Backwoods Savage said:
To me the dollars spent is just one little factor in the whole equation.
I certainly could afford to have everything cut, split and even stacked. Yet, I would not even entertain the thought! To me it is part of providing for myself and my family. This alone gives me great satisfaction. It is almost similar to a religious experience to me.
Dennis, I don't mean to put down acquiring one's own firewood when I say it is the most expensive wood. There were times when my time was valueless (unemployed), my bank account empty, and cutting my own made sense, even when I only had to pay $50/cord for c/s/d hardwood. Honestly, I enjoyed the hell out of it. If I had my own forest like you do, I probably would have all the proper equipment to do it efficiently and I would likely do it all very similar to the way you do. At my own pace and in my own time. Plus, I'd have total control over the quality of the product. Species, length, split size and seasoning time all being under individual control are some of the very best reasons to cut rather than to buy.
You obviously take great pride in your work with the wood, and seem to be a very generous man with both your knowledge and your product. If I lived closer, I'd be getting a $25 pickup of your gourmet wood delivered every week until you didn't want to deliver it anymore. But long ago I decided that there were too many things I wanted to do in my life, and the best way for me personally to get on to these things was to pay those who wanted to and were willing to do the things that I used to feel I just had to do myself. Making more money to pay these folks seemed to make more sense than doing it all at a less-than-expert pace.
When cutting your own starts to inhibit your earning potential or your lifestyle, it's time to hand that duty over to the willing and do whatever you'd prefer to do. In my case, I'd rather work with wood than cut it. The time I save by not having to find, fell, cut, split and cart 5-6 cord a year is enough to enable me to make a canoe, or kitchen cabinets for my daughter and so on.
Of course, my argument falls apart when I realize that even burning purchased wood entails lots of work compared to just adjusting the thermostat. No getting around filling that stove several times a day, rotating wood stacks, emptying ashes, etc. I'd be afraid to tally all that time up and put an hourly rate to it, because then I'd have to make a logical decision not to burn at all. So I won't bother with that, because I still enjoy burning. I take pride in the methods I have developed over the years to keep this place warm and the electric meter spinning slowly. Ya, we both make enough money to turn up the electric heat, but I still love playing the game of "Beat the Meter". Fighting a huge monopoly like National Grid is my version of tilting at windmills.