Never bought wood before but ran across a local CL add where the guy is offering mixed hardwood slab wood at $40 a cord. Before I contacted him was just looking for advice....he doesn't say its delivered or not but what else should I ask? Is it barked or not, is it banded, is it seasoned...anything else?
Questions on buying Slab Wood
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Slab wood typically still has the bark on it. Great wood for shoulder season burning and good to make splits with to start the fire. Messy stuff and a pain to cut up but if you are getting a full cord, well worth it.
My parents burned slab wood for years. It is a LOT more work to cut, burns hot and fast, and generates a lot of ash due to the bark.
BUT...it was almost free so it was worth it.
BUT...it was almost free so it was worth it.
I don't know, at least around here, $40 is really high. We get 2/3 a pulp cord for $15 and usually the slabs are 4 in. thick or so, the market for inch boards has really dried up. One truck holds 8 slab bundles and the delivery charge depends on distance-for us if we buy the whole load it's $20. ($140 for 8 bundles-roughly 5 1/3 cord of slabs) I'd look around at some saw mills and just see what they are charging. Perhaps $40 is a good deal for where you live. The nice thing about slabs is that the wood is split for you and it dries quickly. Just won't last for an over night northern michigan burn!
Also prepare yourself as you will find that slabwood comes in various thicknesses. Some really thin, some fairly thick on the ends of the slabs. One end will almost always be thin and the other thick. That is how the tree grows. Some mills debark before cutting and some don't.
Mixed hardwoods is really a generality. It is almost a meaningless term. Hardwood might mean cottonwood or poplar (poor choices for wood) or it might mean oak or maple (much better). It will no doubt be some of a mix but it is still best to find out what type of hardwood it is. If it is all oak or beech or ash or something similar, then slabwood is not too bad. If it is all the softer hardwoods like poplar, then it just is not worth a whole lot.
Also as the other fellows have mentioned, it can be a bit testy to cut up when compared to cutting logs. It is best done by making a sawbuck that will hold many slabs so you cut many at one time rather than cutting just one slab at a time. We made one one time (many moons ago) where we stacked about 10 slabs at once and then went to cutting. This shortens the time a lot.
Mixed hardwoods is really a generality. It is almost a meaningless term. Hardwood might mean cottonwood or poplar (poor choices for wood) or it might mean oak or maple (much better). It will no doubt be some of a mix but it is still best to find out what type of hardwood it is. If it is all oak or beech or ash or something similar, then slabwood is not too bad. If it is all the softer hardwoods like poplar, then it just is not worth a whole lot.
Also as the other fellows have mentioned, it can be a bit testy to cut up when compared to cutting logs. It is best done by making a sawbuck that will hold many slabs so you cut many at one time rather than cutting just one slab at a time. We made one one time (many moons ago) where we stacked about 10 slabs at once and then went to cutting. This shortens the time a lot.
The rule of thumb where I live is slabs are about half the price of softwood cut and delivered.If they're in lengths a bit cheaper.I burn softwood slabs myself and find them great for kindling and getting the stove up to temp.One other good thing is even if they're green they could pretty near be ready to burn by the end of the winter as they will dry out almost as fast as you can say horsefeathers.I agree with what some of the others were saying about a sawbuck,it's a whole lot faster.
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If I am light on supply, I get slabwood in bundles of about a bush cord. They are banded and put on my dump trailer, at home I will dump them on 6x6 posts and strap some load binders (very tight) around the bundle. I then cut the bundle with the chainsaw in 20" lenghts. The first and last cuts are containing some shorter stuff, but sure beats doing each board on a buck.pmurchie said:
Henk.
pmurchie said:
pmurchie, I've made several over the years and in different styles but have no pictures. I'd suggest you start a new thread and ask this same question. Not sure if it should go in the Wood Shed or Gear but try it as I know several folks have some pictures.
spur0701 said:
I always try to put up some slab wood myself . . . around here it's mostly softwood from lumber mills . . . I suspect it will have the bark on it . . . probably loose . . . hard to tell if it is seasoned or not (depends largely on when it was cut, thickness of the slab (they vary in thickness) and its exposure to the sun and wind) . . . I've never paid for slabs, but like them for the shoulder season burning and splitting up for use as kindling . . . they tend to season pretty fast.
Well....turns out that they don't deliver and it has to be piece loaded by hand, but the good news is that it was stacked last fall so it shold be dry. I don't have a trailer and my truck is only a small pickup with the location of the wood yard about 15 miles away so I think I'm gonna pass unless one of my neighboors wants to team up on a couple of loads...not time efficient. Thanks for all the advice.
If its dry and the other only choice is wet wood, then this to me is your best bet. Can you cut it to manageable lengths on site to get a good safe load to transport in your truck?
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