# Log Length full load green cost?  Maine



## JP11 (Dec 22, 2011)

Just curious what a full pulp truck load of log length green hardwood should cost.  Central Maine.

Guy I called is honest as the day is long (he cut my lot 4 years ago when I bought it) I just haven't heard back from him yet.

Curious is all.  I've got lots of land.. But I think I'm gonna be using 7 or 8 cords a year.. and want to really get ahead.  Not sure how my few weekend attempts thus far will stack up.  I'll know soon.  Freight company says splitter will be in before the first of the year.

JP


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## Wood Duck (Dec 22, 2011)

It sure would be faster to cut up a load of logs than to harvest your own trees. I am not sure I'd want to pay for wood if I had free wood i could harvest and didn't mind taking out some trees, but it would definitely save time.


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## ewdudley (Dec 22, 2011)

JP11 said:
			
		

> Just curious what a full pulp truck load of log length green hardwood should cost.  Central Maine.
> 
> Guy I called _*is honest as the day is long* _(he cut my lot 4 years ago when I bought it) I just haven't heard back from him yet.



Watch out, you've picked the worst possible time of the year to be dealing with that guy!

Cheers   --ewd


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## JP11 (Dec 22, 2011)

Naw.. He's a brother of a friend.  I actually really trust him.  I was completely happy after he cut my lot.  About a month and a half later.. I get a check for a couple of grand.  He put in a note that said.. sorry, I just got paid for that last stuff. 

I was completely happy, and he could have pocketed that check and I never would have known it.  

I don't need the wood now.  I'm gonna wait a few weeks and see what my efforts thus far have yielded.  Getting a complete year ahead may be worth it.  I guess it depends on costs.  I really don't know how long it will take me to cut split and stack a cord from my land.

JP


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## steeltowninwv (Dec 22, 2011)

Most people can manage a cord a day...I don't do it that way...I cut a few days haul it all in usually one day and split in a few days..usually 2 to 4 cords when I do it like this.


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## JP11 (Dec 22, 2011)

ok.. so maybe I'm not doing too bad.

Let's say I have a hypothetical tree that's 16 inches on the stump.  45 feet tall.  How much of a full cord would that one tree be?  

Assume something junk, like a hemlock.  No real branches to use.

Will know once I get the splitter and get stacking. 

I tend to go our for a few hours.  Cut more than I haul in at once.  I fill the bucket of the kubota 3 or 4 times.  One tank of gas in the saw is about my "fun" limit right now.  Anxious for a bit of snow so I can range further with the snowmobile and sled.  I've got quite a bit of stuff cut and piled, awaiting pickup from the woods.

JP


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## LLigetfa (Dec 22, 2011)

ewdudley said:
			
		

> Watch out, you've picked the worst possible time of the year to be dealing with that guy!


Perhaps the joke was too subtle.  Today is the shortest day of the year.

I have 18 acres of which most of it is Aspen, Poplar, Balsam Fir, and Tag Alder.  There is some Birch and Ash but they are far and few between and I don't have the equipment to get it out.  For me it's easier to have a grapple load dropped in my yard than to carry it out of the bush over my shoulder.


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## JP11 (Dec 22, 2011)

It was a good joke.. but it was a joke grenade.. Pull the pin and wait a few seconds for everyone to catch up.

I'm not quite backpacking it out.  My skid roads are mostly too wet to take the kubota on most of the year.  I'll use the skidoo utility sled with the pull behind otter sled to bring everything out stove length.  It should work good.. I think.  Need more cold and snow to test the idea.

I PROBABLY can get enough in this winter to get ahead.  I'll have to decide before the end of winter.. when the roads get posted.

JP


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## LLigetfa (Dec 22, 2011)

Ja, I'm still dreaming about a 'bota or a quad.  The incentive to get one or the other would be far greater if I had some decent hardwoods growing out back.


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## Backwoods Savage (Dec 22, 2011)

JP, 7 or 8 cord of wood per year is a lot of wood. Are you sure you'll burn that much. Naturally there are some that does use that much and more but some also overestimate how much they will need. And buying like that is not a bad way to go. One very nice thing is that it is all burnable so no brush to contend with plus you can do all the cutting right at home. Good luck.


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## JP11 (Dec 22, 2011)

I know.. but kubota is a 35hp grand L with a cab.. too nice to do much bashing in the woods.   Those side by sides are big money. I should buy an old jeep I wouldn't care about bashing.  Lot is real wet on much of it.  Sled should do the trick.

I really think I'll be at 6 or 7 full cords.  Maybe not.  I'm heating 5k sf to 70 degrees, and 1200sf to about 60.  I put an hourmeter on the furnace.. so i can tell better this year.  But I think I'm at about 50k plus BTU/hr at 10 below zero.

I'm running a biodiesel blend (it's got less punch than #2) but I'm burning 1500 gal or so I year I bet.  Maybe a bit more.


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## peterc38 (Dec 22, 2011)

To the OP, for reference, I am in Maine too and I have been paying $750-800 for 8 cord loads of mixed hardwood, which in my area is primarily oak and maple with some beech. Used to be able to get it a little cheaper but hat price has held steady for the last 4 years or so, and its a heck of a lot cheaper than oil.


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## StuckInTheMuck (Dec 23, 2011)

JP11 said:
			
		

> I know.. but kubota is a 35hp grand L with a cab.. too nice to do much bashing in the woods.   Those side by sides are big money. I should buy an old jeep I wouldn't care about bashing.  Lot is real wet on much of it.  Sled should do the trick.
> 
> I really think I'll be at 6 or 7 full cords.  Maybe not.  I'm heating 5k sf to 70 degrees, and 1200sf to about 60.  I put an hourmeter on the furnace.. so i can tell better this year.  But I think I'm at about 50k plus BTU/hr at 10 below zero.
> 
> I'm running a biodiesel blend (it's got less punch than #2) but I'm burning 1500 gal or so I year I bet.  Maybe a bit more.



What kind of hour meter did you put on your furnace?  Thnx.


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## JP11 (Dec 23, 2011)

ok.. thanks.  reading all about good DRY wood..

The idea of getting a year or two ahead, quickly isn't bad.  but that money would be better spent right now on copper and pumps to and from the storage tanks.. which I hope will be done soon.

JP


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## ewdudley (Dec 23, 2011)

StuckInTheMuck said:
			
		

> What kind of hour meter did you put on your furnace?  Thnx.


On related threads it's been suggested to use a 120VAC clock hooked across the boiler gun power.  Set it to noon and see hour many minutes it runs per day or whatever.  Might have to scrounge to find a plug-in clock any more though.


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## JP11 (Dec 23, 2011)

I looked on ebay I think it was.  Just did a search for AC Hobbs meter.

Spent maybe 20 bucks.  You can't reset it.  But I'm up to about 600 hours of burning since this summer.

Summer use was about 1.5 hours per day for DHW.

JP


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## StuckInTheMuck (Dec 23, 2011)

JP11 said:
			
		

> I looked on ebay I think it was.  Just did a search for AC Hobbs meter.
> 
> Spent maybe 20 bucks.  You can't reset it.  But I'm up to about 600 hours of burning since this summer.
> 
> ...



Cool.  Thanks for the reply. I think during the summer we did about 15 minute per day for DHW..


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## JP11 (Dec 23, 2011)

I would have guessed lower too.  Hour meter doesn't lie.

Just the wife and I.  Tank is a buderus horizontal that the boiler sits on.  It's a 80 gallon indirect.

It probably averaged out to 1.2 hours or so a day.  I've got the data on a clipboard... rainy day project is to put it in excel to really look at it.  Anyone got a source for degree days calculations by location?


JP


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## davidmc (Dec 23, 2011)

http://www.degreedays.net/

If this does not give you what you need just google degree days...

David


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## LLigetfa (Dec 23, 2011)

JP11 said:
			
		

> I looked on ebay I think it was.  Just did a search for AC Hobbs meter.
> 
> Spent maybe 20 bucks.  You can't reset it.  But I'm up to about 600 hours of burning since this summer.
> 
> ...


My gas furnace smart thermostat gives me stats.  Today it ran for 18 minutes.  Yesterday I let the fire go out so it ran for 1 hour, 51 minutes.

What I need is some way to meter wood usage.  I'm guessing I used less than a cord so far.


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## flyingcow (Dec 23, 2011)

You will probably pay anywheres from $95 to $120 per cord. Chances are it will be a 5000lb cord. Which in my case the last 4 loads have been 12 cord by weight. C/S/Split it ended up being 10 1/4 to 10 1/2 cord.

You're burning 1500 gals of bio-fuel a year? I would guess you're looking at 8 to 10 cord to completely replace it? Maybe a little more?


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## Duetech (Dec 23, 2011)

JP11 said:
			
		

> ok.. so maybe I'm not doing too bad.
> 
> Let's say I have a hypothetical tree that's 16 inches on the stump.  45 feet tall.  How much of a full cord would that one tree be?  JP



Average the size of the ends  (16 + ? [say 2"?] = 18/2) That would be 9" and 1/2 of that would be radius or 4.5" or R. R x R = 20.25". Multiply times Pi (3.1416) = 63.6174 and you have the average area of the log.
Log length of 45' x 12" = 540" length x area = volume so 63.6174 x 540 = 34,353.396 cubic inches. One cubic foot is 1728 cubic inches so divide the logs cubic inches by the cubic inches in one cubic foot 
(34,353.396/1728) and you come up with 19.88 cubic feet. One full cord has 128 cubic feet. Divide log feet by cord feet and you get 15.53%. Or about 6.5 logs of that size per cord.

 Formula is:  R2 x Pi x L = volume (V). V/cu in. of a cu ft = cubic ft. Divide cubic feet of log by cubic feet in a cord gives percentage of cord. Have fun!  :lol:


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## ewdudley (Dec 23, 2011)

Cave2k said:
			
		

> One full cord has 128 cubic feet.



And as a bonus I think I've read that a cord of "well stacked splits" has about 80-85 cubic feet of solid wood, so when converting from logs to stacked firewood we can divide by 80-85 to get stacked-split cords.


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## LLigetfa (Dec 23, 2011)

Yes, one cord is 128 cu ft of wood, bark and air, not just wood.  Not sure about the average diameter of a 16" DBH tree given the taper would be 12".  It certainly varies by species.  I know there are guys called stump scalers that are often called upon to settle disputes between loggers and the people that pay them by the cord.  In the past we have lodged complaints with the government when we felt shorted and the ministry brought out a stump scaler to estimate what we cut.  I'm sure the formulas they use must be posted on the internet.


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## woodmiser (Dec 23, 2011)

I call the local tree services. They drop off all I can handle for free.


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## firefighterjake (Dec 23, 2011)

woodmiser said:
			
		

> I call the local tree services. They drop off all I can handle for free.



I doubt you'll see much of that action up here . . . way too many folks burn wood up here in Maine . . . from what I've seen of the tree services in my area they typically leave the wood with the home owner who either burns wood or knows someone who burns wood . . . or the tree service burns wood themselves.


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## JP11 (Dec 23, 2011)

Thanks.

My eyes went crossed there on the math.. but I followed it.

I'm running a blend in the furnace.  It works a bit hotter than just B100.  It's about 65 to 70% Bio.  

Figure I'm close on the 7 cord figure.  I'll keep cutting.  Boiler won't be in till June or so anyway.  I'll make the decision before thaw out.. so they will still be cutting and can deliver a whole load.

JP


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