Sheesh, burning wood is expensive

[Dale]

- Did you drive (tractor, truck, atv) to the woodlot (time/fuel consumption/wear and tear) ?
- Did you fuel up the saws, oill, bar oil in (time/ fuel/oil consumption/wear and tear)?
- Did you fell a 60' 20" dia tree ? (time/tiresome/ inherently dangerous)
- Did you limb and buck the tree (time/tiresome/ inherently dangerous)
- Did you ever spend $$ in an ER getting a leg wound sutured ? (ya, but only once in 30+ years haha)
- Did you carry and load the rounds into a truck or trailer ? (time and tiresome)
- Did youdrive back home from the woodlot (time/fuel consumption/MORE wear and tear)
- Did you unload the rounds (time and tiresome)?
- Did you split the rounds (time/tiresome/fuel consumption if mechanical)?
- Did you stack the splits (time and tiresome)?
- Did you manually sharpen chains to prep for next cut ? (time/ money if you paid)
- Did you wheel some splits to the house to feed the woodburner (time and a wee bit tiresome) ?

No wonder I'm broke. HAHA !

 

[CWME]

Yes, yes, and more yes BUT aside from a little $ for fuel in the saws, splitter, and tractor the oil man didn't get me over the barrel.

 

[Zeus103363]

spent money on all that, and in the Dr office today with a strained muscle in the ole back! Just a Little setback because I'm gonna gonget back in the woods and spend some more money.


Thanks

 

[Whitespider]

WOW man‼ You really need to reevaluate your firewood making system and make some adjustments.

- Did you drive (tractor, truck, atv) to the woodlot (time/fuel consumption/wear and tear) ? NO‼ My woodlot is my back yard.
- Did you fuel up the saws, oill, bar oil in (time/ fuel/oil consumption/wear and tear)? - Yes, that's a necessity, but fueling up don't use much time and it ain't all that expensive.
- Did you fell a 60' 20" dia tree ? (time/tiresome/ inherently dangerous) - No, much larger diameter (no sense screwin' 'round with little stuff), and not near as tiresome as paying the LP bill every month... felling is kind'a fun actually.
- Did you limb and buck the tree (time/tiresome/ inherently dangerous) - Well, again, that's a necessity... I am makin' firewood.
- Did you ever spend $$ in an ER getting a leg wound sutured ? (ya, but only once in 30+ years haha) - NO‼ I self-doctor‼
- Did you carry and load the rounds into a truck or trailer ? (time and tiresome) - NO‼ I split on-site, the only ting I load is the splits coming of the wedge.
- Did you drive back home from the woodlot (time/fuel consumption/MORE wear and tear) - NO‼ See the first question.
- Did you unload the rounds (time and tiresome)? - NO‼ See the sixth question.
- Did you split the rounds (time/tiresome/fuel consumption if mechanical)? - Well, once again, that's a necessity... but my little splitter runs most of a day on less than 2 gallon gas.
- Did you stack the splits (time and tiresome)? - Yes, as I unloaded them... it don't take much time grabbing them from the trailer sitting right next to the stack.
- Did you manually sharpen chains to prep for next cut ? (time/ money if you paid) - Yes, but the time would have been wasted if'n I wasn't sharpening 'cause I'd have just been sitting in the shop swilling beer... sharpening makes beer-swilling time productive. What money?? You mean the buck-and-a-half for the file??
- Did you wheel some splits to the house to feed the woodburner (time and a wee bit tiresome) ? - Wheel?? NO‼ Heck, I use the garden tractor and trailer, back-up to the old coal chute, and toss them in the basement (sometimes while swilling beer).

What's all this "tiresome" crap... "tiresome" is sittin' in the house listening to the wife drone on-and-on-and-on-and...
And time... c'mon... cuttin' the grass, eatin', and sleepin' all take "time"... but, if'n I was using the system you describe above... well...

 

[Chris-PA]

I would not be heating with wood if the wood were not already on my property, due to the required equipment investment, maintenance and fuel costs, and the risks associated with the shortages I'm expecting. Most of my wood is moved with an old 12hp Wheel Horse and a cart. While I am using fuel, this house could be heated without it, as it was 180 years ago when it was built - and the stoves I have now are many times more effective than anything they had, so the wood requirements would be drastically lower.

 

[CTYank]

I routinely get begged to take wood away, please, like after hurricanes and such. My first priority is often to clean up storm damage. If I have to make room somehow to accomodate a few truckloads of oak/ash/black birch I'll just suck it up and do it. That story works.

Haven't lit the pilot even, in my gas furnace for eight? (so long ago, I forget) years now.

When I think of all the local yuppies and older yuppies that pay their fitness coaches and gyms, and have no tangible product to show for it, my various wood stacks are like money in the bank, after raising a good sweat. Better than that, even. Give you a great feeling.

 

[Whitespider]

My one and only saw is 20-some-years-old...
My little splitter is 30-some-years-old, and I inherited (borrowed and never returned) it from my father some number of years ago (he don't have use for it anymore)...
I have a Fiskars (birthday present a couple years back), an old plittin' maul I've had so long I don't remember where it came from, and a few axes, hatchets, wedges and whatnot that have just sort'a "come-into-my-possession" through gifts, inheritances, trades, flea markets and such...
I haul the wood from my woodlot using a 1968 Sears garden tractor (traded an old shotgun for it near 40 years ago) and an old army trailer (inherited from my grandfather about 30 years ago)...
There are a few log chains, cables, ropes, pulleys, and other things of that sort that I use on occasion when making firewood, but they weren't acquired specifically for that purpose, just stuff I've always had around the place...
I normally get 2-4 cuttin' chains as Christmas presents every year (I put 'em on my list), and Santa always puts a handful of files in my stocking...
I've never bought a wood-fired appliance until this last one, which I bought used pretty darn cheap...
And I've never hired anyone to install them either...
Heck, I even have people pullin' in the yard with tandem-axle dump truck loads of bucked/seasoned firewood all I need to do is split the stuff and toss it in the basement...

Really, my only "expenses" are the fuel and oil (for the saw, splitter and garden tractor)... and even if I didn't burn wood I'd still have the saw and tractor (just necessary stuff out here), so I'd still have the fuel and oil (heck, the fuel gets used in several pieces of equipment and toys).
I burn wood for heat because it's readily accessible, relatively convenient, and it don't really cost me anything but my time... and only the time I choose to spend on it... and I have a system that makes pretty efficient use of that time...
I've said this before... if I had to drive somewhere for firewood, and haul it down the road, I likely wouldn't bother.
*

 

[CRThomas]

I have about $300.000.00 in equipment in my firewood business how much could I save if I went to gas or electric. After all exspences we clear about $70.000.00 to $80.000.00 a year. How would I break that down to cost.

 

[Jutt]

- Did you drive (tractor, truck, atv) to the woodlot (time/fuel consumption/wear and tear) ?
- Did you fuel up the saws, oill, bar oil in (time/ fuel/oil consumption/wear and tear)?
- Did you fell a 60' 20" dia tree ? (time/tiresome/ inherently dangerous)
- Did you limb and buck the tree (time/tiresome/ inherently dangerous)
- Did you ever spend $$ in an ER getting a leg wound sutured ? (ya, but only once in 30+ years haha)
- Did you carry and load the rounds into a truck or trailer ? (time and tiresome)
- Did youdrive back home from the woodlot (time/fuel consumption/MORE wear and tear)
- Did you unload the rounds (time and tiresome)?
- Did you split the rounds (time/tiresome/fuel consumption if mechanical)?
- Did you stack the splits (time and tiresome)?
- Did you manually sharpen chains to prep for next cut ? (time/ money if you paid)
- Did you wheel some splits to the house to feed the woodburner (time and a wee bit tiresome) ?

No wonder I'm broke. HAHA !

I sit in an office (voip/computer lab) all day M-F. Instead of golf or some other relatively worthless hobby, I burn wood. Burning wood keeps me "balanced" as God did not create man to sit around in an office all day, granted I enjoy my job and we're very blessed but still, whether we burn wood, or garden, or raise livestock, or build things, or participate in some other self sustaining activity, I believe man is left wanting without that kind of outlet. That being said, here's how I break down the costs from the perspective of comparing one hobby (burning wood) to another (golf):

- Chainsaw costs, felling, limbing, bucking, unloading, splitting, hauling, stacking, sharpening: A heckuva lot less money and time then what would be wasted on custom golf clubs, greens fees, playing 18 holes every weekend and/or country club memberships.
- Think cutting wood is dangerous? Lee Trevino has been struck by lightening TWICE while playing golf.
- Golf won't keep my family warm in the winter.
- Golf doesn't produce heat when the power goes out.
- The satisfaction gained during a round of golf is short-lived whereas staring at a big stack of wood provides an inherent long-term satisfaction (assuming you keep those stacks filled up), that's how we were designed.
- Golf won't make me physically stronger or help keep me in shape
- Gathering the family around the golf clubs during the winter would be a disappointing experience
- Romance by the light of golf clubs is impossible (Tiger Woods may argue that point)
- Golf doesn't reduce my natural gas bill by 80%
- Golf doesn't provide any benefits for my family
- Swinging a golf club isn't nearly as exciting as running a saw
- Can't barter golf during a zombie apocalypse

Wood burning certainly isn't for everyone and there are a lot of hobbies one can fill their time with. Most folks in the US can afford to buy wood or some other form of heat to keep their family's comfortable during winter. But providing that resource with your own bare hands is very powerful and very satisfying thing that, IMO, more that justifies the time and costs involved.

 

[zogger]

Hmmmm..I do it because it is here, I like running the tools, I have trees that need to be cleared or cleaned up from the sides of the pastures, etc.

I have money into my personal tools, but the majority I haul is done with my boss's tractor running his diesel, and he doesn't care a whit, it is not excessive, a few gallon a year. compared to what I burn and the hours on the tractor bushogging/spraying/haying it is negligible.

Now I am working on my own 4wd trucks, so I can have at least one dedicated stocked firewooding rig I can jump into and go get wood for an odd hour now and then, rather than switch do-dads on the back of the tractor, load up gear etc..just because I enjoy it, it's my sport, like some guys play golf. The cost is sunk, everyone has a sport or hobby they blow some cash on, and my hobby pays off in good firewood for heating. Quit drinkin beer years ago, this is way less than what beer used to cost me...

Thinking about it, total cost for firewooding since I joined this site, saws, project trucks, etc, proly 2-3 bucks a day tops, not that much. I think going on year five, no propane for heating, would use a full 250 gallon tank per winter (and technically I didn't pay that, but it saves my boss the loot, so I am not shy about a little tractor time and offroad diesel)

I am *hoping* to be able to do some outside paid custom cutting/ tree jobs eventually, using the larger pickups. That remains to be seen if it will happen, but that is one goal, to make all the gear at least pay for itself.

 

[flotek]

Lately I just have my wood brought in on a giant roll off dumpster for 350$
For around 5. Cords. .. It's Already cut to length and dumped in a giant pile by my house .its too easy and Too cheap to do it any other way

 

[stihly dan]

My answer is yes to everything. I did wood because it was cheaper. I have spent a good amount of money on things, 95% of that was on great deals so I can get that money back if I want to. I save enough money each year that the family can actually feel and see the difference. I joined this site, learned a crap load of useful stuff (not all firewood related either.) The biggest benefit of scrounging my heat is "I used to think I was old, until I joined this site and met the mass of OLD FOGIES still kicking it hard.

 

[Erik B]

When you consider the yearly expenses of propane or oil or electricity for heating, over the years it adds up. I don't buy a new splitter every year or a new chainsaw or wood stove. My capital expenses are very low when spread out over 20-30 years The money I save burning wood is more than enough to cover the yearly gas and oil and equipment replacement when necessary. Gotta have something to do in retirement.

 

[Joesell]

I have a guy that drops a 40 yard dumpster filled with 85% hardwood for $65.

I buck the logs into rounds.

Rounds get lifted with the log lift, Split with the 4 way, and taken away with the conveyor.

Load the totes with the skidder, and move them to a drying area.

Move totes to the OWB with skidder as needed.

Every piece of equipment I own could be sold for more then I paid, even if I sold them 5 years from now.

 

[unclemoustache]

Burning wood is really cheap. It's the prep work that's the bugger.

 

[pennsywoodburnr]

My house is just a small, converted to full time use vacation home. The only "heat" I guess you could call it in here is the baseboards and the fireplace. When the wife and I moved in here back at the tail end of '06 the monthly bill during the winter was between $300-350 for just the electricity.....that was before the rate hikes, so I'd hate to see it now! Pretty much since that first year when we got in here, I've been doing the firewood thing, which really helps. We sit on a couple acres, but no where near as much acreage as some of the fella's on here. Still, usually 1 or 2 trees need to come down a year on the property because of die-off, growing too close to something, etc. That being said, it's still WAY cheaper for me to harvest my own firewood even if I have to drive a short ways for it. My rule is no more than 15, maybe 20 minutes, TOPS, drive away from the house to get firewood. Anything after that is more counter-productive due to gas, wear and tear, etc. Most of my splitting is done by hand, so just time and energy on that one. Gas for the saws is miniscule and doesn't really even register as an expense. On the plus side, if I suspect the gallon I bought and treated with Startron has been sitting around just a little too long, I'll dump it in either the van or the mower, or both, if I have enough left over. The top ends on both of these have gotten a little additional lube from Mr. Klotz over the years. Most of the other things you listed just needed time and elbow grease. That part is fine with me, as I never really try to tackle everything in one sitting. I'd be so burned out, looking at a split would probably make me have a stroke. So some days I'll just cut, then leave it before I get too tired. Come back a couple days later and scoop up the rounds (this only applies to people i'm cutting for). If it was a roadside scrounge, then it's cut up, haul back and dump, then go back for more until the supply runs out. After everything is back and it's piled in rows, I take my sweet time busting it apart and stacking it. Maybe 1 wheelbarrow full a day, sometimes 4 or 5 if I'm energetic enough lol. Just chipping away a little here and there really adds up. My wife knows people at her church that gave up on heating with wood just because they tried cramming all of the work INTO ONE WEEKEND!! No thanks! I'll work at it spring, summer, and fall in short spurts and enjoy my heat during the winter.

 

[ijon1]

Before I got my outdoor wood boiler fourteen years ago I heated with a Buck stove insert in the fireplace. We had milder winters then. Have always tried to figure out how to get away from the propane bill. Gives you a good feeling cutting wood. Thing is getting your operation more efficient will help you in the end. It will help the wear and tare on your body. Getting a set of forks for my tractor is one of the best tools I have. Using them to buck wood standing up is a whole lot better than leaning over and keeps the saw tip out of the dirt. There are deals on equipment out there if you look for them.

 

[Fred Wright]

Well... I've done most of these; guess everyone who processes firewood can say Yes to many if not all and more. Thankfully, I've not experienced medical conditions that a couple Aleve wouldn't fix.

I wouldn't call firewooding a hobby but that's just me. I see it as a necessity. Accumulating winter fuel ain't done only for the love of it. It is easy to fall in love with processing your own fuel, however.

It is a costly undertaking to get started, 'tis true. But the initial costs are one-time expenses. Buy once, cry once. Wood burning has a comparably short payback span. The maintenance and extras like saw fuel, bar oil, chain loops, transport etc are actually quite low when compared to fossil fuel BTUs.

I don't count my time as an expense. If we were running a firewood business, we would. In business, time is inventory. But this done on my own time when I'd probably be sitting on my dead arse watching television or engaging in some other nonproductive pursuit.

 

[7sleeper]

What cost's me the most is my online bill so that I can stay in touch with you guys...



7

 

[CRThomas]

You firewood business makes my home and business cost by gas $16.00 my light Bill for house and business $75.00 4400 square ft house but our water bill is $110.00 month some thing is wrong I think