I was talking to a guy recently about firewood, and he told me he had a whole barn full of seasoned, split hardwood. He said his father died and he moved into the farm house, and has no need for the wood. He said he knows that some of the wood has been in there for ten years, and other for about two to three years. He wants $50.00 a pickup load, I load it. My question is, will the older wood be good, and how much could I get on by half ton ford. Most wood around here goes from $125 to $150 a cord deliverd (suposably seasoned)
ten year old wood
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You don't say what you will use it for and what stove you have. The old wood might be too dry for a non-airtight stove but if the stove can be well controlled it would be great.
A cord of "seasoned" wood can go for between $200 - $250 delivered around here. Green wood between $150 - $170. I'm glad I've got all the free wood I need on my property.
The only answer I can give is that I have burned 10 year old wood that was very dry and had no problems. Burned very nicely. I will add that the splits were quite large rather than small. I would not want to burn all small splits lest you chance an overfire. This year we burned some wood that was 7 years since stacking. Burned very nicely too.
Yes, it will be great wood.brickman said:
Half ton Ford will hold roughly one third of a real cord (which is one fake cord), if it's thrown in and not stacked. So, at $50 per pickup load, you are paying about $150 per cord.
I think in Ohio firewood is not going to go below about 15% moisture content no matter how long it has seasoned in a barn. I recall somebody posted here that they tested some very old wood from a building and found something like 15% moisture content. 15% is just about the recommended range for well-seasoned firewood. I think it will be good, unless it has started to dry rot. If it looks solid and feels solid, I would go for it. Like others have said, be careful at first. You're probably used to burning wood with higher moisture content, so you might have to re-learn how to use avoid overheating the stove.
is it an 8ft bed or short bed? if its an 8 and you stack the wood you can get alost 3/4 if you stack it higher in the middle.... stack it in the bed nice and tight dont throw it in....
i have a short bed and picked up some wood (with my friend and his short bed) we stack the wood in both trucks the guy charged us for 3/4 of a cord for both trucks.. when we got back to my house and stack it was a little over a cord.........
8 ft truck should equal a half if you stack it level to the height of the bed if you stack higher anything over that is bonus!
i have a short bed and picked up some wood (with my friend and his short bed) we stack the wood in both trucks the guy charged us for 3/4 of a cord for both trucks.. when we got back to my house and stack it was a little over a cord.........
8 ft truck should equal a half if you stack it level to the height of the bed if you stack higher anything over that is bonus!
I do have an 8' bed on my truck, and I don't mind overloading it. I figured if it is seasoned then it will be lighter than fresh cut. Should be able to get a little more than half a cord stacked in the bed. Hope its what he says it is. I will go look at it early next week, try to take some pics and post them here. I do cut my own wood, but if i can get real seasoned wood for that price, why not. It is only seven miles from my house.
I just split a round of red oak that has been stacked out in the woods for 16 years uncovered. It looked very very dry but not rotted. When I spit it I was suprised to see that the middle was rotted some but not horribly bad. I threw some in the stove and it burned hot and a bit faster than my regular wood. Will be good for getting the fire cranking in the morning. I'll post a thread with pics tonight.
brickman said:
Stacked indoors? Should be terrific, would be my guess, unless you're in a super-humid wood-killing climate. Get a sample and try it out first. If it's so dry it burns too fast, who cares. Just mix it in with your regular wood over the next couple years to give your fires a fast start. Sounds like a great deal to me.
If you're talking a lot of loads, talk him down to $45 a load and take it all. He doesn't have to hassel with more people, and you get a little savings.
derecskey said:
Oh, nuts. If he's asking a fair price, which he is, and more, give it to him. It's not really necessary to pump yourself up by thinking you've "won" on every transaction, especially when it's a neighbor struggling to survive like you are and not some meg-corp.
gyrfalcon said:
Amen to that, Gryf!
Look, I know for a fact that you can stack half a cord level inside a full size pickup bed. Just do the math and you will see. The guy probably won't mind if you toss on as much on top as won't fall off in transit. Pay him his due without complaint and call it a real sweet deal.
If you really want all of it (I know I would), measure it very carefully (remember 128 cu. ft. = 1 full cord = $100 here) and make a reasonable flat offer for the lot of it. More dignified for both of you. If he accepts (he will), put a temporary rack on the pickup and load it on until the springs start to sag to save on travel time and gas. I used to get over half a cord of green into my full size Dodge Ram. Well seasoned firewood will weigh about half of what my loads weighed.
One question, though...
What kind of hardwood is it? Don't forget - basswood, willow, and poplar are all considered hardwoods. Make sure it's not punky or moldy as well. If it was dried outside first and then stored in the barn, it should be in great shape. It will be at whatever the equilibrium MC is for your area, and it will be better than anything you can do in your backyard.
Short bed F250. Just today I loaded 1/3 of a cord (1 "face" cord). It was all neatly stacked and was just mounded over. I didn't measure the length, but I believe that the stacks were slightly longer than 8 ft. while on the ground.
Kevin
Kevin
+1 for 3/4 of a cord stacked neatly in an 8' bed
+1 agreeing to buy it all right now for cash and take what you need at your leisure (or separate trips) assuming this barn is close by
+1 agreeing to buy it all right now for cash and take what you need at your leisure (or separate trips) assuming this barn is close by
gyrfalcon said:
If you're only fitting a third of a cord, and you're having to do all the handing yourself, both ends, I'm unconvinced that $150 a cord is a great price. I would absolutely talk him down. Now, if you're fitting 3/4 cord in there, that's entirely different.
If the wood is stacked in the barn, measure out a full cord and buy it a cord at a time. You know what your getting, he knows what he's getting, and nobody feels they're getting screwed.
Extremely dry wood is worth more to me (if wood is solid and not rotted or pithy). I have a separate small stack of 5+ year old elm that I use just for kindling. If you have a friendly & local landscape company with a drive on scale, weigh the truck empty and full of wood and settle up that way.
IMO, $50 for 1,200 pounds of bone dry wood would be worth it.
IMO, $50 for 1,200 pounds of bone dry wood would be worth it.
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