Successful Sidelines

Publisher - Clint Lonbaken, Bobcat Worksaver, Spring 1987

Firewood makes profitable sideline business

Ernie Gish of Fort Loudon, Pennsylvania, puts in a full week every week as Sales Manager of Parnell Precision Products, Inc., a 75-employee machine shop. But after hours and on weekends he manages his own logging and firewood cutting operation.

“We’re basically in the business of logging for saw-timber,” he says, “but the trimmings and logs too small to go for lumber are cut into firewood rather than going to the pulp mills. I market much of the firewood through a number of retailers in the Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore areas. My local customers are mostly people who heat their homes with wood and who usually buy four or five cords at a time.”

Because of the damage done by the gypsy moth, Gish reports no lack of wood to cut. “Many of the trees are already dead and dried down, so the wood can be burned immediately without curing for a year,” he says. “Oak trees have been particularly hard hit by the gypsy moth.

“The business is somewhat seasonal, with my people working full-time or overtime about six months of the year, and part-time during the other half of the year. I have two men in the woods cutting and hauling logs, and two more at the firewood processor.”

The “processor” is a machine which largely automates the firewood cutting process. Logs are fed in, cut to length and split as needed. One operator runs the machine while another feeds logs into it.

“Two people can put out two ten-cord tractor-trailer loads of cut firewood a day with this machine. Logs can be split in up to six segments, depending on the size of the log, and the cut and split chunks are dropped into a conveyor which loads them on the truck,” says Gish.

He uses his Bobcat loader, an 843 with a grapple fork, to load the firewood processor. “Three or four years ago, I looked at Bobcats largely on the recommendation of the people who built the processing machine,” Gish says. “I also looked at some other loaders, but decided to go with Bobcat.”

“I’m glad I bought the Bobcat,” he says. “It’s been dependable, easy to operate, and has plenty of power for the job I need done.” He reports that he has had no maintenance problems to speak of, and has been very happy with the 843. “I first considered a 700 model, but am glad I went with the larger 843,” he concludes.