Im not looking to get robbed just meed to heat the new house. Is firewood that scarce in the area?
Short answer, Yes, big time.
I've been selling firewood in this area for 30 years, and have never seen available supplies of treelength this hard to come by. Not going to sugar coat it, unless you get real lucky this fall you can plan on burning green or at best semi-seasoned.
I sell true seasoned wood, about 50 cord a year. I am getting 3 to 5 calls a week right now from people looking for wood, plus several email inquiries, (from former customers that went elsewhere because I was too expensive) and I don't advertise. I have a waiting list of 11 people right now. I tell any new requests that I will not deliver or take an order until I have delivered to all my regular customers and know exactly what is available. If there is any left over I'll start at the top and work my way down.
Even the really big firewood guys in the area that run processors have stopped advertising for a while. Some are sitting on their wood to see how high the price will go. Safe bet as it's not going down.
So what's going on you may wonder? NE CT despite being one of the most productive red oak stands in New England, has been hit by several factors that have dried up the wood supplies to retailers. I have an order in for 7 grapple loads for the 2016-2017 season and I'll be lucky if it shows up by Christmas.
1- Last winter wiped out all supplies of anything even remotely seasoned. If it might burn, it was pulled and sold as an alternative to people cutting up the the dining room table. In Feb. and March there were not even pallets available that's how tough it got. So by pulling out all the tops and cull trees late last winter, it's not available now as it's already gone up in smoke so to speak.
2-Mud season was relentless. Those companies that had wood available couldn't harvest and get it out because of the mud. Whether it was skidding out of the woods, or trying to get the log trucks in and out of the landing, nothing moved and they've been playing catch up ever since. As saw logs take priority, and many are transporting 7 days a week to the mill(s), trucking firewood is on the back burner.
3- This is a biggie and it's not going away. Wood chips are valuable. Tops and cull trees are being run through whole tree chippers to supply the big bio-mass boilers either on line or coming on line in the region. The new plant in Plainfield is going to really suck the area's firewood supply dry The loggers / timber buyers sell the chip trees in the landing, and get a check quickly with no headaches of transport and showing up at idiot yuppies' houses that don't have a clue how much room is needed to get a grapple truck in let alone unload it.
My advice is simple and it's the same I give whenever this question comes up. To avoid being burned when contacting suppliers.
1-Ask for references. If they're legit they should be able to supply at least 3 to 4 off the top of their head.
2-Go and see the wood before it's contracted. If they say no, they have something to hide, (most likely cutting and splitting off a pile). I always welcome new customers to my processing area so they can see what they're getting. The product sells itself at that point.
3-Get a moisture meter. Harbor Freight sells one for under $10. When the wood supplier shows up, grab a 1/2 dozen pieces from the truck, red oak if that's what's on there, measure the end grain and then split the pieces and measure the internal moisture content.
Welcome to the neighborhood.
Take Care
not looking for free!
