At what price per cord is it not worth scrounging?

[gpcollen1]

If you can get some rounds or length dropped, then all you have to do is process it. I guess the key is making sure that you have well seasoned wood. Maybe you should scrounge some and buy some. I do hear ya about the time and energy it takes. I think the key is once you get a year or two ahead - you are gold.

 

[waynek]

At the risk of sounding like a Stihl chainsaw salesman, I will say that my two Stihl chainsaws were very good investments. The 032 was purchased in 1983 and I worked in the timber part time cutting pulpwood for seven years. The 041 was purchased prior to the 032 in the late 1970s. I work with both saws putting up 8 to 9 cords of hardwood per year plus they were used to build 5 seperate log buildings. The 041 has been rebuilt twice and the 032 once. Those saws have more than earned their keep.

 

[Gooserider]

An 044 mag cutting firewood for typical personal use will probably outlast the original owner. At 5 cords per year (just guessing on wood consumption), that saw should be good till about the year 2080 if maintained properly.

I hope thats true. When ive down research on them, i saw a couple guys that said they last forever, but they had rebuilt them 5 times!

If you run good quality mix, use bar oil (not recycled crankcase oil) keep the saw tuned right and keep your filters cleaned per the preventive maintainance schedule in the manual, you should never need to do a rebuild on it... chains, sprockets, an occasional bar, yes, but you shouldn't need to touch the insides of the saw ever... (Note that optimal tuning may require removal / alteration of the EPA limiting caps...)

As to $900, well, that's one reason a lot of folks are going Dolmar these days - my 7900 (which is a bigger saw than your 044) ran me about $600 - still expensive but a big difference... I hear people talking about dealer service and parts access - well I don't see that much in the way of service that needs a special dealer, as opposed to a reasonably competent mechanic, and parts I can get delivered to my door via UPS almost as fast as I can drive to my nearest OPE shop...

Gooserider

 

[smokinj]

An 044 mag cutting firewood for typical personal use will probably outlast the original owner. At 5 cords per year (just guessing on wood consumption), that saw should be good till about the year 2080 if maintained properly.

I hope thats true. When ive down research on them, i saw a couple guys that said they last forever, but they had rebuilt them 5 times!

If there rebuilding them 5 time there either not doing somthing "right" or using them 50 hrs. week or racing them!

 

[waynek]

When I talk about my Stihl saws being rebuilt I am talking about replacing sprocket and carburetor. Caburetors have been a problem since unleaded and formulated gasoline have came on the market. I put SeaFoam in my saw gas and before that came on the market I mixed Mystery Oil in saw gas. I attribute that use to the good luck I have had with my 26 year old and 30 year old saw

 

[hensonconst1]

Around where I live KY there are a few tree trimming companys that just dump what they cut. You might be able to scrounge from there dump sites which probably have easy access

 

[spadafore]

The reason I installed a wood stove was to save on LP in every way possible. This is my first year burning and it has been quite the experience. I have taken wood at any chance I was offered by farmers and neighbors. I would have never guessed that I would burn as much wood this winter as I already have. I think it is part of the learning curve. Most of the wood I have is still seasoning and won't be ready till next winter. In the meantime I am scrounging for every pallet that I can, but it's working. If I were to pay for wood that would be like paying for LP. As my house sits at 71 degrees, the stove ripping, and outside temps of 1 degree f I take pride in the fact that this was all done by me and a little hard work. Buying wood would make me feel like I have failed.

 

[Stephen in SoKY]

For me, if I have to pay for fuel, it will absolutely be propane. I heat with wood only to save money, the romantic part faded many years ago. I cut on my own farm & scrounge up as much as I can solely to have cheap heat.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

At the risk of sounding like a Stihl chainsaw salesman, I will say that my two Stihl chainsaws were very good investments. The 032 was purchased in 1983 and I worked in the timber part time cutting pulpwood for seven years. The 041 was purchased prior to the 032 in the late 1970s. I work with both saws putting up 8 to 9 cords of hardwood per year plus they were used to build 5 seperate log buildings. The 041 has been rebuilt twice and the 032 once. Those saws have more than earned their keep.

Best all purpose chainsaw ever.

 

[savageactor7]

Our 041 still earns it's keep...got it in the late '70's. You buy good tools only once.

 

[LLigetfa]

For me, if I have to pay for fuel, it will absolutely be propane. I heat with wood only to save money, the romantic part faded many years ago...

Faded perhaps, but not lost. Propane is frightfully expensive so I don't understand that statement.

I too heat with wood to save money but my alternative is natural gas, not propane. Given that gas is so much cheaper than propane, there is much less incentive to heat with wood, given all the work and mess involved.

I've heated with wood much of my life and it's only been the last 16 years that I paid to have roundwood logs delivered to my yard. I also got rid of my gas guzzling pickup. Back then nobody sold firewood C/S/D and the alternative was electric heat. Logs were $60 a cord.

Today AFAIK nobody around here sells firewood C/S/D and certainly nobody is going to stack it for me. Logs at $100 a cord, given the work involved to cut/split/stack it, are starting to lose their appeal especially with falling natural gas prices.

The original question was given the low price of buying wood C/S/D and even stacked for you, is it worth the effort (and cost) to scrounge. It was not about abandoning wood as a heating fuel.

 

[smokinj]

When I talk about my Stihl saws being rebuilt I am talking about replacing sprocket and carburetor. Caburetors have been a problem since unleaded and formulated gasoline have came on the market. I put SeaFoam in my saw gas and before that came on the market I mixed Mystery Oil in saw gas. I attribute that use to the good luck I have had with my 26 year old and 30 year old saw

That pretty darn IMPRESSIVE!

 

[Woodrat]

- Question deserves a two-part answer from my perspective:
(1)- for my own PERSONAL use, I would not pay for wood---- there is always enough free wood around, (including pallets if need be) to supply my heating needs- also, over the years, most of us have friends/acquantainces who will drop off wood or call & tell you where wood can be had for free---if you are good enough with a saw- there are always small jobs where you can find yourself in the enviable position of being paid to do your woodgathering as well as expanding your circle of contacts.
(2)- If I am able to regain my health enough to get back into selling wood, at this point in time, I would be willing to pay up to $100 /cord log length for all hardwood, HONEST MEASURE! ( I already have all the equipment necessary to deal with the processing aspect)
- As far as scrounging wood--- if you have to work too hard to get "free" wood- it isn't worth it IMHO.
Best wishes, Woodrat