A question for you large volume woodsellers

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

PA. Woodsman

Addicted to ArboristSite
AS Supporting Member.
Joined
May 1, 2006
Messages
4,259
Reaction score
4,427
Location
Emmaus, Pennsylvania
I am just a little "peon" when it comes to selling wood, so I can assure that it is seasoned and ready to be used when sold. But what do you large volume guys do as far as selling seasoned/green wood-I see operations locally that are cutting, splitting and selling wood right NOW that no doubt isn't ready to be used, but do they tell the customer that or sell it anyway? I know that you would have to have lots of land, time and help to get it all "harvested" in the offseason so that it would be dry now, so you have to keep cutting and splitting constantly, but do you sell it as "green" now and what do you tell the customer? Hope that this makes sense-thanks!
 
I'm not that big. I'm always a year ahead on wood. It helps that my main supplier beside me is cuting tops that have been down for 9 months. They are still green but not as bad as fresh cut.

Scott
 
How to large vol. folks season the wood? I stack but I see lots of people that just leave it in a huge pile all year, split. I cant believe that the stuff in the middle and bottom dry out much.
 
I read a newspaper article about one of my area's biggest firewood dealers and believe it or not he said the wood is "seasoned immediately" because the log lengths he puts throughh his processor are a couple of years old. I've also talked to a few of his customers who said the stuff doesn't burn very well...wonder why.
 
Yeah, wood doesn't season in the log form, unless its real small diameter stuff. Convection through the piles you see does a pretty good job of seasoning wood. By law in mass, wood has to have been cut and split at least 6 months to qualify as seasoned. Also remember, there is a difference between seasoned and dry. I know a lot of guys who run it through the processor and into the truck and deliver it as seasoned.
 
I don't sell wood. However one of my neighbors recently bought a cord of "Seasoned" wood from a local vendor. Mixed varieties, including sugar maple that was just cut down perhaps 2 weeks before being sold. He asked me what to do, I said to call up the dept. of consumer protection and see what they can do for you. I was once told by a seller that white oak will be seasoned in 3 months... I find that hard to believe.
 
i'm not big, i've only sold 200 cords in the past 2 years.


my wood is "seasoned."

it is 20 year old dead standing. no bark left on it, moisture content under 15 percent.
 
well here ive been working for my uncle and for myself, we tell our customers right upfront before we sell them anything that our wood is green, and they are ok with that because we are honest. we sell 100-125 cord of green cut split and delivered wood a month.
its amazing how happy customers are with us, we are good honest guys just trying to help heat homes and make a living doing so.:greenchainsaw:
 
Thanks for the replies. I guess what I really was wondering is "how are these people gonna burn that wood right now" but it really IS up to the customer to purchase it ahead of time so that it's seasoned when the time comes to use it. But I know that some guys around here sell everything for the price of seasoned wood even if it was just split 2 weeks ago. I guess that that will be a never-ending debate because like some of you guys said people have different definitions of "seasoned". I'm just wondering how many "newbies" buy wood NOW, have a terrible experience with it and think "heating with wood sucks" or "there must be something wrong with my stove" when all it is is unseasoned wood-probably happens a lot!
 
The reason people buy and tollerate green wood is because they don't have much choice. By the end of December most little vendors are out of wood.
I sell green year round and tell my customers exactly what it is. I charge $60/cord more for 2 year seasoned and can't get very many people to bite. Green is what they want to save a buck. The customer is always right.
 
The stuff I sold this year was from a logger and it looked like it had all been down for a while. I cut and split most of it in May so I was a little skeptical about telling people it was fully seasoned when I delivered in September. I told them that in a couple of months it would be good to go but nearly all of the people remarked at how dry it appeared then based on what they got in the past and I haven't received one complaint. Seems like seasoned is a relative term and expectations for firewood buyers are pretty low.
 
At this point just order a inexpensive mositure meter and let it tell you if its seasoned or not. No use in listening to one persons definition of how they define what "seasoned" really means...When i drop off my stuff I show folks on the spot. All remaining doubt, questions or misunderstanding is nipped in the bud before I pull away.
 
not a wood seller, but seems using a protimeter would settle all doubts in a hurry. here's a pic of my toys. sure is nice knowing when my wood is ready to burn.

wood aged as logs and/or standing dead... say oaks... can be loaded with moisture. have always noticed after splitting will dry out quickly... sometimes in a matter of weeks. with a protimeter it's no longer guess work.

protimeter4.JPG


At this point just order a inexpensive mositure meter and let it tell you if its seasoned or not. No use in listening to one persons definition of how they define what "seasoned" really means...When i drop off my stuff I show folks on the spot. All remaining doubt, questions or misunderstanding is nipped in the bud before I pull away.
 
I have a few questions regarding these moisture meters.

The meters I have priced range in price from $20 to several hundred.

How reliable are the cheaper ones???

Also if you stick the probe into the end of a log does it tell you the moisture content of the whole log or just the end of it which will be drier than the middle????

Is the proper use of these meters is to measure individual cut rounds??

In a cut split and stacked pile is random testing of a few pieces good enough to judge the moisture content of the whole stack??

I know wood species will vary dramatically in how fast they dry out and weather conditions play a big role in seasoning .

I can pretty much judge by the color and the splitting on the end of a split piece of wood how far it is along in the seasoning process as we have sold firewood for many years. It would be nice to have a meter just to confirm how much moisture is in the wood. Like most firewood sellers we age the logs then cut, let it be for awhile, then split. Our wood looks fresh to an untrained eye and some people make comments. I can not keep " seasoned " wood on our place because I don't have the time and don't care to tie up my money and time for 6 months to recoup my expenses producing it. The demand for split wood far exceeds what we can produce so off the wood goes half seasoned and I tell people that. Besides doing actual tree work pays much better than playing around with firewood. Taking the time involved to do it "right " doesn't pay for me. The life expectency of a split piece of wood from our place is very short. After the heating and pyro crowd are done the campers are knocking on our door scrounging around for split wood.

I found you don't get that paid that much more for seasoned wood anyway. Best to sell it half seasoned and let the customer finish seasoning it. Just be honest with people and let them make the decision if they want sesoned wood or half seasoned or green.

I would like to get one of these meters but have put it off. One under hundred would be my price range. But like all things you get what you pay for and if a cheaper one is fairly accurate it would do for my needs.

Would this work for my needs????

Larry
 
Last edited:
Here is what we do

We drop all of our trees in July typically about 3-4 acres get falled. All ash wood is sold as seasoned, even though it is bucked and split during the wintere months. All other trees, maples, oaks, hickory, all other hardwoods go out back bucked up to be split in the spring. I will tell you that the pile needs to be either moved with the loader ( if it isnt selling) or with selling this stuff will dry out and be ready for the coming winter. Near the end of the season if we run low on wood we only cut standing ash. Customers are told that the wood is fresh cut and they are more than welcome to grab a few pieces for free and try it before they buy it. Never had any issues doing it this way.:clap:
 
Last edited:
well we are getting short on seasoned wood right now, we had 125 cords and are down to 20-25, we just split about 15 cords ash that was cut to rounds about 4 months ago and blended it in, we'll be out of seasoned wood by christmas and then I tell people what we have is still somewhat green and I offer a armfull to try for free and f I sell any great, if not then ohwell
 
Ax-man... you have PM

no clue about cheaper meters... all I can do is make comments based upon my GE protimeters which are considered a quality brand.

probes will only tell moisture content based upon where you place. Surveymaster can measure moisture content using radio frequencies and contact probes.

Woodmaster ($400) which I don't have contains different scales to calibrate for different types of wood.

after measuring several pieces of split wood from the same pile. that's had the same amount of seasoning. I'd call it good.

if questioned ... sticking a meter into wood and letting customer see the moisture content will settle things in a hurry.

here's a few pic's of wood moisture calibration scale

protimeter5.JPG


protimeter6.JPG


protimeter7.JPG


protimeter8.JPG


I have a few questions regarding these moisture meters.

The meters I have priced range in price from $20 to several hundred.

How reliable are the cheaper ones???

Also if you stick the probe into the end of a log does it tell you the moisture content of the whole log or just the end of it which will be drier than the middle????

Is the proper use of these meters is to measure individual cut rounds??

In a cut split and stacked pile is random testing of a few pieces good enough to judge the moisture content of the whole stack??

I know wood species will vary dramatically in how fast they dry out and weather conditions play a big role in seasoning .

I can pretty much judge by the color and the splitting on the end of a split piece of wood how far it is along in the seasoning process as we have sold firewood for many years. It would be nice to have a meter just to confirm how much moisture is in the wood. Like most firewood sellers we age the logs then cut, let it be for awhile, then split. Our wood looks fresh to an untrained eye and some people make comments.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top