# Where do you get your wood?



## SeanBB (Sep 27, 2017)

Most of my wood I buy from a one-man general contractor. I have done for years. Some of his work is clearing land and that sometimes includes trees. Although he sells firewood cut and split, I only buy wood from him green and in rings, therefore I pay a lot less. When he has a job near me that will produce wood he comes to my house and asks me if I am interested. It means that he only has to load it onto his truck once instead of taking it to his yard, processing it, seasoning it and loading it again for delivery. I pay cash and so it is a laissez faire arrangement which suits us both.
I also get some wood from my land although that is not enough on its own. I have a Honda Civic so scrounging is limited.      
I am currently about four years ahead and never have to burn anything that is less than three years seasoned. I have oak, sycamore, silver birch, holly and hazel.


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## peakbagger (Sep 27, 2017)

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you have a great setup. Buy it green and season it yourself is the way to go. Hard to justify all the gear to cut your own when you have reliable supplier and can get a couple of year ahead.


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## Rangerbait (Sep 27, 2017)

I was initially concerned about finding a reliable source of supply around here when I first decided to start burning wood again, since there is very little public forest land in this region. Growing up in California, it seemed like everything was either owned by the state or the Feds, so Forest Circus land is where we did 99% or our cutting. 

Within about a week, word had spread around my place of employment that I was looking to cut, and now I have essentially an endless supply of trees on private land to harvest. Actually heading out early on Saturday to take down a patch of standing dead wild cherry on a friend's property that's about a mile away.


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## Woodsplitter67 (Sep 27, 2017)

I am primarily a scrounger.. I owne all of my owne equipment... dump trucks.. michenes ect.. so its super easy for me to process wood. I live in a wooded area with farms and neighbors with acreage... trees fall in the woods and i select what i want to take. I also have a friend in the tree bisness that drops log lenth wood at my home or i get to go to his wood lot and select my logs and take them home for process... all at no cost i get to take what ever, and how much i want its a great set up..i have never purchased wood.. i get great satisfaction heating my home at no cost..


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## Dobish (Sep 27, 2017)

i walk to my back yard... wood always seems to pile up there, and i don't complain!


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## fishki (Sep 27, 2017)

Also a scrounger. My idea was to cut heating cost, if I have to buy wood then I am back to square one. The only thing I pay for is some labor cost with one of my employees on occasion to help cut and load, but that is very minimal compared to buying wood.


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## johneh (Sep 27, 2017)

I get all my wood from a 600 hector forest that i own 
been cutting there for 20 years and from one year to the next 
it is hard to find where cutting took place .
Hard Maple ,Red Oak , hickory , iron wood , cherry , and
ash is what I harvest . We also harvest some spruce for lumber


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## Jan Pijpelink (Sep 27, 2017)

I scrounge as much as I can. Roaming CL a lot. Occasionally I buy if the price is right, like a few months ago, 3 full cords oak and maple, split for $350 delivered. Have 6+ cords in the back yard right now. I do not cut trees, I leave that to the pro's.


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## maverick06 (Sep 27, 2017)

I buy mine. Its waaaaaay cheaper than buying heating oil (my other option, not counting the heat pump i use). living in suburbia, scrounging is hard. but the guy i get it from (chip's tree service) is an arborist so 100% of the wood is landscape removal stuff. I buy it march, sometimes already seasoned, sometimes not. It usually gets burned the year after that (year half seasoned/covered), sometimes it gets burned at the end of that year (10/11 months) if the winter is harsh... works out well


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## firefighterjake (Sep 27, 2017)

Still trying to figure out what wood in "rings" looks like . . . I picture a guy bucking up really thin pieces of firewood and then hollowing out the middle . . . which cannot be right.


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## SeanBB (Sep 27, 2017)

Ha! Ha!
Try to picture a tree trunk cut into discs that can be split to make firewood.


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## Dobish (Sep 27, 2017)

SeanBB said:


> Ha! Ha!
> Try to picture a tree trunk cut into discs that can be split to make firewood.


how thick are these discs?  now i'm picturing a frisbee... 

i think the term you might be looking for is a Round


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## sportbikerider78 (Sep 27, 2017)

I bought some to get a year ahead. Now i'm sitting pretty on my own supply.


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## PA. Woodsman (Sep 27, 2017)

Been heating since 1989 and all of it has been scrounged from compost sites, construction sites, people's property with their permission, wherever I see downed wood I ask and most times can get, or someone needs some wood removed, have yet to pay for any of it and want to keep it that way for as long as I can! Wherever, whatever, whoever if I like the wood I ask and if they say "take" I take!


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## Woody5506 (Sep 27, 2017)

Scrounge everything, and typically am willing to lend a hand to any friends or family needing tree work done....assuming I end up with all or a lot of the wood.


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## TreePointer (Sep 27, 2017)

75+ acres in the backyard.  Infrequent major firewood production after timber harvests.  Normal firewood harvest of select (not all) dead trees, storm blow downs, field clearing, and utility line trimming on the property.

I never thought of it this way until now, but I'm actually a net exporter of firewood off the farm.


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## Jan Pijpelink (Sep 27, 2017)

All you guys are so lucky. We live on just 0.3 acres with only a few trees, so if there is nothing to scrounge, I have to buy. And because I am traveling 50% of my time internationally, time is very limited. I would love to be on 75 acres.


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## TreePointer (Sep 27, 2017)

Jan Pijpelink said:


> All you guys are so lucky. We live on just 0.3 acres with only a few trees, so if there is nothing to scrounge, I have to buy. And because I am traveling 50% of my time internationally, time is very limited. I would love to be on 75 acres.



As with everything, it has its plusses and minuses. There's a lot of work to do, and I'll gladly trade you property tax bills.


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## Jan Pijpelink (Sep 27, 2017)

TreePointer said:


> As with everything, it has its plusses and minuses. There's a lot of work to do, and I'll gladly trade you property tax bills.


Well, Jersey. We pay 8500/yr. Are you sure you want to trade?


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## TreePointer (Sep 27, 2017)

Jan Pijpelink said:


> Well, Jersey. We pay 8500/yr. Are you sure you want to trade?



Ouch, I don't want to think about having a farm in your neighborhood!


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## Jan Pijpelink (Sep 27, 2017)

TreePointer said:


> Ouch, I don't want to think about having a farm in your neighborhood!  We're about $12.5K/yr.



That's what my neighbor pays for 1/2 acre. You're lucky.


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## WoodyIsGoody (Sep 28, 2017)

Getting wood around here is easy.

Unlike money, wood DOES grow on trees!


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## Jan Pijpelink (Sep 28, 2017)

WoodyIsGoody said:


> Getting wood around here is easy.
> 
> Unlike money, wood DOES grow on trees!


Don't have enough trees. The ones we have, Oak, are sick and dying due to a fungus.


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## Alpine1 (Sep 28, 2017)

I buy my wood from the community. 15$ (give or take) for 12 (metric) tons. Mostly Norway spruce, silver fir and a little European beech. No idea how many cords it is though.


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## Dobish (Sep 28, 2017)

Jan Pijpelink said:


> All you guys are so lucky. We live on just 0.3 acres with only a few trees, so if there is nothing to scrounge, I have to buy. And because I am traveling 50% of my time internationally, time is very limited. I would love to be on 75 acres.



i am .49 acres, and I used to have quite a few trees! not so much any more, but I have a craigslist search for scrounging, and people know i like wood, so they just drop it off. it infuriates my wife sometimes


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## Gboutdoors (Sep 30, 2017)

Never bought wood I just walk out back and cut dead standing Red Oak off our 23 acres.





I put the back 21 acres in as recreation land so the tax on it is only $150.00 per year.


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## pernox (Sep 30, 2017)

Tree services, power line clearing, wood of mouth, and Craigslist. Haven't paid for wood since our first year. One or two good contacts are worth their weight in gold - just got two single axle log trucks full of sugar maple dropped off the other day, because I knew the right guy and he knew a guy looking to dump wood "today" with no hassle. I take his pine for him, so he shoots me some good stuff sometimes too - like the sugar maple! Just having your name and needs out there sometimes can reap huge rewards in scrounging.


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## blacktail (Sep 30, 2017)

I cut most of mine on public land with a permit. Every now and then I'll get some from a friend or neighbor.


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## Smokyjeff1 (Sep 30, 2017)

I know a guy in the tree business.He is super busy and has more wood than he knows what to do with.I give him a call and he drops off log length loads as much as i need.I have a splitter and saw so I do the processing.We barter so this works out well for both of us!


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## redktmrider (Sep 30, 2017)

I belong to a off-road motorcycle club that owns 300 acres (95% forest). Always a tree down somewhere.


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## Beer Belly (Oct 1, 2017)

Luckily, I hooked up with a Tree Service and just need to make a call and can get a load of Log Length within a couple days.


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## Hasufel (Oct 1, 2017)

I'm pretty lucky, too--Mother Nature provides enough dead wood on my 5 acres to keep me busy. I told her she can stop now because I have more than enough firewood to last until I retire and move away from here but she's not listening. Just the other day I found a lovely straight red oak that had toppled and was in perfect position for bucking, about a foot off the ground and nothing pinching it. Red oak is my favorite so of course I had to pull out the saw and go at it!


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## blacksmithden (Oct 1, 2017)

Here in Alberta Canada, we can cut firewood on public land if we buy a permit. A permit costs $5.25 including tax and is good for 1 month. The permit entitles you to cut standing dead wood, or live birch and poplar for 1 month.....up to 2 cords. Of all the guys I know who cut wood, I'm the first to ever actually buy one. It's not really monitored. There's a place a couple of hours from here where we go target shooting and hunting. Every time we go out, I try to set aside a enough time to fill my pickup with wood. The same permit allows you to dig up and transplant up to 20 trees up to 8 ft tall, and to cut up to 3 Christmas trees. I don't know who needs 3 Christmas trees, but whatever.


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## ZZ Tom (Oct 1, 2017)

I have the KSL Classifieds app on my phone and check it regularly for free wood people need removed from their property. KSL Classifieds is our local version of Craigslist through a local TV/radio news station. Also, my FIL is the maintenance manager for a condo complex and he will save wood for us when they have tree maintenance or removal.I cannot remember the last time I paid for firewood.


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## Dobish (Oct 2, 2017)

ZZ Tom said:


> I have the KSL Classifieds app on my phone and check it regularly for free wood people need removed from their property. KSL Classifieds is our local version of Craigslist through a local TV/radio news station. Also, my FIL is the maintenance manager for a condo complex and he will save wood for us when they have tree maintenance or removal.I cannot remember the last time I paid for firewood.



I have a search filter, so it sends me a note every time there is free firewood... its probably about time to turn it off


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## venator260 (Oct 3, 2017)

For the last two years, my dad and I have cut dead ash off of our property. That's this year's wood. I got next /two years from now by clearing off a spot to put my sand mound. We're currently working at a place about 1/4 mile from my house that had several red oak blowdowns and a few dead trees. We got all of the firewood free if we cut out the sellable logs in whatever we drug out. The firewood amounted to almost enough to feed my dad's stove for a year. I'd estimate 5 cords from that. 

We also get lucky every few years and find someone who will allow us to clean up a logyard on their property for no or minimal cost. I think the most my dad paid was 25  bucks per pickup load (that was stacked as high as the trucks cab).


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## ValleyCottageSplitter (Oct 10, 2017)

There is about 2 acres of community land right behind us that's kind of like our woods, then about 25ac total of community land shared between the other houses.  There is lots of dead wood back there which you can legally cut up in our county (not so much the living stuff).  I got 2/3 cord of ash and a little bit of red maple this year; the hard part is moving it through dense woods.  It's a suburban area; no farm equipment available.

Craigslist has been pretty good for me starting wood collecting.  I have multiple searches along my commute so I don't have to stray far.  I turned it off a lot of the summer and just turned it off a 2nd time after grabbing a cord of hickory. I've had to invent a lot of dry storage space this year and still I've given up a lot of wood at some big sites due to space limitation.  I found a tree guy with about 100 ten foot random hardwood logs to give away, but you had to bring a large trailer.  If I'm willing to drive 25mi+ there is always _something_ available.


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## Sodbuster (Oct 11, 2017)

County around here either takes down older trees, that are ready to fall, or hires a tree company to do it. Many times then leave the wood (100 year old old, Oak, Hickory and Maple) one the side of the road because they know people heat with wood around here and it will disappear. My buddy will see the piles, and send me a picture so I can snag it. He calls me a wood whore, not sure if that's a compliment or not.


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## SuperSpy (Oct 17, 2017)

I work at a veneer mill.  There's always a supply of stumps and other undesirable off-cuts to be 'harvested'.


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## DaveInPhilly (Oct 17, 2017)

I used to live in Philadelphia and didn't have space to store much more than a cord at a time. So I had to have wood delivered ready to go each year. Now we live out in the burbs and have a little more space. I'm still paying to have wood delivered, but last season I  started cutting wood at a local state park. For a $15 permit you can take out as much wood as you want. I may still need to buy cord wood for next year, but after that I should be able to get by with what I cut myself. 

Even paying for wood, its cheaper than heating oil.


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## peakbagger (Oct 17, 2017)

SuperSpy said:


> I work at a veneer mill.  There's always a supply of stumps and other undesirable off-cuts to be 'harvested'.



My uncle used to get the "cores" from a veneer mill years ago. They ranged in diameter and look like they were turned on a lathe. He had a stoker feeder on his wood boiler. He loaded up a line of cores on an angled chute outside the boiler and when the boiler needed more fuel a door would open and a log would advance. I dont think it woudl work that well with cordwood but it sure worked nice with those veneer cores


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## Wood1Dennis (Oct 17, 2017)

I harvest dead & downed trees off of our 100 acres. There is always more wood than I can keep up with. I have visions of getting ahead and selling the excess when I retire and have the time but for now supply my own furnace. I will be working on firewood for the winter of 2019/20 this winter. 
Last weekend I hauled out a bunch of ash and yellow birch, maybe 1 or 1 1/2 cord. I cut and split it in the swampy part of the woods when it was frozen last winter, but when spring came early and wet I couldn't get it out. I got it out just before the rains came on Saturday night. That was a relief!


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## firefighterjake (Oct 18, 2017)

Oddly enough I have been getting quite a bit of wood in the last week or so . . . and I wasn't even looking for wood.

To be honest I didn't do much wood processing this past Summer since last Winter was pretty mild and my wood supply looked pretty good. I also didn't want to abuse the generosity of a friend by asking to cut on his property when I clearly had enough wood.

However, last Saturday I saw a Facebook Marketplace ad which mentioned free wood in my small town. I sent a message and they said first come, first serve and while they had several inquiries no one would commit to picking up the wood. I had to work on Sunday morning/early afternoon . . . but afterwards I went there. Folks had a woodstove, but were trying out a pellet stove this year due to an injury. The couple offered the wood on their lawn which was OK -- some was pretty good, some a bit punky . . . but free is free. They then mentioned some additional wood on the side of their lawn -- all bucked up and about half of it was even split and seasoned. I ended up hauling three very full pick up loads of wood from there. Score!

I was pretty happy with this . . . and then a buddy called to ask if I wanted to help him take down some small birch and poplar trees (3-6 inch diameter). I'm not a huge fan of popple, but free is free . . . and my wife likes birch. He then mentioned that if I come after work he'll throw a steak on the grill for me. Needless to say I'm taking the wood.

Finally, I came into work yesterday to find a crew taking down several trees. I didn't have my pick up at work yesterday and was not about to load the WRX up with wood, so I came in bright and early this morning to load up my truck . . . and I later see the crew has come back to cut up another tree. If there is still wood there tomorrow morning I'll take another load.

All unexpected wood bounties . . .

All will be put to good use.


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## Dobish (Oct 18, 2017)

firefighterjake said:


> I didn't have my pick up at work yesterday and was not about to load the WRX up with wood, so I came in bright and early this morning to load up my truck . . .



Where is your dedication.... if its the hatchback, you have no excuse


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## firefighterjake (Oct 18, 2017)

Dobish said:


> Where is your dedication.... if its the hatchback, you have no excuse



Do I get a pass if it's a sedan?


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## WoodyIsGoody (Oct 18, 2017)

firefighterjake said:


> All unexpected wood bounties . . .
> 
> All will be put to good use.



When it rains, it pours!


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## Dobish (Oct 18, 2017)

firefighterjake said:


> Do I get a pass if it's a sedan?


of course, you don't want to have to lift over the trunk, or into those low back seats...

I miss my wrx...


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## Zack R (Oct 18, 2017)

I need a trailer to haul wood....


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## WoodyIsGoody (Oct 18, 2017)

Zack R said:


> I need a trailer to haul wood....
> 
> View attachment 201456



Well, it looks like you got about 5 days worth. Only 30 more loads to go!


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## Tar12 (Oct 18, 2017)

I have truly been blessed...my best friend logs for a living and turns me on to a never ending supply of wood....lots and lots of Oak...I will never get it all cut but it affords me the opportunity to be very selective about what I cut....I am currently 3-4 years ahead and I am constructing more structures for wood storage....once they are done and filled I am taking some time off from cutting!


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## firefighterjake (Oct 19, 2017)

Sweet . . . the tree guys came back yesterday to cut down another tree. One of my co-workers said something about maybe taking a load of wood to camp . . . I informed him that if the wood was still here in the morning I was considering it fair game . . .

Loaded another pick-up full of wood.

Tomorrow it's steak and wood at a friend's house . . .


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## Dobish (Oct 19, 2017)

firefighterjake said:


> Sweet . . . the tree guys came back yesterday to cut down another tree. One of my co-workers said something about maybe taking a load of wood to camp . . . I informed him that if the wood was still here in the morning I was considering it fair game . . .
> 
> Loaded another pick-up full of wood.
> 
> Tomorrow it's steak and wood at a friend's house . . .


I gave one of my co-workers a pile of uglies so he could go camping. Then i get a craigslist notice about free wood 2 houses away from my brothers house.  I have to be at my brothers house tomorrow, so i email.  Guy is giving away a fire pit,  rack,  and 1/4 cord of seasoned wood.  Karma.


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## Vikestand (Oct 19, 2017)

We live on 35 acres and have another 70 acres about an hour fortyfive minutes away. Oddly enough I haven't had to cut too much on my place yet. My FIL had cleared a portion of a five acre lot to build their house on and that has covered most of my needs for the last five years. Even when I lived on this 35 as a kid, my dad managed to get a lot from his work. In total we have about 20 acres of timber. So that will be more than enough to cut on over my lifetime. If done right, I will only need to rotate between a few acres to supply my obsession.


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## WiscWoody (Oct 19, 2017)

I scrounge neighbors acreages with their permission or my own few acres for all of my wood as we live in the Cheqaumagan nation forest and hardwood is easy to come by and I’ve never had to pay for my own wood and have had enough to sell here and there too.  I find Birch, Oak, Maple, Elm, Ironwood, White and Black Ash and Poplar up here. Here’s some I just split and racked. I love the canvas tarps from Menards.


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## lowroadacres (Oct 19, 2017)

For the most part I don't turn down an invitation to pick up a scrounge here and there when friends have tree service's leave rounds on their yards. I keep an eye out for online ads when people have wood to give away but I am terribly picky now as I have found myself picking up rotten stumps before which I will no longer do.

Our main firewood source is the standing dead Ash that has been left from flood kill from the past two major floods in 2011 and 2014 in our region. within less than a mile drive from our acreage is over a 100 acres of bush that has more than enough wood for many years to come.


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## TJ1 (Oct 19, 2017)

We live on 42 acres and it is almost all white and red oak. There are so many trees down from a tornado earlier this year doubt I could ever burn them up before I die. Most are only 25 yards or less from a road and I cant even give them away.


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## edyit (Oct 20, 2017)

My inlaws burn wood for heat as well as us. so each year my father inlaw and I go in on a load of logs. both of us are far enough ahead now that this works out really well since we each get about ~4 cords from a load. so what we cut and split this year we will burn the year after next.


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## Dobish (Oct 20, 2017)

From my brothers neighbor


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## blacktail (Oct 22, 2017)

Zack R said:


> I need a trailer to haul wood....
> 
> View attachment 201456


Landcruiser?


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## Zack R (Oct 23, 2017)

blacktail said:


> Landcruiser?



Yeah a 94' 80 series, just under 300k miles.


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## firefighterjake (Oct 23, 2017)

Well it turned out there was no steak . . . but my buddy did grill up a couple burgers with beef he was given from a neighbor who raised her own beef critter. It was quite tasty.


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## ZZ Tom (Oct 24, 2017)

firefighterjake said:


> Well it turned out there was no steak . . . but my buddy did grill up a couple burgers with beef he was given from a neighbor who raised her own beef critter. It was quite tasty.



The old bait & switch


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## max384 (Oct 24, 2017)

I get all of my wood from scrounging. I live in a large (about 5,000 acres) development that is mostly wooded. There are tons of downed trees on vast areas of empty lots that I cut up and haul home. There is also a "dump" in the development where they take grass clippings, branches, small trees, rocks, etc. from development maintenance and new house construction. In the spring, they bulldoze all of it into a big pile to decompose. As long as I grab it before they bulldoze it into a pile, I'm fine. I've found trees (nearly all oak here) up to 18" in diameter and around 8-10' in length and the branches already trimmed.


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## Dobish (Oct 24, 2017)

I ended up getting another 1/2 cord of wood from the neighbors the other day when we lost a bunch of trees in an early snow storm. It was a combination of Elm, boxelder, and aspen, and 1 black walnut.  

My first year, i did a lot of scrounging, and driving around looking out for stuff.  Even now, I drive by free piles and think that I should pick it up, but only do if its primo or really easy.  The pine I picked up the other day was 3+ years seasoned, and was dry as a bone. I couldn't NOT pick it up!


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## FaithfulWoodsman (Oct 26, 2017)

We live rural and i run a landscaping company. Between the few trees from clients every year and endless feild lines and fence rows im permissioned to cut, ive got access for years to come. I also check CL now and then for a close free score of white oak or hedge or something.


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## FaithfulWoodsman (Oct 26, 2017)

This fell over in may. Customer paid me to clear it off the path i mow. And insisted on paying me to cut and clean it up in a week when I go get it. It will be left spotless though. I even blow the sawdust away and then blow leaves back to edge to make it look like it never happened. Several million dollar prop and the nicest guy, so i take care of him.


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## saewoody (Oct 26, 2017)

Zack R said:


> I need a trailer to haul wood....
> 
> View attachment 201456



The back of my Suburban has looked like that on well more than a few occasions!  Most people don't really use the "U" in SUV. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## kennyp2339 (Oct 27, 2017)

When I first started burning wood I called in a log truck, $350.00 and nearly 7 cords later I got my jump start, from them on I was able to supply my stash with free wood opportunities from work, friends, and the woods behind my house. ATM I have about 12 cords split and stacked, all my old piles have been moved to my new wood shed in the driveway (holds 8 cords) and I have about 4 or 5 cords in a holtzholsen pile. I'm aiming to  collect another 4 cords this winter, I have some dead tree's in the woods that can be cut up and who knows what will be available at work this year, I should be good to go.


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## bfast250 (Oct 27, 2017)

Scored this white oak on Craigslist today. Best scrounge I have had yet. Drive right up to the top on the ground and gave my orange tattoo'd Makita a good workout. Should be good burning in 2020.


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## maple1 (Oct 27, 2017)

Interesting thread - just saw it.

Very fortunate here to live on 550 acres of family land. Just have to wheel the ATV out of the basement & go at it. I very much look forward to getting out & stocking up the BTUs when I find the time here & there, it's my exercise & therapy routine. Others can have their gyms, I'll take the woods thank you very much. I only go after windfalls that would otherwise rot back into the ground, and the last 2-3 years have been confining that to one 50 acre area that I am pretty sure would keep me going until I can't go any more. So I am improving the wood lot at the same time as maintaining my health - adding more trails as I go (crude as they are). Had no firewood on hand for my boiler 4.5 years ago, now I have almost 3 years in the yard ready to go on top of this winter supply in the basement. If I can keep it up I might even be able to peddle a little bit here & there - never know what the future will bring health-wise & all that.

That said, I would still be way ahead though even if I had to buy my wood, I am pretty sure. When I was burning both wood & oil, I was figuring it would take about 4 tanks/800 gallons of oil to get me through the winter if only burning oil. With the new wood burner (not so new anymore I guess), I think it would take me 1000 gallons to keep us as warm as it does all winter. 1000 gallons of oil vs. 5-6 cords of wood, yah paying for wood would pay off. Now I'm looking forward to seeing how much wood is left next spring, with all the kids out of the house pretty well all winter for the first time & 1/4 of the house not needing to really be heated much. Add a mini-split next summer for shoulders, and I might actually have 5-6 years of wood out the back door. Gotta like that.


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## hickoryhoarder (Oct 28, 2017)

Changes for me all the time -- where I get wood.  The guys I like best don't have it every year.  I only have a splitting maul, no ability to cut trees.  I do pretty well with Craigslist, looking for stuff like oak, hickory, and cherry.


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## Sodbuster (Oct 29, 2017)

FaithfulWoodsman said:


> View attachment 201843
> View attachment 201844
> 
> 
> ...




Our County/Power Company just dropped a ton of trees that look like the longer log in your picture and left them piled right next to the road. I have bad tendonitis in my right arm and can't cut right now, but nothing prevents me from chaining/lifting them with the bucket on my tractor and piling them at home.


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## kennyp2339 (Oct 29, 2017)

maple1 said:


> When I was burning both wood & oil, I was figuring it would take about 4 tanks/800 gallons of oil to get me through the winter if only burning oil. With the new wood burner (not so new anymore I guess), I think it would take me 1000 gallons to keep us as warm as it does all winter. 1000 gallons of oil vs. 5-6 cords of wood, yah paying for wood would pay off


That's exactly how I think, its what keeps me motivated, I figure I save about $1800.00 a year on home heating oil, I then take that "maintenance money" and do capital work on the house, this year was my 8 cord woodshed. I know it sounds silly but that's how I think and it keeps me focused on always improving.


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## heavy hammer (Oct 29, 2017)

Not only does it save most of us money burning wood.  The heat is awesome.  I have been getting most of my wood from people who take down large trees and want nothing to do with the wood.  A buddy of mine who burns wood, his father paid a tree guy to take down a few monster locusts and ash. First one they called to clean it up was me.  9 out of 10 people don’t want to deal with large trees, I can’t say I blame them but having a couple large saws two diesel pickups and a new 40 horse tractor.  I’ll take it all, my heating bill last winter was $135 for heating about 4000sq feet.


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## gutlo (Oct 31, 2017)

Local hardware store.  Pallets, oak only, marked HT for heat treated.  Saw 'em up with skilsaw, package 'em in recycled plastic bags from pellets (burn those too).  When I want a slower burn, stack up the flat pieces with no air between pieces.  No creosote, hot burn, no need for drying stack.  They thank me for taking them away.  Nails removed from the ashes with a magnet.


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## jwfirebird (Oct 31, 2017)

saewoody said:


> The back of my Suburban has looked like that on well more than a few occasions!  Most people don't really use the "U" in SUV.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



most of them are just overly tall station wagons, that are pointless, terrible mileage pointlessly because if you put more than a couple shopping bags in it they would fold up and die. i had a tahoe, same basically, they get the same mileage but with a 8 that you can actually use. and you can fit three of that little things in the back. used it for pulling my 6500 lb camper, wood and coolers in the back.  
always wanted a avalanche though since a co worker had a couple, same nice ride, same good mileage, side tool boxes in the fenders, can fit 8ft stuff and close the gate or ten if you fold the pass seat down. takes two seconds to load anything unlike all the guys with new trucks with crap sticking out everywhere, been looking like 10 years but people want big money for decent ones, but i found one not wanting a ton and loved, undercoated, etc, so im going to hold on to this one a while


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## Firewood Bandit (Nov 6, 2017)

I have access to log landings my logger buddies work.  This is a small one I already cleaned up.  I only take red & white oak plus hickory.  Left the big pieces with hog fencing too.


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## billb3 (Nov 8, 2017)

Mostly storm damage on my own lot, although for two years I paid $50 a cord for logs removed because they were dead standing oak and being cleared out. 
Right now I have a lot of dead white oaks and pines from years of gypsy moths stress and drought. Some pine beetle kill in pines too.


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## Zack R (Nov 8, 2017)

Firewood Bandit said:


> I have access to log landings my logger buddies work.  This is a small one I already cleaned up.  I only take red & white oak plus hickory.  Left the big pieces with hog fencing too.
> 
> View attachment 215288
> 
> ...



Nice saw collection!


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## BIGChrisNH (Nov 8, 2017)

I get mine from my own property (seems like we're good for one downed tree or more per year), scrounging a bit locally, and my father in law who regularly cuts timber on his property and gets 2 grapple loads per year. Right now I'm sitting on about 10 cords, 4 are for this year, 4 are for next year, and 2 are for the year after that. But I've got a big maple that came down out back to cut up and a large oak that I'm scrounging on Saturday morning, plus a pile of rounds in the yard. It does get to become somewhat of an obsession.


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## BlueRidgeMark (Nov 11, 2017)

I scrounge.  I could literally bury my house in a few months if I hauled every load that is offered on Craigslist.   That means I can be picky.  I won't bother with poplar or beech.  It's got to be oak, hickory, ash, or locust or I pass.


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## Woody5506 (Nov 11, 2017)

Why no beech?


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## Sodbuster (Nov 12, 2017)

Firewood Bandit said:


> I have access to log landings my logger buddies work.  This is a small one I already cleaned up.  I only take red & white oak plus hickory.  Left the big pieces with hog fencing too.
> 
> View attachment 215288
> 
> ...



That's a serious haul. I had a haul like that once when our local utility, contracted a tree company to cut down trees in preparation for a new gas line. I hauled logs by tractor bucket for a couple days. Some of the logs where so heavy, all I would do was get then lifted a foot off the ground and go. Some were so huge I just had to say FI and drag them home. Big job, but tons of wood.


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## maple1 (Nov 12, 2017)

Woody5506 said:


> Why no beech?



Beech is awesome firewood.


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## tcassavaugh (Nov 12, 2017)

i had to buy wood this year. first time in quite a while. just don't seem to have the time to process. i have trees in the back of my 3 acres in southern maryland but it takes a lot of time as i'm getting older. hope to get started again as the rest of the leaves drop. start stocking for next year....have some poplar and pine that will dry fine by then.


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## BlueRidgeMark (Nov 12, 2017)

Woody5506 said:


> Why no beech?




It's just not worth my time when I can haul all the oak I need.  It's okay, but it's not oak.


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## Whitepine2 (Nov 12, 2017)

Firewood Bandit said:


> I have access to log landings my logger buddies work.  This is a small one I already cleaned up.  I only take red & white oak plus hickory.  Left the big pieces with hog fencing too.
> 
> View attachment 215288
> 
> ...


That 288 is the best saw of the bunch,I have the same saw had a 72 but 88 is tops can't be stopped
with good bar and chain.


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## Rockey (Nov 12, 2017)

Started splitting a year ago when we moved in. I figure there is 30+ cord there. I am extremely lucky to have a tree service deliver the wood for free. He has been doing it since the cabin was built 13 years ago. Nice mixture of maple, ash, pine, and locust. We can go months without seeing a dropoff  but lately there has been an abundance. I was all caught up two weeks ago and then we got back from a trip to Hawaii to find picture #2. Im going to rearrange the yard si it gets dumped in a remote corner and doesnt  take up any of our usable yard.


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## firefighterjake (Nov 12, 2017)

Love the beech.


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## KC Matt (Nov 13, 2017)

I get most of mine from tree services working in the neighborhood.  When I hear a saw I drive around and ask if I can have the wood and the answer is almost always yes.  One of my neighbors has a large white oak with a nasty split that will be in my pile next spring.

I also have access to an unlimited supply of tree service wood at their lot, about a half hour away


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## rowerwet (Nov 15, 2017)

I scrounge all of mine, CL is my normal hunting grounds, but after the noreaster we had a few weeks ago I got overloaded with wood.
I spent all day Monday clearing streets within a mile of my house. 
I also posted on a couple of the local facebook pages, and I keep getting offers of more trees than I can handle. 
My rounds pile is bigger than it ever was


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## Ctstove84 (Nov 15, 2017)

Buy my wood and also scrounge some here and there. I buy my wood early  a preseason special for 175 a cord.its all hardwoods with oak,ash, and maple. I am two years ahead so it gets rotated every year


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