Wooditis

[Wood Scrounge]

I thought I would share this story of my mental illness (my wife calls wooditis).
My neighbor builds custom homes for a living he recently told me that he cleared roughly 50 trees (which Sucks to no end) to build the house he is currently working on. He tells me I can go there and take as much wood as I want once the mill has gone through it all. I get there and there is roughly 30 cords of mostly oak and hickory. I went every Sat morning and managed to haul ~3/4 of a cord every week for 4 weeks. However last week he tells me that the landscapers are coming soon and they are going to get rid of it all probably by throwing it into a giant chipper. I just about threw up at thought of all that wood getting chipped up I couldn’t sleep it occupied all my waking thoughts. I decided I had to take action; I called everyone I knew that burns wood and organized a cutting party for last Saturday. With the help of a dump truck, 3 pickups, 2 tri axle trailers and 6 guys we hauled out roughly 10 cords. But there STILL was wood there I decided to take a personal day and try to get another cord out of there. As I am cutting and loading my truck and trailer the landscapers showed up. I glared at them with complete distain (oh how I hated them) as they started to unload there gear and get their chippers setup. The supervisor came over and I told him what I was doing he sent over 3 of his guys to help me load my trailer (I still hated them). As I was driving away (almost in tears) the supervisor stopped me and asked for my address he would deliver the larger logs to my house MY HERO.
I ‘m glad it’s over I can sleep peaceably now. I got roughly 8 cords and my friends and family got about a 1 ½ cords each out of it.
Some of the emotion was exaggerated but I think most of you understand where I am coming from.

 

[saginaw22]

I would hate to see all that beautiful wood go to waste in a dam chipper
too....Thats great the super....hooked you up.

It most likely cost less than chipping all that wood.
So drop it off and forget about it.........plus hes most likely getting
paid either way.

 

[ropensaddle]

Too bad you weren't near me man wood is out my yeng yang
I get guys wanting it for free but it is after I have hauled it
home and I don't want unknowns at my residence.

 

[2FatGuys]

Our problem is trying to figure out what to do with the wood we are getting now. We (my partner and I) both heat with wood, so we have typically just cut split and hauled home after doing removals. We would sell some and give some to friends and family. Lately, we have had some huge "neighborhood trees" to work up. No sawmill will touch them for fear of hidden nails, etc. We have enough wood to last us each about 3 years and the piles are growing. If we could justify it better, we would invest in a firewood processor and a few illegals and then sell wood in bundles. I guess we are victims of "Wooditis" also. We never know how to say no when offered good wood or when doing removals.

 

[Mike Van]

Some years ago during one of the "building booms" around here, a big contractor got tired of all the "I'll get that wood" stories, and went and bought a Blue Ox chipper. After that, all the starter mansions built there were landscaped with chips from the trees that used to grow there. Funny, they always name those subdivisions after what they wrecked building them. Like - "Oak Hills" or "Birch Groves"

 

[Nailsbeats]

I am on a "No Wood Left Behind" program. I have been selling for about 2 years now. This year I put in a wood stove and will be building a wood shed this spring to get rid of the tarped piles. I imagine I will have so much more than I need that I will have to sell some, at a premium of course. Knowing there is good wood on the ground haunts my dreams. Wooditis forever!

 

[KMB]

I am on a "No Wood Left Behind" program...Wooditis forever!

Me too...whenever I find good wood...and find the time to get it...

Kevin

 

[buckwheat]

'just goes to show how much of a farce this year's Nobel Peace Prize was. You, sir, are the true humanitarian.

 

[rx7145]

I know how you feel. I can't stand to see good wood just get thrown away. I'm always keeping a eye out for pallets and other wood that I might be able to have. I see dead elm beside the road I want to stop and buck it up...

 

[blackdoggy]

:censored: People here burn up most all of the good tops and what ever is left is scattered across 50+ acres But I have a little ace up my sleeve I got to the compost pile 25 miles south of here and I get my loads:greenchainsaw: I got some one I can call to bring in a small single axle CDL dump truck load of wood for 60$ hehe.

 

[stonykill]

wooditis, so thats what I've got. I always wondered what the term was. I think the latin term is craziuos woodious, but not sure....

I felt your emotion in the post. I was getting worked up just reading it. Freakin....... :censored:.....nevermind

this post is rated pg13

 

[skytow]

Scrounge,

You are killin' me pal........

JD Also in Chester County, PA!

 

[Basso]

Free wood is GOOD !!!!!

Hello,
I have had the sickness for 26 years now !!!! I bought my first woodstove ( a Sierra) in 1981....I now have a Regency Hearthstove. I have not paid for a single stick of wood ever since and I have cords of wood ready to burn right now. I have always had plenty of wood on hand to burn. I got to thinking about this very subject a few days ago and thought that in 26 years, I never had to buy wood...that is pretty amazing. I do not live in a mountainous area which might make it easier to obtain wood, but I have always had friends or people I meet that have cut down trees and want to get rid of the wood....how sweet for me!!!! Now believe me, I am no slouch and have worked hard hauling, cutting and splitting the wood.......but the great part is that it has ALL been FREE !!!!!!

 

[Wood Scrounge]

Free is always good but I have found to take full advantage of these random wood bonanzas you have to have a few things, a good reliable saw, a means to transport the wood and a way to split the wood. I have done without one or another of these things and have missed out.
I don't have harvestable trees on my property so I have to rely on others. I find if you ask everyone you know someone always has some or knows someone that has some.
I bought a trailer for ~$1300 a splitter for ~$1000 I typically used 700 Gallons of oil a winter before I used wood heat at today’s price that’s roughly $2200. I now use less then 100 gallons, and slightly more electricity roughly $100 a winter, you can see that the extra equipment will pay for itself very quickly 1 to 2 years.
Wooditis is not necessarily a bad thing!

 

[stonykill]

Free is always good but I have found to take full advantage of these random wood bonanzas you have to have a few things, a good reliable saw, a means to transport the wood and a way to split the wood. I have done without one or another of these things and have missed out.
I don't have harvestable trees on my property so I have to rely on others. I find if you ask everyone you know someone always has some or knows someone that has some.
I bought a trailer for ~$1300 a splitter for ~$1000 I typically used 700 Gallons of oil a winter before I used wood heat at today’s price that’s roughly $2200. I now use less then 100 gallons, and slightly more electricity roughly $100 a winter, you can see that the extra equipment will pay for itself very quickly 1 to 2 years.
Wooditis is not necessarily a bad thing!

True you need these things. I got my 12 foot trailer , in perfect useable, but ugly condition for $100. I share a splitter with my 65 year old dad, $600 my portion, I haven't bought fuel oil since 1991, and don't even have an oil furnace anymore. The owb heats the shop, house and my domestic hot water. I'm saving roughly $75 per month on the electric bill from not using my hot water heater. Before the boiler, it was woodstoves as the sole source of heat. The woodstoves are still in place, in case the owb goes down for a day. It hasn't but it could happen. I don't buy wood, I scrounge and cut dead off my land. In 1990, the last year I used oil, my heating bill was $1200. Today that would be $3000 at least. I know wooditis has been good to me!

 

[Gatsby174]

I believe I have two types of wooditis. The first heats my house. The second occurs every morning :jester:

 

[FishZapper]

What should I do if my wooditis lasts longer than 4 hours?

 

[Wood Scrounge]

What should I do if my wooditis lasts longer than 4 hours?

Fire up the saw and don't stop until it's gone. should only take 30-50 years depending on how old you are now.

 

[sredlin]

well my propane tank is plump full from 2 years ago when I my wooditis started getting real bad again---this year I cut mine and sold 10 heaping pickup loads @ $85 a piece --------that money I figure should go toward more equipment----I have a splitter but hand split some when its cold out---just like to break stuff---

 

[jonny2bad]

I get most of mine from the side of the road, dead and i always look both ways before falling the tree. The town crew loves me for doin this as they dont have to mess with it when its blown into the road.