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A second job for both of them

Business profile

By R. R. Branstrom 4 min read

HYDE -- When Tony Beauchamp refers to himself and his partner, Julie Sanville, doing something together, he uses a phrase common in the English-speaking world: “both of us.”

Except that with a Yooper accent, it sounds more like “bot’ ofuz.”

Or, as Sanville thought to style it, “BEAU da Vus.”

She reportedly had joked for a while that if the couple ever started a business together, that's what it would be named.

Beauchamp has worked in the logging industry for a little over 30 years. He did a little bit of logging early on, but has spent much of his career driving log trucks. He started his company, Beauchamp Forest Products Trucking, in 1998. Presently he subcontracts for Holli Forest Products out of Ishpeming.

Sanville, on the other hand, works at OSF St. Francis Hospital. Though her position at the emergency room registration desk is full-time, she wanted to pick up an additional side gig to make some extra cash.

"With this economy, I gotta get a second job," she said.

The brainstorming began early this year.

Not wanting to spend less time together, Beauchamp had an idea. By making an investment in a firewood processor, he could start a second business that the two of them could work on side-by-side.

"A friend of mine did this," Beauchamp said, which was what sparked the notion. "It was something we can do right here in the yard."

Before making the investment, Beauchamp and Sanville visited someone in Stephenson who has the same firewood processor they were considering buying -- a DYNA SC-14, made by DYNA Products of Millington, Michigan.

Sanville found the ergonomic controls fairly easy to master, so the couple made the leap.

In addition to the processor, Beauchamp also ordered a dump trailer.

At the property in Riverland that's been in his family for generations, operations of BEAU da Vus Firewood Processing began only about six weeks ago.

The process is as follows: Beauchamp purchases seasoned wood, mostly cherry and maple, from the Skandia area and hauls it home with his log truck. He loads it onto the DYNA, which can hold a few cords at a time. Chains pull the logs forward one at a time into a trough, and Sanville uses the machine's controls to direct each log forward. A chainsaw arm comes down and cuts a 16-inch section from the log, and then that piece is directed forward to the splitter. After the wood is split, a conveyor belt carries the pieces -- now ideal firewood -- up and into the dump trailer.

"It's brilliant. Very simple," Sanville said.

After advertising in the Daily Press, BEAU da Vus had orders rolling in, she said.

BEAU da Vus sells firewood by the face cord and offers free delivery in a 15 mile radius; outside of that is a rate by the mile.

"We have had a couple now that have come and bought a cord or so have come right to the house here and picked it up," Beauchamp noted.

"But we're really thriving on the larger orders," said Sanville, remarking that the fully-loaded dump trailer can hold seven cords. When people order a full load to be delivered, it's dumped where they choose.

"We thought this was going to be a slow time, but actually people are preparing for winter now, the ones that have wood stoves," Sanville said.

"I think after seven months of winter, they don't really want to get caught without," Beauchamp quipped.

Initially, they intended to only produce and sell seasoned, split firewood, but they've also had customers ask for eight-foot green logs, so BEAU da Vus decided to acquiesce and meet that demand, too.

While many businesses in the Upper Peninsula are seasonal, Beauchamp and Sanville are prepared to work all winter, they said.

"(The processor) has its own lights and everything on it, so it can be ran in the winter time, you know, in the dark," Beauchamp said. "We're prepared to go into the winter."

To place an order or learn more, people may reach out to 906-399-2621.

Starting at /week.