greenskeeper
ArboristSite Operative
The day I have to purchase firewood is the day I'll use that funny looking thing on the wall that doesn't control the lights. Prices here are north of $200/cord so it it doesn't make sense financially
Anybody buy truckloads of logs?
- Thread starter WhiteMike
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
I have done this in the past when a tri axle load cost in the $350-500 range. I think 6 chord is more like what you actually get, at least the way it would come out the way consumer protection figures a chord. There was a thread about how to count a chord legally around the time I joined here. Last I knew price was approaching $1000. Sometimes a 10 wheeler sometimes a semi rig with 3 rear axles tri axle with picker on it mostly make sure you understand the difference. Even though lots of folks raise their voice saying a chord is $250 I can get four chords of processed green 95%oak delivered for $700. Very generous chords. Delivered in two loads roll back container. There is one guy that delivers supposedly 4 chords on a single axle. I did not see the economics of buying log length. Lately have left over from a logging operation on site. Chances are a logger has a friend or sub business that does firewood and new customer will likely get a lot of mud with their load. Getting the second load as good as the first has more often than not been problematic.
NSMaple1
Addicted to ArboristSite
I'd still be way ahead of oil if I had to buy my wood.
We dont have much birch here, and it probably isnt the same as what you northern folks have. I did cut a river birch a couple years ago, 48" dia. still have some of it in the middle of my wood shed. Burns hot and fast. It might make the same heat, btu wise, as white oak since it does burn pretty hot, but it wont last no where near as long in the stove. I might go down to the wood pile after while and see if I can drag a stick out. I can take a pic and see if it looks the same as the northern birch. Not sure I can come up with a pic of the birch bark tho. The tree was dead when I cut it and bark was slipping then.
JCMC
ArboristSite Member
I buy log length tri-axle load for 700.00 mostly Hard Maple, Ash and Red Oak Get about 7 cord when CSS. Then go out and cut another 3 cord from my property Soft Maple, Ash, Pine and what ever else is dead or down. It has been the only way I can keep up.
WVwoodsman
Addicted to ArboristSite
Around my neck of the woods a tri-axle load of wood consisting mostly of oak, hickory etc. with a little bit of softwood will run around $300. Although I have never had to buy a load, I keep in touch with a driver who owns his own truck and he keeps me informed of the price and if it changes.
blakey
ArboristSite Operative
That is really cheap, hard to believe he's making any money after paying for equipment, fuel etc and having something left for his time and any wages.
Usually if I order a truck load, its a bring it when you can type of order. If the timber cutter is cutting close to me, then I get a load pretty quick. If he has to drive by the wood yard to get to me, well, he doesnt get to me. So I think a lot just depends on the economics of selling a load to me versus just going ahead and selling at the wood yard. Paying cash when they deliver also helps. I am sure any cash sells go straight into their pockets and isnt reported for tax reasons. If I pay the same price the wood yard pays for a load, and the logger doesnt have to drive as far, money/time saved, and he doesnt have to pay taxes on the money, then delivering the wood to me makes more sense than selling to the wood yard. You can believe the logger isnt going to lose any money on a load.
I had a neighbor have some tress removed a couple of weeks ago. I asked the logger how much he would get for the load he had at the wood yard. His answer was about $350. My house was within rock throwing distance and I asked him what he would sell me that load for, answer, $350. Now to the buyer, the dollar amount is the same, but which buyer represented the best bargain for the logger. Drive a couple hundred yards and unload for cash and no taxes or drive 10 miles to the wood yard and receive a check and have to pay taxes on the money. I didnt buy the load because I am already 2 years ahead and have my house up for sale, just didnt want the hassel of dealing with the wood if my house sales.
I had a neighbor have some tress removed a couple of weeks ago. I asked the logger how much he would get for the load he had at the wood yard. His answer was about $350. My house was within rock throwing distance and I asked him what he would sell me that load for, answer, $350. Now to the buyer, the dollar amount is the same, but which buyer represented the best bargain for the logger. Drive a couple hundred yards and unload for cash and no taxes or drive 10 miles to the wood yard and receive a check and have to pay taxes on the money. I didnt buy the load because I am already 2 years ahead and have my house up for sale, just didnt want the hassel of dealing with the wood if my house sales.
Probably every time I ordered a load of log length or large chunk load at least one ant colony was included. It is my understanding at least one logger uses picker trucks owned by others to take the logs to market. Market here often means to a lot where they get graded and go to Canada, seems they pay more than local mills that way. I understand the independent trucker gets in the area on $300.
I thought it was 1 month of poor ice fishing!
ChoppyChoppy
Tree Freak
I grew up in Maine and birch is basically thought to be "crap". Not sure why, I guess same old wives tail as not being able to burn pine/spruce/fur (and I've even actually gotten calls with people wanting to let me know I'm an idiot for trying to sell spruce, it'll burn the house down).
I'll get recent transplants to AK... 'oh I wish I could get maple, oak, etc, not this birch junk". I show them a BTU chart. AK birch us right up there BTU wise. 23.6 million BTU a cord.
Sure it's not #1 on the list, but it's up there.
ChoppyChoppy
Tree Freak
Yeah no kidding. The long log truck we run fits 9-10 cords, which is a pretty standard load. If I could buy logs at $30/cord delivered, I'd tell the guy to not stop till the whole yard was stacked 20ft tall!
Most jobs we do we are paying in that area for stumpage! Figure in time, labor, and equipment costs to buy a sale, haul in equipment, doze in a haul road and landings (sometimes having to truck gravel) fell the trees, delimb them, and haul.... even at ~$150/cord we charge it's not big bucks rolling in.
I know a few loggers that also use picker trucks. I have seen the logger load everything cut on a truck and haul to a larger landing. There they pick, choose, and sort different quality wood. The wood is then loaded on other trucks according to value and hauled to different buyers. When you buy a log truck load, you dont get the good quality, high dollar stuff, you get the left overs, the hollow, crooked, split/splintered wood that is only fit for chips. The logger that was cutting next to my house was a one person operation. Only equipment he had was a truck with a bigstick loader (cable loader for those that have never heard of BigStick). When he deliver's his load to the buyer, they buy by weight, and they pay different prices for different quality of logs. They will weigh and unload his truck, sort thru the logs and put the good or the junk back on his truck and reweigh him again. They might do that 2 or 3 times, just depends on the quality of wood he might have in the load. Since he is a small time logger and is mostly removing trees from private property, a tree here and a tree there, it doesnt make sense for him to sort his loads before hauling. He might only have one or two lumber quality logs at a work site. Easy to see where delivering a load to me at a decent price rather than take his load to a timber buyer. He gets about the same money as the wood yard would pay, he doesnt have to deal with being loaded and unloaded several times per load, and he doesnt have to pay taxes on the money I pay him.
I'd be real happy with a winters worth of yellow birch!
I bought this picker truck load of logs from a logger two years go for $400:
I sold them all after bucking, splitting, and bundling for about $2,500. The 8.5' to 9' lengths allowed five rounds for each log, and I wasted practically nothing. About 600 big bundles went out the door.
BTW, that picker truck he used carried a lot of logs and he packed it like a sardine can. Most of these logs would have been rejected by the sawmill.
I sold them all after bucking, splitting, and bundling for about $2,500. The 8.5' to 9' lengths allowed five rounds for each log, and I wasted practically nothing. About 600 big bundles went out the door.
BTW, that picker truck he used carried a lot of logs and he packed it like a sardine can. Most of these logs would have been rejected by the sawmill.
D
Deleted member 116684
Guest
I like the idea of buying cords by the log but haven/t got the room forit in my yard. I can gather most what i need from sources I have and do it practically on my way home from work. Once or twice a year I know a guy who will dump 1.5 to 2 cords of oak in the yard for 50. The down size is that there's a lot of clean up when I don't buck it first and bring it home. Also not as easy to work with as straight logs! Do a lot of noodling. But it's hard to beat the price! And I only burn 4 to 5 cords a year.
A lot of tree trimmers will let you carry it away, but they don't want you to buck it first. I argue that if I buck it first, I can carry more away because then my truck is packed tight. Sometimes you have to stand your ground.
I've been getting tri-axle loads since about 2005. Started out around $400, is now up to $700. It's all hardwoods; mainly red and white oak with some hard maple thrown in for good measure. Had an occasional locust, hickory or sweet gum over the years. A solid load could be close to 7 cords once its been split and stacked. Some loads barely were 5 cords because the logs were too gnarly to pack tightly on the truck.
One "trick" I found in my region (Northeast USA) is to buy logs from landclearing companies. Don't buy from tree services because they're removing residential wood and it can have a lot of metal and don't buy from logging companies because they sell their shittiest logs for firewood. The land clearing outfits seem to have the best wood at the cheapest prices...at least around here.
One "trick" I found in my region (Northeast USA) is to buy logs from landclearing companies. Don't buy from tree services because they're removing residential wood and it can have a lot of metal and don't buy from logging companies because they sell their shittiest logs for firewood. The land clearing outfits seem to have the best wood at the cheapest prices...at least around here.
