Firewood too long...

[turnkey4099]

People who think delivering wood cut to varying lengths is ok and standard practice are way out of line. Anyone selling wood should know that when wood is ordered it is expected to be cut to a standard length plus or minus a bit. A customer should expect it to be cut around 16" unless he specifies a different length.

If I were to get a batch dumped with cuts varying all over from 16" to over 20" I'd be telling him to pick it back up.

The clue on his operation is being in a landscape business. He prunes trees and sells the limb wood that he cut to 'convenient' for him lengths. Mybetting is that he will also be short on volume.

Harry K

 

[turnkey4099]

And another problem with using cord as a measurement of wood, you still need that all important 3rd measurement. You need the length stated. Maybe his customers all ask for 24" wood?

Buying a commodity in a standard measure is a problem? How would _you_ sell it any other way?....I know, face cord, bucket full, jag, etc. etc. etc. None of htem have a standard volume.

The length of cut has zip to do with the volume measurement as long as the pile comes up to 128 cu ft.

Harry K

 

[woodbooga]

I've found out that being on the delivering end of firewood to ask every question known to man before I sell a cord to someone. The majority of the time people have no idea what I'm asking them. But it helps to get a good overall idea of what is involved so they can be prepared to deal with the product.

For me, I will always cut firewood at 16" long pieces as it will make a 3 rick cord. Which keeps things simple for me. I have yet to deal with any elderly people who do firewood and want something cut shorter. In that case, it would end up being 8"ers to keep it simple.

There is 2 things you can do. Either you deal with it, and try and load your firebox with the pieces in a diagonal fashion or you get to cutting them in half yourself. You don't even need a chainsaw. You can use any saw in any form you got that will cut wood. Although, that's labor for you that should have already been paid for when you got the wood.

I would still call them up and voice your displeasure in dealing with them. 30% of the wood being too long seems to me like they are not measuring accurately. I would be shocked if this is a dealer and not some fly by nighter type of person.

Great to hear that good to hear that good ole customer service ain't dead. Give the customer what he wants.

As for the Q at hand, a $100 Ryobi mitre saw will lop off the excess, leaving 2-4" stumps ideal for spring heating, as dukktape said.

 

[Patrick62]

I sell a bit of wood, and my take on this.... is....

.... what the heck? Unless ordered long, I never! send anything over 17" out. Okay, there might be a few... but they are split small! I have been selling wood for a few years now. and I will tell ya I have never had a call back for a "short load". Ain't gonna happen. Wasn't the way I was brought up.

I would nip them down. Or better yet toss them out and have the seller come and swap them out for stuff short enough to fit your stove!

http://Organic-firewood.com

 

[woodguy105]

I have a small wood splitting business...the first thing I ask the customer is how do they like their wood split?

I would think a wood supplier should ask the same from someone ordering wood. That would probably cut down on the irate phone calls because the lengths are to big or small etc.


Not really the suppliers fault but...I bet there are suppliers out there who send out the odds and ends to the unsuspecting (naive) customer who does not specifuy size. Especially if the sizes go from 16' to 20"+

 

[jrider]

If the wood is cut to all sorts of lengths simply put, the guy is a hack. I am in the south Jersey area and have gotten wood from tree guys/landscapers and this is usually the norm. They just want it on the ground and in sizes they can manage. I either burn that stuff in my OWB or take the time to cut it all to 16". Apparently though, most guys who sell firewood around here do not. One of the most common things I hear from customers is wow, this will stack nicely since its all the same length. I also enjoy hearing, I've never gotten this much when ordering a cord.

 

[flyboy553]

I sell firewood-over 70 full cord so far this year. Some guys want longer firewood for their OWB's, some want smaller splits for the fireplace, others want larger splits for the wood burning furnace, some even want greener wood for the OWB. Or the sauna needs short ones. A person cant have all of these different size pieces of firewood. Would be too time consuming to do that. So, I cut them all to 16 to 18 inches in length, with a medium split- kinda down the middle of what everyone wants.

I do ask how they are going to use the wood when they call to order a cord. I will split them down to a smaller size if they need. OWB guys , I can usually go cut their wood and make it what they want.

And no, Uncle Hirsute-Lip:frown::smile2:, we do NOT usually stack firewood for the buyer. That is special order and more money.
Ted

 

[zogger]

Resell

Pick out the too long pieces and resell them as "fireplace" wood. Specify in your CL ad it is too long for your heater, the approximate average size of the splits, etc. Take the money and rebuy some appropriate wood.

I wouldn't bother recutting all that stuff, unless you are immediately with no options seriously short of burnable wood.

Cutting short pieces a little shorter is a PITA, no matter what tool you grab to do it. It's not real hard, just tedious. I do a few sticks like that, but not too many..well, mostly because I cut my own wood. too long is usually from the end of a branch that broke off or something, unavoidable. I throw those pieces in with my bummer hard to split chunks, some day in midwinter when it is too muddy to do anything else I work that pile down.

You got to handle the chunks anyway, much easier to throw it in the back of someone's pickup and be done with it. There has to be someone local to you could use the longer chunks as-is.

If you want to cut it yourself..sigh..I guess make a pile of the longer pieces and get comfortable and do it with a chop saw. Not in half, just a scosh off the ends. You can use the tiny ends for kindling or whatever.

It also depends on if you got a "deal" on the wood, accepting oddball pieces. If you did, no harm nor foul, that's what you ordered. If the wood you bought was significantly cheaper than the other average prices in your area..that's what you got. Cheaper price for sweat equity.

Just for grins, what did you pay for this cord of wood?

 

[olyman]

Cut the offending pieces down and burn them. It isn't every day that you hear folks complaining that they got MORE than they expected. Guess it's proof you can't make everybody happy.

.[/QUOTE]

hiS VOLUMNE didnt change, hence the complaint,,which is justified. i wonder if judges,,would feel the same,,if it happened to them?????????????????

 

[Whitespider]

If the seller is a friend of the family then I would do one of two things.
1. Bash the living daylights out of him for ripping you off to the friend of a friend.
and if that doesn't work
2. Do what every Keyboard Rambo would do, bash the living daylights out of him on CL.

Or... You could man-up, face the issue head-on and call the guy. Explain the problem (a third of the wood won't fit in stove) and ask if he could remedy the problem. You may just be surprised...

 

[lone wolf]

20" + is not a standard length for firewood . You have a right to be pissed off and who ever sold you the wood should be ashamed
of themselves for ripping you off. In these parts anything over 16" is special order. I have sold hundreds of cords of wood and can
count on one hand customers who have asked for wood longer than 16".

You are right 20 inches is not standard 24 is.A legal cord is 4x4 x8 feet the old way is 24 inches long x 16 feet and 4 foot high 128 cubic feet.Now that everyone has wood stoves they all want 16 inch pieces so they fit .This causes a multitude of problems where the old is not in keeping with the new!So now what to do well most of them sell 16 inch pieces to keep the customers happy but then to be legal you have to cut and split more to equal the 128 square foot volume.So this is where the problems come in and everyone does it different.Man am I tired of this just cut them to fit and be done with it in 20 minutes!!!!

 

[Sagetown]

I am relatively new to this wood burning thing, but I feel pretty confident I got ripped off. Ordered a cord of seasoned, mixed hardwood from a local dealer the other day. Now I could probably contest his definition of "seasoned" and "cord," but I'll reserve my judgment until I have it stacked.

HOWEVER, I can tell you for certain that as much as 30% of this entire load of split wood is over 21" long. My stove can barely squeeze in a 20.5" log. Needless to say, I'm pissed :mad2: Am I out of place assuming that the standard split firewood is sold in 16" - 20" lengths? This just seems like an underhanded practice that reeks of laziness (longer pieces = less cuts = less time).

Am I wrong? Do I have a case for telling him to come pick this largely useless pile of wood and give me my $ back?

I've found out that being on the delivering end of firewood to ask every question known to man before I sell a cord to someone. The majority of the time people have no idea what I'm asking them. But it helps to get a good overall idea of what is involved so they can be prepared to deal with the product.

For me, I will always cut firewood at 16" long pieces as it will make a 3 rick cord. Which keeps things simple for me. I have yet to deal with any elderly people who do firewood and want something cut shorter. In that case, it would end up being 8"ers to keep it simple.

There is 2 things you can do. Either you deal with it, and try and load your firebox with the pieces in a diagonal fashion or you get to cutting them in half yourself. You don't even need a chainsaw. You can use any saw in any form you got that will cut wood. Although, that's labor for you that should have already been paid for when you got the wood.

I would still call them up and voice your displeasure in dealing with them. 30% of the wood being too long seems to me like they are not measuring accurately. I would be shocked if this is a dealer and not some fly by nighter type of person.

And another problem with using cord as a measurement of wood, you still need that all important 3rd measurement. You need the length stated. Maybe his customers all ask for 24" wood?

If the seller is a friend of the family then I would do one of two things.

1. Bash the living daylights out of him for ripping you off to the friend of a friend.

and if that doesn't work

2. Do what every Keyboard Rambo would do, bash the living daylights out of him on CL.



I learned my lesson two years ago. Bought a cord of "seasoned mixed hardwood" from a local dealer on CL. And when you get some split wood with charring on it you realize it don't burn. I took about 1/2 of that "cord" to the local recycling plant this year. Now I chase my own.

20" + is not a standard length for firewood . You have a right to be pissed off and who ever sold you the wood should be ashamed
of themselves for ripping you off. In these parts anything over 16" is special order. I have sold hundreds of cords of wood and can
count on one hand customers who have asked for wood longer than 16".

As a firewood seller, I have this happen from time to time. We usually cut our wood at 16" but. some customers need 14" or less and some with fireplaces like them 20" or more. some specify lengths some do not but claim to have after delivery. Bottom line for us is MAKE THE CUSTOMER HAPPY PEROID! If we have to send a man to cut down the wood we will. If we have to come pick up the load and refund money or exchange it for something else? we will. Even if it was not our fault. Ethics is the name of the game and a good reputation is worth more than a little extra work, a loss of money or a simple appology. If you are in this business for the long haul protect your reputation at all cost. It pays off with loyal repeat customers and refferals. Try to invision the conversation at the family table with neighbors and potential customers. The conversation can be like let me tell you about my firewood guy...how would you like the rest of the story to be? if my customer is happy he will tell someone but if he is not, I want to hear all about it so I can fix it. 'nuf said..

If the wood is cut to all sorts of lengths simply put, the guy is a hack. I am in the south Jersey area and have gotten wood from tree guys/landscapers and this is usually the norm. They just want it on the ground and in sizes they can manage. I either burn that stuff in my OWB or take the time to cut it all to 16". Apparently though, most guys who sell firewood around here do not. One of the most common things I hear from customers is wow, this will stack nicely since its all the same length. I also enjoy hearing, I've never gotten this much when ordering a cord.

This Topic is a good read. Worth a few reps to the OP and others listed. See your 'Reputations' on your 'Settings' page.

 

[redheadwoodshed]

I didn't know 16" was THE standard.Most of my customers want theirs 18-20 inches.I've been selling firewood for over 20 years and in that time I have 2 customers who wanted 16" wood an 2 who want 14" stovewood(split pretty small) I don't mean to be hard on the OP.Welcome to AS, it's a great place with great folks.All I meant was a little communication could have prevented this problem.

 

[zogger]

I didn't know 16" was THE standard.Most of my customers want theirs 18-20 inches.I've been selling firewood for over 20 years and in that time I have 2 customers who wanted 16" wood an 2 who want 14" stovewood(split pretty small) I don't mean to be hard on the OP.Welcome to AS, it's a great place with great folks.All I meant was a little communication could have prevented this problem.

--just wondering if most of your customers are fireplace users, or wood heater users. 16" is incredibly common as some sort of standard size most any place I have lived, for use in stoves or heaters. Also makes for uniform easy to measure out full cords. Three rows of 4 foot high and 8 foot long. 24" for fireplace wood or large boiler wood is two rows pretty easy to measure out. 18 inch wood or 20??? 18, OK, maybe, but 20 is way clunky sized, IMO.

Yes, doable, just seems clunky. Back in the day, we did 12 (double a "normal" split) , 16 (regular handfull sized split), or 24, depending on what they wanted, wood cookstove, normal heater, fireplace. And fireplace wood was typically smallish diameter, unsplit. "Pretty" logs. Got more requests for that then split wood. Usually birch logs.

 

[Swamp Yankee]

Been at this for a long time

Second question to any new customer is what length? First is how do you plan on paying?

With the exception of a couple regulars over the years, I've always cut "stove wood" to 16 to 18 inches. When I deliver I tell my customers if when they're stacking they find anything they feel needs to be trimmed to put it in a pile, let me know and when I'm in the area I'll come and snip it down if they wish. Most will handle it themselves but once in a blue moon I'll get a single Mom or and elderly customer that will call. In most cases it's 1/2 dozen pieces or so. Takes 5 minutes when I'm in their area but builds good customer relations. Been known to smack a couple with the mall too if they ask.

Not assigning any fault, but I think in this case there's a shared responsibility. The seller should know what length he's produced, and the buyer should know what length he needs.

As an aside, I have customers with, and I as well have a stove, Jotul F118, that takes 24 inch length wood. That said, I cut it to 20 to 22 inches for them, (no complaints) and myself. Having a little clearance built in certainly makes loading the stove much easier.

Take Care

 

[redheadwoodshed]

--just wondering if most of your customers are fireplace users, or wood heater users. 16" is incredibly common as some sort of standard size most any place I have lived, for use in stoves or heaters. Also makes for uniform easy to measure out full cords. Three rows of 4 foot high and 8 foot long. 24" for fireplace wood or large boiler wood is two rows pretty easy to measure out. 18 inch wood or 20??? 18, OK, maybe, but 20 is way clunky sized, IMO.

Yes, doable, just seems clunky. Back in the day, we did 12 (double a "normal" split) , 16 (regular handfull sized split), or 24, depending on what they wanted, wood cookstove, normal heater, fireplace. And fireplace wood was typically smallish diameter, unsplit. "Pretty" logs. Got more requests for that then split wood. Usually birch logs.

From what I have gathered over the years, the most common wood burner for my customers is wood heaters.Them big old Ashleys with the 30" firebox is still pretty common around here.Also, the old fashioned cast iron boxwood stoves are fairly common as well and they handle 20" wood just fine.My 2 stovewood burners have old woodstoves at their deercamps with the little firebox on the side,oven and waterheater all in one.And yes,they pay extra for the smaller splits.The folks I sell to with fireplaces have never commented on the length, and most of my customers are repeats from over the years.
I have a fireplace and an old Ashley.I burn sweetgum cut 24" mostly in the Ashley, because I cut a lot of it out of peoples yards and fencerows etc. and nobody will buy that so I use it instead of my for "sale wood" with no problems.
When I quoted 18-20 that is mostly for a range.I mark my logs at 18", sometimes I get crooked a little cutting.

 

[kmcinms]

Wow, good discussion

I'm not in the firewood business, but I have sold wood before. The 16" "standard" you guys talk about is new to me and seems to be more work to process 128 cu ft. than with using 24" wood, but it makes sense when selling cu ft. orders for short wood. I cut my heater wood between 18-22" and average 20". The 22" is when I want to leave the doors open and watch the fire. Both my inserts have 24"+ capacity, 20-22" works great in them. 18"-20", along with all the odds and ends, is what I burn day in and day out. I sell the 18-20" to customers with wood heater inserts and never had a complaint about the length. I have some that want 24" for the fireplace and want it split smaller for a good burn. No problem for me. They get all the nice straight stuff and I can use all the odd stuff in my heaters.
Back to the OP, like a lot on here have said, call the guy back and 'splain to him what you need. Happy burning.

 

[kmcinms]

From what I have gathered over the years, the most common wood burner for my customers is wood heaters.Them big old Ashleys with the 30" firebox is still pretty common around here.Also, the old fashioned cast iron boxwood stoves are fairly common as well and they handle 20" wood just fine.My 2 stovewood burners have old woodstoves at their deercamps with the little firebox on the side,oven and waterheater all in one.And yes,they pay extra for the smaller splits.The folks I sell to with fireplaces have never commented on the length, and most of my customers are repeats from over the years.
I have a fireplace and an old Ashley.I burn sweetgum cut 24" mostly in the Ashley, because I cut a lot of it out of peoples yards and fencerows etc. and nobody will buy that so I use it instead of my for "sale wood" with no problems.
When I quoted 18-20 that is mostly for a range.I mark my logs at 18", sometimes I get crooked a little cutting.

Right on! Same here, been boinin' gum since I started my heaters this year. My Ashley holds 24" with no problem.

 

[mga]

i can understand the 16" rule, after all, if a cord is 4 x 4 x 8 then the cut wood has to be cut to make the 4 foot wide size. generally, 3 face cords make a full cord of wood.

so, if you are going to sell wood, cut it at 16". if you cut wood for personal use, cut it to the size you want.

16" seems to be the standard, why not stick with it?

 

[huskystihl]

20" + is not a standard length for firewood . You have a right to be pissed off and who ever sold you the wood should be ashamed
of themselves for ripping you off. In these parts anything over 16" is special order. I have sold hundreds of cords of wood and can
count on one hand customers who have asked for wood longer than 16".

I respectfully disagree. We to have sold thousands of cords and if I took 99% of our customers wood cut to 15" I would get a piece thrown through the truck window. That being said is exactly why we no longer sell firewood, most customers think a cord should be delivered in a semeye and 9 out of 10 customers wouldn't know a pice of oak if it was crammed in their crack. Used to do it during the winter for extra cash but it's just not worth it, it's much easier to dump full uncut timber from takedowns throughout the week. Let them deal with cutting splitting and griping when they find out how much work it actually is.