Cutting Firewood More Profitable than Milling Logs or Logging?

Could cutting logs into firewood be more profitable than milling them into lumber or selling them to commercial sawmills? After a couple years of being in the business of selling lumber from my Woodmizer LT15 sawmill, I have stopped milling and have got back into the firewood business. In this video I compare what I would get out of a tree for firewood, vs. milling it into lumber, vs. selling logs to commercial mills. And we have a little fun rolling big firewood rounds down a steep hill  and watch them crash into the bottom .


[@RTeBokkel]

I have no idea why this episode doesn't have over a million views.

[@edames5317]

This man is certainly a worker

[@jefff6167]

Wonderfully informative and entertaining. 👍🇺🇸

[@Blackadder75]

what a mad man, he put up an extra camera just for the chance a log would roll over the barrier and continue downhill. I don;t have an estimate because I still haven;t got a clue what a cord is , I use this weird International System of Units

[@kenbrown2808]

a cord is a stack measuring the length of a 2.4384 meter long cord along the long dimension, and the length of the same cord up the side and across the short dimension. in freedom units, that's 8 feet long, 4 feet tall, and 4 feet wide, or 3624.56 liters.

[@mikehughes2026]

Really enjoyed that mindless fun of watching you roll the rounds down- thought there would have been more jumpers. Just under 3 cords, my guess. Thanks for the entertainment! Take care 🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@WilsonForestLands]

I thought there would be more jumpers too. I was a little disappointed there weren’t more, to make for better video.

[@robertlujan5573]

Much fun in the woods!

[@fasx56]

Wilson you have quite a wood cutting business going for yourself, our family had been burning wood as a supplemental and back up heat source if the electricity goes out and cannot run the Gas Furnace. That large Fir you just fell and cut up, good thing there was a lot of Straight Grain and Few Knots to try and split around. Some Fir in Western Washington where I live has straight grain and splits fairly easy, some though have Twisted Grain and grain that does not separate and I end up having to Rip the Rounds with the grain . I do not have a hydraulic splitter, still banging away with steel wedges and splitting maul. Good luck with your wood business.

[@ArrBee6]

Very Informative, many thanks.

[@WilsonForestLands]

👍

[@jamiethomas2155]

There was a lot of firewood in that one tree. Love your videos, love the outdoors. Keep up the great content.

[@WilsonForestLands]

Thank you Jamie.

[@clayoreilly4553]

Wow! That's a whole lot of wood. So sad to lose those beautiful trees that way. Good luck with the firewood project. I like the way you present real problems to be solved. Thanks.

[@WilsonForestLands]

I am done with the firewood project, assuming we don’t have another big blow down this winter. Thank you for the comment. 👍

[@dgoodman1484]

Dang, I wish I could make a big trailer like that magically fill up with split wood in seconds like yours did! lol That vid took some work in order to gather some content! Did it for 45 years but not sure today if I wish I was in that kinda shape again or glad I don’t have to put in the work in order to stay that way! 👍🏼

[@glennevitt5250]

Its That Time Of The Year Cut up Fire Wood 🪵 ❤😎

[@stefflus08]

$830 for two cords of softwood? Thats.. more than I expected in such wooded country. I pay a little more than that for Beech and that's from a too expensive place just because I'm new to my area. Norway is also not lacking trees

[@glennevitt5250]

Now I liked the way you got that wood splitter set up😮

[@WilsonForestLands]

Many people tell me I need to make changes to that splitter, mostly to put wheels on it. But after using it for many years, it works quite well the way it’s set up.

[@glennevitt5250]

@@WilsonForestLands Whatever makes you feel good and be able to do the job that's good enough😎

[@DanielAtkinsFirewood]

New subscriber here thanks to Mike Hughes. Now you had me at the channel points comment.. Also i am just south of Tacoma so its nice to see another Pacific NW channel.. 😁👍

[@WilsonForestLands]

Welcome to the channel. A beautiful part of the country you are in.

[@DanielAtkinsFirewood]

@WilsonForestLands : yes we sure do..😁👍

[@DeadWoodLogging6996]

Great video as always. I often make firewood this way, so if i may suggest, using a pickaroon (hookaroon) would make Your work much easier-one with a 70cm(a bit longer than 2 feet) long handle for rolling them down the hill and one with a 30cm (about 1 foot) long handle for lifting them on the splitter. It's a great backsaver, maybe You can give it a try ?

[@WilsonForestLands]

A pickaroon probably is a good idea. By the time I track one down here I will probably be done with this project. I don’t do much firewood throughout the year but will keep that in mind. Thank you for the suggestion.

[@Dan_Akins]

Material/things are only worth what they will sell for today. Nice work!

[@WilsonForestLands]

Well said.

[@supermo26]

Lumber is less work and less wear and tear on equipment than firewood but ever time i see lumber for sale it's priced more than a cord of wood.

[@WilsonForestLands]

That is true. I would prefer to do lumber if it was selling better than it is now.

[@jeffwest7071]

Another classic video. 3.5 cords is my guess.

[@joeyrector1015]

That's a good bit of wood. I say that there's about 3-4 cords. Maybe 5

[@ronaldmatros9890]

A couple of escapees, but all and all not to bad. I would say close to 3 cord.

[@lpeterman]

Gravity: Not just a good idea, it's the Law! Although, gravity (and inertia) can be a terrible thing; (7:45 and 8:12 mark) as the round rolls merrily down the road. Cheers from a (stubbornly ongoing) smoky Willamette Valley.

[@WilsonForestLands]

I was surprised more didn’t roll down the hill. I would tell you how the air is cool and clean on the coast, I wouldn’t want to brag though.

[@lpeterman]

Well played, sir.@@WilsonForestLands

[@HardRockVermont]

So, you prefer Scribner over the Doyle Scale method? I used to work in a Sawmill for years, I remember using a Doyle Scale stick, I think....lol It's been years. What's nice about our local Mill is they have their own driver with a Cherry Picker who comes to pick up our Logs.

[@christopherallen4456]

Do they burn fir for firewood. In Illinois they just burn oak and hardwoods in fireplace

[@sprucestomper]

The pain of cutting saw logs into firewood. I felt that before you said it, but the way she goes sometimes.

[@WilsonForestLands]

Yep, the way she goes.

[@woodworker3122]

Those chunks kept coming and coming. Did you have another tree up there? Where did they all come from? Maybe 2 cords max is my guess.

[@bard44]

Does your trailer hold a full chord?

[@TheWendyJohnson]

A cord of wood here in the Washington, DC-area if about $360 and about double that if it's kiln dried. I cut, split and dry my own for free. Here in the 'burbs, people give away wood rounds for free if they have to have a dead or felled tree cut up. It's cheaper than paying someone to haul it away.

[@WilsonForestLands]

Wood goes for more than that here but I have to log it and haul it to town from the woods. If they are giving away rounds already in town free, sounds like an even better deal than I am doing here.

[@sawmillsam7156]

I'd guess 2.2 cords!

[@brianbarton2106]

i did that

[@sprucestomper]

If you make a product and no one buys it then it isnt worth the effort. Sound words. You have a good rhythm on camera.

[@WilsonForestLands]

Thank you, kind of you to say.

[@AlaskanInsights]

2x4 and stuff are pretty pricey ... but large dimensional lumber price is insane. think it is around $350+ for a cord here ...

[@AlaskanInsights]

I'll go with one and a half cord...

[@WilsonForestLands]

The insanity of the price probably depends on if you are the one buying the lumber or the one making the lumber

[@vdsgw52]

1-1/2 cords

[@waltdelbo6445]

Another good UN bud Say…. How many acres do you have at each property?

[@WilsonForestLands]

Thanks Walt. This one 80, the other 160.

[@adammoggysawmilling5164]

I'm guessing 2 full cord or 6 face cord

[@jackdawg4579]

2 1/2 cords is my estimate at 9 minutes in.

[@sal39759]

One important thing you forgot to calculate.....what was the ouch factor of the biggest round being stopped by your shin at the bottom of the hill???? I look forward to you showing us that answer!

[@WilsonForestLands]

If that happened I must have forgotten about it. Maybe that means we need a new calculation, the cost of memory loss.

[@sal39759]

@@WilsonForestLands See....so much content from one initial subject! Great video as usual!

[@southernadirondackoutdoors]

Do you use face cord or full cord? My guess is one full cord or 3 face cords.

[@WilsonForestLands]

I think face cords are an East Coast thing. We don’t really use that term here. We do cords and fractions of cords. Full cord, half cord, third cord, etc. Right now I’m selling full cords.

[@jamesfrancisco7308]

2.5 cords

[@jamespotestio1074]

1.75 cords.

[@davidmushal7862]

In honor of Bob Barker, is that whoever’s closest without going over? 😂 And how close did the runaways come to your camera?

[@WilsonForestLands]

The oops that happened on top of the hill was one running over my tripod. It broke it a little bit more than it was already broke. A couple came close at the bottom of the hill but I had some rounds parked in front of it for protection.

[@SevenOaksOutdoors]

2-1/3 cords

[@WilsonForestLands]

Very close, in the follow up video it was two cords.

[@wootenbasset8631]

4 cords

[@geneplummer6645]

just under 2 cords

[@connormckibben5986]

I reckon that's sitting right above 3 cord. How about 3 and a half cord. Mhm.

[@robertlujan5573]

Looks like a cord.

[@cabininthewoods7326]

Now I see why your skinny. There isn't enough food for you to compensate for the calories you burn.

[@supermo26]

He's not skinny. Everyone else is just overweight. 😂

[@Averagewhiteguy4980]

I’ll say a cord and a half