Firewood Profit Calculator · guide

How much to charge for a cord of firewood: cost, hours and delivery

Short answer: add up the cash cost of a cord, add the hours it takes at the wage you want, and divide by the share of wood you actually sell. The calculator does it for your own numbers.

Everything below is arithmetic on invented numbers. Not financial, tax or business advice. Costs, prices and times belong to your operation and your market. No warranty.

A worked cord

$90 of logs, $25 of saw, splitter and fuel, $10 other, 4 hours to cut, split and stack, a 20 mile round trip at 80 cents a mile carrying 1.5 cords in 1.5 hours, a $25 an hour wage, 5 percent of the wood never sold, and a $300 price.

• Cash cost per cord cut: $135.13, of which wood is $90.00, 66.6%. Time: 4.95 hours.
• Revenue per cord cut is $285.00 after the unsold share, so the margin is $149.87 a cord, $30.28 an hour, and $8,992.00 over 60 cords in about 297 hours.
• Pay yourself $25 an hour and $26.12 a cord is left, $1,567.00 over the season. The price that earns your wage is $272.51 a cord, $90.84 a face cord; cash breakeven is $142.25.

Wood cost and delivery decide it

Wood at $135 instead of $90 cuts profit per hour to $21.19 and lifts the price you need to $319.88; at $180 it is $12.09 an hour and $367.25. Delivering twice as far (40 miles, 3 hours a load) takes the profit per hour to $23.68, leaves a loss of $7.77 a cord after wage, and needs $308.18; at 60 miles it needs $343.84. A tough winter with $220 a cord, $150 wood, 40 miles, 3 hours a load and 15 percent unsold loses $158.63 a cord after wage, $9,518.00 over 60 cords, and needs $406.63 a cord. Try it with the long-haul, low-price winter button in the calculator.

How to measure your own numbers

• Time a whole day of cutting, splitting and stacking, then divide by the cords made.
• Count leftover stacks in spring to get the share that never sold.
• Put a mileage cost on the truck that includes tires and repairs, not only fuel.

Common questions

How much should I charge for a cord of firewood?

Enough that the price covers your cash cost and pays your time. On the default numbers that is $272.51 per cord for a $25 an hour wage, or $90.84 per face cord, against a cash breakeven of $142.25.

What costs the most?

Wood, at $90 of the $135.13 cash cost per cord, 66.6 percent. After that your own hours matter: 4.95 hours a cord at $25 is $123.75, almost as much as all the cash costs together.

Is this advice?

No. It is arithmetic on invented numbers; check every figure against your own records. Not financial or business advice. No warranty.