# Gas Station Bundles



## firecracker_77 (Oct 3, 2012)

I laugh everytime I see these bundles at grocery stores or gas stations.  Little planks of wood bundled for $5.  It's very well seasoned, but wouldn't even be enough to really warm the stove much.  Who buys this stuff?  Way overpriced


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## wishlist (Oct 3, 2012)

I'm thinking campers and such. I always see them as well and think now I believe I have $ 500,000 worth of wood in the backyard. All I need is some wrap and I can retire! Lol....:D


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## Gark (Oct 3, 2012)

But some of the bundles have little handles on 'em, easy to carry. The handle is worth $3.50.

Wishlist - perhaps you need an electrified fence around the backyard and armed guards.. half a million bucks bucks is nothing to take chances with these days...LOL


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## NYLife (Oct 3, 2012)

The funny thing is that the tree company that sells it to these gas station are making a hole lot of . The gas station by me goes thru those bundles like dunkin donuts goes thru coffee. What a rip off. I may put a sign on my front lawn and start selling it with out the wrap and handle for $5 not tax


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## jharkin (Oct 3, 2012)

Lots of folks that have a plain old fireplace and only use it a couple times a year for ambiance probably buy these on their way home from work.  People who live in planned developments where the homeowners association wont let them keep significant amounts wood stored outside, etc..

Probably a much bigger market for it than us hearth types would expect.


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## firefighterjake (Oct 3, 2012)

Fireplace burners and campers --  not folks who are serious about heating their home.


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## gzecc (Oct 3, 2012)

They are selling convenience. Real wood burners do nothing for convenience? Or maybe convenience is relative!
What is the actual cost of a split of oak, that has been bucked, split, trailered, stacked for 2 yrs, brought into the house, then loaded into a heating implement, then removed (ashes)?


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## NextEndeavor (Oct 3, 2012)

They sell em here too. Believe it or not, a Des Moines big box lumber yard had a pile of them where they sold wood stoves.  I had to go look/feel a $5 bundle looking for the gold plating.  Can't imagine running those to heat my house.  Had to fight off the urge to split one but didn't have my moisture meter. Bet they are kiln dried to kill any trace of bugs.


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## ColdNH (Oct 3, 2012)

yah, i know people who buy these things for 7$ a whack cause they are looking at a convienent way to have a fire once or twice a year in their fireplace. They dont want to spend a couple hundred for a cord of wood and dont want to deal with the mess.

Alot of home owners near where I used to live would sell small bundles along the roadside as there was a few campgrounds right off the main road.


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## peakbagger (Oct 3, 2012)

In most of the northeast there are bans on bringing wood from out of state. Folks used to bring firewood up to the whites in NH from mass and now they legally cant. So the campers have to buy local firewood and the gas stations are about the only option. At least some of the vendors sell good wood, many vendors take the junk slabs from their sawmill and cut it up. Its usually softwood and mostly bark and doesnt burn very long. I expect the gas station does a pretty hefty markup.

I talked to one supplier once and he had his kids do all the work. Sort of like a paper route, 

I have seen ads before selling vending machines for firewood


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## firecracker_77 (Oct 3, 2012)

If I was an occasional fireplace guy, I'd buy a face cord for $75 and have wood for years.  I know these are seasoned, but they're not even decent sized splits.  Just little planks


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## fire_man (Oct 3, 2012)

Those bundles are used by Hearth.com members, too. A common suggestion when someone is frustrated with their stove, is to go get some bundles of wood from the store and run a load. It the stove burns good, it was the wood! To coin a new saying: *"It's the wood, stupid!"*


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## jcjohnston (Oct 3, 2012)

overheard a salesman where I work on the phone to his wife, honey go to the gas station and get 5 bundles of wood as they are calling for a storm!! I kept walking and smiling


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## begreen (Oct 3, 2012)

It's like paying $1.50 a liter bottle for water out of a vending machine.


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## Shadow&Flame (Oct 3, 2012)

jharkin said:


> Lots of folks that have a plain old fireplace and only use it a couple times a year for ambiance probably buy these on their way home from work. People who live in planned developments where the homeowners association wont let them keep significant amounts wood stored outside, etc..
> 
> Probably a much bigger market for it than us hearth types would expect.


 
My Mother has a couple of friends who come and get kindling and a little wood from me every year.  They have fireplaces and just want to light it a couple times a year...for Christmas and such.  Its funny to have them looking thru the stacks for pretty logs...ha  They just dont want the hassle of dealing with wood all year I guess.


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## quads (Oct 3, 2012)

The gas stations, grocery stores, walmart.......they all sell them around here for $5 per bundle.  My bundles are bigger and I sell them for $2, plus it's some of my best seasoned oak that I split smaller and tie baler twine around while making loops to be use as handles.  They buy them from me like crazy!  And i still make more money off of them than what I sell my regular cord wood for.  But I won't knock it, it's cash in my pocket.  (hey, that rhymes)


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## ScotO (Oct 3, 2012)

Imagine folks, $5.00/night to keep your house warm (actually probably closer to $10.00/24 hr burn) mutiply that by 30 and you get 300 bucks a month.  Almost makes buying oil seem like a bargain!


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## Wood Duck (Oct 3, 2012)

I have bought those bundles before. When you're far from home and want a camp fire, what are you going to do? In many places you can't collect firewood, or there just isn't any opportunity to collect. Ever been to southern California? You need to have a fire on the beach to end the day right, but you aren't going to collect your own firewood.


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## ScotO (Oct 3, 2012)

Wood Duck said:


> I have bought those bundles before. When you're far from home and want a camp fire, what are you going to do? In many places you can't collect firewood, or there just isn't any opportunity to collect. Ever been to southern California? You need to have a fire on the beach to end the day right, but you aren't going to collect your own firewood.


 I agree, those bundles do have their place.  We went to Watkins Glen this past summer for the weekend, and camped while there.  We didn't take any wood with us, so we stopped at a local place in town up there and paid around 5 bucks a bundle for, no chit, POPLAR......YUCK!    So AFTER already purchasing the wood, we drive down the road and there, on the side of the road, is a guy selling it from his garage for 10 bucks a big TOTE FULL.  Three times as much wood, same price.  And the kicker, his was oak, maple, ash, etc. 

I guess, even with the wood bundles, you gotta shop around sometimes!


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## basod (Oct 3, 2012)

Talladega race is Sunday ~9mi from the house.  The fans are already packing in, grocery store had a fresh pallet of the bundles $5.95ea. mid last week.
Guys set up on the roadside into the track with stacks of wood 10-20splits for $10/15.  They should do well this week, as Sunday morning temps are expected to dip in the mid/low 40's.

Last time I was at my mother's house in Maine during the winter she had 2 bags of the stuff in the garage, while the stack of wood I cut ~6yrs before I had moved onto my own life down south still sat neatly in the log rack on the other side of the garage.  Of course it burned in an open hearth heat sucker for the Saturday night ambieance fire.


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## JP11 (Oct 3, 2012)

I was just at the Fryeburg fair.  Guy was selling those bag/pallet systems.  8 bucks for a quarter cord bag.  he says you sell firewood loose stacked in them.. with a 10 dollar deposit on the bag.

He sells a stand and little bags for 80 cents apiece.  Told me to go into business supplying wood to stores and stuff.

Money is there to be made.. I don't have time for it.  I did really like the look of his firewood processor.  13k though.. you GOTTA sell some wood if you wanna buy one of those.  I'll stick with my splitter and U's made from 3 pallets for now.

JP


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## Jack Straw (Oct 3, 2012)

$75 for dinner
$45 for a bottle of wine
$5 for a bundle of dry wood

Taking a lovely lady back to your condo for a romantic fire (+?)......priceless


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## clemsonfor (Oct 3, 2012)

People get those on the way home from work. They put them in a sac at one station i stop at during the day. folks get those to sip there wine in front of and to set the "romantic" mood.  People will buy them that can have a wood pile delivered and peck at it for a few years? I see them all the time as well and think i should try and get the local contract to supply a store round here. Our local grocery only goes through like a pallet or pallet n half a yr.  Last winter i debated about once it got warm offering $20-40 or so for the remaining half a pallet. Never did and not really sure where it went as by the time i was thinking about doing it we were not having fires to often.

Seriously it would take 2 of those bundles to fill my stove up, i may have a split or 2 left over but thats it!! and even in my EPA stove if its cold i might get between 8-12 hours out of it!!


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## clemsonfor (Oct 3, 2012)

I have to get a few years ahead on my wood before i can spare any rreally dry wood to do this with though!!

This would be something that someone like Scotty or Backwoods or one of you other guys with huge hoards of wood should look into. Scoty especially since he is getting paid to cut and remove so much wood.


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## Thistle (Oct 3, 2012)

NextEndeavor said:


> They sell em here too. Believe it or not, a Des Moines big box lumber yard had a pile of them where they sold wood stoves. I had to go look/feel a $5 bundle looking for the gold plating. Can't imagine running those to heat my house. Had to fight off the urge to split one but didn't have my moisture meter. Bet they are kiln dried to kill any trace of bugs.


 

Yup. I see those little shrink wrapped bundles at Dahls,Hy-Vee,Fareway grocery stores here also for $4-4.50/bundle.

Insane. At least most that I've glanced at while walking in the store are decent hardwoods - Mulberry,Red Oak, some Silver Maple,occasionally a few pieces of Red Elm & Black Walnut.And at grocery stores its all 'local' wood & not shipped in from who knows where.....

I'm sittin' on a gold mine I tell ya!!


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## bogydave (Oct 4, 2012)

Thistle said:


> I'm sittin' on a gold mine I tell ya!!


 
We all are


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## etiger2007 (Oct 4, 2012)

I just shake my head when i walk by that green wood wrapped in plastic too funny.


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## clemsonfor (Oct 4, 2012)

etiger2007 said:


> I just shake my head when i walk by that green wood wrapped in plastic too funny.


 Where you are its "green"?  Every one i have ever burned (mom, vacation, or inlaws) was dry and caught fire with a tiny kindling fire?  I dont think they would sell vary many of those if the average person who cant burn a fire could not put a tiny piece of fatwood they storebought or a tiny firestarted thing they bought to get it burning.


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## osagebow (Oct 4, 2012)

quads said:


> The gas stations, grocery stores, walmart.......they all sell them around here for $5 per bundle. My bundles are bigger and I sell them for $2, plus it's some of my best seasoned oak that I split smaller and tie baler twine around while making loops to be use as handles. They buy them from me like crazy! And i still make more money off of them than what I sell my regular cord wood for. But I won't knock it, it's cash in my pocket. (hey, that rhymes)


 
Now I know where the quote    " I'm with quads, whack the sucker"   Comes from! 

I have to buy firewood when camping in shen. nat'l park, (ash borer) but don't mind, part of the cost of going there. Allt he local campgrounds I usually bring enugh for me and a few neighbors.


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## quads (Oct 4, 2012)

osagebow said:


> Now I know where the quote " I'm with quads, whack the sucker" Comes from!


HA!  Yup, it's me.  Firefighterjake was referring to my simplistic method of splitting in his signature line.


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## firefighterjake (Oct 4, 2012)

quads said:


> HA! Yup, it's me. Firefighterjake was referring to my simplistic method of splitting in his signature line.


 
Yup . . . some time ago someone wrote that very line in saying they would just take a few whacks with the maul on the bucked up piece of wood . . . struck me as funny . . . along with a few other gems over the years that I've stolen borrowed in my signature line. Quads is a top notch guy . . . one of those folks I suspect who is exactly like he is in person as he is here.


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## muncybob (Oct 4, 2012)

We are going to the Finger Lakes, NY area this weekend and it will rub me the wrong way to pay that kind of $$ for some firewood, but I'll do it just to stay legal and keep the trunk clean. We'll be looking for decent wood once we get within 10 miles or so of the destination and hopefully find decent wood to be had.


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## tfdchief (Oct 4, 2012)

Unfortunately, I will be buying some of that high priced stuff this weekend. My son and I are leaving IL and going to MO, St Joe park, to go off roading. IL is a quarantined state and therefore I cannot legally take any of my firewood across the state line, so I will have to buy when I get there.

Most of those bundles will have a USDA Shield certifying that the wood complies with the EAB Federal Regulation Standard. Those selling it are licensed and must treat the wood in one of 4 manners: Treatment options– 1. Removal of all bark and ½inch of wood. 2. Kiln Dried (Max. thickness of 3 inches) 3. Fumigated with MB 4. Heat Treated. http://www.agr.state.il.us/eab/PDFs_for_web/Firewood/Fed_Firewood_10042007.pdf

So in their defense, they have quite a lot of expense in those little bundles.


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## scroungerjeff (Oct 4, 2012)

The grocery store near us is selling bundles and they are labeled "Estonian birch" hardwood. They cross the Atlantic to be sold at a supermarket. Must be just ravaging the forests to do enough volume to make a profit.


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## etiger2007 (Oct 4, 2012)

clemsonfor said:


> Where you are its "green"? Every one i have ever burned (mom, vacation, or inlaws) was dry and caught fire with a tiny kindling fire? I dont think they would sell vary many of those if the average person who cant burn a fire could not put a tiny piece of fatwood they storebought or a tiny firestarted thing they bought to get it burning.


 
Clio Michigan and maybe things are different in you area but green wood is obvious and thats what sold around here. It sucks for the people buying it I will take a pic next time im there some of those bundles have condensation on the plastic.


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## Nixon (Oct 4, 2012)

firecracker_77 said:


> I laugh everytime I see these bundles at grocery stores or gas stations.  Little planks of wood bundled for $5.  It's very well seasoned, but wouldn't even be enough to really warm the stove much.  Who buys this stuff?  Way overpriced


I do the same as you do . $7 for a small bundle of what to me appears to be aspen ,or something close to it . 
But then again , it just might make sense to someone that lives in an apartment , is on a promise ,and needs a bit of ambience


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## firecracker_77 (Oct 4, 2012)

Nixon said:


> I do the same as you do . $7 for a small bundle of what to me appears to be aspen ,or something close to it .
> But then again , it just might make sense to someone that lives in an apartment , is on a promise ,and needs a bit of ambience


 
Yeah...don't get me wrong.  If I was single, had no firewood, and a lady that really wanted a romantic fire, I'd fill the trunk regardless of price.  LOL


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## Wingman (Oct 4, 2012)

I manage a grocery store in St. Louis in which all our bales are mid Missouri oak and are absolutely far from seasoned.  I generally pick up a few of the broken bales and get them at a discounted price.  But they do sell quite well.


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## bodhran (Sep 21, 2013)

Bit late on this thread but I started selling bags of firewood from the backyard this year and I have a small but steady customer flow. Several repeat customers as well. I cut my own wood so I can sell it cheaper than the others that buy tractor trailer loads to bag up. I'm no threat to the gas stations etc and it keeps me occupied.


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## clemsonfor (Sep 21, 2013)

They know u bag n split it yet still OK buying 6 split for like $3?  None ever want to buy say a trunk load, or have you deliver say 1/8 cord or some small stack??  Just seems dumb to me?


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## paul bunion (Sep 21, 2013)

The real money is in selling it as smoke wood to the BBQ crowd at $1.00 per pound.  Green wood is permissible and to many preferred.   At over 2.5 tons/cord a cord of white oak or hickory can net you a 'tons' of money.    I would just want a bandsaw or circular saw to cut it up. The kerf on a chainsaw will convert a significant amount of the profit into chips and dust.


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## AmarilloSlim (Sep 21, 2013)

I sold apple and pear BBQ chunks over the summer $5 per small tote full. Local wally world sells apple chunks $8 66 cubic inch. The bundles (oak) are very seasoned and sell like hot cakes.  The local firewood dealer/s sell individual splits a buck and change each! Green as the dollar bill you payed.


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## Paulywalnut (Sep 21, 2013)

I've heard they're called "gettin lucky" bundles.


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## Paulywalnut (Sep 21, 2013)

People stack  their own bundles of like 10 pieces for 15.00 for campers. At least it's a local wood from the area not balsa wood.


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## Seanm (Sep 21, 2013)

When we go camping in the provincial camp sites you aren't allowed to bring in your own firewood. I do anyways but buy a tote of pine off of them for $6 to keep them happy. That works out to be about 6 or so splits.


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## PapaDave (Sep 21, 2013)

The local grocery sells those to all the campers, sledders, 4 wheelers, and hunters that come up here to play.
There are also a lot of folks who sell by the road on an honor basis, to the same folks.


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