Ideas for Creative / Profitable ways to use our by-products

Gareth's Tree

Gareth's Tree

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Location
Ashtabula
I was thinking we could put together a thread with creative or profitable ways to use the by-products we create in this industry. As well as sharing experiences we have had good or bad trying to make money with our by-products. I assume for most of us the main by-products are chips and logs, but if you have others then bring 'em on!

1) Firewood! (Pretty obvious)

2) Rough cut Lumber

3) Custom Sawing "designer pieces" of natural edge planks. For table tops etc. Could also include cutting up things that have strange grains in them like crotches or stumps.

4) Selling wood chips to individuals.

5) Selling wood chips to power plants that burn them.

6) Turning wood chips into mulch.

7) Turning wood chips into pellets for pellet stoves. (I like the idea of this one but don't really know the feasibility of it)
 
I had to haul a truckload of rotting logs and old firewood off of a job.

It's going to a community garden hugelkultur project... Yes sometime is happy to receive rotting wood. I will have a place for rakings from hardwoods, too.

I like to keep junk out of good wood chip mulch, which always is free to dispose of, or sold, in the infrequent times I haul chips.

I have poplar removals coming up at a house site clearing job. Looks like possible poplar log disposal at other hugelkultur sites. Gotta research that for sprouting.
 
I've wondered about this just from what I've observed -- seems like once the wood hits the ground, into the chipper it goes. I hate seeing big, straight logs getting turned into chips, though I guess you guys are paid to make the wood disappear and the faster that happens the better. I wonder if anyone has looked a running a bandsaw mill for bigger stuff!
 
I'm trying to improve my wood management.

Just received a nova 1624 lathe this week. Have some great pear and black cherry crotches plus a hoard of green laurel oak burls to send into it.

I have 22-32" diameter hickory to mill and dry. I'm building three solar kilns - 16', 10', and tbd. Just waiting for a couple checks...

I'm gearing up to build small timberframe buildings (dog hpuses, pole sheds, etc.) with my southern yellow pine. I ripped a 40' 38" diameter loblolly pine but couldn't manage it before the hurricane struck. Plus, some bucknut tree hack shut down an access road so I can't get long logs in right now...

No chips in my market - not a profitable model...
 
Mushrooms. On the logs, stumps, and chips. My wife and I run a gourmet mushroom business and my hardwood chips fuel that (softwood chips go under my chickens and ducks) along with sawdust from my sawmill and woodworking business. Having the mill and being a woodworker allows me to offer "fell-to-finish" service as well as not having to climb in inclement conditions if I don't want to (storm damage excluded).

If you are going to let the chips compost for mulch, may as well run some water piping underneath and get some hot water.

Wood gasifiers for generators and vehicles. When I retire my current truck I plan on playing with a wood gasification system for it. Might come in handy some day.
 
Been thinking about an outdoor fire box that I could load branches with a mini. Then pipe fire box into my duct work with a thermostat so I could have a constant free source of heat for my house. But I live in the deep South so I really only need heat a few months out of year. Should be a way to heat water with a setup like this as well. Anyone ever heard of something like this?
 
DETreeMan said:
Been thinking about an outdoor fire box that I could load branches with a mini. Then pipe fire box into my duct work with a thermostat so I could have a constant free source of heat for my house. But I live in the deep South so I really only need heat a few months out of year. Should be a way to heat water with a setup like this as well. Anyone ever heard of something like this?
Click to expand...
Sounds like your basic outdoor wood burner. Large firebox surrounded by a water/antifreeze jacket. Fire heats water, water is pumped into house where heat is extracted. They look like a shed. It would be hard to load one with a mini since you need an airtight burn chamber for max burn time and efficiency.
IMG_2287.webp
(Sorry if you knew this already. Kinda sounded like what you had in mind)
 
Bucknut said:
Sounds like your basic outdoor wood burner. Large firebox surrounded by a water/antifreeze jacket. Fire heats water, water is pumped into house where heat is extracted. They look like a shed. It would be hard to load one with a mini since you need an airtight burn chamber for max burn time and efficiency.
View attachment 49426
(Sorry if you knew this already. Kinda sounded like what you had in mind)
Click to expand...
 
What is actually involved in turning wood chips into mulch? Do you just have to run them through a grinder? Is seems like the yards around here that make mulch have an awful lot of big expensive equipment. Apparently that means you can afford big and expensive equipment if you make mulch... Which is surprising to me because mulch sells for around $20 to $25 a yard not including delivery. Seems like you have to do a massive volume to make it profitable.
 
A buddy of mine just started turning his chips into mulch last yr. There is a lot more to it. Yes you have to regrind them but then you have to add color which is done I either a wet or dry method. I do not know a ton about either way other than the guys that do it are adimat that their way is the only way and ef the other method! Need a lot of spcae and a lot of equipment to go into the mulch business.
 
You are correct color is not required. Same buddy actually said he actually found a local construction company that wanted uncolored and they were gonna use a bark blower to load those errosion prevention socks. Seemed like a great market for a "waste" product.
 
Gareth's Tree said:
What is actually involved in turning wood chips into mulch?
Click to expand...

Wood chips are mulch.

If you want to sell it, you need a well-maintained chipper (sharp, proper anvil clearance).
Stringy stuff in, stringy stuff out. Bigger wood in, more uniform chips and more wood compared to foliage, seeds, flowers, etc.

Mixing rakings in the chips means its less desirable.



Are you using https://getchipdrop.com/?
 
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