This guy is VERY happy tonight

[KindredSpiritzz]

Can't quite understand that one.

I just can't wrap my head around paying for wood to heat. By the time you buy it, cut it, split it, stack it and do all the work that comes with it are you really saving any money?
If it makes you happy go for it, to each their own but if i had to buy my wood i wouldnt burn. Guess my main reason to heat with wood is saving money.

 

[zogger]

I just can't wrap my head around paying for wood to heat. By the time you buy it, cut it, split it, stack it and do all the work that comes with it are you really saving any money?
If it makes you happy go for it, to each their own but if i had to buy my wood i wouldnt burn. Guess my main reason to heat with wood is saving money.

It depends on your area, your time and what you do with it. Buying logloads would fall under buying wholesale. If one were to buy a load, process it, sell half, you might have all your wood covered cost wise plus some, plus easier work to get there. Keep doing it enough it would start to pay for your gear (saws/splitters/truck, whatever), plus get years ahead. To me, with what equipment I have, getting it from tree in the woods to out and up here is tedious and heavy and difficult. I use a tractor, but no grapple or anything, every piece has to be hand moved a bunch before it gets to my stove.

Whereas working in a dedicated spot in a logyard, with delivered logs, perhaps with some really good mechanization gear, you could knock it out fast and have splits ready for resale pretty quickly. I know my all time record is two cords c/s/s in one day, and that was cutting off a log pile. No way in heck could I do that going to the woods, felling trees, bucking to size, hauling it back to start processing. Would have been some faster without the intermediate step of big loader to dumptruck back to where the splitter was. Cut right at the pile, to a splitter or processor, conveyor or bucket right to a dump truck or trailer, then to a customer or my stacking area..that would be fast and efficient.

And you can go a step further and make bundles, if you could develop a market, that is a *lot* of money per cord.

 

[Ironworker]

I just can't wrap my head around paying for wood to heat. By the time you buy it, cut it, split it, stack it and do all the work that comes with it are you really saving any money?
If it makes you happy go for it, to each their own but if i had to buy my wood i wouldnt burn. Guess my main reason to heat with wood is saving money.

I have access to 70 acres but I much rather have it delivered, between gas, time, wear and tear on my truck, not to mention the luxury of just going out and cutting at my leisure is well worth the money spent on logs.

 

[muddstopper]

I have 100ac I could cut wood off of. I do take some time to time when lighten strikes, blown down, etc. I have to look at it long term. It takes 50years for a oak to grow to decent size, If I cut all my personal firewood off of my property, I probably wouldnt clearcut it in my lifetime, but I could make a huge dent in the amount of standing timber I have. As for the $800 per log truck load, sounds like a lot of money, but put it into perspective. driving my pickup to the farm cost me about $10 in gas round trip. I might get a cord of wood on the back if I take the time to really stack it in the truck and it would be over loaded considering a full cord of oak weighs around 6000lb. It would take me at lest 13 trips just to haul that amount of wood home or about $130 just in fuel. Actually it would probably take me twice as many trips and twice as much in fuel and a half cord on a pickup would still be a real load. My $800 log truck load is now $540. I would also include something for my time and I would want to deduct something for the depreciation that would occur to my brokedown damaged truck. I would also need some sort of equipment to log the trees out to where I can load them on the truck. More fuel and equipment cost. When you add up all the associated cost of gathering and hauling your own wood. It really makes more sense for me to just buy a truck load every couple of years. It gets dumped on my yard and I work it as I find time. I dont sell firewood, but if I did, I would certainly be looking for a dependable logger to keep me supplied in wood to sell. I found out a long time ago in a business situation, if one has to do all the work, it doesnt leave them time to market their product or service.

 

[craddock]

That really looks good. I would like to have it delivered to my yard and just cut and split. Looks like it would save a lot of time.

 

[Dirtboy]

I just can't wrap my head around paying for wood to heat. By the time you buy it, cut it, split it, stack it and do all the work that comes with it are you really saving any money?
If it makes you happy go for it, to each their own but if i had to buy my wood i wouldnt burn. Guess my main reason to heat with wood is saving money.

When I was cutting year to year because I worked full time, I always bought a load because it was easier & faster to work in one spot. Now I have time to get back in the woods and pull out the blow downs and standing dead. Definitely more work, but free is free and I have the time now. I did buy a load this year to get farther ahead, and it worked out well. The one load is 2 winters worth of heat for me, sure- cost me $900, but at $450 a season to heat I'm still way ahead of what it would of cost me to pay the heating oil company.

 

[olyman]

OK.

So I still can't quite understand why someone would be unhappy if they had to pay something for a load of wood like that showing up in their yard.

I didn't read the post right..i see you were responding to kindred also....my mistake,sorry....

 

[olyman]

When I was cutting year to year because I worked full time, I always bought a load because it was easier & faster to work in one spot. Now I have time to get back in the woods and pull out the blow downs and standing dead. Definitely more work, but free is free and I have the time now. I did buy a load this year to get farther ahead, and it worked out well. The one load is 2 winters worth of heat for me, sure- cost me $900, but at $450 a season to heat I'm still way ahead of what it would of cost me to pay the heating oil company.

dang true!! and a lot warmer!!!

 

[mainewoods]

On any given wood/oil heat value site, a well stacked cord of average hardwood is the equivalent to 150-200 gallons of oil ( depending on wood stove efficiency). Current price of #2 heating oil ( in maine) is $3.27 gal.( $654). 1 cord of c/s/delivered firewood is an average of $230 a cord. If you buy tree length it's $120 a cord. Pretty good savings to me. If you put a price tag on your time ( unless you could be working at your job instead), you wouldn't mow your lawn, wash your car or paint your house. You make time to mow the lawn, why would heating your house with wood and saving money,be any less worth your time. I don't get THAT.

 

[Ironworker]

This thread got my juices flowing so I just ordered a log truck, should be here in a few days or so.

 

[muddstopper]

This thread got my juices flowing so I just ordered a log truck, should be here in a few days or so.

I actually looked at a old bigstick log loader today. $2000 and it works and runs. It brought back memories of growing up when Dad used to cut pulpwood. God, I cut many a cord and drug miles of cable back then. Them old bigstick loaders where the best tool I found for clearing house lots. 200ft of cable could reach anywhere on the lot from one spot. Load the wood and then use the cable to pull up all the brush. i'm not in the market to buy the truck, but I enjoyed the memories.

 

[Ironworker]

I actually looked at a old bigstick log loader today. $2000 and it works and runs. It brought back memories of growing up when Dad used to cut pulpwood. God, I cut many a cord and drug miles of cable back then. Them old bigstick loaders where the best tool I found for clearing house lots. 200ft of cable could reach anywhere on the lot from one spot. Load the wood and then use the cable to pull up all the brush. i'm not in the market to buy the truck, but I enjoyed the memories.

No, I bought a log load, not the actual truck

 

[muddstopper]

No, I bought a log load, not the actual truck

LOL!!!

 

[Davej_07]

I wish it were that easy here. I have tried to find someone willing to deliver log loads to my area but no takers.

 

[muddstopper]

I usually just tell the logger to drop a load when it convient for them. I am willing to take a load whenever I can get it, July or Dec, I can let it lay on the yard until I'm ready to process it. This time of year, everybody is trying to buy wood and they want it now.The loggers probably get swamped with requests. Not trying to rush the logger( which really pisses them off), having cash to pay with, (tax free money to them), Having a place that is easy to access with a log truck, helps also.

 

[benp]

I usually just tell the logger to drop a load when it convient for them. I am willing to take a load whenever I can get it, July or Dec, I can let it lay on the yard until I'm ready to process it. This time of year, everybody is trying to buy wood and they want it now.The loggers probably get swamped with requests. Not trying to rush the logger( which really pisses them off), having cash to pay with, (tax free money to them), Having a place that is easy to access with a log truck, helps also.

I completely agree.

Get it early and when it's the least hindrance or most convenient TO the logger.

Pay in cash and flip 'em extra laying such a pretty stack that you don't even want to tear into it because it is a log work of art and/or you get more than what you ordered.

Being appreciative goes along way.

 

[Toxic2]

I have never paid for a single stick of firewood in my life. However if i didnt have 14 cords of scrouged hardwood saved up i would definitly consider it. i can get a gractor trailor load of white birch in my area for 1600 and that is the best price i could find. your makin out like a bandit at 800 per load. love the yard..do the neigbbors burn wood? Hehehe

 

[benp]

It all depends on your application.

Here, you see A LOT of folks with their own mini log yards, 100" lengths. Aaaaaaaand the majority of them have a boiler.

If you burn a few cords a year in a house stove, then yes, I can see sticking to the being the scrounging purist. Heck, even getting a load to put you many years ahead.

When we first started burning wood here, we scrounged. It was wood my neighbor brought home from site preps/clearing and tops pile raiding after the loggers moved out. Pile raiding was just straight run and gun.

This was when the boiler was only heating the shop and we got by.

At this juncture with heating 10000 square feet, we need mass volumes of wood. Scrounging fills holes, but the log yard is absolutely essential.

 

[sb47]

Sweet! With logs like that you could run a processor and produce some real wood piles.

 

[benp]

Sweet! With logs like that you could run a processor and produce some real wood piles.

There are two guys local here that have the skidsteer firewood processors.

They can burn through 10 cords in 4 hours give or take......for the cost of 220 dollars.