How far to travel for the wood?

[avalancher]

I dont normally cut too far from my home, but we had a good storm go through here last night, and somehow a guy 42 miles away got my phone number and called this morning. He has a 46dbh white oak that went down in his yard, and wanted to know if I could come take it away. I have never traveled this far for firewood before.
I can haul a full cord of wet oak on my trailer, and fully loaded I get about 10 miles to the gallon with the truck. All told I reckon it will run in the fifty buck range round trip for fuel which seems okay to me. How about you guys? How far do you travel?
I hate to go really, I have the use of only one eye right now thanks to a mishap the other day in the woods, and the idea of running the saw with one eye doesnt appeal to me but you dont get a chance every day for white oak.

 

[mga]

go for it.

just take your time cutting to be safe.

 

[spike60]

The distance you might be willing to travel kind of goes up and down with how much wood you have/need at the time. If your loaded up pretty good, then you might not want to go that far. But if you need some then your more likely to jump on it. Especially in this case where we're talking white oak. The other variable in deals like this is how much other work is involved at the site with brush and such.

 

[Moss Man]

Another question that pop into mind is how will you be splitting the wood down small enough to load it on the trailer?

I take it that the "one-eye" thing is only temporary? Hope all is well on that front, eyes are precious stuff.

 

[Butch(OH)]

Sorry to hear about your miss-hap, had one with my brush chipper last fall. Eye protection now mandatory when running our chipper.

Maybe I am a wood snob since I can cut 95% of my firewood needs in my own woods but 42 miles is stretchen it. I am sure that in dollar value for heat that you would come out ahead but if your selling, no way. Make sure you take plenty of plunder with you. things like wedges, sledge, chains, files, extra gas and bar oil. Having to go home half full because of a supply shortage would be a bummer.

 

[JBinKC]

Assuming $4/gal (which I am sure you are paying less) = $33.60 in gas for the truck per round trip. A 22" DBH tree is supposed to yield a cord. I am not sure what a 46" DBH tree would yield (maybe 3 cords?) I think its definitely economical for the full cord loads esp if you have the equipment to handle 46 inch rounds. I would not bother though with fractional cords under .5

 

[Ductape]

I'd do it. Around here, free wood is getting very difficult to find. I don't like to travel any farther than i have to either, but i'd call it plenty worthwhile....... especially since its oak.

 

[KsWoodsMan]

Sorry to hear about your mishap. I hope you recover from it quickly. That White Oak would sure be tempting. If I was out or running low I'd probably get the boys and be bringing back some fine heating wood.

If you have ever tried to drive very far with only one eye, you realise very quickly that your depth perception is gone. Running loaded has it's hazards that you can compensate for by traveling a little slower and allowing more distance to stop. It takes a while geting used to only half your vision.

If you go after it , work safely and take no unnecessary chances. You will probably find you are ready to quit a bit earlier. You will know the right thing to do here.

Just watch you step (no pun intended) and know where your bar is. A second driver would be a good idea , if possible.

To answer the question , I have regularly gone 15 miles for a half cord of lesser wood. A couple of cords for the distance doesnt sound unreasonable, to me.

 

[PA Plumber]

1st, will the lifting/cutting/bending affect your eye or its healing time?

If no to the first question, I would get the Oak. One way to the place where I cut most of my wood is 22 miles. I can haul just shy of a cord (120 cubic feet) and I don't cut White Oak very often.

If you absolutely do not need the wood, don't do the run. Fuel oil around here is $3.57/gallon and would be well worth it to me to get the fire wood.

 

[MJR]

It is to far, too much work, for a bad eye. It is time to take care of your self. The oak might be ready for next year. I am sure you are ready for this winter. There will be other freebies closer to home when you are healed up. Good luck.

 

[Mike PA]

Before I got a more local source, I routinely drove approx. 30 miles for a pickup truck load of wood - approx. 2/3 cord. If I could haul a full cord, 42 miles would probably be worth it, if you don't have good local sources lined up. If you do have a reliable local source, I don't think I would worry about it.

 

[TJ-Bill]

My wood was apx. 40km from my house. I'd travel farther if the price was right..

 

[woodbooga]

I'd do it. Around here, free wood is getting very difficult to find. I don't like to travel any farther than i have to either, but i'd call it plenty worthwhile....... especially since its oak.

With my 2 good eyes and a much smaller truck (Ranger), I'd go for it - mostly as a hedge against less wood possibly being available for next year.

I don't suppose you have friends or family near the site? If so, maybe package a wood run with a social call.

Another possibility: Take your hard cost transportation figure and tell the guy you'll donate your time in exchange for the wood but that it would be greatly appreciated if you paid your out-of-pocket expenses, noting that you normall only travel X-miles for free wood but are willing to make an exception.

Hope your injury heals quick.

 

[Wet1]

I assume you're considering doing this as a freebie, correct? If so...

First off, I'd have the guy send pics. I drove about the same distance earlier this summer for what I was told was several large hickory's. Well I got there and found they were of the soft maple variety. You also never know how accessible the wood is or if there are other issues, such as the tree is laying on top of some downed power lines... Do yourself a favor and get several of picture of the tree (incuding the leaves) and the area before you make the drive.

Second, I'd do what I could to make each trip as productive as possible. You might want to consider borrowing a larger trailer or truck to maximize how much wood you can bring back with each trip. At that distance I'd make sure I came home with at least 1.5+ cord per trip and take what I could in two trips.

Third, those really big rounds can be a PITA. Obviously cut the rounds a little on the short side to begin with. You're going to want to split or rip them before you try moving them. Saving the largest of the rounds for last in case you can't get the last one or two on your last trip might be a good plan. For splitting them, try splitting them into three or four pieces. I've found the easiest way for doing this in the field is to cut a 4" deep groove into the top (possibly the sides as well if it's really big) where you want the round to split, then drive a wedge or two down it... this makes things a lot easier and faster than trying to manually split them w/o the groove or trying to completely rip them with the saw.

Fourth, see if you can get the HO to throw you a few bucks for doing this given the distance. If you can get the HO to pay you even $100 for this job, that will cover your fuel... and I suspect the HO would think $100 or $200 to remove this huge tree is a bargain.

Fifth, best of luck with the eye and it's recovery... be careful, eyes are not something to be taken lightly!

 

[Wet1]

One other thing, I'd make sure I wasn't taking or dealing with the brush if this is not a lucrative paying job!

 

[Joshlaugh]

For the right species of wood I would travel 42 miles. I recently got 2 1/2 cords of red oak and bitternut hickory that I had to travel almost 30 for, but it was free and I couldn't pass it up.
What about taking someone with you to help since you are having issues with the one eye? Is that possible?

Good luck either way

 

[avalancher]

Thanks for all the input and advise, you all have some good points. I will try to address as many as I remember.
The tree is right in his yard, all he asks is that the brush be piled along the street to allow the city to haul it away. I talked to him on the phone and he appears to know what a white oak is, had him describe the leaves and grain of the wood, so I am fairly sure that he knows what he is talking about.
To get large wood in my trailer, I use a winch. I cut the main trunk almost all the way through,leaving a few inches at the bottom until I have 6 or 7 pieces then I throw the winch cable around the lot and pull it into the trailer. Once on board I cut down through the rest that was left of each piece and repeat the process. After I have one layer on the trailer, i pull the ramp up and rest it on the pieces in the back and repeat the process. Usually by then I am down to wood small enough to just heave into the trailer.
As far as my eye goes, it wasnt really an inujury, but a poisoning by getting many hornet stings. You can read about it in my post titled "Ever had one of these days?"
it is hard to drive with one eye, even harder to run a saw. I have a very difficult time in focusing on the tip of the bar, and that is what makes me a little nervous. According to the doc, if I recover it is going to take at least a month of treatment. Hate to leave the saws alone for that long. Havent touched a saw since last Thursday, and already feel "itchy"

 

[Wet1]

Ahhh, I forgot about your neat winch setup. I took your photos and have made something similar for the used Superwinch I just purchased (mostly influenced by your setup). I'll post a pic or two next week when I get everything finished (no time this week) and post them in that other thread.

Best of luck with the eye, vision issues are not fun!

 

[computeruser]

Can you get a group of guys together to load up a few trucks/trailers at once? That might make more sense, and that way you'd have help and could clear out the whole lot (or at least most of it) in one trip.

Having worked with big pieces of 40"+ oak and maple before, I'd probably decline unless I had access to a loader to get it in/on my trailer. I just don't see it being worth the effort to fight wood that large. It is time consuming, dangerous work. A 19" cookie of this stuff had the Bobcat at its tipping point:

And unless you have BIG saws (100cc+) to pull long bars on this stuff, the increase in labor is exponential. I know that some folks will whittle away at it with their 025, which is all well and good, but you've got almost an hour drive each way, so you're going to want to get in, get stuff cut and loaded, and get out. The prospect of spending multiple days on it is just not worthwhile, I think.

Now if you're just going for the tops and the manageable pieces, and leaving the trunk for the locals, then that might make more sense. But if you intend to process up the big trunk and take it home with you...I'd think twice.

 

[avalancher]

Can you get a group of guys together to load up a few trucks/trailers at once? That might make more sense, and that way you'd have help and could clear out the whole lot (or at least most of it) in one trip.

Having worked with big pieces of 40"+ oak and maple before, I'd probably decline unless I had access to a loader to get it in/on my trailer. I just don't see it being worth the effort to fight wood that large. It is time consuming, dangerous work. A 19" cookie of this stuff had the Bobcat at its tipping point:

And unless you have BIG saws (100cc+) to pull long bars on this stuff, the increase in labor is exponential. I know that some folks will whittle away at it with their 025, which is all well and good, but you've got almost an hour drive each way, so you're going to want to get in, get stuff cut and loaded, and get out. The prospect of spending multiple days on it is just not worthwhile, I think.

Now if you're just going for the tops and the manageable pieces, and leaving the trunk for the locals, then that might make more sense. But if you intend to process up the big trunk and take it home with you...I'd think twice.

The size doesnt really imtimidate me, I regularly work with wood this big and have found ways to get it home. I have a 32 inch bar with a skip tooth that I use on my 372 and I drop the sprocket a pin size down and it does okay. Maybe a little slow, but the big rounds make wood quick and i like it really. A guy can spend an hour pulling big rounds into a trailer with a winch and be out of there, or several hours throwing the little stuff in.