Ideas for finding free or cheap firewood?

[beerman6]

It makes me sick...6 days of the week on my drive home I go thru a state park.There is hundreds of fallen and or standing dead trees that I can see from my car at 55mph,and you cant touch them

 

[Ductape]

I have hit a few good finds on CL, but usually woodbooga has beat me to them !

I have had a bunch of trees given to me by non-woodburning friends.

I've found some on the side of the road that was cut by the utility (but ask landowners permission).

I've tried asking tree services, when i come across them working, but have never ended up with any wood that way.

You just need to be persistant, and get the word out. Tell everyone you know you are looking for wood. Eventually it will pay off. The only time i've ever paid for wood was the one time i was way low, and paid $80 for a pickup load...... several years ago. I'm one of those guys who doesn't believe in paying for firewood.

 

[troy3300]

Try giving companies that have "hardwoods or hardwood products" in their name. Sometimes they sell their scrape for firewood. I have a place here I called and told them I have a 16 ft long 7 ft. wide trailer that I want to stack 4 ft high. They told me $20. If I just wanted to fill my truck it would only be $10. Now since these pieces are square and stack tight with little to no space that would equal approx. 4 cords of oak and cherry wood on the trailer.

 

[Dan_IN_MN]

Huge termites?

Around here, the line crews drop, cut, and leave it. The wood disappears within hours.

Huge termites? :greenchainsaw:

 

[dingeryote]

:monkey: Any idea on where or what department to call to get one of them?

beerman,

Try deeds and registers, and check your countys web page. Some countys have all parcels mapped out complete with USGS and census overlays.

If nothing else, somebody in one department should be able to point ya in the right direction.

Funny thing, the Tastee Freeze downtown used to sell them for this county LOL!!

Times change. The Old Tasty Freeze is now a Taco joint.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[beerman6]

I've been looking on line,no luck so far.I'm gonna call the deed dude in the morning.I want to contact the people that own the feild south of me and find out if I can clean up our property lines.

 

[chainsawaddict]

I did some searching online and found for Illinois at least, they'll sell you the permit for $10, but it's only good for 1 day (whenever the park manager decides to open it to firewood pickup), you only get to take 1 shortbed truck load of wood out, and you're limited to 2 per year. Kind of a joke IMO. We don't have a whole lot of State parks close by me anyway, so I think that's a lost cause at this point.

Tons of timber around here, I think it's a matter of making the right friends...

wow, thats crazy, for $20 bucks I get four cords on the honor system. They even give me a map to the different piles.

 

[bama]

Around here, the line crews drop, cut, and leave it. The wood disappears within hours.

Up here, the line crews do the same, but it never gets picked up. I have a friend that is a lineman and he told me of one stretch of road in which they cut back a mile of mature red oak. Figured it was at least 100 cord. He took all he could and there was still a pile left to rot. Not many burn wood where the cutting took place.

I would check with the local powerlineman.

 

[bama]

It makes me sick...6 days of the week on my drive home I go thru a state park.There is hundreds of fallen and or standing dead trees that I can see from my car at 55mph,and you cant touch them

I know you could get permits in SD state parks. You had to take the trees that were not marked. I think it was like $25 for a few pickup loads or something like that. Haven't checked in MN......Haven't needed to.

 

[bayshorecs]

Up here, the line crews do the same, but it never gets picked up. I have a friend that is a lineman and he told me of one stretch of road in which they cut back a mile of mature red oak. Figured it was at least 100 cord. He took all he could and there was still a pile left to rot. Not many burn wood where the cutting took place.

I would check with the local powerlineman.

Wow. I bet it was like a kid in a candy store!

 

[aandabooks]

Hey Bayshorecs,

Why do you go through Sparland everyday? I think I know the pile you're talking about. My property is 3 miles from Sparland up on Camp Grove Rd. 8 acres of timber and 8 acres of tillable.

 

[bayshorecs]

Hey Bayshorecs,

Why do you go through Sparland everyday? I think I know the pile you're talking about. My property is 3 miles from Sparland up on Camp Grove Rd. 8 acres of timber and 8 acres of tillable.

I drive from Elmwood to Toluca every day going down Route 17. The pile I am thinking of is on top of the hill on 17 just after the school (going east).

Doesn't look like a LOT of wood from the road. Maybe 2 cords. I think a drainage area was cleaned out and the tree line along the road removed. All pushed into a pile there.

 

[aandabooks]

Not the one I was thinking of. The one I'm thinking of is on Rt. 29 on the west side between Henry and Sparland. Pushed back off the field behind a fairly newly constructed house. You work at the Cookie Factory in Toluca?

 

[bayshorecs]

I manage the datacenter and onsite DBA at windsor foods in toluca.

 

[bowtechmadman]

Any National Forests near ya? You can get a permit for National Forest land for 20 bucks (atleast last year was 20). Depending on where you can take dead and down...some areas dead standing as well, and you can take 5 full cord.
Only bad part is you need to stay on the two tracks...could mean some hauling.

 

[bayshorecs]

Any National Forests near ya? You can get a permit for National Forest land for 20 bucks (atleast last year was 20). Depending on where you can take dead and down...some areas dead standing as well, and you can take 5 full cord.
Only bad part is you need to stay on the two tracks...could mean some hauling.

No real national forests around here. There is a lot of trees around, just need some family and/or friends and you are set.

 

[thejdman04]

craigslist, you can usually get wood outta farmers fence lines if you treat them right

 

[woodbooga]

I have hit a few good finds on CL, but usually woodbooga has beat me to them !

I have had a bunch of trees given to me by non-woodburning friends.

I've found some on the side of the road that was cut by the utility (but ask landowners permission).

I've tried asking tree services, when i come across them working, but have never ended up with any wood that way.

You just need to be persistant, and get the word out. Tell everyone you know you are looking for wood. Eventually it will pay off. The only time i've ever paid for wood was the one time i was way low, and paid $80 for a pickup load...... several years ago. I'm one of those guys who doesn't believe in paying for firewood.

My strategy, too. Except CL. Never once responded. Guess I'm not savvy enough - to your benefit.

Persistence is key, as ductape says. Before I joined this site, I thought I was borderline mental the way I was always on the lookout and getting the word out.

One thing to always remember: don't get too discouraged if you hear no a lot. Eventually, you'll luck out.

Case in point, late in 2007 I was heading to the convenience mart after hitting the dump. A homeowner had just dropped a sugar maple snag. Talk about seasoned on the stump. Anyhow, he was out in his front yard. So I pulled over and asked what his plans were. He was a fellow woodburner who had definite plans for the wood. Except for the stuff that was 5" and less and I was welcome to it. Furthermore, he told me that I could have as much pine from a logging operation 3 years ago as I could cut. As well as any deadfall on his 100 acre farm.

Since then, I've hauled a lot of wood out of there and will be going back several times in the future.

P.S.: We baked him an apple pie and some other goodies as a small gesture of thanks.

 

[Austin1]

$5.25 for a firewood permit here. Any dead standing or blow down, on Forrest reserve land is fair game. Plus they are always building pipe lines, compressor stations and well heads.That means just follow the dozer or slashing crew
No hardwood here except birch and technically Poplar/Aspen.
I have made arrangements with a tree guy in the city for some Manitoba maple, elm and ash for this coming spring to be dumped in my drive,Always a way to get wood if you try and know somebody that knows somebody

 

[trimmmed]

Try your local golf courses you'd be surprised at how much wood they might have already cut and piled where you can drive right up to it.