Anyone paying for firewood this year? If so, how much?

[THEFAN]

Popular wood sucks to burn. Burns hot at first and then cools off even when it is burning good. Wouldn't touch it at all. Spruce is not to bad if dried well and usually we do a 2-1 on soft to hard to help with the creosote. Another way to get free heat is hit all the construction sites. Amazing what you can get there. Sometimes workable wood for your own house projects.

 

[Beekissed]

My favorite wood, if good and cured, dry, is locust. Burns hot and long, leaves little ashes behind, only takes a few small logs of it to bank up my stove for the night and it will still be there in the morning, burning right along.

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Wow. I paid a lot. We just got 2 cords, split and with some kindling, delivered, for $330 cash. Good wood tho. Mostly pine. And lots better quality than last year's (which wasn't split at all).

Do you guys burn a lot of pine out there? Here on the east coast pine is considered "junk" firewood because it's so tarry.

Yes. The pine beetle attacks a lot of pine in the mountains. Once they kill the tree, they move on to the next. Then the dead tree becomes a wild-fire-hazard so it needs to be cut down. I asked the guy if any beetles remained in the wood and was told no, because they move on quickly. So right now, pine is cheaper than other wood because it's basically free for anyone with a permit to cut.

 

[Leta]

I live in the Big Woods, so nobody here really says "X for a cord", because it's really dependent on the species. However, if you have a reasonably well insulated home, and a wood stove (not an outdoor furnace, not a fireplace) that's less than 20 years old, you can heat with wood for the entire winter for roughly $300/1000 square feet. Soft woods cost less, but don't burn as hot, so you need more, so in the end it's all about who you know and what amount of room you have. Delivery and stacking is variable.

I know some friends who have a large house (2500 square feet) and an outdoor wood burning furnace, and even though they've insulated, it costs them $1600 per winter in unstacked wood to heat, or $1800 in propane. Really helped toward convincing me that I want a small house!

 

[valmom]

We paid $200 for a dry split hardwood cord dumped in the yard off the trailer. We had to stack it ourselves. But, it is really good wood and we didn't have to cut it ourselves. We have a lot of trees down in the woods that if we had the time we could cut up. I may try to get "someone" to get to that. It doesn't make sense to let good wood rot in the woods. The main problem with doing it ourselves is we have a rule that neither one of us uses the chainsaw unless the other one is there, too. You know, just in case someone takes off a leg or the log rolls on you. The times when we are both home, we are busy with other jobs, especially in the fall.

 

[justusnak]

I was just looking on CL, and saw that hardwood, seasoned and split...$50/rick. WOW!

 

[simplynewt]

Here in Central Alabama it is around $190 for a full cord. $90 for a truck load.

I have a chain saw and over 100 acres of oaks next to my property. Cut down one tree yesterday and have enough for the whole season.

 

[THEFAN]

We are up to 230 a cord for hardwood on the island. I have to agree with a post from before. Seems like even the small guys cutting wood are screwing people. Everyone wants there 50.00 or more an hr for there time. Then they expect you to give them a break when they need you to do something for them. I haven't gone up on my rate for 3 yrs now. I have actually gone done for a a few people who are on fixed incomes and bartered some of my time. Regular zombies just don't know what community is all about.
I have started gather wood a yr ago from down trees I see and people asking me to get rid of downed trees. By doing this I have accumulated 4 cords. So I'm good this winter. Will do the same next yr. Our local woodsplitter rental is 50.00 a day. What a deal. 4 cords of free wood and some I got payed to get rid of and 50.00 for thr rental. Take that local crooks!!!!

 

[User4960]

I bought a small Stihl Chainsaw, MS180c.

That is a small one, but very high quality. Uses the skinny chain, 16" bar.

I bought an extra chain, a small can for the fuel mix, with the nice pour spout with the on button for pouring, and bar oil, plus the extra guarantee that comes with also purchasing their Bar and fuel oils. All told it was a good investment.

You have to know your tool well.

These things do use gas, fuel oil, bar oil, and need sharpening every 45 minutes or so. Not sure if some folks realize how much work it is to get a cord of wood.

You have to get the permit to cut wood, have to cut in certain areas, get busted if you cut in the wrong place. Have to drive your pickup through places with little or no road. Have to go trapsing to the tree, have to study the tree for the fall, watch out for hangers where the felled tree hangs up on another tree. Oh yes. Then you have to do loose cuts. You have to always be in top form. Tired, you stop. If you don't admit you are not 100% something goes wrong. Ya have to cut some rounds and load them in the truck and repeat. At least it smells good and the scenery is great. Ya have to cut trees of a certain size or condition or kind.

Someone's wood costs less than 100 clams a cord. That's cheap.

Ya have to empty your pickup and split the wood. Hydraulic splitters are nearly as much work as a good maul.

Then, ya have to stack your split wood to cure for a few months, tarp it if it's gonna rain on it. So, ya have to store it before selling it. Then, ya have to talk to the customer who wants the best wood you have. Then ya have to load the truck. Find their house driving there, offload it, go to their inlaw's house to get paid, and they act like you're suddenly rich.

From there ya go to the hardware store after the bank so you can buy a new bar for the chainsaw because a hanger crushed the old one. While there ya get a gallon of bar oil and some more fuel oil.

Then ya count your money, look at your grocery list and shorten it, go to the grocery store, then drive back up the 16 mile dirt road home.

Gotsta love it!

 

[Denim Deb]

Where do you live that you have to have a permit to cut wood? I get all the wood I want for free.

My getting it is a bit different than yours.

I put my small generator and chainsaw in the back of the pickup. (Can't use a gas saw, fumes make me dizzy.) Drive into the woods and get as close to the downed trees as possible. (I rarely cut down a tree and then only if it's small.) I cut it up just small enough so that I can pick it up, and load it in my truck. Put the generator and saw back in the truck and go home. I unload the logs and cut them to firewood size. I grab my axe and split what I can. Any that I can't split by hand get put to the side. Once I have a good pile of those, I pull out the electric splitter. (We couldn't afford a gas one, and this does good enough for us.) Since the majority of the wood I'm getting is already seasoned, I stack it all in the wood shed, then pull it out as needed to burn it.