# Slab wood estimate



## StackedLumber (Nov 12, 2009)

The local saw mill is selling banded bundles of slab hard wood weighing 1500 lbs each-10ft long . . . .anybody know roughly how many cords of wood this is? (face crd?)  It's only $15/bundle so I'm thinking its a good deal but am wondering how many bundles I'll need.


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## smokinj (Nov 12, 2009)

jbrabson said:
			
		

> The local saw mill is selling banded bundles of slab hard wood weighing 1500 lbs each-10ft long . . . .anybody know roughly how many cords of wood this is? (face crd?)  It's only $15/bundle so I'm thinking its a good deal but am wondering how many bundles I'll need.



what kind of wood


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## StackedLumber (Nov 12, 2009)

Mainly Maple and some red oak mixed in-but mainly maple


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## smokinj (Nov 12, 2009)

3700 lbs per cord


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## StackedLumber (Nov 12, 2009)

just to be clear-face or pulp? thx


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## smokinj (Nov 12, 2009)

jbrabson said:
			
		

> just to be clear-face or pulp? thx



128 cu. ft seasoned cord of maple or oak is 3700 lbs per season cord so it would take 2 1/2 to make a cord of wood so 37.50 per cord not bad


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## StackedLumber (Nov 12, 2009)

thx-that's a "pulp wood" cord up here


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## smokinj (Nov 12, 2009)

jbrabson said:
			
		

> thx-that's a "pulp wood" cord up here



we call it cords here but a lot of people call a face cord a rick but they have no clue that it takes 3 ricks to make a cord


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## Fuelmaker (Nov 12, 2009)

If the slab wood is fairly fresh it will probably be 30% moisture and a 30% moisture cord of hardwood would weigh no more than 3000 pounds unless stacked very carefully.  So this is a great bargain.  If the bark is still on it is less of a bargain and will show up as a lot of ash in your stove and will be a  significant fire supressant if it is wet.  It will probably dry pretty quickly though because most slabs will be less than 2 inches thick at the widest.


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## smokinj (Nov 12, 2009)

Black Ash  Med  Yes/Fair Yes No  No/Few  Excel Minim 2,992 19.1 
White Ash  High  Yes/Fair Yes No  No/Few  Excel Minim 3,689 23.6 
Red Oak  High  Yes/Poor No  No  No/Few  Excel Fair  3,757 24.0 
White Oak  High  Yes  No  No  No  Excel .  4,012 25.7 
Beech  High  Yes/Poor Yes No  No/Few  Excel Minim 3,757 24.0 
Blue Beech  High  Yes/Poor Yes No  No/Few  Excel Minim 3,890 26.8 
. 
White Birch  Med  Yes/Good Yes No  No/Mod  Excel Minim 3,179 20.3 
Grey Birch  Med  Yes/Good Yes No  No/Mod  Poor  Minim 3,179 20.3 
YellowBirch  High  Yes/Good Yes No  No/Mod  Excel Minim 3,689 23.6 
Paper Birch  Med  Yes/Good Yes No  No/Mod  Excel Minim 3,179 20.3 
Black Birch  High  Yes/Good Yes No  No/Mod  Excel Minim 3,890 26.8 
Hickory  High  Yes/Fair Bad No  No/Mod  Excel Good  4,327 27.7 
HardMaple  High  Yes  Bad No  No  Excel .  .  .  
. 
Pecan  High  Yes  Yes No  No  Excel .  .  .  
Dogwood  High  Yes  Yes No  No  Excel .  .  .  
Red or
Soft Maple  Med  Yes  No  No  No  Good  .  2,924 18.7 
Cherry  Med  Yes/Poor Yes No  No/Few  Good  Excel 3,120 20.0 
BlackCherry  Med  Yes/Poor Yes No  No/Few  Good  Excel 2,880 19.9 
Walnut  Med  Yes  Yes No  No  Good  .  .  .  
. 
White Elm  Med  Med/Fair No  Med No/None  Fair  Fair  3,052 19.5 
AmericanElm  Med  Med/Fair No  Med No/None  Fair  Fair  3,052 19.5 
Sycamore  Med  Med  No  Med No  Fair  .  .  .  
Gum  Med  Med  No  Med No  Fair  .  .  .  
Aspen  Low  Yes  Yes Med No  Fair  .  2,295 14.7 
. 
Basswood  Low  Yes  Yes Med No  Fair  .  2,108 13.5 
Cottonwood  Low  Yes  Yes Med No  Fair  .  2,108 13.5 
Chestnut  Low  Yes  Yes Med Yes  Poor  .  .  .  
Apple  High  Poor  .  .  Few  Med  Excel 4,140 26.5 
Hemlock  Low  .  .  .  Many  Fair  Good  2,482 15.9 
. 
BlackLocust  High  Poor  .  .  None  Good  Minim 3,890 26.8 
Sugar Maple  High  Poor  No  .  Few  Good  Good  3,757 24.0 
Eastern
Hornbeam  High  .  .  .  .  Excel .  4,267 27.3 
Hackberry  Med  .  .  .  .  .  .  3,247 20.8 
Boxelder  Low  .  .  .  .  .  .  2,797 17.9 
Butternut  Low  .  .  .  .  Poor  .  2,100 14.5 
. 
Softwoods . 
. 
Yellow Poplar  Low  Yes  Yes Med Yes  Poor  .  .  .  
Southern
Yellow Pine High/
Low Yes  Yes Yes No/Mod  Good  Good  .  .  
Douglas Fir  High  Yes  Yes Yes No  Good  .  .  .  
Cypress  Med  Med  Yes Med No  Fair  .  .  .  
Redwood  Med  Med  Yes Med No  Fair  .  .  .  
. 
White Cedar  Med/
Low  Yes/Exc  Yes Med Some  Good  Excel 1,913 12.2 
Western
Red Cedar  Med/
Low  Yes/Exc  Yes Med Yes/Many Good  Excel .  .  
Eastern
Red Cedar  Med/
Low  Yes/Exc  Yes Med Yes/Many Good  Excel .  .  
Eastern
White Pine  Low  Med/Exc  Yes Med No/Mod  Fair  Good  2,236 14.3 
Western
White Pine  Low  Med/Exc  Yes Med No/Mod  Fair  Good  2,236 14.3 
. 
Sugar Pine  Low  Med/Exc  Yes Med No/Mod  Fair  Good  .  .  
Ponderosa
Pine  Low  Med/Exc  Yes Med No/Mod  Fair  Good  2,380 15.2 
Tamarack  Med  Yes  Yes Med Yes  Fair  .  3,247 20.8 
Larch  Med  Yes  Yes Med Yes  Fair  .  .  .  
Spruce  Low  Yes  Yes Med Yes  Poor  .  2,100 14.5 
. 
Black Spruce  Low  .  .  .  .  .  .  2,482 15.9 
Jack Pine  Low  .  .  .  .  .  .  2,669 17.1 
Norway Pine  Low  .  .  .  .  Fair  .  2,669 17.1 
Pitch Pine  Low  .  .  .  .  Fair  .  2,669 17.1 
Balsam Fir  Low  .  .  .  .  Poor  .  2,236 14.3 
Willow  Low  .  .  .  .  Poor  .  2,100 14.5 
. 
Coals . one ton per ton 
. 
Anthracite  High  No  N/A .  No  Good  Good  2,000 25.4 
Bituminous
Hi-Volat  Med  Med  N/A .  No  Med  Fair  2,000 22.0 
Bituminous
Lo-Volat  Med  Yes  N/A .  No  Med  Fair  2,000 28.6 
Lignite  Low  Yes  N/A .  No  Poor  Poor  2,000 13.8 
Charcoal  High  Yes  N/A .  No  Poor  Poor  2,000 26.0


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## smokinj (Nov 12, 2009)

Fuelmaker said:
			
		

> If the slab wood is fairly fresh it will probably be 30% moisture and a 30% moisture cord of hardwood would weigh no more than 3000 pounds unless stacked very carefully.  So this is a great bargain.  If the bark is still on it is less of a bargain and will show up as a lot of ash in your stove and will be a  significant fire supressant if it is wet.  It will probably dry pretty quickly though because most slabs will be less than 2 inches thick at the widest.



the 2nd to the last number is weight of season wood


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## StackedLumber (Nov 12, 2009)

The bark is still on it, but a lot of the slabs in the bundles are 3 inch thick slabs.  They are green and actually I was just planning on picking some of these up and buzzing them up for use next year.  They should dry up really quick since they are slabs-I found out too that the cost is $25 per bundle DELIVERED to your house!  I still think this is a really good deal, I'll still need full logs for long burns (night time!) but I don't think this is a deal that I could pass up.


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## smokinj (Nov 12, 2009)

jbrabson said:
			
		

> The bark is still on it, but a lot of the slabs in the bundles are 3 inch thick slabs.  They are green and actually I was just planning on picking some of these up and buzzing them up for use next year.  They should dry up really quick since they are slabs-I found out too that the cost is $25 per bundle DELIVERED to your house!  I still think this is a really good deal, I'll still need full logs for long burns (night time!) but I don't think this is a deal that I could pass up.



yep they will dry real quick, I'd be buying at that price


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## Fuelmaker (Nov 12, 2009)

Take as much as you can and cut it up immediately to speed up the drying.  It may not be available all the time or ever again at that price.  Paper mills pay well over $30/ton for paper chip, but to get that, a sawmill has to have a mill reasonably close by and has to maintain a chipper and chip trailers.


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## StackedLumber (Nov 12, 2009)

I guess it's one of those "blessings" of living in logging country-we have 4 sawmills within 10 miles of our house!  Will be buying this weekend!


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## flyingcow (Nov 12, 2009)

I would tend to lean towards 5,000lb  a cord. Maple and such. That's the rule of thumb up here. I bought 60,000lbs of tree length rock maple/beech and it stacked to 10 cord. Most of the wood is close to 25% mc when stacked. 
--
That seems like a hell of a deal, whatever the weight per cord. I'd love to have that stuff for my gassifier. Don't hesitate.


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## Fuelmaker (Nov 12, 2009)

60,000 pounds of logs at 45% moisture is only 33,000 pounds of dry matter, including the bark.  Once it dries down to 25% moisture, you will have 11,000 pounds of water still left in your 44,000 pounds of split wood.  Subtract out losses from natural decay, bugs, and bark that falls off, and you will probably have about 40,000 pounds of wood in that 10 cords.  I suspect you stack your wood much more carefully than most firewood sellers too.


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## lexybird (Nov 12, 2009)

around here i get bundles of hardwood (oak maple cherry ash )from the amish at 10 bucks all day long however many i want ,each bundle is banded up in a rack they make around  8 tenths of a cord once cut and processed .last i visited there must be over 100 bundles just sitting in a huge field waiting for any body with a 10 spot to grab some are better than others,some are broke open by accident and usually they just give them to you to clean up the area for the dozers ., im a snob i always grab up the thick cut red oak ones hehe


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## flyingcow (Nov 13, 2009)

lexybird said:
			
		

> around here i get bundles of hardwood (oak maple cherry ash )from the amish at 10 bucks all day long however many i want ,each bundle is banded up in a rack they make around  8 tenths of a cord once cut and processed .last i visited there must be over 100 bundles just sitting in a huge field waiting for any body with a 10 spot to grab some are better than others,some are broke open by accident and usually they just give them to you to clean up the area for the dozers ., im a snob i always grab up the thick cut red oak ones hehe



I'm jealous. That would be nice to have in the neighborhood.


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## afblue (Nov 13, 2009)

If they will deliver for $25 a bundle and they can leave banded keep it this way for processing Make sure you know exactly where the bands are but you can buzz through the whole pile in no time Mark from the center out with a paint dot at 18" or whatever length you want. Then start cutting from the outer edge towards the center of the bundle. You will end up with a some end cuts that are not log length pieces the Wife and I call them "clunkers" but they will still burn just fine. We toss them in a bucket to bring them in and burn them first of the season.


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## StackedLumber (Nov 13, 2009)

when they unload w/ their picker truck they don't set'em down all that too gently . . . sometimes the bands snap-sometimes not.  Had a buddy that had 4 bundles all break on him, but yeah, your idea was my intentions if I can keep it all bundled together.  Wouldn't want to hit the metal band w/ the chainsaw-might be messy


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## firefighterjake (Nov 13, 2009)

I like slabwood . . . seasons fast and is great for kindling or getting a fire restarted. Around here unfortunately, most of the slabwood is softwood . . . the good news is that you can get lots of it for next to nothing or for free.


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## Duetech (Nov 14, 2009)

I have burned slabwood and at about the price you are talking. Sometimes there are chunks that need to be split and sometimes there is stuff so thin that it's next to a hassle to to deal with. Trying to do the banded bundle cut is not all it's cracked up to be either as many pieces do not run the length of the bundle and can pinch the blade of the saw. Building a portable "cut-off table" will help but it's still a lot of wood to handle. With the table approach you can park your wheel barrow or garden tractor trailer under/near (make a bench to catch the wood) the cut-off (running into either with the saw is not recommended) and sort for your use (i.e. kindling, stay at home and tend the fire thin stuff and stuff that is heavy enough to load for a three or four hour burn or all nighter). This may all sound bad but it's not. The price per cord is good. If you garden the chips from the saw will help build the soil. If purchased early enough in the year slabwood is almost always dried well enough for the most finicky wood stove or boiler. The relatively flat pieces stack well in the stove and most usually the pieces are not too heavy for the misses to handle. Two or three years of burning slab may make you miss the maul though so don't sell it in a summmer garage sale. This link will help you determine what you are getting pound wise with your purchases of slab. http://chimneysweeponline.com/howood.htm


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## JustWood (Nov 14, 2009)

I sell 4'x5'x12' bundles of beech and maple slab. They weigh in at 3000lbs+ dry.


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