Robin and Larry Hottle Make Firewood Fun on YouTube
In one of the hundreds of videos on their YouTube channel, “Outdoors With Larry and Robin,” the Hottles playfully compete to see which brand of electric saw can cut through a tree trunk faster. In another clip, there’s no commentary – just the relaxing sounds of firewood splitting and falling into a large metal tote as machinery quietly hums in the background.
Moments like these, along with video coverage of woodcutting festivals and other events, give viewers a glimpse into the Hottles’ retirement life – a mix of honest work, companionship and fun.
Robin Hottle, who retired after 20 years as a public-school teacher with the counties of Fairfax and Warren, reflects on her and her husband’s post-career lifestyle near Middletown.
“You have to have a plan when you retire,” she says. “You can only sit around for so long, and then you better have a plan to do something you enjoy.”
She and Larry Hottle, who previously worked in private industry, now spend their time processing and delivering wood to customers, all while sharing their experiences with more than 13,000 YouTube subscribers. Their channel, complete with an online merchandise shop, has accumulated more than 972,000 views.
Running a popular social media page wasn’t part of the couple’s original retirement plan. That changed when Larry Hottle, who started the channel in 2013, connected with firewood enthusiasts online.
It didn’t take long before the couple loaded up their truck camper and set out for wood shows across the country. From New York to Wisconsin to Ohio, they’ve become familiar faces in the firewood community, with their online followers keeping pace.
“Once we got the name out there, everybody knows us,” Larry Hottle says. The camaraderie they’ve found with fellow enthusiasts is as much a part of their life now as splitting wood. They often collaborate with other outdoor YouTube channels, learning how to improve their own and sharing tricks of the trade.
They’ve automated their cordwood delivery business so they don’t ever touch the wood and are off the recipient’s property in about five minutes.
Robin Hottle explains their process in three steps: 1) Place logs into a processor using a grapple; 2) Move the split wood into their truck via fork loader; and 3) Drop the wood at the customer's location using a dump bed kit on the truck.
“If you don’t see me in a video, that’s because I’m recording,” she says. Her husband takes care of posting the final product.
They hope their work inspires fellow retirees to get involved with YouTube and the larger firewood community, noting an increase of their peers on the site since they began. The number of YouTube users age 65 and older has grown in recent years, from 38% to 49% between 2019 and 2021, per 2022 data released by the Pew Research Center. The average pay for U.S. creators on the site is about $1,300 weekly, according to ZipRecruiter.
Despite the Hottles’ success in growing their viewership, the two aren’t in it for the money. “That’s not us,” Robin Hottle says.
Instead, they focus on connecting with a newfound community and sharing lifelong memories together.
“We are a team – soulmates,” Larry Hottle says. “That’s made us unique to say the least.”
