So, I have a little backstory before I get to my questions. I run a small firewood business and estimate that I sell between 50 and 75 bundles a year and I've been doing it for 2 years. I sell them all in bags for 5$ a piece, it helps me pay for my gas during the summertime. I hand split it all and here are my couple of questions.

Does anyone have any experience with the Fiskars splitting axes? I have an 8lb maul, but swinging that for a couple of hours gets quite tiring. I see that they offer a 27" and a 36" splitting axe and I believe the 36" is around 6lbs. I would be using these on ash, oak, and those kinds of wood.

I'm also trying to find ways to save my back a little bit and have been looking at pickaroons and hookaroons. I do have to load the rounds up and unload them at home and get them onto my splitting stump so I believe it would help save my body a little bit to pick up one of these. What's your opinion on it? Should I go with a pick or a hook?

And here's a question that other guys who sell firewood can answer and that is how do you guys find people who want to buy more than a bag or 2 of wood at a time, like face cords, etc? Should I advertise more? Also, how would you guys market to sell more bags? Make a roadside stand? Contact more gas stations and the like?

Let me know if you guys have any other tips for me. Thanks in advance!

-TheYouthTrapper

Can't help you on the business side of things but I sure my Fiskars.

I have the 36" fiskars axe and it works great. It beats swinging a maul on the small to medium size logs.

I don't have experience with the other tools you asked about but have looked at a couple. The woodchuck is one and can't remember the other. One of them is a timber jack/can't hook in one tool. I'm considering buying 1 myself.

Gas stations are a good place to sell/advertise and signs on main roads. Once you get established it's a lot easier to sell bigger quantitys. Roadside stands work. I put out 1/2 face cords at a friend's stand on a main road last summer and sold 8 about as fast as I could put it out.

yep. go with the Fiskers, can't go wrong with that.

You sell 60 bundles a year,..put your mind to selling 120 next year.

In hardwoods I found a pickaroon works best. I made my own so cant help with a specific brand. The fishers splitting axes are the best things I have used for splitting by hand but I am lazy and now use a hydraulic splitter. Craigslist and Facebook market place are the places to advertise and should give you enough customers or more than you can handle if splitting by hand. But they want their wood delivered. If you are on a semi busy street, a road side stand is a good way to sell it as well. You get more per cord if you sell in bundles that you do selling per face cord or cord. So I would try that route first. if I was producing the product by hand splitting. There is only so much you can split in a day. Split it small enough so that the lady of the house can pick a piece up with one hand and put it on the fire. Do not make those big boiler wood chunks as that is not what people that buy small quantities want. They don't heat the house with that stuff. just want a nice looking fire in the evenings.

I have 3 fiskers from their 2.5 lb boys ax to their splitting ax. Also us an 8 lb maul. Got the fiskers for my boys several years back becuse they were light enough for them to swing and learn with and I got tired of broken handles. Turned out I like using them myself.

Word of mouth and a visible location are always the best ways I have gotten increased business in many types of business.

For example when I get a tree job ( removal or trimming) in a neiborhood it's very common I pick up several more jobs from their neibors stopping buy. Once I do the job for them and make a good impression at a good price I get jobs from their friends and family for years to come.

Facebook Marketplace is going to be the best bet for advertising. Splitting by hand is okay but maybe you could find someone who would let you use their splitting in exchange for splitting their wood or something?

If you can get really decent quality wood (typically aged Oak) and can find a BBQ place or restaurant that cooks with wood you can sell ALOT and have a steady contract. Also talk to campgrounds. Offering delivery is key to a higher value client, "Yes Sir, Yes mam, Where do you want me to stack it" are all good lines that will help you make a few dollars more.

Business, or pleasure?
Could be a good gig.
A friend of mine sold his small wood business for good cash.

There are better ways to make money off the wood bundles then a different mahl

work smarter

it depends how big your round are

I have a pickaroon and an axaroon these will lift anything you can one handed so for me that is like 75# and I like to carry one in each hand so I am balanced

I also have tongs Husqavarna makes timber tongs they are nice because they are so fast and your hands stay dry and you don't chew up gloves or bend over as much but they have a limit to the size you can grab I think 13 inches and about 50 pounds

I get the truck as close as I reasonably can to the tree I cut at about 14.5 inches because not every cut is strait and smaller wood is a touch more forgiving going into a small stove and easier to split and a touch lighter
I end up with a plenty that are actually more like 16-18 but those still fit in my stove.

anything over that 75ish pounds noodle most of the way in half then whack it with your maul to finish the split this keeps your chain out of the dirt.

now at the truck one of my first big rounds is going on the ground as a step I did this more with my old f150 as my current firewood truck is an S10 2wd and it is low so I don't need a step to walk up in the bed any more but on the f150 I would set a step then start setting them on the tail gate when I had them off the pickaroon flip them on the round side and push them forward when I had 6 rounds step up and organize stacking starting at the cab , have a head ache rack even if it is a sheet of plywood you prop up when you start loading , busted back windows are no fun.

I had side boards and I would way over load that truck a little over the cab and most of the way to the tail gait had to drive home very slow a few times. you should not do that it is dumb to way over load and can be dangerous.

I have mostly be using the hydraulic log splitter I set up at the tail gate pull logs at me with the hookaroon or pickaroon and split as the the come off and they go for me into wheel barrows I have 3 I will position right outside the wood shed and split till I have them full then stack for a bit or if I am splitting of the trailer they go in the back of the little S10 and I drive that right up to my wood shed and unload

for you this would be back up as close as you can to your splitting stump

I tried selling bagged firewood for a little while I had a bucket with the bottom cut out that a bag fit over load the bucket up then pull up and the bucket slid out of the bag and the wood stayed in it. might have to add a piece or two to fill our the bag but it made loading them easier

you make more per piece selling bundles , face cords and cords people want a bulk discount on say your 30 bags to the face your getting 150 for 30 bags at 5 dollars around here a face runs about 75 to 100 some a little higher some a little lower quality and deliver change it some. and a full cord is 200-250


I don't sell any any more , never sold much , I also haven't heard my furnace turn on once since I tested it in November.

I've never heard of selling firewood in "bags". How big is a bag?

Try marketing it to condo dwellers in a city. They pay crazy prices for firewood. I know that in Seattle the going rate is around $750 a cord (4x4x8), but in quarter cord quantities.

Try selling on WhatsApp or Craigslist, I also hear the Facebook Market Place is good for those types of sales.

The 36 inch Fisker's splitting axe is the best manual wood spitter you can get. You have to be very careful using the fiskars as they are much sharper than a maul and will often blow right through a log and can hit you in the feet. Gotta keep your feet spread apart good when facing the round to be split. Also the fiskars can sometimes bounce back at your face if you hit a hard piece of wood or a knot(I've come close to getting the back of the ax in the face more than once, and have seen others lose teeth from a bounce back. The fiskars handle can withstand over strikes without breaking the head off like a wood handle maul. I cut dead or dying oak in the fall and cut into 16 inch logs then wait till freezing weather to split it (it splits much easier when frozen) then stack it somewhere dry and use it the following year. Advertising on marketplace should get you business for face cords or cords. Also, if you get the 36 inch one, get the one with the all black handle not the one with the orange towards the end of the handle. That orange plastic/rubber over mold they put on that one makes the handle slick.the all black one is much grippier.

Get yourself a Fiskars and a tire on the chopping block and split to your heart's desire!

I've always split by hand except for the years I don't have time to process the five cords I burn each winter, then I by some that is already split and dried.

I've always used a variety of tools. I use a regular axe for most stuff, a maul for the bigger or knotty stuff, a monster maul or big wedges and a sledge hammer for the huge goonies.

I don't own the Fiskars axe but have a bunch of their other tools and they are all top quality. I would guess you won't go wrong with their axe.

I use a Stihl pickaroon for a variety of operations; pulling firewood out of the truck, loading splits off the ground into the wheelbarrow, picking blocks up onto the splitting stump.

I often see bags of firewood for sale at gas stations and convenient stores that are close to campgrounds. You could ask the store manager/owner if you could put a stack of bags in front of their store. Charge six dollars a bag and give the manager/owner a dollar for each bag sold.

I use a variety of Pickaroons and hookaroons some I made myself and some are commercial made. They are a back and time saver for sure. I wouldn’t and sometimes couldn’t work wood without them due to an iffy back. Menards sells a Pickaroon for 20 bucks now, it’s far from the best I’ve used but way better than working wood without one.

Also, imo I would invest in a gas powered splitter if you plan on supplying gas stations and heating wood for several homes. I doubt you will be able to keep up with those type of accounts splitting by hand. Too much business can be as bad as too little if your not prepared to handle it.

Good luck! Love your initiative!

A bundle of wood around here boils down to $1 per piece. Insane but money means nothing to the guys from the city.

I don't sell firewood but as far as selling goes, how close are you to campgrounds? Do you know anyone that has a place on the roads close to the campground where the out of towners have to go by? If you do and they'll let you, build a little small lean to/shed and get a couple pallets to set the wood bundles or bags on. Put up a lock box for the customers to drop the money in. Most will not steal from you and in most rural areas/small towns the honor system still works. There are several homes around here that sell firewood that way. Most of the roadside stands dont use bags they get a roll of stretchwrap and wrap the wood that way. See what is cheaper that works for you.
Also check with the stores that are in the campgrounds as most have them. They may bundle and sell their own wood or they may not. See what they say, if they don't do it themselves they probably have a supplier.

I live in a campground heaven. Right on the Mississippi river in a tourist area. I think half of Iowa comes here every weekend in the summer. City folk get to be annoying but I guess if I lived in their area of Iowa I'd want to get away too.

Get yourself a helko dosnt even compare to a fiskar an yeah if you want to sell more wood advertise common sense there

Another great option for an axe is Husky at home depot. Also lifetime guarantee. I bought one on the spur of the moment one day and it's been great. I know several people who love them too.

The way people sell wood here.... load your truck park next to major road have stacks displayed a wheelbarrow full and a truck full. People will pay extra if you deliver. Lots of people don't have the room in the cars for more than few bundles.

Remember, a long bed is a half cord

Good advice here plus some. It is really depending on how big you are looking to go. For gas money you are fine, look into Fiskars. As stated sharper be safe.
I and my brother put up around 25 log cord a year. Split some by hand but if you shop around and sell a few more bags you can find a pretty cheap wood splitter, even watch auctions. You could upscale your business if you choose. I use a picaroon a lot and also have a can't hook. You may look into a 3-1 tool for rolling it, lift when cutting. etc.

I have a former student I helped get started as an economics class project. He started like you, went to a small campground, and drove around every evening, then he purchased a splitter, let his dad use it also in exchange for chainsaw use, then he bought his own saws. The he expanded to gas stations around the area. Now he has a big processor and has contracts with major gas station chains in Wi. It is his business and making a very good living. He also employs 4 high schoolstudents part time through out the year.

If you plan on expanding you will need to move up to power equipment so start thinking about a hydraulic splitter ASAP. Once you get way ahead think about expanding then. Just curious what kind of wood your splitting here in SD by hand as a lot of its not easy to split in some places like where I’m at it’s a lot of elm, ash and cottonwood here?

Worked as a Park Ranger in the State Park system here in SD and find people just want to have a fire anytime even if it’s a100 degrees out and in the middle of the day. Why you would have a fire going then was crazy to me. Some places processed their own wood some bought it pre bundled depending on the managers.

Figure out anyplace a camper visits while camping and try to get your wood in those businesses like C stores, gas stations, hardware and grocery stores higher traffic areas.

I think 2 short handle pickaroons would be a back/arm saver in handling volume wood amounts as wood gets slippery in a lot of ways. Check out a place called Baileysonline.com for pickaroon supplies.

when I briefly sold bagged wood it was Large mesh onion bags you could slide a 5 gallon pail into one. hence my loading method

the wood sold at a friends farmers market stand so it had to be easy to transport and not make too much of a mess.

the bags accomplished this , they had a supplier for them and I think it came to a quarter a bag at the time and the bags sold for 6

generally people wanted wood split to just larger than kindling

most camp grounds now are 7 a bundle and I am not even sure the bundle is as big as a 5 gallon pail

if you make the bag/bundle too large that soccer mom can't easily lift it , it also has a hard time selling so forget value like we think. it is all about convenience.

try for any camp grounds around although many have places that bring in palletized bundles that have been kiln dried , it is basically saw mill scraps in a bundle

to move wood any distance now it has to be kiln dried

you would think people would realize it would be cheaper to go buy the badly twisted wood near the door at the home depot an cut it into 16 inch pieces but that would not be convenient enough.

Stick with the smaller bundles the killer of most firewood businesses is the idea of selling more wood to make more money when moving that weight creates new problems when the bundle sales bring in a nice income for handling a smaller manageable amount.

A logger told me in MI that they still don’t get more for the wood they move they just move more wood now to make more money. That’s where the fancy machines come into play. Seen a lot of guys try to make a living out of selling firewood by the cords but they did not last long so stick with what you can handle to make the most per cord.

Your lucky you have a bundle market. Small market here and the Amish dominate. Their kids have to quit school age 12. Free labor. lol.

I have split 3 cords/year for the last 3-4 years with my fiskers. Sure beats using the maul.

I have no use for a heavy splitting maul anymore after switching to a Fiskars splitting axe. It's a pleasure splitting firewood with a Fiskars compared to using a heavy maul in my opinion. If you buy a Fiskars, be sure to get the longer handled one.

I have a list of regular customers that I deliver straight from the farm to their door. I cut/split 45-50 3/4” extended cab truck loads each season. I use a Swisher 28 ton splitter and a monster maul.

I have a buddy that is over 100 loads sold already. I’m not working that hard as I’m clearing a couple old creek bottoms is the only reason I’m cutting as much as I am now. Dead ash and oak.

I sure find a hookeroon to be a handy item.

I have made a few short pickaroons for using around the splitter and while stacking. Real handy in spots where a long handle gets in the way.

I agree. I cut down the handle on mine.

Make sure you put 15% back into a roth. Never to late to plan for the future. Start now and retire early a millionaire

I have a Fireman's hatchet from Harbor Freight that works great for this.
Around here, those gas station Apartment bundles are labeled 2/3 cu ft, cost around $5. That's 192 bundles, and $960 per cord. YOWZER!

How do you split with a pickaroon?

You don't. I was misreading white 17's comment.

Yep, I split all my pieces down to what most would consider kindling sizing. I do include a couple of bigger pieces but majority of it is small kindling sized.

I’d go bigger pieces less work and preferred by the consumers over kindling sized stuff.

I’m not sure about where you are at but if you’ve got any local bbq restaurants close you could sell to them year round.

I think it depends on the consumer
for heating wood split to the largest thing I can move one handed mostly

but if your selling bundle wood / handle wood/ bag wood

you are selling to the people who have a recreational fire at 90*f while camping in July
not cooking over it just a fire to watch.

2x6 & 2x4 size and even some 2x2 size

enough pieces to make a little log cabin out of a bundle 8-12 pieces

if you split small you can also dry it out faster to sell it sooner

I considered borrowing someone's splitter and I might if I can find someone local with one.

I can't remember if mine are .75 cubic feet or 1 cubic feet but I stuff them till I can't put another piece of wood in them. I'm the best deal around at 5$ a bag.

I've not very close to campgrounds so that's kind of out of the picture. I am near a main highway though that everyone travels to get to them. I was thinking of putting up a roadside stand near it this summer. The bags work better as I can beat them up more compare to saran wrap.

I'm splitting ash, oak, cottonwood, etc, I have a place where I can cut as much as I want and it's all on the ground already because a tree service drops it there and I know the owner of the land well.

I'm selling in bags so I usually split it smaller since that's how I've seen other guys do it. Nothing meant for major heating.

No bbq restaurants that I know of

All of my wood goes for recreation, most of my stuff is between 2x4 and 2x6 size, I usually put some 2x2 stuff in as a filler since it keeps the bags stacked nicer. All of my wood has been seasoned outside for a year or 2 before I cut it.

Too bad.

you may also check places that rent

back before I bought my splitter I would rent for 40 dollars a day this was a decade ago

we would take turns splitting so that we split 12 hours strait and return it in the morning

a years wood split in a day.

a local saw shop rents for 60 a day so if that would get you well ahead having a pile of rounds ready to split and just go at it split as long as you can on the rental so that our money works for you

then you might even look at buying a used one when you sell that lot of wood.

I much prefer splitting in smaller sessions and not a 12 hour day at once.
I am also splitting more wood now also

I have a splitter in the barn have not used it in 7 years. I can split it faster by hand most of the time. And as short as cutting it for your customers it should split easy. For myself I cut it 20 when I had an indoor wood stove and had to split a lot. Used to only split 15 to 20 loads a year back then but seldom use the wood splitter after I bought it. Was just to slow. And if it's a tough to split piece toss it to the side and use it for a camp fire for yourself and move to the next piece.

The pile in the back of the photo by the Bobcat is over 70' long. The pile in the front is what I'm currently working on its mostly white oak with some red mixed in. Ninety nine percent of the wood in the photo was split with a Fiskars X27, a few big and nasty pieces I used my splitter on.

Alot of places have an honor system for bundles of wood for 5.00.
A cash box and a shelter to keep.the wood dry

Alot a camp sites around to make everyone rich.

Yup ..gas stations ..grocery stores ..your Aunt and Uncles place

Just read your original post to start this thread.

When I was in my 20's we had a pond cleaned out. Not knowing any better I let them spread the mud all around and it killed a bunch of big oak trees.
I cut one down and went to work making firewood for myself with a worn out chainsaw, a 8# sledge and wedges and a "monster maul". That got old real quick so I did some pricing of a powered splitter and a new saw, and some calculating of what the break even point on cords of wood sold was.
Long story short, bought new saw and splitter and sold enough wood the first 2 years to pay for them both.
Still have the splittter and would probably have the saw too except someone stole it.

Look into a used splitter at a minimum if you want to sell at multiple places and be able to keep them stocked.

Selling by the bundle or stack is the way to get the most. I figured up one time what the difference in selling a cord vs selling by the stack and you get more than 2x the money

Also unless you are marketing kindling, split into pieces that you can easily handle with one hand and move on to the next bundle. Don't waste time and energey making splinters

Figure out about how much you can produce and how much each location sells. If you can't keep a supply of wood they might have someone else come along and take over your location.
Sell the excess by your drive or set up on Saturdays at variuos spots and sell out of the truck
Have enough ready to sell to cover 75% of your expected demand for the season before people start thinking about building fires

That is my .02, I.m sure there is a lot of good advise in the previous posts as well

For all you gentlemen who split by hand I have a request. Please come to my place and split dead elm. We’ll see how long ya last.! lol. 27 ton splitter only way to go.

I too have a fiskars maul and it works better than my others. I keep it a little sharper than the others.

Dead elm is a tough one. I sure slit a lot of it but I use wedges and sometimes have to use a saw while the wedges are holding it apart.

Get on FaceBook Market place and advertise wood for sale. Put a sign out front with your number on it. People will be in touch. Keep it up and the splitting gets easier the more you do. If your business gets big you can buy a splitter that splits it and cuts it all automatically. You'll need a skid steer or something similar.

I have two smashed disc in my back already and have some issues with my legs. Splitting wood is great exercise for me and I like it. I cannot lift the rounds like I used to so I cut them off the log and split then right there. This also leaves the mess in the woods. Put straight grained wood. Don't mess with elm. It aint worth it. Pick oak, hickory, walnut, cherry, act. If you can split it when it is very cold it splits even better. I burn all mine so I start at the outsides of the round and leave the centers almost square so they just fit into my furnace door. But that's just me.

Larry. Splitting that way we used to call that “daisying” the block.

I have some Sycamore you can work on too! Please?

Us guys that split by hand avoid that stuff.

X2. Lots of other wood available. I only got so many swings left in me.

Here it’s the Russian olives that grow with a good twist to them even when it splits it has a twist to it. My boiler takes big rounds the stuff I use my splitter on can be up to 4 feet across.

Mauls bounce off and wedges get buried in that big stuff often.

had 3 foot plus in diameter maples with a significant twist and curl to them I even pulled a few pieces out to cut curly scales for knives

I noodle those then the 1/4s are easier to lift if really big still split those before lifting.