# Craigslist and firewood.(vent/rant)



## cwill (Dec 29, 2011)

So i screwed up my math two years ago when i started cutting for a stove this year. I didn't want to be the newbie that didn't have wood ready, so i started early and cut what i thought was enough.  Now that i am in to burning it i have realized i don't have enough wood for this winter.  So here I am looking for wood on craigslist, just where i didn't want to be.  There are alot of people selling wood but almost all of them are not selling dry wood. Most  say "seasoned" but then go on to say that its not split or they will split to what size you want. Not what i want.  So short of calling/ going to anything that may look promising and checking moisture% myself, its not looking good. The few that do look good wont answer the phone! Why can't more people get with it and sell properly dry wood?  It didn't take me long after coming here to figure out that the number 1 most important part of heating with wood is "IT"S GOT TO BE DRY"

So I'll just keep looking and calling. It's fun when you call someplace and they act like your a crazy person when you ask "how dry is your wood?"  Guess ill be getting the hardwood pallets from work and mixing some of those in, but even those are ~23-25%. Beats wood split a month ago that ill pay to much for.

We need BS to do a public service announcement on TV about the importance of dry wood LOL


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## cptoneleg (Dec 29, 2011)

Because they won't get a dime more for 20%  than 35%, Its not the wood sellers responsibility You will get by.  Its really late in the season .


I burned for over 20 yrs non dry wood. 

Bought a new EPA stove, and joined this site

First year wood was O K

This year Good 

Next year Good (better)

The fourth year my wood will be excellent,  So I feel like it will take me that long for excellent it takes time,  I have cut alot of fast drying wood Cherry, Red Maple, Black Locust so I can give my Oak another Summer, so in year 4 I will have plenty of 3 year Oak.


  Good Luck


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## kenny chaos (Dec 30, 2011)

cwill said:
			
		

> i screwed up and cut what i thought was enough.  they act like your a crazy person when you ask "how dry is your wood?"



So who's the problem?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb9agQrObSU


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## zeke (Dec 30, 2011)

There is virtually no money in firewood, mine is a hobby and I sell some because I can't burn it all.This was my third year and all my wood for this year was sold by august.I bought the first semi load of next years logs the week of Labor Day. Thats been cut and stacked since, and I just started a CL ad for "next years wood". I had a couple calls wanting ready to burn, but they don't want to hear about buying next years wood now. I have enough dry wood for me, but I like to run it up to 80 degrees and sit in my undies watchin football. I tell my regulars to call if they run short, I got their back. It got down to -22 degrees last year, if people can't plan ahead they are gonna freeze. OP is loooking for a one time deal, I'm looking for long time repeat customers.They get my best product and my most attention.


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## ValentineHill (Dec 30, 2011)

kenny chaos said:
			
		

> cwill said:
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Can't say I agree with you here. How often do we see a new burner on this site who plans out his wood supply and starts cutting two years in advance? I say well done, cwill!


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## Pat53 (Dec 30, 2011)

zeke said:
			
		

> There is virtually no money in firewood, mine is a hobby and I sell some because I can't burn it all.This was my third year and all my wood for this year was sold by august.I bought the first semi load of next years logs the week of Labor Day. Thats been cut and stacked since, and I just started a CL ad for "next years wood". I had a couple calls wanting ready to burn, but they don't want to hear about buying next years wood now. I have enough dry wood for me, but I like to run it up to 80 degrees and sit in my undies watchin football. I tell my regulars to call if they run short, I got their back. It got down to -22 degrees last year, if people can't plan ahead they are gonna freeze. OP is loooking for a one time deal, I'm looking for long time repeat customers.They get my best product and my most attention.



Zeke, how much wood do you sell every year?

Pat


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## cwill (Dec 30, 2011)

I agree with with what Kenny is saying. Its my own fault I don't have enough wood. I gave some away to my uncle when he lost his job and wanted some extra heat but didn't want to turn the gas heat up.  I will never run out again!  i already have next year and part of the following year done  but I wont stop until I am 3+ years ahead.  The point of my original post was just to vent some frustrations.  I know that there is no real money to be made out of firewood sales and nobody selling has time to sit on product for 2 years while it drys.  Its more the lack of knowledge that bugs me. I just called a guy that from his ad looked real promising but when I said i want the driest stuff he has, he told me that the stuff in rounds that he has to split yet is probably the driest he has! I asked what the oldest stuff he has in splits is and he couldn't give me a date, just "well I do this all year" " it's good wood" "burning it right now". That doesn't help me determine if its worth the $ or not. I'm not looking for a supplier, just a one time cord to get me through.  Finding a supplier is not worth the hassle, Ill cut it myself. At least then I know when it was split.


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## Wood-row Wilson (Dec 30, 2011)

Where are you in W. Michigan?  I also reside here, and can keep my ears/eyes out for dry wood.


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## cwill (Dec 30, 2011)

Wood-row Wilson said:
			
		

> Where are you in W. Michigan?  I also reside here, and can keep my ears/eyes out for dry wood.



Kalamazoo Area.


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## Wood-row Wilson (Dec 30, 2011)

Okay, I'm a little to the north of you (between GR and Holland), but will still let you know if I find anything closer to you.


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## StihlHead (Dec 30, 2011)

Last year I came up short on firewood (coldest winter in 30 years) and I went on CL and found a guy not far from here and got the best wood I could have at the best price. $175 for a true cord of 2 year barn-dried doug fir. It burned great lasted more than a month and got me through just fine. The guy was cool and is a retired forestry fellow, who got into firewood becasue his wife wants a heated pool year round, and electric heat for that is more than he has in the bank. So he put in a wood pool heater and burns 20 cords a year to keep his marriage a happy one. He sells about 100 cords or so a year. I was lucky... 

Anyway, CL is a risk for buying anything. Here in Oregon, I know loggers falling and bucking up saw logs for firewood becasue the price is better than what they can get for logs at the mill. Times are bad here for saw mill workers too, and many mills have closed for good in the last 2 years. Most timber is only being cut for export, and most of that is going to China. They do not pay that great a price for logs and the mills have to compete, and so the price of logs drops and that leads to more being cut up into firewood. 

CL is amusing too as to what people call firewood. Sometimes they are advertizing trees in their yard that they want dropped for free, you take the wood, and oh, you need to be licensed, bonded, and insured, and have references, and they want to to take all the twigs and branches. For firewood? JHC, is that ever not worth it. Or is it is a pile of crap wood from a remodel project that would better be advertized as trash. Or it is old buggy wood that is mostly pith. Or it is cottonwood, poplar, wiloow, or some other light wood that is pretty useless, or it is green and/or wet, or needs to be cut up... 

Loggers here sell truckloads of trash species logs on CL too. Usually bigleaf maple and Oregon white oak. They both make good firewood, but they are always green logs and they are logs. They drop the loads on your lot and you have to buck and split them yourself, and then stack and season them. They are about $1200 a truckload that makes for about 10 cords of firewood. That is $120 a cord. In my book, $175 for a cord of seasoned dry split Doug fir firewood is a far better deal. No storage required, no splitter, no chainsaw, and I buy as I need it. Last year I dropped more trees and it is warmer, so I have enough cherry, alder, maple, Doug fir and cottonwood (yah, I hate burning it and it is a PITA to split) to get through this winter.


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## cptoneleg (Dec 30, 2011)

kenny chaos said:
			
		

> cwill said:
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 Great Blues lisened to several going back  thanks


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## backpack09 (Dec 30, 2011)

If you cannot find good wood, i would recommend a product like envirologs or something similar.  i had to do buy a ton of barefoot logs my first season when I came up short.


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## red oak (Dec 30, 2011)

The vast vast majority of firewood sellers AND users think that wood is ready to go after being split for a few months OR LESS.  This is sad but is also reality.  The person selling firewood that is 35% MC will likely find a customer for his product without letting it season properly.  So unless you know the seller and/or carry a MM let the buyer beware.


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## oldspark (Dec 30, 2011)

cptoneleg said:
			
		

> I burned for over 20 yrs non dry wood.
> 
> Good Luck


 So that's how the old stoves got the nick name "smoke dragon", I wondered about that as my Nashua never smoked all that much, must have been that dry wood.


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## zeke (Dec 30, 2011)

> Zeke, how much wood do you sell every year?
> 
> Pat


 I had 9 cords of hard maple delivered from a logger plus 4 cords I cut and pulled out from blowdowns cut split and stacked, plus 3 cords of very seasoned cut up tops for me. If I sell the 13 cords green now, I can replace that and do 25 or so this year. Only because I have it stacked in the yard. I have a job. Last year about 15 cords. I like to sell 1/2 cord loads for$100 delivered.


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## fsr4538 (Dec 30, 2011)

At this point if you are willing to purchase wood at mid-winter premium prices, you should look into by eco-bricks or some other compressed wood product.  That will certainly get you through.  Usual claim is a pallet is equal in BTU to a cord of wood.

Good luck.

Forrest


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## cptoneleg (Dec 30, 2011)

oldspark said:
			
		

> cptoneleg said:
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  get er hot keep er hot no smoke kept my house warm


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## Ken45 (Dec 30, 2011)

Sometimes I think "seasoned" means they sprinkled salt and pepper on it  :roll: 

My favorite story is when I called a seller and asked how big the "load" was.   "It's a big truck," she told me, "it has lots of gears".......    :grrr: 

Ken


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## Pallet Pete (Dec 30, 2011)

There is a dealer in st charles mi who sells very good dry wood I know its a drive but he usually has wood thats dry enouph to burn well. 

Cushman firewood 
989-928-8330

They do alot of buisness and are very highly thought of ! 

Good luck
Pete


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## ansehnlich1 (Dec 30, 2011)

If I look out my back window and see 12 cord of wood at any given time then I'm sure to be doing just fine. 

If I look out there and see 5 or 6 cord then I need to either scrounge, cut, buy, or get a load of log length real quick.


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## 48rob (Dec 30, 2011)

There are a few good sellers on Craigslist...

http://chambana.craigslist.org/for/2770667318.html

Quality Firewood For Sale $80.00 (Urbana)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 2011-12-27, 10:26AM CST
Reply to: sale-899z7-2770667318@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?] 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


We are offering seasoned firewood consisting mostly of Cherry, Ash, Mulberry, and some Elm and Apple.
There may be a little Walnut, Maple, and other hardwoods as well.
We are clearing some land locally, and have chosen the best trees for processing into firewood.
We have 5 full cords seasoned and ready this year (15 face cords) and will have more ready for next years season.

All firewood has been cut and split to an average length of 16 inches.
Wood was cut, split, and stacked for drying approximately 1 year ago.

*You are welcome to bring a moisture meter and re split pieces to verify our wood is dry before you purchase.*
We would like to earn your repeat business!

Perfect for fireplaces, wood stoves, fire pits, and camping!

$80.00- 1/3 Cord (face cord) 16 inches deep x 4 feet tall x 8 feet long picked up at our storage yard in Urbana (we will help load).








We do not sell "truck loads" as every load may have a different quantity.
We keep our wood in individual racks so each holds the same amount.
However, if you are used to buying a "truck load" 1/3 cord is approximately a full size pickup truck bed full.

Please call (217) 344-6027 to order, or for more information.


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## red oak (Dec 30, 2011)

48rob said:
			
		

> There are a few good sellers on Craigslist...
> 
> http://chambana.craigslist.org/for/2770667318.html
> 
> ...



Wow this seller sounds excellent!  Wood is seasoned, they invite you to check the dryness, and it is stacked so you can verify the amount.  If I were in the area and bought wood I would definitely buy from this person!  If only they were all like this!


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## eclecticcottage (Dec 30, 2011)

We find the same thing-lots of folks that split to order.  We got some from a mill, I imagine it's not all that well seasoned, but it's not bad.  Got another load that was supposed to be seasoned, split, etc...but it's not.  Some pretty crazy sized stuff in there we'll be splitting, and definately NOT seasoned.  Accepted it and stacked it to deal with next year because we wanted to be sure we weren't short then and it was $60 a face cord delivered which isn't a bad price here (it was mostly the delivered part we liked).  I third or fourth the idea of eco bricks/biobricks/wood brick fuel if you can find them.  They burn nice and hot for a good long time, and are easy to stack and store.  About all I'm using CL for anymore is scrounging free stuff-and none of those "you cut it down" posts either.


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## Boom Stick (Dec 31, 2011)

Craigslist = Buyer Beware.


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## CTYank (Dec 31, 2011)

cwill said:
			
		

> So i screwed up my math two years ago when i started cutting for a stove this year. I didn't want to be the newbie that didn't have wood ready, so i started early and cut what i thought was enough.  Now that i am in to burning it i have realized i don't have enough wood for this winter.  So here I am looking for wood on craigslist, just where i didn't want to be.  There are alot of people selling wood but almost all of them are not selling dry wood. Most  say "seasoned" but then go on to say that its not split or they will split to what size you want. Not what i want.  So short of calling/ going to anything that may look promising and checking moisture% myself, its not looking good. The few that do look good wont answer the phone! Why can't more people get with it and sell properly dry wood?  It didn't take me long after coming here to figure out that the number 1 most important part of heating with wood is "IT"S GOT TO BE DRY"
> 
> So I'll just keep looking and calling. It's fun when you call someplace and they act like your a crazy person when you ask "how dry is your wood?"  Guess *ill be getting the hardwood pallets from work and mixing some of those in, but even those are ~23-25%*. Beats wood split a month ago that ill pay to much for.
> 
> We need BS to do a public service announcement on TV about the importance of dry wood LOL



So little imagination! Get all the pallets you can NOW. Bust them up, except the ones you'll keep for long-term use. Stack (or pile) pieces in the vicinity of the stove for a week or so, and then check the MC. Betcha it's in the low teens. Helps moisturize the house, too.

Just don't let the piles exceed 180 F, which is pretty hard to have happen.

Why are you bit**ing about your failure to plan sufficiently ahead? Learn from fuzz-ups and proceed. Dry wood is YOUR problem. And mine.


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