Is locust worth it?

[weatherguy]

Id rent a truck or trailer, I dont think uhaul will let you load wood on their trucks, someone on this site mentioned that one day but you may be able to rent a truck that you can haul wood with. Its worth the cost of renting to make life easier and to get that awesome wood. Im still working on getting my first locust, not easy to get.

How the heck would u-haul even know if wood is hauled with one of their trucks or trailers? I was thinking about renting one of their 6x12 enclosed trailers for $30 to pick up some wood. As long as you broom it clean and don't get crazy with loading it up to capacity (i.e., wrecking it), I don't think they u-haul would ever know. When we rented a 6x12 trailer about 8 months ago to move some stuff from the house, they never mentioned anything about not hauling wood. Didn't mention it either when we rented two trucks for the actual move to the new house. Of course, it might be right there in the fine print of the contract, but it wasn't mentioned when we rented from u-haul.

To the OP, I would most definitely get that Locust. I am traveling 25 miles each way for 3/4 cord of the stuff at a time. With my F350 that is about $10 to $12 in diesel per load. Still beats paying for the wood, and locust is some really good wood. I have a client with 3 of them down in his yard and will be cutting them up come mid to late September when it is a little cooler. He is about the same distance from me. Might get lucky though and borrow a trailer from a landscaping friend of mine to make the loads per trip over a cord. See if you can borrow a trailer from somebody.

I was referring to the trucks only and I only mentioned it because someone lese brough it up last time we had a similar discussion, the thing is they dont hold a lot of weight and I think there are better options anyway. Hell, for that much free locust Id look into buying a used trailer. It be nice to have for future scrounges.

 

[fabsroman]

Id rent a truck or trailer, I dont think uhaul will let you load wood on their trucks, someone on this site mentioned that one day but you may be able to rent a truck that you can haul wood with. Its worth the cost of renting to make life easier and to get that awesome wood. Im still working on getting my first locust, not easy to get.

How the heck would u-haul even know if wood is hauled with one of their trucks or trailers? I was thinking about renting one of their 6x12 enclosed trailers for $30 to pick up some wood. As long as you broom it clean and don't get crazy with loading it up to capacity (i.e., wrecking it), I don't think they u-haul would ever know. When we rented a 6x12 trailer about 8 months ago to move some stuff from the house, they never mentioned anything about not hauling wood. Didn't mention it either when we rented two trucks for the actual move to the new house. Of course, it might be right there in the fine print of the contract, but it wasn't mentioned when we rented from u-haul.

To the OP, I would most definitely get that Locust. I am traveling 25 miles each way for 3/4 cord of the stuff at a time. With my F350 that is about $10 to $12 in diesel per load. Still beats paying for the wood, and locust is some really good wood. I have a client with 3 of them down in his yard and will be cutting them up come mid to late September when it is a little cooler. He is about the same distance from me. Might get lucky though and borrow a trailer from a landscaping friend of mine to make the loads per trip over a cord. See if you can borrow a trailer from somebody.

I was referring to the trucks only and I only mentioned it because someone lese brough it up last time we had a similar discussion, the thing is they dont hold a lot of weight and I think there are better options anyway. Hell, for that much free locust Id look into buying a used trailer. It be nice to have for future scrounges.

Yeah, I have no idea what the u-haul weight limits are, but I know we had that 6x12 trailer packed and it cost $30 per day. If I didn't have to drive out of my way to pick up and drop off the trailer, it would make a lot more sense to rent it. However, the u-haul dealer is 10 miles each way in the opposite direction.

Heck, I was about to buy a 4x8 trailer from Tractor Supply last week for $499, but I really want a 6x12 enclosed trailer and a 18 ft car/equipment hauler. Just cannot afford either of them right now. I could probably haul 2 cords of wood pre trip if I had a trailer. Such is life. This is why the poor people can never get ahead. They cannot afford the equipment to even get started. Then again, we just bought a furnace that should be saving us a bunch of money on our utility bill. Trailer will come along in the spring.

Crazy thing is that I ran across some plans for both trailers on Northern Tool and now I am thinking about taking a welding class at the community college, buying a welder, and building these things myself. Probably save a couple thousand on them and gain a welder and some skill out of the deal. Probably a project for next spring/summer because hunting season is about to start.

 

[CTYank]

Absolutely worth lots of trouble. Just a couple of things, though.
The high density of locust makes it easy to overload truck and/or trailer; bad things can happen re tires, brakes, police-protection. Know your limits.
Before even pointing a chainsaw at locust, make sure it's razor-sharp. And, touch up the cutters often.

I happen to have lucked into many cords of the stuff right nearby in the last couple of years. Letting it slowly age and dry to perfection, for mid-winter burns. Contrary to what some have said, even dried down the single-digit MC, freshly-loaded splits take some time to sustain a burn with the secondaries. It helps a lot to include a split or two of pine or such volatile stuff.

 

[joefrompa]

Alright, I'm probably going to rent a truck or trailer. I have access to a little toyota tacoma, but it's not a 4wd version nor does it have a hitch of any quality. I have a good friend with a 94 silverado pick-up that won't mind weighing it down a bit, so maybe I'll borrow that + rent a trailer. But only if I get more than 2 cords out of it - this will cost me $100 or so plus many hours of time. And I'm not gonna get the split stuff.

Actually, now that i think about it, I've got a neighbor who is waiting to sell me tons of split and fully seasoned red oak, cherry, and maple. I've seen it stacked in the back of his yard for well over a year now. I should probably buy that and leave the locust for people who are more locally in need!

Joe

 

[firefighterjake]

I would love to get a load or two or seven of locust . . . heck, any of the good burning wood I would be willing to make a drive for them.

 

[wood-fan-atic]

Joe - Im not sure how you got to the $100 mark? You can rent a trailer for $28 from U-Haul, and do it in a few hours. $30 and a few hours of sweat is a small price to pay for 2 cords of BL. I agree you should use your friends Silverado.

 

[joefrompa]

I was looking at closer to $50 for the trailer from my local u-haul. Friend's silverado will probably take a full tank to drive out here, many the trips, and drive home. Maybe not, but let's say $80 altogether.

If I had limitless space to store wood, or at least vastly more than I have, I would get it all - neighbors cherry and oaks, the locust from a few miles away, and keep it a store. But I have limited space which is almost filled up.

How does locust store outside? I"m guessing its very resistant to rot?

 

[lukem]

I was looking at closer to $50 for the trailer from my local u-haul. Friend's silverado will probably take a full tank to drive out here, many the trips, and drive home. Maybe not, but let's say $80 altogether.

If I had limitless space to store wood, or at least vastly more than I have, I would get it all - neighbors cherry and oaks, the locust from a few miles away, and keep it a store. But I have limited space which is almost filled up.

How does locust store outside? I"m guessing its very resistant to rot?

Locust is extremely resistant to decay and insects. That's why they are prized as fence posts. Keep it up off the ground and it will last practically forever.

Around here you can rent a decent sized (6x12) dump trailer for ~$50/day. You could fit two cord of rounds in it pretty easy, but you'd need a 3/4 ton to tow it comfortably.

 

[smokinj]

;-) Really comes down to man power How much can you physically move in a day? ( kinda like the old saying that saw is to heavy to carry all day long) lol 880 will keep a 4 man crew buzy all day long in about an hour!

 

[joefrompa]

I'll nail down how much I can score. If I can get 3-4 cords worth of rounds, I'll go ahead with it and simply stack them in rounds on some throw-away lumber up off the ground.

We'll see how much they are willing to give me

 

[woodsmaster]

I'd try for a dump trailer. It would be worth a little extra to not have to unload and you could make more trips in a day with the time saved.

 

[smokinj]

I'll nail down how much I can score. If I can get 3-4 cords worth of rounds, I'll go ahead with it and simply stack them in rounds on some throw-away lumber up off the ground.

We'll see how much they are willing to give me

Once you rent a trailer your on the clock, you can only do so much and every mistake cut into your load counts. One cord per man per day is a realistic goal! :cheese:

(If your other equipment is good shape) :cheese:

 

[joefrompa]

It'll already be bucked into rounds, so I'm just picturing loading the rounds onto the truck. I'm confident with one other guy I could probably transport 10 cords in rounds in one day if I needed.....it's just not that much work to load an unload a cord of rounds