# How We Get Our Firewood



## downeast (Sep 9, 2008)

Now that we know how you heat...or not, how do you get the firewood for heating ?
Polls have a 1/2 life of 2 days .


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## scfa99 (Sep 9, 2008)

i'm kind of a hybrid, scrounge 70% and buy log length as needed


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## mtarbert (Sep 9, 2008)

I get mine from a tree trimmer. He dumps me logs and is happy to get rid of it.
    Mike


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## mtcox (Sep 9, 2008)

I keep and eye out for new construction sites and ask permission to cut what's already been dropped by the contractor doing the clearing and dirt work.  They usually have no issue with taking a few P/U truck loads.  Most are happy to let me have it and can't believe I asked before taking it.  They come back to their site after a weekend off to see that the busy weekend beavers have been at work on their pile with no permission.


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## davidsparks (Sep 9, 2008)

I scrounge a lot off the curbs around my house, mostly pecan. Sometimes from jobsites, and from my buddies woods if I need it.


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## wellbuilt home (Sep 9, 2008)

Im a contractor and cut lots of wood and get payed to take it .?But the power line guys cut lots of trees and let us have it .


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## Vic99 (Sep 9, 2008)

100% scrounge.

Craigslist, colleagues, opportunistic, town workers, even pallets from the hardware store if I'm running low.  All with permission of course.  Just finished processing my 12th cord in 2 years.  Haven't paid for anything directly . . . yeah , yeah car fuel, chainsaw gas, etc. of course.


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## fossil (Sep 9, 2008)

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/19583/


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## pumiglk (Sep 9, 2008)

Cut, split and seasoned on my 12 acres (with occasional forays onto the adjoining 60 with permission of course). Most by hand but I have a little 7-ton electric splitter I beat on for the big ones.  That will likely have to be upgraded, as 4-5 cords a year is "above its pay grade".  It sure beats jogging every morning for excercise.


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## jpl1nh (Sep 9, 2008)

60% harvested of standing and lying dead, 40% friends, Craigslist, road crew, etc.  0% purchased.  Have about 15 cord split and stacked, about 15 cord cut or log length that needs final processing.  Guess what I do with my spare time? :lol:


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## RedRanger (Sep 9, 2008)

Only take the blow downs and dead stuff from my acre+....  Mostly buy csd, and sometimes rounds if available.  Logging truck loads haven`t been for sale around these parts for at least 10 years.  I usually pay between 160-180 per cord csd.  And that is all softwood.


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## snowtime (Sep 9, 2008)

We are lucky. We just go out the back door and follow the tractor trail to some standing dead. Makes good firewood and theres no one to question us about cutting. Its good to be alone in the middle of a wild forest.


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## JustWood (Sep 9, 2008)

I just fire up the processor and park the one ton under the conveyor or I clean up rail tie cutoffs from around the mill.

I will now crawl under the desk to avoid all imaginary splits that are now being thrown at me through the screen in a rage of jealousy.    LOL


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## Cluttermagnet (Sep 9, 2008)

I'm still too new to it to know what my wood gathering 'pattern' is going to be. So far, 100 percent scrounged. Hope to keep it that way. Started with a big, dead Red Oak on my own property. I bought a chainsaw early on. Probably have enough hardwood processed and seasoned now to make it through the winter in good shape. Word gets out and friends start offering wood. This year I was given over a half cord of cherry and about the same of Black Locust (for next year). I have access to on the ground deadwood at another friend's house. Will probably start harvesting that in the next month. I have both hand split and used a borrowed 20 ton gas splitter.


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## struggle (Sep 9, 2008)

A friend of mine that used to live across the street from me took me out to his parents farm and said take what I want from the grove and store there as well. I have done this for seven years now. I can come and go as I please to split and cut downed trees first and then I remove fence line trees or anything they want taken down that is safe for me to drop.  It is an awesome set up. 

They surprised me a couple of times by paying for cutting up trees that they paid to have felled by a pro as they where to close to the house so I got paid to cut my firewood. It is pretty hard to beat that. Ohh I also get use of a tractor for moving wood about the farm with a large bucket on the front as well since I sold my truck. 

I use utility trailer for hauling dry wood to my house with the golden turtle as I call it (Chrysler mini-van, or as I refer to as the man-van since it is the biggest vehicle in the fleet now)


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## karl (Sep 9, 2008)

I had to click scrounge because there wasn't enough options.  That's what I used to do.  This year I bought four cords of slab wood cut to length for 220 bucks.  

WOO HOO.


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## eernest4 (Sep 9, 2008)

well, every one seemed to miss this one so i will mention it here.

    Go to the town dump with an empty PU truck or trailer & wait for someone to come it with a load of wood. You will get a lot of 2x3 & 2x4 & 2x6 & maybe some 4 x 4 ends & odd lengths .

The dump guys won't allow you to dumpster dive or pick out of piles,too much libility if you get hurt but they should allow you to help someone unload their trailer or truck full of junk wood that they want to dump & just put the wood into your trailer or truck instead.

Just take natural uncoated wood, no composite or pressed wood as these have glue in them that release noxious or toxic gasses when burned & act as a fire accelerant as well.

   Don't take anything with paint or any other finish on the wood as this makes toxic or at least unhealthy gases when it burns. No cardboard or plywood as this has glue on it with similar gases
as paint when it burns. NEVER BURN PRESSURE TREATED. It may have arsonic or pottassium or ciainide poisons in the wood which are released when burned.

Dont take any rotted wood ,eather because it dont burn good & is full of mildew,fungus, mold & germs & not worth touching.


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## CowboyAndy (Sep 9, 2008)

My father in law has 200+ wooded acres consisting of alot of maple and cherry... 

I basiclly have an endless supply.


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## caber (Sep 9, 2008)

Harvest some off our land, keep an eye on Craigslist for people looking to have fallen trees removed, land cleared, etc.  Been meaning to call the park service near here as well as some tree services.  I'll have to keep an eye out foe construction sites, but building around here has slowed waaaaaay down.


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## eba1225 (Sep 9, 2008)

100% scrounge.  When the weather or utility co's take it down I am there picking it up.


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## colebrookman (Sep 9, 2008)

We have 250 acres of mixed hardwoods, a large tractor, decent saw and a strong back ( so far).
Ed


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## Catskill (Sep 9, 2008)

I harvest some and have and arrangement with a tree service for some more. I guess I fall into catagory 1.


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## Tfin (Sep 9, 2008)

For last year and this coming season I've harvested all my wood from my mother's property.  But she only has 5 acres so that's coming to an end.  I'm planning to purchase a truck load of tree length next spring which should put me ahead by two years.


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## Patapsco Mike (Sep 9, 2008)

If I had to buy firewood, there is no way I'd be heating with a woodstove.  All mine is delivered to my woodpile as cut to length rounds from a friend who owns a tree service.


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## burntime (Sep 9, 2008)

100% Scrounge.  Some years are better than others.  This year is a mixture of everything including some pine.  Next year is about 3 cords of red and white oak.  Of course it has been drying for about 2 months now so it should be ready next fall.


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## firefighterjake (Sep 9, 2008)

This year has been a mix . . . I started out grabbing pallets and cutting them up before deciding that this was a lot of work. At the same time I began cleaning up my property by taking down a bunch of standing dead elms (most with the bark falling off) and some other dead trees. Lately, I've been working over on my father's property -- concentrating on some maple tops my brother cut last winter and ash (which I figure should be seasoned enough by late winter or if my supply holds out it will be the start of next year's stash.) I've also grabbed some softwood slabs from my brother when he cut up some lumber a year or so back.

As for next year . . . all wood (well maybe some slabs) off the family property. My brother cut back some trees along the field and I am slowly and surely cutting and splitting them up for next year's wood supply.


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## Backwoods Savage (Sep 9, 2008)

We cut firewood in our own woods every winter. That is our winter exercise. However, we no longer split it the old way but use a hydraulic splitter. So far we have about a 7 year supply all cut, split and stacked. 

Yesterday I was looking around in the woods at the ash trees. It is amazing how many have new sprouts coming out from about 4' to 12' feet up on the trunks. They are trying to save themselves from the borer but are losing that battle. Guess what we'll be cutting the next few years...


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## BurningIsLove (Sep 10, 2008)

Normally get a grapple (15-20 trees for $250 delivered) and process myself.  But this year there are none to be had w/ the downturn in economy and home construction.  So more scrounging this year as well as knocking down large oaks on my property that were diseased or infested.

With either method, I process it myself


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## johnsopi (Sep 10, 2008)

I'm 3 years a head so I try to restock what I burn at some during the year. I try to get wood services to 
drop the wood off at my house and pay them 30-50$ for their trouble. I buget @ 200 a year for wood.


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## hkobus (Sep 12, 2008)

For years I have cleaned up fallen limbs and trees, and cleaned field edges from dead or overhanging trees. Now I have no shortage on wood, just time.


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## polaris (Sep 12, 2008)

If I only cut up the dead down stuff close to the house I could probably heat 3-4 households indefinitely. According to our county extension agent, a 10 acre hardwood lot should be able to heat a normal household forever.


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## mayhem (Sep 12, 2008)

Harvest/scrounge for me.


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## ClydesdaleBurner (Sep 12, 2008)

Put me down as a hybrid... get 1-2 cords pre-split a season and then scrouge as much as possible.  Last season I probably got 3/4 cord scrouging.  Just yesterday I picked up about a 1/4 cord of oak 14"-28" rounds on the side of the road and they're taking down 10 more trees today and Monday.  I'm psyched!  I might end up with 1-2 more cords of oak.  So give that stuff a solid 1-2 yrs to season and I'll be sitting pretty.  

For someone who pays $250/cord seasoned 2 yrs and $190/cord green finding free hardwood is like hitting the lottery!


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## savageactor7 (Sep 12, 2008)

We harvest backyard trees in the fall (oct-dec) when they're dormant then stage up the logs for early spring bucking and splitting. Over the winter (dec-feb)we'll cut dead trees and try and split 'em on site if the weather is favorable. We use to do everything at once now everything is done in stages a little bit at a time...no more all day projects, once you're a couple years ahead the pressure is off. Harvesting is the only wood gathering activity that I may work longer than 1hr a day on wood...but then again sometimes I take a big ash in 35min so I suppose it evens out. Thankfully a lot of the drudgery has been removed, harvesting remains the biggest chore but if you can do 1 tree a day for 25 days then that's as far as harvesting goes.


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## beachma (Sep 14, 2008)

Has anyone tried freecycle?  A yahoo group where people offer things that they don't need or want for free!  I have gotten 5 apple trees and another big something or other just in the last couple of weeks.  Have chain saw will travel.  Most areas have  a freecycle group available.  Just google "freecycle".


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## glassmanjpf (Sep 14, 2008)

Call a tree service and wait for the free log drop, them get busy.  Scrounge a little if I have the room to store.


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## lobsta1 (Sep 14, 2008)

Used to do all scrounging. Made a connection & now have logs dropped next to my wood pile. Only little bit of a disadvantage is I can't chose what gets dropped off. Sometimes it ends up
being buggy. That gets stacked in separate piles. I then burn that in the workshop with the wood being carried straight in & into the stove. I've got about 11 cords of good stuff all stacked
away now.
Al


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## gibson (Sep 14, 2008)

I have bought all of my wood c/s/d this year at $175 per cord, 4 cord all red oak.  I can get wood unprocessed at $80-100 if I want and perhaps I will for next year.  Don't think that $175 is that bad, considering oil prices and man hours involved in processing.  At $175 csd, I am way up as far as I am concerned at wont change if it is the same next year.


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## Catskill (Sep 15, 2008)

Well I told my tree service friend that I'm full up for this season (about 8 weeks ago) and 'thanks but no thanks' to any more.

Well today while I was on a business trip to South Jersey my cell phone rings... it's him... *"I have a load of oak and maple, it's very clean... you want it?"*

me... *"OK"*  (I just can't seem to say no...)

So I have another ~1.5 cord of wood (already cut to size) sitting in my driveway to split.   

Well, it's either firewood for the neighbors or an early start on next year.


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## Poult (Sep 15, 2008)

I went c/s/d this year at about $60 a face cord.  Bought it in April and then got antsy just in case I don't get to the woods this winter and bought a second load from another dealer in August for next year.  Thought it wouldn't hurt to get on two dealers' lists of previous customers.  My knees aren't too good so I'm not sure how much I'm going to want to cut down in the swamp working alone.

Then this weekend I poked my nose into the granary where I stored the leftovers from the wood house that I cleaned out five years ago and was gratified to see at least a cord and a half in there that just needs to be split.  That wood is about 30 years old, so do you think it needs any more seasoning?


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## Catskill (Sep 15, 2008)

Catskill said:
			
		

> Well I told my tree service friend that I'm full up for this season (about 8 weeks ago) and 'thanks but no thanks' to any more.
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> Well today while I was on a business trip to South Jersey my cell phone rings... it's him... *"I have a load of oak and maple, it's very clean... you want it?"*
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Here's a pic:


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## Joey Jones (Sep 15, 2008)

We get it the old fashioned way, We Steal It...Just kidding folks, bought some 4 cord and scavenged the rest...and am still on the prowl....Grrrreer


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## JustWood (Sep 15, 2008)

Catskill said:
			
		

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I wood say mostly beech but still a nice WAD of wood!  YOU SCORED!


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## Catskill (Sep 16, 2008)

LEES WOOD-CO said:
			
		

> I wood say mostly beech but still a nice WAD of wood!  YOU SCORED!



Give the man a cigar! A little closer "look-see" reviles that there's beech in that pile too. We'll see what other treasures we find once the splitting starts.

I'm starting to feel like a "wood whore".... I'm up to my eyeballs in wood at this point.  :grrr:


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## JustWood (Sep 16, 2008)

Catskill said:
			
		

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You're free to change the name in your avatar if you wish.  LOL

If you got that wood free ,you should look into buying the lot next door and demo'ing the house just so your tree man has a place to dump!  LOL


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## Jake (Sep 16, 2008)

burn kiln dried hardwood scraps from work (free)


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## Tfin (Sep 16, 2008)

Catskill said:
			
		

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I can't believe you had that dropped in your yard like that for free  Very envious!


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## Adios Pantalones (Sep 16, 2008)

I have only 2 acres- 1.5 is wooded.  I've cut off this property for 6 years and there's nary a dent in the foliage- some large trees that were shading the property were 1.5 - 2 cord, so a couple that had to come down are a year's wood!

I'm clearing a bit in the woods and planting in- making some light, leaving some big logs to rot, trying some forestry management.

Vic99 and I have a plan for a bunch of wood coming up... may post as it develops.


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## Catskill (Sep 16, 2008)

Tfin said:
			
		

> I can't believe you had that dropped in your yard like that for free Very envious!



I'm splitting it right now and giving it to a family that could use help making ends meet.


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## Joey Jones (Sep 16, 2008)

Catskill said:
			
		

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What a prince of a guy. People like you are few and far apart. You are a true humanitarian.


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## Tfin (Sep 16, 2008)

Catskill said:
			
		

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Very honorable.  Good karma for you.


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## Joey Jones (Sep 16, 2008)

JoeyJ said:
			
		

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I'll be honest here. Unless I was years ahead of the game in terms of wood supply, etc. I wuld never give a stick of wood away, but I'm not, I'm just struggling to make it through season 1. Plus were I to be the giver away of gold...I'd insist on a pan full of very large blueberry muffins every sat morning.  ..Sorry all I just love blueberry muffins...


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## WATYF (Sep 16, 2008)

I guess I "harvest". Although that sounds way too "manly" for what I do.

My yard is a little over a half-acre and the whole back side of it (longways) is a wooded easement that the power lines run through. It's full (or was full) of black locusts. The good thing about black locusts... they burn really well. The bad thing... they fall on your house a lot. 

I've been cutting them down (read "paying someone to cut them down") since the day I moved in. No... since the day *before* I moved in, since one of the first experiences with my new house was having my neighbor offer to cut off a huge limb that almost took out half the house I had just bought.

Since then my house has been hit by three (or so) more falls. After the latest, I got sick of wondering when the next tree was going to fall on me and paid someone to fell about 5 or 6 of them. Now I have a backyard full of logs that I eventually have to get around to splitting and stacking. Not that that's gonna happen any time soon.


WATYF


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## WATYF (Sep 16, 2008)

Tfin said:
			
		

> For last year and this coming season I've harvested all my wood from my mother's property.  But she only has 5 acres so that's coming to an end.  I'm planning to purchase a truck load of tree length next spring which should put me ahead by two years.



5 acres only lasted you two seasons???


WATYF


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## ClydesdaleBurner (Sep 16, 2008)

Update on my scrounging... picked up a 1/3 cord of oak last week from tree service cleaning up around power lines down the street from me.  They were back today and I went home at lunch to get first pick of the wood.  Scored!  Probably close to a cord of all oak.  Bucked into 14"-18" rounds anywhere from 4"-5" limbs to 18"+ rounds.  Took 2 trips with my truck.

Now my drive looks like a wood processing area.  I love it!  And this is from a guy who is used to paying for 90% of his wood.  Too bad Oak can take 1.5+yrs to season.  This stuff will be a reserve for the end of 2009/2010 winter and then good for the next winter 2010/2011.  

Happy hunting... I mean scrounging!


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## ScottF (Sep 16, 2008)

I harvest from my own property. We have over 10 acres.  Unfortunately it has tons and tons of pine.  yes I know that it is OK to burn but it takes twice as much work and wood as hardwood.  I do want to thin the pine so the desiduous trees can grow in.  I will be burning a lot of pine for many years.


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## Catskill (Sep 16, 2008)

JoeyJ said:
			
		

> I'll be honest here. Unless I was years ahead of the game in terms of wood supply, etc. I wuld never give a stick of wood away, but I'm not, I'm just struggling to make it through season 1.



I hear ya. From a wood burning perspective it makes perfect since. I should be squirreling away wood myself but then I'd have to double or triple my storage area from holding 5 cord to 10 or 15 and I just don't think I want to do that (for a variety of reasons). So I'm expecting to burn about 4 cord this year have 1 extra "just in case" and share the wealth after that. Come spring I'll be talking with my tree guy friend once more and I'll have ~9 months to season what comes down the pike.


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## Joey Jones (Sep 16, 2008)

WATYF said:
			
		

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Tfin  AKA Todd does not waste wood. He is as meager as the next poor man.....I know him ...So please try to understand his situation


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## Adios Pantalones (Sep 16, 2008)

JoeyJ said:
			
		

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Nobody was criticizing.  I am trying to understand his situation as well.  I've heated my house cutting off 1.5 acres of woods for 6 years and probably could for another 5 before you noticed serious clearing.  5 acres should last many years unless it's a special condition- poor soil, immature forest, softwoods that he doesn't want to use for some reason, etc.


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## Joey Jones (Sep 16, 2008)

I do live quite close to a natural forest ...so I  shall try and get a permit for down and dead wood...


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## Catskill (Sep 16, 2008)

JoeyJ said:
			
		

> I do live quite close to a natural forest ...so I  shall try and get a permit for down and dead wood...



My town issues permits for doing just that. I wish I lived closer, I'd gladly share, my cup runeth over.


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## WATYF (Sep 16, 2008)

JoeyJ said:
			
		

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hey man... I wasn't trying to be rude. I didn't know there was any "situation" going on.

I'm looking to get 5 acres myself in the future, and I figured that would last me a good long while (decades) if I kept it up well. I only have a half acre now, and the wood from the few trees I've cut down has already lasted me a few years. I guess I was just curious why he couldn't use 5 acres after only two seasons.


WATYF


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## Tfin (Sep 17, 2008)

Whoa everyone.......suppose I should clarify here.   :gulp:   The only situation is that the 5 acres I was refering to is my mother's and stepfather's property where their house resides.  Oh believe me, there's PLEANTY of trees there (mostly all oak too).  Its just that they're not going to allow me to take to many more, because they want to keep it "forested".

They may let me take a couple more here and there, but not enough to supply my wood needs year after year.

Actually I burn around 28 cord per year, so I need a LOT of wood.  j/k   ;-)


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## relax (Sep 17, 2008)

how many stoves are you running to burn that much wood :question: ...ZZZim


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## WATYF (Sep 17, 2008)

zim said:
			
		

> how many stoves are you running to burn that much wood :question: ...ZZZim



20.... he has a stove in every corner of every room. He uses the excess heat to power his do-it-yourself thermal-nuclear reactor.


WATYF


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## Tfin (Sep 17, 2008)

WATYF said:
			
		

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Now you've got it!  About 1.4 cord per stove.  :coolgrin:


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## relax (Sep 17, 2008)

no really Tfin how do burn so much...I m thinking Im really in trouble cuz I only have  about 6 cord of ash cut and ready  for a North Dakota winter ,,1500 sq ft ranch to heat..with a new soap stone heritage..I would think your temps are warmer than ours requiring lower consumption....hey wait a minute here...you  aint getting subsaties on that wood are you...???just kidding...burn baby burn...ZZZim


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## Adios Pantalones (Sep 17, 2008)

he was joking (jk means "just kidding")

6 cord of ash is a LOT of heat.  Most folks normally use 3.5-5 cord of hardwood a year, so you're probably in great shape.


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## skinnykid (Sep 17, 2008)

JoeyJ said:
			
		

> I do live quite close to a natural forest ...so I  shall try and get a permit for down and dead wood...



NH doesn't do that, I asked!


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## fossil (Sep 17, 2008)

AP could produce a dozen really nice coffee mugs or something with 28 cords of wood.  Rick


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## Adios Pantalones (Sep 17, 2008)

Rick- You mean "in exchange for 28 cord of wood".  At $400 per cord here, that'd be like $900 per mug.  Sounds about right.


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## fossil (Sep 17, 2008)

It really is beautiful stuff that comes out of that kiln of yours, AP...but $900/mug?  I'll have to go get a mug loan from the Credit Union.   %-P   Rick


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## Adios Pantalones (Sep 17, 2008)

I could come down as low as $750.  A man's got to eat (heck- I might put 20 mins work into it exclusive of the firing process- throwing, trimming, carving, handle, glaze, and a Patron on the rocks with lime... that part might be what kills my efficiency).


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## Tfin (Sep 17, 2008)

zim said:
			
		

> no really Tfin how do burn so much...I m thinking Im really in trouble cuz I only have  about 6 cord of ash cut and ready  for a North Dakota winter ,,1500 sq ft ranch to heat..with a new soap stone heritage..I would think your temps are warmer than ours requiring lower consumption....hey wait a minute here...you  aint getting subsaties on that wood are you...???just kidding...burn baby burn...ZZZim



Zim, as AP eluded to I was just kidding about the 28 cord per year.  I actually have 4 cord ready to go, but should only burn around 3 of it.

Believe you me, it gets plenty cold here in Maine!  My ranch is a shade smaller than yours and is well insulated.  My stove is right in my living room and keeps us nice and toasty all winter long.

You should do fine with 6 cord of ash.  Happy burning!


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## relax (Sep 17, 2008)

well thats good ,cuz i havent burned for about 10  years and couldn;t remember about how much we used...but i know it wasn;t a whole forest full...I havent found anyone to drop any off in my yard yet..but  there is  a lot of fall yet...still a chance ;-) ..burn baby burn  ...ZZZZim


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## relax (Sep 17, 2008)

maybe you all just have them small trees and gotta use a lot..i mean i only cut 7 trees  to get 6 cord  or something like that...


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## Tfin (Sep 17, 2008)

The property has already been cut/thinned out in the past.  Its fairly open in there and for the most part all that's left are the massive oaks.  If I was able to cut 7 of these it would set me up for 2+ years.  They're big boys.

I just don't see them letting me take 7 at once.


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## relax (Sep 17, 2008)

I would sure like get my wood hungry hands on some oak..we dont see much of it around ,,Im thinking about planting some in the spring for the next generation of wood barons to own my soap stone when I go to the big wood pile in the sky...  ..ZZZim


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## kmdesautelle (Sep 17, 2008)

This has been some interesting reading on this post...can one of you guys recommend a chain saw that would be safe to be operated by a 140 lb woman?


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## Shipper50 (Sep 17, 2008)

kmdesautelle said:
			
		

> This has been some interesting reading on this post...can one of you guys recommend a chain saw that would be safe to be operated by a 140 lb woman?


I would recommend someone showing you how to use a saw safely first and then buy a Dolmar 5100 s with a 18 inch bar with 3/8 chain. I ran mine again today and its the best saw I have ever run for weight and balance.

Shipper


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## aquapura (Sep 17, 2008)

When I moved into my home had a huge Maple tree cut down for fear it would fall on the house.  Saved it all.  48" diameter at the base.  Still have 2 cords split & stacked.  Gave away nearly a cord to a friend and huge splitting blocks to several other friends and still have some large rounds waiting to be split and stacked.  It'll be a while before I have to "buy" firewood.


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## ansehnlich1 (Sep 18, 2008)

I buy log length, had near 5 cord on the last load, 4.7 to be exact, and paid 320 american dollars for it.

I got a scroungin' habit too ya know, plus a couple acres I cut off of.


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## Chief Ryan (Sep 21, 2008)

I live on Long Island NY. Not many wood burners around here so there's is not much competition. I listen for chainsaws, tell friends, follow tree guys. I stack all my wood on plastic pallets and that works out real well. I have about 6 cords split and about 3 cords in rounds. This is my first year with a stove. I've been burning in fireplace for years. Can't wait.


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## jeanw (Sep 23, 2008)

Found this forum last winter. First time posting though
Defintely a scrounger, proud of it. Most from neighbors, getting large trees cut, Or drag smaller stuff back from my walk to mailbox. Live here in city Been wood burning for almost 15 years     So very experience is wood hauling and picking up. 
 Other people look up qwhen walking, I look down.LOL   always on lookout for wood esp kindling. LOL
     Junk pickup is every 3 months and Im a addict. I scrounge old furniture etc break or cut it up.   I even scrounge old garbage cans people throw away and store in them too. I prob have 12 garbage cans 
   Now we had STRONG winds last Sunday  the worst electric outage in our city
 and its a woodburning  dream.   Plenty still out there. Lots of folks still in the dark with power off. fortunately it didnt affect my street.
  I did take out the car several times and filled the trunk prob 10 times.  Mostly  maple though. Found some oak. guy down the street cut  a wild cherry limb for neighbor.   Nice looking wood there.
  Hubby cut most to length. Still need to split the bigger stuff. Too hot in the 80s during the day
   Im not too poplar cause my front yad is full of cut up logs waiting to be stacked in the backyard. Too bad  Ill do some every day till they are done
Do have some lattice screens  in front of my 4 small covered wood"cribs" or sheds I made some covers out of remnant "sunbrella" fabric and some nice brass grommets . Im a  sewist too  Need to make two more covers.
 Scrounged some old fibergass roof panels from house in back, when they remodeled. Hoping Hubby helps me enclose the center of my woodshed with those large pieces
  Ill prob scrounge again tomorrow. before the city picks up the countless tree limbs
  Gotta MAKE hay while the sun shines.  right guys.  ?I  bought me a cordless rec saw . Also use my 12 inch bandsaw to cut smaller stuff to lengths.   Im kind of scared of the chainsaw. .  Gonna order some mor good hearing protectors and another pair of chaps.
 Hubby finally built some more sawbucks From my junk pickup find.From old cedar  extension ladder. I drug home three months ago from several blocks away curb .I made several trips and shifted arms  
   Not bad for  an "Older gal" and 125 pounds weight. Love the challenge and exercise. Just gotta remember to keep back straight and hold in stomach and lift with legs. right guys?  Plus grew up poor 
  I hope to do all of this for years yet. But wish Hubby would try build some solar stuff. Less wear on the lungs......  Just not as good keeping fire going in stove as Hubby is.
  wish I bought a diff model stove ....Ah well  
Now thinking about an electric splitter   Keep the gas one at Lake house   Then we dont have to bring back and forth
 love reading on forums. I learn a lot
Take care all


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## BJ64 (Sep 23, 2008)

I should have posted my little pic here rather that start a thread on another forum.  My wood comes from felled trees here on the farm.

This is a picture of the mess I am working on now.


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## DavidV (Sep 23, 2008)

Never pay


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## BotetourtSteve (Sep 23, 2008)

I'm probably 50-50 purchased cut and split versus my own cutting and splitting.  I have a surgically-repaired back that cannot or will not (I'm not going to force the issue) keep up with my 10-12 pick-up per winter habit, so I rely on a number of local cutters who deliver right to the shed to make up the difference from what I cut on several local farms/woodlots.


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## Cluttermagnet (Sep 24, 2008)

jeanw said:
			
		

> Found this forum last winter. First time posting though
> Defintely a scrounger, proud of it.


Welcome, jeanw. You are definitely a great scrounger and a hands on kind of person. Good on ya, as the Aussies say. I like to do some of those construction projects like your woodshed roof and such. I love to recycle stuff. Lately I'm getting a small steady supply of mostly 2 by 4 wood, also some other good sizes. I plan to build a woodshed out of it. And it truly is a scroungers sort of thing, as the wood is used and needs to have some nails and staples pulled as I bring it in. So I know where you are coming from. Breaks my heart to see good stuff go to the dump. Must be the influence of my parents, who lived through the 1920-30's depression.


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## Bamawood (Nov 2, 2008)

I'll put it this way, I haven't bought any wood yet. Knock on my free wood.


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## ourhouse (Nov 3, 2008)

I get log truck loads from work. The price is right too. FREE


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## chad3 (Nov 3, 2008)

Last tree I got was an Ash that a co-worker needed a limb cut up that came across onto his property.  I asked him to ask the person who owned the land if we could take down the whole tree so that it wouldn't happen with other limbs (not true, but it sounded reasonable).  I scored a 24+ tree out of that one.  I'm hoping to get a few more of these so that I can keep up with the burn from this year.  I'm guessing it was close to a cord total.  Have open land next to my parents that has some very good oaks on it that I may start thinning next spring for a few more.


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## Dill (Nov 3, 2008)

I've bought a cord of wood once. I crashed a snowmobile bad one new years and was laid up with 4 broken ribs and a wrecked wrist.  Hopefully I'll never to that again.
I have a good mix of scrounge and harvest. Right now I'm just pulling dead trees out of my wood lot, so does that make scrounging or harvesting?


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## bsruther (Nov 4, 2008)

All of my wood has come from the property of friends that live within a mile of me. My best source is a good frien that lives a half mile down the road. He has eleven acres and has been clearing some of it for trails and a river view. He gave me about 5 cords for this season and we'll start on next season's real soon. We usually cut it into eight foot lengths and pile it on the forks of his Tractor and he dumps it in the yard for me. The wood consists of Ash, Cherry, Honeylocust, Osage Orange and a little Hackberry. There's another guy I know that lives about a mile from me that's about to have 50 trees logged from his land. I'll be sure to snag some of that. They've also logged the ridge behind my house and left a lot of tops up there. I need to get in touch with the owner before I take any though. I own three acres and have about an acre of young hardwood mostly. My Ash trees average about 6". I cut the dead standing that I have, but I won't touch any live stuff until every last wood resource runs out.
I'd burn honeysuckle before I'd pay for wood...Sycamore even.


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## Cory92 (Nov 4, 2008)

This will be my first year burning since I hauled wood in as a kid for Mom & Dad back in the 80's.  We have a two acre lot that is 1/3 woods.  I currently have 1 cord put up and am working on the second.  I'll only burn on weekends this year to get back into the swing of it.  Being on this site is like getting bit by the burn bug.  I have probably 3-4 cords or more of wood that just needs to be cleaned up off of the ground.


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## Llamaman (Aug 4, 2010)

Just scored a huge pile of seasoned poplar and hemlock (I think) on Craig's list - right near my house - all bucked just needs to be split..........looks like a cord or maybe two - plan to get over there this weekend with trailer to retrieve - is it worth it?


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## Tony H (Aug 4, 2010)

Llamaman - poplar is not that great but it seasons fast and you can mix it in with the hemlock. The hemlock is pretty good stuff so take that first.

I scrounge all my wood from family , friends, CL and a couple tree services. One of the tree guys even drops it off at the house , the others I take thetrailer out to the job site and they help load it up by hand so it's all a semi reasonable size. The guy that drops it off has a big grapple loader so he has some huge pieces.


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## CountryBoy19 (Aug 4, 2010)

I am pretty lucky to have "cheap" sources of wood but they often include driving a little ways.

I live near quite a bit of national forest land. You can purchase a cutting permit for $20 that allows you to take 4 truck loads or 2 cords. But it would be about 15 miles (or 10 miles down a weaving, winding country road) to the nearest area to cut.

I also work on a 63,000 acre wooded military base that allows firewood cutting for $10/load (no limit on load size as far as I know). The worst part about this is that it requires a partner. I know it's not a bad idea to have a partner but that means I pretty much have to make a special trip (20 miles one way) with my wife along, or find somebody else that works here to cut with me as my partner. Neither of those options have worked out so far, but I'm hoping to find a cutting partner.


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## firefighterjake (Aug 4, 2010)

Llamaman said:
			
		

> Just scored a huge pile of seasoned poplar and hemlock (I think) on Craig's list - right near my house - all bucked just needs to be split..........looks like a cord or maybe two - plan to get over there this weekend with trailer to retrieve - is it worth it?



Wow . .  zombie thread . . . it's alive . . . it's alive! (Running in panic.)

Kidding aside . . . in my own opinion neither hemlock or poplar are especially good or desirable woods for burning . . . poplar is a "soft" hardwood and hemlock is a "hard" softwood . . . neither one will compare to oak, sugar maple, beech, locust, etc. . . . but that said . . . if the wood is free . . . and even bucked up already . . . and near your house . . . free wood is good wood . . . and once seasoned it will keep you just as warm as the more desirable wood . . . you might need to reload a little more often . . . but in my opinion that's not a huge drawback.


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## KennyG (Aug 4, 2010)

I cut 100% of my extended family's wood needs from our family farm.  We have cut in our woods, 48 acres, for the past forty years.  We harvest between 5 and 7 full cords of wood annually.


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## Bspring (Aug 4, 2010)

I have become a wood snob. I have plenty of soft wood on my land but I only want Oak. In addition to that I want someone else to buck it and deliver it to me for free. If I lived somewhere else this would not be possible but around here I really don't have a problem with that. It cost the tree services $40 to take their load to the dump plus gas and time. My land is closer and free.


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## zzr7ky (Aug 4, 2010)

Hi - 

I've cultivated some churches, excavation businesses, and tree service outfits.  I rarely travel more thatn 2 miles any more since the Ash bore came though.

I will be begging again in a few years, but now I'm sitting on a bumber crop.


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## Cash Wiley (Aug 5, 2010)

firefighterjake said:
			
		

> Wow . .  zombie thread . . . it's alive . . . it's alive! (Running in panic.).


Har! I didn't see it until too late!

So I voted in a zombie poll - This will be my second winter, I buy in my wood at $55/face. This year I did get a face cord from a dead maple we took out in the late winter, lots of rotted wood in it though.


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