some treasure is just wood

jerseyben · Nov 9, 2015

Scored a load of firewood this weekend at a garage sale for $40. Grabbed half a cord of splits that are bone dry! The guy told me I can take as much as I want and it looks like there is about 2 cords on the property. So far I managed to fill my truck bed 3/4 of the way. It is only about 3 miles from my house so I will be making a few more trips. Only downside is that it is back breaking work moving all this wood by myself.

Note: 1 cord of seasoned split wood is about $180 delivered.

Peyton Manning · Nov 9, 2015

nice ( I almost hate to tell you I get all my wood from the shop I work in. All kiln dried hickory. oh and it's free)

billjustbill · Nov 9, 2015

Jersey,

There's not many things better than a good fire on a cold, icy day! Prices down in North Central Texas range from $200 to $250, dumped-delivered. That's about the same cost of what Propane would cost for the same "warmth". But, when you can find wood that's cut, split, stacked, and seasoned for those prices, the work to get it home still makes it a double bargain: Cheap and makes home, "HOME" on a cold winter day...

Great find,
Bill

DeepseekerADS · Nov 10, 2015

That's a good score Ben. Here in SW Virginia a cord of hardwood delivered runs around $225.

I cut my own. If it hits the ground it goes into the stove..... I've already started burning for the season....

4'x4'x8'

Marylanddetctr · Nov 10, 2015

I sell it for 215 a cord, all oak though , u got a deal obviously

diggummup · Nov 10, 2015

Not much firewood being sold in these parts, lol. I remember the days of cutting/splitting wood for $5 an hour back in the 80's on an 1800 acre farm in Ky., downed or dead trees only, lotsa ash. How anyone never lost a limb or got stitches is beyond me, as careless as we were. The upside was, the owner let us have all the walnuts we wanted and there were many trees on the property. We'd load truck fulls for several weeks. The things we used to do to buy groceries. :sadsmiley:

jerseyben · Nov 10, 2015

I don't know why but firewood is rather plentiful in my area. I have purchased a truckload of 60% cedar and 40% oak for $130 last year. I realized back in march that I see stacks of wood on people's properties when I go there for some sort of yard/estate sale. Well I started asking people if the wood was for sale and sure enough, people were more than happy to get rid of the wood piles for cheap.

SnakemanBill · Nov 10, 2015

Been "off the wood" for 12 years now. Switched to a pellet stove. Cleaner, more efficient and no more bringing in of Black Widows to have them warm up in the wood box and start moving through the house. I go through 1-2 tons of hardwood pellets at ~$250 a ton on average a winter.

trdhrdr007 · Nov 10, 2015

I guess I've got it made here. It gets cold enough for fires but not cold enough for most people to have fireplaces. I moved into my current house that has a fireplace almost 14 years ago & have never paid for firewood. I pick it up by the side of the road whenever I'm getting low and/or it's convenient. The city won't take it unless it's less than 5' long & most people cut it to firewood size because it's easier to carry or throw in a wheelbarrow.

MRBeyer · Nov 11, 2015

In 1976 while the rest of the country was preparing for the bicentennial our small town in Michigan was preparing for its sesquacentennial 150 years. Somehow the town council got its great idea to do old time contests and booths. Now, several months before my dad asked us (brother, sister, and I) if we all wanted to go to Disneyworld the next fall (1976). We of course were volunteering to do anything to help save and make money for the trip. So, my dad's big thing was we would cut and split firewood to keep down the heating costs. Being the chief of police he had the road crew drop off a couple dump truck loads of huge trees, way too big for our chain saws to cut through. So, he got us a two person hand crosscut saw. My brother and I got pretty good at it putting in almost an hour a day on it. Now, about the festivities, yep, they had log cutting and splitting contests of which some semi pros showed up to use it as practice for their big competitions. Well the rail thin 14 year old with his big shouldred 16 year old brother won the log cutting, my brother also placed third in the wood chopping contest. All with off the shelf and antique stuff. Later as I am on cloud nine about winning I saw my dad in uniform standing with the business owners of our community. Of course I asked him if he saw us and also how his day was going. He's smiling and saying its going great. All the businessmen look like someone shot their dog. So I asked my dad how much he won on betting on us. After the businessmen realized my dad had set them up he fessed up that he had won $500 and the use of an RV for our trip.

The trip to Disneyworld was awesome.

cazisme · Nov 11, 2015

Ben,

Around here if you ask to take the wood for free about 2/3 of the time they say good thanks !

bdsawyer · Nov 12, 2015

MRBeyer said:
In 1976 while the rest of the country was preparing for the bicentennial our small town in Michigan was preparing for its sesquacentennial 150 years. Somehow the town council got its great idea to do old time contests and booths. Now, several months before my dad asked us (brother, sister, and I) if we all wanted to go to Disneyworld the next fall (1976). We of course were volunteering to do anything to help save and make money for the trip. So, my dad's big thing was we would cut and split firewood to keep down the heating costs. Being the chief of police he had the road crew drop off a couple dump truck loads of huge trees, way too big for our chain saws to cut through. So, he got us a two person hand crosscut saw. My brother and I got pretty good at it putting in almost an hour a day on it. Now, about the festivities, yep, they had log cutting and splitting contests of which some semi pros showed up to use it as practice for their big competitions. Well the rail thin 14 year old with his big shouldred 16 year old brother won the log cutting, my brother also placed third in the wood chopping contest. All with off the shelf and antique stuff. Later as I am on cloud nine about winning I saw my dad in uniform standing with the business owners of our community. Of course I asked him if he saw us and also how his day was going. He's smiling and saying its going great. All the businessmen look like someone shot their dog. So I asked my dad how much he won on betting on us. After the businessmen realized my dad had set them up he fessed up that he had won $500 and the use of an RV for our trip.

The trip to Disneyworld was awesome.

Awesome story!

billjustbill · Nov 12, 2015

"some treasure is just wood''

After a strong windstorm, the city just wanted the old and tall Pecan tree removed. Some of the city staff came by and cut the smaller limbs for "barbeque" wood and left the "real work" laying on the ground. But, it was free for the asking....

There comes a time when wood is just too good to cut, split, and burn. The first limb of this old tree started at 15 feet from the rotted stump which was the real reason it blew over. (see the pic of my 20" bar chain saw compared to size of stump) Air drying hardwood works if you seal the ends of the wood, stack the wood with space between the slabs, keep it in the dry, and allow at least ONE YEAR for each inch of thickness.

"FREE" is really in the eyes of the beholder.... :tongue3:

It took two chain saws, three or four sharp chains for each, and several gallons of bar oil and oil/gas mix... but I got 3"-6" thick slabs of Pecan up to 20" wide. The green wet wood was heavy and using a two-wheel dolly, seven feet long is all I could handle due to their weight. You can buy "Rip Chains" that are made to cut with the grain of the wood, and that would have made the long cut much faster than the four days it took to cut....

The slabs are still air drying.... :happy3:

MRBeyer · Nov 12, 2015

Thanks, the best stories are the true ones. Weird sometimes, but true.

tamrock · Nov 13, 2015

Beats cutting and splitting it all yourself. Lost timber is found treasure in this business Timeless Timber | Century Old Logs Are Discovered, Recovered and Reused For Antique Furniture and Other Wood Products

cyberdan · Nov 13, 2015

I only bought wood once in my life. At the time I lived in north eastern WA. I bought just enough to fill the back of my pickup. It kept me from sliding around on the snowy roads. Without that wood I could not get over the pass. After winter I used it for BBQ.

Funny thing is I owned 14 acres, half was pine trees. I did not own a saw.

jerseyben · Nov 14, 2015

cyberdan said:
I only bought wood once in my life. At the time I lived in north eastern WA. I bought just enough to fill the back of my pickup. It kept me from sliding around on the snowy roads. Without that wood I could not get over the pass. After winter I used it for BBQ.

Funny thing is I owned 14 acres, half was pine trees. I did not own a saw.

It makes sense to me. Cutting and splitting wood yourself is very hard work. Why do you think it costs as much as $225 per cord delivered (as mentioned above)? It is back breaking work simply to load and unload it from my truck! Not to mention the wear and tear on the truck moving it. Even if you own acreage with trees on it, firewood is never going to be "cheap".

Gold Maven · Nov 14, 2015

billjustbill said:
"some treasure is just wood''

After a strong windstorm, the city just wanted the old and tall Pecan tree removed. Some of the city staff came by and cut the smaller limbs for "barbeque" wood and left the "real work" laying on the ground. But, it was free for the asking....

There comes a time when wood is just too good to cut, split, and burn. The first limb of this old tree started at 15 feet from the rotted stump which was the real reason it blew over. (see the pic of my 20" bar chain saw compared to size of stump) Air drying hardwood works if you seal the ends of the wood, stack the wood with space between the slabs, keep it in the dry, and allow at least ONE YEAR for each inch of thickness.

"FREE" is really in the eyes of the beholder.... It took two chain saws, three or four sharp chains for each, and several gallons of bar oil and oil/gas mix... but I got 3"-6" thick slabs of Pecan up to 20" wide. The green wet wood was heavy and using a two-wheel dolly, seven feet long is all I could handle due to their weight. You can buy "Rip Chains" that are made to cut with the grain of the wood, and that would have made the long cut much faster than the four days it took to cut....

The slabs are still air drying....

That's a lot of work !

Beautiful wood, surely there is a small sawmill somewhere close. I used to haul logs like that to a mill before I bought a small bandsaw mill, and they would only charge pennies per BF.

good job......good exercise.