IBC Totes -- Firewood system upgrade!

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Anytime I’ve bought firewood off a ad it’s always been crap. No where near seasoned, huge splits, short cords. One guy even musta dumped a load of splitter waste in the middle of my order. I found it half way through stacking. I normally made all my own wood but I would buy some on occasion if I was behind or if I found a good price.

The last few years I haven’t even considered buying split wood. I get log lengths and do it proper myself. If I can keep at it I may keep processing it and sell some next year. I ain’t selling it cheap cuse I don’t make crap firewood. If it don’t sell I’ll keep it. I heat 100% with wood and have for over 15 years.
 
I have never sold firewood and probably never will. My favorite wood is and will always be Locust. The trouble is the majority is gone now. One of the advantages of having a boiler is I can utilize less desirable species of wood. I cut what is waste and it is a balmy 76 in the house.

Here is junk that others would leave. That is from a field I cut last year. I just did not have the heart to put it in the brush fireCIMG8417.JPG
 
I have never sold firewood and probably never will. My favorite wood is and will always be Locust. The trouble is the majority is gone now. One of the advantages of having a boiler is I can utilize less desirable species of wood. I cut what is waste and it is a balmy 76 in the house.

Here is junk that others would leave. That is from a field I cut last year. I just did not have the heart to put it in the brush fireView attachment 1036209
That looks like a good clean pile of mixed wood to me.
 
Yeah not to offend but it does sound cheap. You look at the prices of things nowadays and it just is not worth it. So I am guessing they pick the wood up themselves? I think Poplar is a lighter wood that is good for burning. The guy I have been buying it off of has a mix of a lot of stuff. He sold me two cords earlier this year for $400 and the wood is never seasoned and never a full 2 cords. Like I have said before though, no one that we have ever bought from sells true seasoned firewood or the amount they say. My father taught me this a long time ago.

So I have a regular cab with an 8' bed on it and the truck is a 1500 so I need to be careful of overloading. Having that said, if I fill the bed up loosely with firewood possibly going a little above the bed, how much would some of you guys sell that for? There are guys around here that sell "truck loads" of firewood and they charge $100+ with a short bed. They also never specify that either. I know for a fact the one guy only has a crew cab truck with a 5-6' bed. It is possible he is using someone else's truck but I highly doubt it. Anyway does that mean I should sell a truck load out of my truck for $125+ or more? Especially considering I have oak, cherry and mostly ash wood?
If that were around here whoever was shorting you of a full cord would be in deep do do. Most states have cord laws. Here rhe only legal way to sell wood is by cord or Half cord. They are pretty lax with enforcement unless theirs a complaint, then it's the same as if you were cheated out of gas at a quicky mart.
Poplar (real Poplar, not aspen) isn't the greatest firewood. It's better for lumber, but I burn it during the shoulder season. It rots real quick if you let it sit out uncovered.
I have never sold firewood and probably never will. My favorite wood is and will always be Locust. The trouble is the majority is gone now. One of the advantages of having a boiler is I can utilize less desirable species of wood. I cut what is waste and it is a balmy 76 in the house.

Here is junk that others would leave. That is from a field I cut last year. I just did not have the heart to put it in the brush fireView attachment 1036209
Don't need an boiler to burn whatever, just need to let it dry properly and have realistic expectations of what different wood species has. I burn anything and everything. Can't afford to be a wood snob. Keep the good stuff for the coldest part of the year use the crap wood when I'm home or in shoulder season.
 
If that were around here whoever was shorting you of a full cord would be in deep do do. Most states have cord laws. Here rhe only legal way to sell wood is by cord or Half cord. They are pretty lax with enforcement unless theirs a complaint, then it's the same as if you were cheated out of gas at a quicky mart.
Poplar (real Poplar, not aspen) isn't the greatest firewood. It's better for lumber, but I burn it during the shoulder season. It rots real quick if you let it sit out uncovered.

Don't need an boiler to burn whatever, just need to let it dry properly and have realistic expectations of what different wood species has. I burn anything and everything. Can't afford to be a wood snob. Keep the good stuff for the coldest part of the year use the crap wood when I'm home or in shoulder season.
The ole boiler does not really care what species it is. Of course some burn faster. After running it enough years I can tell you that if (big if) you are able to not pack it full you can really cut down on wood consumption even when using low quality.
 
Sellers... sell a quality product and people will pay for it. Get $280/cord AT LEAST. And charge for delivery if you do it. I get $280 to $360 depending on product. Went up this year. No problem. And I don't deliver anymore.

Talking my language. Seriously not trying to be an @$$ but everything is ridiculously expensive and I literally feel like people never learn. People constantly race to the bottom when it comes to things like firewood. The prices that people advertise for delivery and stacking around here are crazy.
 
Talking my language. Seriously not trying to be an @$$ but everything is ridiculously expensive and I literally feel like people never learn. People constantly race to the bottom when it comes to things like firewood. The prices that people advertise for delivery and stacking around here are crazy.
Same here. CL ads for up to $185 4'x8' rack. I know one guy sells by the tote and gets $125. Less than a 4x8 stack?
 
I have never sold firewood and probably never will. My favorite wood is and will always be Locust. The trouble is the majority is gone now. One of the advantages of having a boiler is I can utilize less desirable species of wood. I cut what is waste and it is a balmy 76 in the house.

Here is junk that others would leave. That is from a field I cut last year. I just did not have the heart to put it in the brush fireView attachment 1036209
That's not junk to me. I prefer that size because it's easier to handle. And I'll take every bit of BL I can find.
 
Same here. CL ads for up to $185 4'x8' rack. I know one guy sells by the tote and gets $125. Less than a 4x8 stack?
Yes the ibc tote is less than a face cord. We get the totes for free from my dad's work 2 16" rows stacked inside then the gap filled in the middle the best we can does not yield a face cord. Ibc totes I see over flowing with oak but not stacked at all just thrown in are going for 80$ I would say a half a face cord as there's huge gaps and pockets
 
Yes the ibc tote is less than a face cord. We get the totes for free from my dad's work 2 16" rows stacked inside then the gap filled in the middle the best we can does not yield a face cord. Ibc totes I see over flowing with oak but not stacked at all just thrown in are going for 80$ I would say a half a face cord as there's huge gaps and pockets

I think most of the totes are 250 gallons. Someone correct me if I am wrong. There is a guy on YouTube that measured out the totes. Then he zip ties the cut bladder back to the top of the tote. Then he measures how high it has to be and puts a mark on it for a face cord. So from my understanding if you are willing to overfill them a little you can get a face cord into them.
 
I think most of the totes are 250 gallons. Someone correct me if I am wrong. There is a guy on YouTube that measured out the totes. Then he zip ties the cut bladder back to the top of the tote. Then he measures how high it has to be and puts a mark on it for a face cord. So from my understanding if you are willing to overfill them a little you can get a face cord into them.

Totes come in 275 and 330 gallon versions. I rarely see the 330s in my area.

275 gallons is about .29 cords. But 275 gallons is the amount of liquid the bladder is rated for. The cage is larger than that. Measuring from the widest parts of each side and not counting the rounded corners I get .40 cords. When I stack wood in the cage it can stick out a little, and I stack the wood a bit higher than the top of the cage since the wood will shrink as it dries. It's probably not .40 of a cord but it's way more than .29.

I consider a full 275 gallon tote to be 1/3 of a cord because that's about right and it makes totalling up my wood use easier.
 

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