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Wood bundling business is booming for 2 Yellowknife youngsters

It began with a conversation with his sister, Hallie.

Rylan Scarfe, 12, was in his yard in Yellowknife splitting wood and bundling it up for the upcoming winter, when they got to talking about the potential for a little pocket money.

What if he sold some of the bundles?

Their parents thought it was a great idea. The bundles of split wood are perfect for kindling to get a fire get going.

"There's probably lots of people who would appreciate thin cut kindling," said their father Lee Scarfe.

Jay Legere/CBC
Jay Legere/CBC

So Rylan got to work, processed a bunch of kindling and decided to sell them for $10 a bundle.

His mother Jenna then posted a picture of his bundles for sale on Facebook. And wouldn't you know it, they sold out immediately.

"People wanted 10 bundles, people wanted five, people wanted them by the weekend," said Rylan. "It was crazy."

WATCH | These young wood splitters in action:

That meant it was time for help.

Enter 13-year-old Hayden Murray.

"I started like maybe five days after he started ... a whole bunch of people were asking for it," Hayden said.

"I started splitting wood when I was like eight or nine, same as [Rylan]."

Jay Legere/CBC
Jay Legere/CBC

The wood the boys use for the kindling comes from old pallets found around Yellowknife.

Rylan's dad helps them search for the pallets with a truck and trailer. Once they have enough it's time to bring them to his backyard. Lee Scarfe saws the pallets so they can be split.

Then the fun begins.

"Sometimes it feels pretty good when you hit it once and it just splits nicely, and sometimes there's knots and it's a big deal to split it," said Rylan.

Jay Legere/CBC
Jay Legere/CBC

Now they are putting all that experience toward a nice little local business. Each bundle takes about 30 minutes.

"The ones that I help [with] we split the money," said Hayden.

"Five dollars [for] each of us," said Rylan.

But it's not all about the money for these guys.

"Some people out there can't really split wood so it's nice to help people out," said Rylan.

"They're getting off on the right foot and developing some work ethic," said Lee Scarfe. "I think that's pretty important at this age."

Jay Legere/CBC
Jay Legere/CBC