Wrong to ask about moisture content in wood?

[Wood Duck]

Asking about the quality of a product you are considering buying? what kind of jerk are you?

 

[JotulOwner]

If you're buying wood just do yourself a favor and assume it's green.

Very true! I have yet to find a dealer who provided exactly what they advertised (one was very close to being accurate). Many have no clue what seasoned really means and some are just dishonest. Never buy wood assuming that it is ready to burn unless you test it first to make sure.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

I have dealt with MANY a shady dealer in my day when I used to buy( I scrounge my own for free now). Anyone who advertises 'seasoned' and would get pissed off at you when questioned is a CROOK! Ive told guys I would only take seasoned wood and they would say 'its 2 years old" ,blah,blah,blah. When they got to my house I would hop in the bed, dig down to the bottom( many crooks will give you green wood with a few seasoned pieces on top to fool you), and split it right there. "What are you doing?" ,they would ask , right after telling me that the wood has been split for 2 years. "I'm testing the wood to make sure its dry." I said. Here is where the back-peddleing begins. "Well there MIGHT be some fresher stuff on the bottom, I didnt load the truck. My partner did." Yeah.right. Sure enough, the heavy-as-a-bag-of-cement split would ring out @ 50%(the highest handheld MM's go). Depending on how desperate you are, you can do one of 2 things at this point. Tell them to @&*$!* themselves for trying to rob you.....or... tell them to drop it, refuse to pay the previously agreed upon price for the NOT-PREVIOUSLY-AGREED-UPON-PRODUCT, and suggest they either get that wood off your property or call their boss and tell them you'll give them $50 for a load of green ,un-burnable fuel. I have NO PROBLEM with people selling green wood. I have a HUGE PROBLEM with criminals lying and selling green wood as seasoned. Nothing bothers me more than predators preying upon good folk who are just looking to warm their families!

Oh, I'm glad you said about the top being burnable and the bottom being green. I'll pick three random pieces to test it out.

Now is split wood goo to test as is or do I have to split the split wood and test the core?

Thanks!

-Emt1581

You'll have to re-split some pieces and test the side of the fresh split. The surface of older splits can dry out pretty fast and give you an inaccurate reading of what the inside of wood is really like. And by older I mean the surface wood can dry out in just a few days.

 

[emt1581]

Something interesting I should mention....

I emailed 4 or 5 people about firewood and I asked the same questions about moisture content and length with all of them...the rude brush off was the ONLY response I've received. Holy hell there must be a lot of ignorant or deceitful people selling firewood

-Emt1581

 

[Lumber-Jack]

Something interesting I should mention....

I emailed 4 or 5 people about firewood and I asked the same questions about moisture content and length with all of them...the rude brush off was the ONLY response I've received. Holy hell there must be a lot of ignorant or deceitful people selling firewood

-Emt1581

No doubt you have already been blacklisted within the wood sellers community. :coolmad:

 

[rdust]

Last year I made a post on craigslist looking for wood with a 20% give or take a little m/c since I knew I was going to be a cord short on good wood last year. I received one response and he was priced out of this world so I passed, he knew what he had and what it was worth. I believe the quote was "Bring a moisture meter, splitting axe and re-split any piece you want". I have no doubt his stuff was good to go though.

Look for white ash or black locust if you have to purchase wood now. That will give you the best chance of burning something decent this winter.

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

I have to agree with many of the posts to this thread, there are many shady dealers and many unaware consumers. I have been burned in the past because of being in a desperate situation. That was the last time that will happen. Anyone that knows wood well enough and burns on a regular basis knows how to deal with dealers and people who are not dealers, just selling a few 'extra' cords.
What wood I cannot get for free I purchase from a tree company in grapple loads, as green wood. This way I know I control all the variables, the dry times and conditions. If anyone has seen Jakes pics recently knows what I mean by this.

 

[emt1581]

Something interesting I should mention....

I emailed 4 or 5 people about firewood and I asked the same questions about moisture content and length with all of them...the rude brush off was the ONLY response I've received. Holy hell there must be a lot of ignorant or deceitful people selling firewood

-Emt1581

No doubt you have already been blacklisted within the wood sellers community. :coolmad:

I sure hope so!! Saves me the aggravation of dealing with the bastards!

-Emt1581

 

[emt1581]

Last year I made a post on craigslist looking for wood with a 20% give or take a little m/c since I knew I was going to be a cord short on good wood last year. I received one response and he was priced out of this world so I passed, he knew what he had and what it was worth. I believe the quote was "Bring a moisture meter, splitting axe and re-split any piece you want". I have no doubt his stuff was good to go though.

Look for white ash or black locust if you have to purchase wood now. That will give you the best chance of burning something decent this winter.

You gave me an idea...what about a little care package from Hearth.com that all of us could drop off on CL? That is, lets come up with a post that is brief and to the point and possibly links to a simple/easy to understand page and would educate buyers on the issue of moisture content. That way the consumers become more educated and these jerkoffs selling green wood as seasoned get weeded out and have to either become honest or close up shop?

Can you imagine if EVERY stove/insert owner KNEW to test/worry about moisture content?? 99.9% of CL wood sellers would be screwed!

Just throwing the idea out there....what do yall think?

Thanks!

-Emt1581

 

[homebrewz]

You gave me an idea...what about a little care package from Hearth.com that all of us could drop off on CL? That is, lets come up with a post that is brief and to the point and possibly links to a simple/easy to understand page and would educate buyers on the issue of moisture content. That way the consumers become more educated and these jerkoffs selling green wood as seasoned get weeded out and have to either become honest or close up shop?

Can you imagine if EVERY stove/insert owner KNEW to test/worry about moisture content?? 99.9% of CL wood sellers would be screwed!

Just throwing the idea out there....what do yall think?

Thanks!

-Emt1581

There was a very good post made by a forum member last year about this. He had made an information bulletin and posted it to CL. Lots of folks copied it, edited it for their state and re-posted it. If I can find the thread I'll post the link here.

 

[emt1581]

You gave me an idea...what about a little care package from Hearth.com that all of us could drop off on CL? That is, lets come up with a post that is brief and to the point and possibly links to a simple/easy to understand page and would educate buyers on the issue of moisture content. That way the consumers become more educated and these jerkoffs selling green wood as seasoned get weeded out and have to either become honest or close up shop?

Can you imagine if EVERY stove/insert owner KNEW to test/worry about moisture content?? 99.9% of CL wood sellers would be screwed!

Just throwing the idea out there....what do yall think?

Thanks!

-Emt1581

There was a very good post made by a forum member last year about this. He had made an information bulletin and posted it to CL. Lots of folks copied it, edited it for their state and re-posted it. If I can find the thread I'll post the link here.[/quote]

Sounds like a plan!

Thanks!

Then again, if someone already had the idea...and carried it out...and there are STILL these jackasses out there selling green wood as seasoned...how effective was the idea?? Maybe we can adapt the idea in some way to make it more effective though...

-Emt1581

 

[homebrewz]

Found it.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/59582/
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/41618/

Now read it on Cl before its flagged!

 

[emt1581]

Found it.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/59582/
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/41618/

Now read it on Cl before its flagged!

I couldn't find the actual post....lots of people commending it but no valid links to it.

-Emt1581

 

[homebrewz]

Here you go:

(broken link removed to http://eugene.craigslist.org/for/1962875241.html)

The link is posted in Nonprophet's first post in the first thread I listed.

 

[tickbitty]

There's a guy on CL here who advertises double your money back if the wood's not seasoned, now THAT's a guarantee! But he never says what a cord costs and won't answer via email, you have to call, AND has recently changed his CL advertisements saying that they have had such high demand they can only accept repeat customers. So he must be doing pretty well with his guaranteed seasoned wood! The only wood I have bought from a dealer was from the local lumberyard. It's not the cheapest but it IS definitely seasoned and if they say it's a cord, it's over, just to be sure. I was pleased with them except that the wood lengths were a little more random than I would have liked. (some too long)

 

[emt1581]

Here you go:

(broken link removed to http://eugene.craigslist.org/for/1962875241.html)

The link is posted in Nonprophet's first post in the first thread I listed.

Got it. Yeah, that is WAAAAYYY to long for the beginner/average wood buyer!! It needs to be condensed to around a paragraph or two or people are going to lose interest. I know I did and I actually care about the topic. People who don't know anything about it might read all of it but are most likely going to think "oh hell I'm not wasting time on that technical crap...I just want wood".

Something short that primarily educates about moisture content and directly demonizes/flames the bad sellers as little as possible would be a LOT more effective IMO. If you educate the buyers, you take away the need to piss and moan about the sellers.

Thanks!

-Emt1581

 

[homebrewz]

I edited a version for NY and posted it on my local CL. Last year several people wrote me thanking me for the information. This year someone posted back saying how he would rather get scammed than have to read the entire thing (which I found amusing). If that's the case, then I think its a sad comment on society and folks who don't want to educate themselves deserve what they get.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

I edited a version for NY and posted it on my local CL. Last year several people wrote me thanking me for the information. This year someone posted back saying how he would rather get scammed than have to read the entire thing (which I found amusing). If that's the case, then I think its a sad comment on society and folks who don't want to educate themselves deserve what they get.

Sad but true.

 

[Tony H]

Something interesting I should mention....

I emailed 4 or 5 people about firewood and I asked the same questions about moisture content and length with all of them...the rude brush off was the ONLY response I've received. Holy hell there must be a lot of ignorant or deceitful people selling firewood

-Emt1581

No doubt you have already been blacklisted within the wood sellers community. :coolmad:

Back the first year of burning I got some wood from dealers and found not only are a large number of them con artists they also are friends and family.
I found brothers , cousins, and inlaws running many of the wood sales in my area.
The one thing I found was a few long established tree services selling wood had decent prices for decent stuff as they just kept wood over the years and let it sit and season before selling it.

 

[tickbitty]

Something interesting I should mention....

I emailed 4 or 5 people about firewood and I asked the same questions about moisture content and length with all of them...the rude brush off was the ONLY response I've received. Holy hell there must be a lot of ignorant or deceitful people selling firewood

-Emt1581

No doubt you have already been blacklisted within the wood sellers community. :coolmad:

Back the first year of burning I got some wood from dealers and found not only are a large number of them con artists they also are friends and family.
I found brothers , cousins, and inlaws running many of the wood sales in my area.
The one thing I found was a few long established tree services selling wood had decent prices for decent stuff as they just kept wood over the years and let it sit and season before selling it.

Yeah a couple of the places around here who are more serious sellers have pictures on CL of HUGE lots covered in piles and stacks and dumptrucks full of wood.

 

[basswidow]

EMT,

you must be close by my area. I also had dealings with Val on CL. This was last year when I was running low at the end of the season and had cash in hand for him to deliver a cord. When I questioned him if the wood was ready to burn and what kind of truck he would be delivering it in (because I told him I was planning to stack and measure) and I was expecting a FULL cord, he was a NO SHOW. I even offered to come to his location and load it myself (I have a truck). He gave me some story as to why I couldn't come pick it up myself.

To be perfectly honest, I've yet to find a reputable wood seller in NNJ or NE PA. Hence the reason I cut, split, and season my own. All you will get is green wood and not a full delivery.

And I agree..... "who cares if you get black listed" - these guys selling wood make a living ripping people off - who don't question them. Maybe they just don't know any different - as I am sure they get plenty of calls for people who are happy to get a pick up bed of green wood and call it a cord for $ 195.

My first year - I had to order wood, and started with 2 cords. A landscape company in Vernon, NJ delivered two pathetic pick up loads that I stacked and measured. It was barely more than 1 cord and I paid $ 400. At least a face cord of it was too rotten to burn and I made him come back. He brought me 1 more pick up load of the greenest wood (which still didn't make 2 full cords) and took the old rotten wood with him. He wanted my repeat business and for me to tell my neighbors... I don't think so.

Good luck - but I don't think you will find what you are looking for, unless you do it yourself.

 

[emt1581]

EMT,

you must be close by my area. I also had dealings with Val on CL. This was last year when I was running low at the end of the season and had cash in hand for him to deliver a cord. When I questioned him if the wood was ready to burn and what kind of truck he would be delivering it in (because I told him I was planning to stack and measure) and I was expecting a FULL cord, he was a NO SHOW. I even offered to come to his location and load it myself (I have a truck). He gave me some story as to why I couldn't come pick it up myself.

To be perfectly honest, I've yet to find a reputable wood seller in NNJ or NE PA. Hence the reason I cut, split, and season my own. All you will get is green wood and not a full delivery.

And I agree..... "who cares if you get black listed" - these guys selling wood make a living ripping people off - who don't question them. Maybe they just don't know any different - as I am sure they get plenty of calls for people who are happy to get a pick up bed of green wood and call it a cord for $ 195.

My first year - I had to order wood, and started with 2 cords. A landscape company in Vernon, NJ delivered two pathetic pick up loads that I stacked and measured. It was barely more than 1 cord and I paid $ 400. At least a face cord of it was too rotten to burn and I made him come back. He brought me 1 more pick up load of the greenest wood (which still didn't make 2 full cords) and took the old rotten wood with him. He wanted my repeat business and for me to tell my neighbors... I don't think so.

Good luck - but I don't think you will find what you are looking for, unless you do it yourself.

I thought Val was a girl....

This guy I'm ordering from is from CL. You can see his ad.

(broken link removed to http://allentown.craigslist.org/for/1996932740.html)

But he did tell me the wood has all been aged at least 15months and some more. Plus he shows pics of his stack and emphasizes that he doesn't throw it in a pile, he neatly stacks it. Plus he promised to bring the moisture meter and prove what he advertises. $200 is a little high compared to the others, but he is the ONLY one that does more than just say "Yup, it's seasoned".

What I think I'll do is find who ever has the cheapest wood for sale and buy two cords...then stack it up and just let it season on it's own. That way I'll have a ton of wood, buy it cheaply, and not have to worry about being scammed and moisture testing, etc.

-Emt1581

 

[rdust]

What I think I'll do is find who ever has the cheapest wood for sale and buy two cords...then stack it up and just let it season on it's own. That way I'll have a ton of wood, buy it cheaply, and not have to worry about being scammed and moisture testing, etc.

-Emt1581

Yep, buy and stack next years wood now and you should be good to go!

Some would argue two cords being a ton of wood(unless you're talking weight :lol: ) but I will say that's about two months worth of heat for me.

 

[gpcollen1]

I have never asked anyone the moisture content of the wood. Only people who test MC are some of the junkies on here...

 

[basswidow]

Wait til the end of the season if you want to stock up for next year. It'll will be cheaper in March then it is now. Good luck.