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hunter63
11-06-2012, 06:28 PM
Was talking with the neighbor on the phone this morning, discussing the first snow....and nasty weather, snow/rain. 30's...
And the conversation turned to fire wood.

Had a young man stop over yesterday, selling fire wood, for $60 bucks a pick up load ('bout 1-1/2 face cord).
Told him I was burning up the elm I had cut and spilt a couple of years ago, from all the trees that died... a lot of them.

Anyway, then the neighbor said something made me laugh.....He was telling me about a piece of wood that fought him from the start that he finally got to burn.
He right......
You cut down the tree, (or clean up a wind fall) chunk it up, First handling.
Haul to pile or processing area......Second handling.
Sort and split...stack or haul to cabin pile....Third handling.

Start stove, bring in to keep dry, forth handling.....Maybe more if the pile falls over, or you need to move it again...
So call it handle it 5 times as it's going into the stove.

Now there will always be a few pieces that are a crotch, or knotty, that won't split real well....won't stack...cause the pile to fall over...too big as is, to fit in the stove....But you are too frugal to just heave in the brush and not deal with....You WILL make it work.

So every time you fool with it, you remember the PITA it has been for at least a year....usually longer....and you "Remember it"

And when you do get it in the stove...it;s burning and keeping you warm...there is this weird sense of victory.

Here I thought I was the only one that thought this way......

So that concludes my fire wood story on the rainy/snow day.....as I watch in "oscar, the knot" burn.

rebel
11-06-2012, 10:18 PM
The neighbor dog will be happy to know that it wasn't her fault for the wood pile for falling over...

Cutting and splitting wood is not something I want to do all day every day. However, there is something satisfying about heating your hooch and maybe cooking with the wood.

jmarshnh
11-06-2012, 10:26 PM
What is a face cord? I am not familiar with that term, so I have no idea if $60 is a good price or not.
Jim

1stimestar
11-07-2012, 01:09 AM
Wow that's some cheap wood! It's like $200 a cord here!

Rick
11-07-2012, 07:53 AM
That's cause you have no trees and also why you have such angry squirrels. Just sayin'......

crashdive123
11-07-2012, 07:55 AM
A face cord of wood is 4ft x 8ft - same as a regular cord, but only one stick of wood deep (not 4ft).

hunter63
11-07-2012, 11:24 AM
Priceing at $60 bucks a face cord is normal around here....like Crash posted = 4' X 8' by 16/18" or one stick deep......Full cord is 4' X 8' X 8'...or 4 rows.

Depending on type, logs/chunks or split, delievered/ delivered and stacked $200 a full cord is close as well.....
So your are paying for a pick-up load of dry/aged elm or oak, cut/split delievered and stacked....is a good price.

If you have your own wood lot...you can do much better your self (your tools and labor).

You need trees, saw (hand or chainsaw) a way to haul it, splitter or maul/wedges....and time if you are cutting live trees that need to be dried.
Cut in winter and spring to be burned in fall and winter.

A dry place to store is nice....wood shed.

I have always found that when I'm working on cutting splitting stacking and burning my own trees....most are dead anyway,so consider it a clean-up.....I'm cutting and stacking .....Money!.....Its good manual labor, something you can do for your self.....and is good for your soul.

So that's why a piece of odd ball wood that won't split ofr fit in the stove with out a lot of work....and is a PITA to stack....You remember what a PITA that That piece is......LOL

Any one that has done wood cutting know excatly what I'm talking about........The neighbor brougt it up, and kinda struck a funny cord (get it cord?)

oldtrap59
11-07-2012, 11:59 AM
Back in the late 70's we used to heat completely with wood and was always looking for sources to keep the woodshed filled. A feller I worked with offered me a huge red elm that had been hit by lightening. Here we are at least 30+ years later and I still remember the day we loaded the last piece of split wood in the stove from that tree. That had to be the hardest wood to split I ever came across.( we didn't have a spliter just mauls and wedges)

Oldtrap

hunter63
11-07-2012, 12:42 PM
In the city, there is a lot of "free wood"....some you just pick up already down some they want you to cut down....few problems with this:
Most is crap tree wood, soft maple, box elder, pine......
Cutting down in some one else's yard is tricky at best, you better have insurance in case you ruin something.
Have to clean up the mess

If already cut, mostly bad quality control....not straight cuts, odd lengths....they want it out of there, and don't care.

I don't do this any more......used to and had a couple of close calls.

I was impressed by the two young guys selling it....shows hustle( remindes me of me as a younger man)...I like seeing that.
Never discount a source , if not for now....maybe later?

jfeatherjohn
11-07-2012, 12:51 PM
My first winter in WI wasn't pretty...the locals were complaining.
I was heating my house with wood, and I toood my neighbor, Jody,that I wasn't going to have enough prepared wood to get through.
Not a major emergency as I had over 800 gallons of propane...
And this big bundle of slab wood that the seller had left me.
Jody said, "Let's go cut some slab...no, really...your saw chain dulls because of heat...we can cut a couple of cords and you'll never touch your chain."
It was 20 below...
After an hour or so of cutting and hauling I went in the house and got us a coupe of coronas...my beer froze...
Great...I've gone from drinking a beer before it got hot to drinking a beer before it froze.
Anyway, I still remember that beer...

hunter63
11-07-2012, 12:59 PM
........Pop the top, suck out the alcohol till you have ice left....then toss in pick up bed and open another......
Well maybe not so much these days.
I hear ya.

FYI, was watching on of the Alaska programs......they were girdling pines in warm weather to kill the tree....made it easier to cut in the dead of winter as they were not full of water and frozen.....Hummmmm, neve gave that a thought.

jmarshnh
11-07-2012, 01:17 PM
Okay, got you on a face cord. Here in NH and the NE a cord of wood is 4X4X8 or 128 cuft (strictly controlled by laws). A run is 16"X4X8 and 3 runs equal a cord. So must be a run is close to a face cord. I won an auction for a cord of wood at 160. Normally a cord runs between 200 and 220. That is cut split and delivered. We have to put it in the wood room and stack it ouselves. Just finished our last cord for the year, thank goodness/all rock maple and some birch thrown in.
Jim

hunter63
11-07-2012, 02:08 PM
Cord is a cord no matter where you are.....and yeah controled by law....
"Face cords" kinda vary, as do "pick up loads" as does type of wood, some sold as a "pile, what you see is what you get.....gotta watch what you get for your money.

My face cords logs are only 14" long as that is what fits in my little electric splitter, and the stove.

your_comforting_company
11-08-2012, 06:00 AM
A full-size truckload is about a face cord around here, and it's about $50.
H makes a good point. The amount of time and labor involved, and calories spent is quite a lot.
I really use the odd pieces as "stackers". They go on the end of the pile so it doesn't stack up like a pyramid. Sometimes those odd shapes fit the ends with just the right leverage to wedge up straight against the rest of the stack.
I have a little firewood story.. I got some persimmon mixed in with my "cookin' wood", because the guy that was helping me didn't pay attention! YUCK!

crashdive123
11-08-2012, 07:40 AM
Persimmon can make really good knife scales once stabilized.