A Mill-Slab Firewood Business

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

BUT WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO BURN SCRAP WOOD?

You may have to convince people who aren't accustomed to burning mill slabs that the scraps are, indeed, a great bargain. I explain to potential customers that, like cordwood, mill slabs are economical-less than half the cost of an equivalent heating value in oil, gas, or electricity. Then I point out that since slabs are a by-product of the lumber industry, I can purchase, process, and sell them for substantially less than the price at which my competition can afford to peddle conventional cordwood.

Additional selling points include the fact that slabs are light in weight and flat on one side, and so are easier to carry and stack than cordwood. They can be split with a small hand ax (though splitting is seldom necessary). Their wide, sawn surfaces and thinness make for fast drying and quick fire-starting. And they're perfect for today's long-burning, airtight woodstoves; just a few lengths of slab an hour will fuel a small, free-draft (thus hot and correspondingly low in creosote) fire, with minimal waste.

And when it comes time to load the stove up to provide several hours of slow heat at a low draft setting, you can start with a roaring blaze for a few minutes before damping down for the night. This will drive most of any remaining efficiency-stealing moisture out of the slabs and up the flue and burn off some of the volatiles that produce creosote. You can't do that with thicker round or split logs.

BUYING MILL SLABS

You'll need to find a reliable source of slabs that's convenient to both your home and your sales territory. You may never have noticed them, but one- to four-person, custom roughcut sawmills are scattered around most parts of the country where people are scarce and trees are plentiful.

You probably won't find directions to a local sawmill in your telephone book's yellow pages; most independent logging is conducted on a cash basis, and advertising is by word of mouth. (Consequently, many mills that do list a phone number are located near towns and sell their products at top dollar in the urban maketplace.) Get off the sidewalks and inquire at such places as lumberyards and construction sites about sources of native lumber.

Sawyers don't like to shut down their rigs once the dust is flying, so plan to drop by the mills at the beginning of a workday (7:30 A.M. or so), around the midday break, or at quitting time. Come right out and tell the mill operator why you're there: to get the best deal you can on large quantities of slabs to be purchased at regular intervals. At each mill, ask about the varieties of wood cut, seasonal availability of slabs, and prices, both delivered to your door and on a you-haul basis. Be prepared to dicker!

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print