stove pipe into the bag. The bag should stand up while you toss double handfuls of chips into it. When the pipe is full, you have the correctly measured amount for a bag full of chips.
That is how i bagged up kindling sticks. Neat quick and cheap
Issue I see could be too close the speed with bullet the wood and destroy the bags. Your point on a chute under the chipper the metal stops it, with a slope tapered to fit your bag just site there and feed the bags. Have a couple ideas on a bag holder. Of all the things, filling the bags looks like the most work at this end.
@@IndyTiger1050 use potato type bags. stronger so you can shoot directly into bag, no need to put holes in them, the customer can burn the whole thing at once, use it for kindling, and no plastic for the ocean (where 90% of plastic ends up). then you can add your business is environmentally conscience which is a huge selling point nowadays. or use the plastic bags and you can put a funnel where the bin is, then funnel to a slide to a double gate and between gates would be the same amount of product for each bag.
That’s a great idea Roger. Thanks.
the extension shute could be made from perforated steel sheet so that the exhaust air can escape and make a manual conveyor to move the bags when full.
What a stand up video. I believe in you and your business model.
7:32 It's interesting, I was always curious how the barcodes are assigned to products, never would I thought that I learn this in wood-working video :-)
Nice of him to share this. Thanks buddy. Keep up the good work and good luck. God bless
Damn, thank you for not being afraid to share ideas.
I think in firewood there aren't any secrets. It falls back on to execution.
This is awesome. Extremely professional packaging
Thanks Adam. Maybe you should sell these in your stand?!?!
Growing is not the main thing, it’s keeping your cousmer happy and coming back 😊😊😊
Yer durn tootin yer onto something there! That's BRILLIANT! BRILL-EE-ANT!!!
We have a splitter, a chipper, a dump trailer, several tractors, a shrink wrap machine, firewood totes of my own design for storing and drying, label makers... and now a FANTASTIC idea for putting it all to use! THANKS!
Looks like a great business venture. Maybe load the bags on a scale. That way you can load to the exact same weight every time. Boosting profits. Less overfilling.
It's a good idea. One concern though, you MAY need to make sure everything is food grade since it COULD be used to directly heat food. If someone smokes their fish with this, and a glob of grease falls into your process, or a dead mouse gets sent thru the chipper because he is hiding inside a piece of wood... 1) you may want to use a food grade grease, and 2) you may need to inspect the chips for 'foul' things. You know this litigious country we live in, you almost can't be too cautious. Hope it works out for ya!
Diversifying inside your core competency is a testament to creativity and ingenuity. So many people chase squirrels all over the park to try to diversify. You my friend, have found a way to just make more lanes (revenue streams) on the same road. Well done! I enjoy the channel.
Thanks so much for the nice comment
Did you have a major in buzzwords and catch phrases?
Improvements: Find the largest tube that your bag will slip over one end. Looks like about eight inches here. Put bag on end and stand up on table. Fill tube to correct level . Then lift tube out letting chips fall into bag. If need be you can make flare end at top like funnel. Also once you get the volume in the tube correct, make a "full" mark on the tube for future fills. Now you have a consistent volume that is fast loading. Another one would be to get special bag that is zip lock but has longer piece beyond the zipper so you could heat seal with a "seal-a-meal" type heat element so it is permanently sealed until customer cuts off the excess and yet they can still zip shut between uses. No bags popping open on shelf for your customers. Also no risk of tampering that way.
Questions? Are you selling by weight or by volume? Need to know and what local laws apply! Is that required labeling where you live and sell. If by weight you need a "commercial" certified scale for this use. If by volume make sure that every bag is "over full" and check the local laws on how they would require that you measure that on "fluffy" items like these chips. Compressed or not? Don't want to get this wrong. Weights and measures departments in many states are real headaches. Not an issue if you do your homework and always get it right, but don't just skip it and end up with issues. PS that overfull I mentioned is not lost product, but that way any single bag they randomly sample will pass. Call it insurance and figure the cost into the pricing. No one will complain about getting more, but if you are 5 percent less it becomes a federal case and they call you a robber. People are not rational. Some have lawyers on retainer.
All in all a pretty good idea IF you stay local and small. DO NOT TRY TO BID FOR PLACEMENT IN WALMART. They are notorious for driving their vendors into bankruptcy by getting them to invest in machines that increase scale and help you borrow money to do that. Then they drive your price down to where you lose money and go bankrupt.
Very nice post Mark. I think I should start heat Sealing but I'm not sure if these bags would be appropriate but that is on my list of things to do. I have my volume listed on the label and I know that I am well over the amount with what I'm filling.
@@ohiowoodburner a cheaper option would be to use a heavy card type hanger and staple it into place. Or even just get your hands on some index poster board, cut it into strips, fold it over the zip end of the zip-loc, staple it into place, hole punch and you are set. This would almost completely eliminate the bag opening and would give a more professional look to the product. No printing require as your label does that already. And you can use the tools you are already using.
Love the videos. Is there any chance you would post the U-Line product number for those bags you use? I’m not finding any of that size with a small gusset. Thanks!
Glad to see the R&D department hard at work on cutting edge forest products!!!
LOL It's the operations dept that is holding us back!!!
Check with the USDA I think it must be bark free as well.
A kiln when/if it fits in your operation would eliminate the insect issue if your area becomes infested and fire wood transport is restricted or banned, also another value added perk of your premium product.
See if you can find perforated bags for your next batch.
Make a small hopper to put the chips into and open and close the gate on the pipe that fits nicely in your bags.
Consider an electric motor to run the chipper.
Just some quick thoughts that might make your life easier as this grows BIGGER! Praying this works out well for you.
Remember the old fashioned potato baggers we used in produce in the earlier days...same principle.
Hi Joe, I would recommend using a bulk bag, 1m3 in size to catch these in. You can get them with the mesh sides on so that you could potentially chip green wood and then store them away to dry out somewhere else until seasoned. Those bags have loops on the four corners so you could use the tractor forks to move them around. I would find out what scoop or container when filled gives you a the desired quantify for the bags each time. If you want to make any sort of funnel I would suggest making it from PVC/Plastic rainwater or stormwater piping/guttering goods as they are readily available, comes with brackets and no doubt there are already funnel like components for capturing the debris out of the guttering. You can make any chute or funnel required to tour requirements cheaply and easy to change out parts. Perhaps have your rig set up on a pallet so it can be again moved by the tractor when needed. Clever idea to sell the wood chips. Maybe you can set up a tarp so under the wood splitter and collect any suitable debris that falls to the ground where splitting the wood daily. I know you have a few machines now and they may already collect the debris for you. Then it may only be a case of sifting out the dust from the chips and possibly putting these through wood chipper. After watching this I am now wondering if the chips would be suitable to burn in a pellet stove as they are quite popular here, I could offer these at a similar price point to the local hardware store. Cheers 👍
Hi Joe, great and logical idea. You may want to consider putting the chips through a screen of some type to remove the smallest bits. That way they would be more consistent.
Totally agree Clive. I am on the lookout for that tight wire mesh and use it as a shaker.
Absolutely fantastic new endeavour Joe, you're an inspiration!
A few very obvious observations regarding the chipping setup, which I've no doubt you've already thought of:
Position the SuperSplit so that you can toss the raw materials straight into the chipper, and position the chipper to blow the product straight onto the drying 'platform'.
Pre-perforated bags are widely used in the fruit and vegetable industry, so they'd eliminate a small step from your process.
And of course, a nice scoop of some sort would greatly simplify filling the bags.
I kinda do everything you have mentioned now Ivor. I just simplified everything for the sake of the vid. Still, my first ones were made just like what you saw today. Volume from sales drives efficiencies for me!
What a great business idea! You are a smart guy and it is so entertaining to see your business develop! Maybe you can sell a t-shirt and a bag of wood chips on your merch site! Congratulations and good luck, this could be larger than your present firewood business! Also kudos to your daughters making the very informative and entertaining videos. The camera angles and close-ups and audio are perfect. The great editing of your story makes these videos something I am looking fwd to.
Thanks so much for the nice comment Arne!
I agree 100% with you Arne. The quality of the videos and sound are great. She is a big asset to OWB. I'm sure Joe is very proud of his daughter.
Thank you for sharing, I just hope that I am the only one that has seen your video in my area!
Joe great idea!!! Awesome job you are correct great business model!!!
Wow, thanks Scott!
Now that's thinking Joe! Good stuff. Best of luck - wonderful idea!
Thats pretty awesome. Your the Boss of You!!
Love your videos.... very intelligent in explaining the system.. thank You
Love your idea. I am always looking for new ways to make more money in firewood. I lost my job last September and have been selling bulk firewood and a few bundles. But this is a great idea. Thanks for sharing . Keep brainstorming, and have a great day...
I hope you can bounce back Ken. One of my big motivators when I stepped away from work was not having that safety net. It really got me kicked in gear to get OWB moving
Cool video.
You can either use old cotton pillow caes or burlap bags or something like it that will breathe and affix them to the out chute of the chipper. Your chips will go into the bag, and you can store them that way.
Cool idea to do an add on.
You can also look at making hardwood mulch from all of the bark and leftover scraps.
Great idea , yes you are right 👍go for it Joe
Great idea ..... Best of luck to you ..... May you sell 1,000 bags a day !!!!
I like it. Thanks for sharing. Hope it does well for you
Great idea Joe! I know that is going to work! Thanks!
What a good idea. I'm convinced it will work. I like your way of thinking. Fewer materials, more margins. It's the right way to do it.
Thanks Dan I will keep you posted on progress
Great microbussiness model ..thank you ..keep up the great knowledge .
Joe awesome video. Thanks for sharing your recipe for success. I had put some cherry through my chipper last year and was going to put it in burlap bags but the idea of drying on my dump trailer is awesome and plastic bags makes sense. Thanks again
Hope it works out for you Tony!
Great product. I just landed my first hardware store to wholesale bundles. They currently have moldy .75 cf bundles retaling at $9 each. I'll have to see what they have for smoker chips. Applewood would be another great product.
Michael
Great news Mike! Keep it up. Once you have that in the bag go get your next, and next!
Such an amazing idea for otherwise "trash" wood. I mill slabs and lumber and have a ton of waste that I don't know how to get rid of. Mainly small limbs and off cuts from making slabs. I have a wood chipper and get all my wood pretty much for free. I am going to look into this idea for sure. So very glad I found your channel. Thanks!
you can also make and sell biochar
Sounds like the tale of Henry Ford using the remaining wood scraps from the model T frame to create charcoal. Great idea!
I understand Mr. Ford designed the wooden shipping box that one of his raw material providers used so he could take the box apart and make the floor boards for his cars.
I love this video, I live on a hill in the woods surrounded by maple, I had been thinking getting into the firewood market, your advice about not waiting until the perfect moment is spot on. I'll start small and see how it goes.
My favorite part was seeing a Bobcat tractor...
I bought my Bobcat back in 2010 and soon after, they were off the market.
Good action Joe~
Great business development there Joe. For filling the bags maybe the right size bucket with the bottom cut out will hold the bags open.
Cheers 🇨🇦
I have a current method that I didn't bother showing but I will in future vids. It is fast enuff for me right now
Ready, go, set!
Great idea Joe, definitely a winner, Best wishes .
Thanks tom
That's a great idea 💡.. Good for you & good luck!
You are giving away jewels. Bless you
Great idea Joe ! kudo's to you for always looking ahead ! good luck and keep us up to date on how you improve your process ! Cheers
Thanks! Will do!
Good for You!!
I've found the secret to success is NOT massive growth. But finding your niche and running with it.
I run a small pressure washing business making more money than I did working 40 hours a week.
And I'm home by noon every day.
For the bagging process , put a conveyor belt in the trailer with a funnel attachment on the end of it smaller than the bag. Make a basket to hold the bag with a scale under it so the bags are the same weight.
AMEN ! Save yourself and be happy . Who wants the head ache of lots of money.
Joe, love your creativity.
Thanks Dan. Thanks for supporting the channel
brilliant... good luck
I thought bout this a few ago, and was told to do it by the lady I sell my honey too... I have all the equipment (tractors, chippers, AND locust rees by the hundreds) After watching your video, its time to package and sell them. Thank you.
To speed up your fill process get a flat table and cut a hole in it, then screw a traffic cone to the bottom of the hole (cut off the point and you have a funnel that you can put your bags around. You probably need to play with the table height to get the ergonomics right but it is like how they fill sand bags. Then just slide chips through the hole in the table and gravity fill the bag.
Also, all the bark from the debarking operation could be sold as Tanbark. We used to use that as a ground cover in our garden.
Nice thoughts buddy Thanks for helping me out!
@@ohiowoodburner Your welcome. If things work out you could build a metal shed and paint it black for drying. Put a wood stove in there and you have year round drying capability.
Counting on your fingers that's so cool Joe
Great ideas. You are lwys thinking.
Great to hear a good honest man cut through the BS, BEST WISHES TO YOU sir
Great idea! Another option is bagging chunks; 3x3ish for home smoking/BBQ
Absolutely love your concept and how you explain your business.
Thanks alot I already own a small stand alone gas powerd chipper.
Pretty slick! Gotta give ya that!
Thanks Andy and Sam!
Great idea! Thank u for sharing.
You are always thinking, Joe. It’s an attractive product, with nice packaging. 👍
Thanks RG
Great video. Great ideas. Keep it up!
Excellent idea Joe!! Chris Carlson had a great one liner the other day. Perfection is the enemy of accomplishment.
I agree I laugh when people criticize about not having a completely efficient operation. To each their own but I'm operating and putting money in the bank I'll take that for now LOL
way to think out of the box! Nice job!!
Hey, great advice, Joe!
I'm in early stages of starting a pressure washing business here I'm sunny Fremantle Western Australia
It's actually taken me way longer than it should have coz, as I wanted everything perfect.
I wish I had come across your videos a year ago because I struggled so long without any income coz...
Things just had to be perfect!
Thanks again Joe
Your friend from DownUnder 🇮🇹
Get started TODAY Ben. You got this!
You need a big ice machine scoop to fill your bags. Love your videos 😌
Another idea, use the trash that come off the splitter when processing rounds. It might have a lot more fines in it, test and see. Now if you could get a pellet maker you can use those fines to make pellets for pellet stoves, grills, and smokers. That will cut your wood waste down to almost 0.
Have you considered tumble drying with like a dryer
Irlts pretty cool you're sharing your idea to the world so others, if they have the drive, can use it and make their own ideas from it. I respect the hell out of you for this, and this is the first video I've ever seen of yours.
Thanks for letting me in on your secret joe many people used to say, money doesn't grow on trees son, but for the last 25 years doing tree work I've proved it does grow on trees this is a nice little side line you've got ,I'll try it some time
love the idea .....
i'd look at how they fill sand bags to fill your bags
That’s a beautiful tractor you have there 🔥🚜
Outstanding! Great idea and thought process.
Thanks Nate!
The waist could also be utilized for mushroom farmers. Hardwood shavings are a good substrate for growing mushrooms.
Wow!! Haven't thought about this, thanks for the information!! I've got all the necessary equipment, minus bags and labels. Have a Safe Day
Thanks David. Give Melissa Nagy a try for labels. You can find her on her web site. The link is in the description
Great job keep up good work
Joe you are an huge inspiration for me and one day I want to do the same things as you are doing!!!!
Get it going NOW Viktor. You can do it!
A similar product suggestion. Take the chips and wax coat them for a firestarter. Mike and Melissa Morgan were using some that someone gave them to start their fire ring. They has a similar bag that someone had given them and just grabbed a small hand full a it made the perfect quick firestarter. You could use any wood including pine for the firestarter. Would have to look into methods of coating the chips with melted wax.
Thats pretty brilliant buddy, talk about small quantity, high margin! BBQ guys will love this too. $19.99 retail
Great idea. I do have a tractor, I do have a Chipper, I do have a honor-based cash stand (for flowers). I ordered already wood to split but why not also take some sticks and splitter them? During summer time in a green house it should not be to difficult to get the chips dry in some days. Perfect. Thanks.
Hi Joe!!😀😀
What a great idea for another product from firewood. I love the way they look.
I really hope it works out for you and you can get a bunch of places that you can sell them at.
I think people are going to definitely be interested in buy them. I do think that 10 to 15 dollars is a little high for a price. But if you can get that much money more power to you. Even if you only get 5 dollars per bag it would be definitely worth doing it.
Good luck with the new product.
Take care my friend!!😀😀👍👍💚
Logger Al
Thanks Al. I have seen these for sale at prices that I would never pay but it seems people are. I have used my network of retailers to zero in on an MSRP.
@@ohiowoodburner I haven't checked out what they are getting for a product like this. It will definitely be worth while to do Especially if people are willing to pay 10 to 15 per bag.
Good luck buddy!! I'm rutting for you!!
I like your drying method
Sunny day on the black steel bed of your trailer.
It seems to dry quick too!
You are a genius👍
Thanks Erik but I thought I was getting by with my good looks!
@@ohiowoodburner yess.... your looks are awsome... at first i thought you were george clooney.
what a clever idea. l hope it takes off for you. Another great video always very interesting. looking forward to Sundays video. kind regards to the family from across the pond
Thanks Bob!
Great looking product! I've had a similar idea, but I don't have a chipper yet for my tractor. I tried selling bundles of fruit wood sticks at my farm in Columbus one year and just didn't have the sales, but bagged chips are great for retail, and that's an attractive package. With the system you've got there, it might be cost effective to simply purchase cordwood or logs locally and process it into chips.
I've known a couple cheesemakers who followed the same path. They started out raising goats, and just got into cheese as a way to make more money on their milk. But it was so successful that it was no longer worth their time to bother with the goats! They just started buying milk wholesale and manufacturing the cheese, and it's gone great.
I don't know how or where you source your wood, but I'd bet arborists could keep you busy if you provided them a place to dump logs. I compost commercial food waste, so I'm always needing wood chips. I've tried ChipDrop and AEP with little success. I've got a tiny gas-powered chipper, but that isn't cutting it. I don't need smoker quality or dyed mulch. Just something to rot into compost. I'd pay to have that delivered if I could find a reliable source.
I used to buy sawdust from sawmills (shoveled it myself & paid $20 a pickup load) to use as chicken bedding, but my sources dried up. I haven't found a feasible way to produce that much sawdust on my own. Do you have any thoughts on that? I've been inclined to switch to sand as bedding, but I'd still like to know how I might go about making my own sawdust in large anounts, especially now that I have a tractor.
I buy my logs off loggers so the volume that comes onto my lot usually gets me some nice cherry, hickory etc. Thanks Wayne!
Using a greenhouse for wood drying would work good as well and help in the colder times of the year.
Another great episode Joe. Maybe you could put a pipe or 5 gallon bucket with no bottom hung from the end of your chipper. Then connect/fasten onion bags to that once they are full you can let lay to dry before bagging. If you don’t want bark in your wood chips split the bark side often put in your bundles from Jeff in Maryland thanks again
Thanks for making this video
I appreciate you sharing this with your audience, this is my first time to your channel but you earned a subscriber out of me! Before I even finished the video I shared it with my buddy who is a small business owner thinking maybe this is worth pursuing, which I definitely think that it is!
Thanks for the nice comment Royce and thanks for subbing! It's great to have you around. We post every Wed and Sun morning!
Well this is a great idea ! Hope it blows up for you Joe 👍
Thanks Gus!
I'd like to make a couple of points.
1) This is an EXCELLENT business school lesson! I'm a business school graduate and after a bit of thought, this video touches on many aspects of business. There are so many different lessons for business students in this video I don't even think I can count them all.
2) I'd like to offer an approach from the perspective of a consumer. I like to cook with wood as it's less expensive. I cook with small sticks in a rocket stove and with WOOD PELLETS in a forced air wood burner (Biolite Campstove2+). Wood pellets are made from sawdust. Perhaps you could, when cutting the wood, take the sawdust and make wood pellets for people to burn in their wood pellet grills. Sawdust is a by-product of the cutting of wood so you don't have to do anything else to get the sawdust aside from collect it efficiently and then use a pellet maker to make bags of pellets that can be sold for a profit.
thanks for the nice post Mike. I have thought of doing stuff with the saw dust but not sure what direction to go. All of this requires bandwidth and personal interest and right now I'm not sure I have either. Those presses look cool and I'm wondering if I can make it work? I'm very process oriented despite what you see on camera lol and would have to make sure I have a good input and output. Joe
Great job Joe!
Thanks Mike!
Oh! You’re on to something new again. Elaine from Canada here, marvelling at your business prowess. This idea of selling your chips is great. I wish you all the best success, and I see some other good ideas in the comments for filling the bags, drying etc. and as always, you’ll figure out what works best for you…at your own pace. Way to go Joe!
Thanks Elaine! At my own pace is the key thought!
Hell yeah ,thumbs up brother
thanks Allen
I really like your attitude. Anyone I’ve met that is successful just does it, and makes it work! 🤘🏻
I think this way works for me. I am better at fixing than planning I suppose
@@ohiowoodburner you can plan yourself into a hole and never accomplish what you want…
THIS concept is GENIUS. It totally exemplifies the concept of working (or playing) SMARTER Not Harder. I mentioned the idea of using every part of the tree, to a Firewood company fellow here on UA-cam the other day, and specifically questioned him (a seasoned Firewood producer) that instead of spreading the sawdust and wood chips on his farm field as a waste by-product, why not bag the chips and sell it as FireStarter. He courteously thanked me for leaving the comment on his channel but proceeded to enlighten me to the fact that in his township they give this stuff away for free from the Public Works department to residences to be used as mulch in gardens or landscaping, so why would anyone in their right mind pay $10 or $15 for just a bag (of the same product) essentially. Well, the answer is PACKAGING and MARKETING plain and simple. This brings me to another idea, as I write this comment, and that is why even bother cutting, splitting and multiple handling of the tree at all ... WHY not make arrangements with your particular township or even multiple Townships to take delivery of this product ... Already made. Then all the small business owner needs to do is Package and Market. Virtually NO equipment cost layout for a GOLDMINE business model. THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS. You, Sir, are a Very Smart fellow. Greetings from Ontario, Canada.
Just have to take action!!! Don’t wait.
You have got that right Brian
Nice work 👍
Great idea.