Making the Big Woods Tripod is a Small Business that Has Evolved Over 26 Years

My husband and I started our own small business the year after we were married. We needed to supplement our income since we just had a child and we lived on a teacher’s salary so we started Wishbone Forge maker of the Big Woods Campfire Tripod.

My husband and I met at a living history museum called Old World Wisconsin in Eagle, Wisconsin. It was while working there that we learned how to blacksmith. My husband was an avid meat cooker over an open fire so he made these tripod grills that could raise and lower food on a grill to the preferred height from the fire. This allowed the food to cook with the desired temperature.

He and our sons make the tripods the old fashioned way over a coal fire in a forge that we set up in our barn. The tripods are made of wrought iron and this makes them sturdy enough to last a lifetime. It takes some time to make the coal fire just right so it is good for heating up the metal to the proper temperature without burning the steel.

The tripods are made in two sizes. A 5′ tripod is made for the ease of fitting into the trunk of a car so you can take it where ever you wish. The standard size is 6 feet tall. Both the five and six foot tripods work the same but obviously the six footer can get the food farther from the heat.

I was in charge of doing the packaging for the first 22 years. Then after packaging tripods over and over again my arm wore out and I can no longer do it let alone lift up the tripods. They are not that heavy but my arm is that bad from all of the repetition. My sons and husband took over the responsibility of packaging the tripods until we decided that we would limit packaging to as little as possible. We are able to limit packaging because our product it tough and does not really require any protection when in a store.

We do not make much money with our little business but the money we have made has helped us put our older son through college and it is also helping to put our younger son through college.

Having a small business is hard work and you will find that you put in a lot of extra time that you are not paid for. It is hard to be paid by the hour with a small business.

The Big Woods Campfire Tripod has been a very good product and we have only had one return in all of our years. It is a product that is made to last a lifetime and it is made to be enjoyed. You can go to http://campfiretripod.weebly.com/index.html to learn more about it


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