Using firewood in your area

[oldman45]

I have two fireplaces, in addition to central heat in the house. I like an open fire and will go through 2-3 cords of wood during a decent winter.

This year, I may forego the fires in the fireplaces. Been checking prices for split oak wood delivered. Going for right at $300 per cord. I can pay for a lot of electrical heat for that type money.

Add to the mix, we have a winter storm watch for this weekend with maybe a 2-4 inch accumulation of wintery mix.
I get cold at 60 degrees. It is not natural to have this type weather.

How much is split firewood going for in your area?

 

[Dashriprock]

Paid $180/cord here for mixed hardwood. Too bad we haven't had much of a winter to speak of, though we have some subzero temps coming next week.

 

[Gun Smoke]

About the same here in Atlanta $175.00 for half $300.00 for full cord...I got a 1/2 cord delivered last year that he said was seasoned oak but it still had sap in it and you couldnt get it to start burning with a blow torch......Look into a wood stove insert if you like a fire as they provide much more heat and don't use up near as much wood...

 

[montoya32]

About the same here in Atlanta $175.00 for half $300.00 for full cord...I got a 1/2 cord delivered last year that he said was seasoned oak but it still had sap in it and you couldnt get it to start burning with a blow torch......Look into a wood stove insert if you like a fire as they provide much more heat and don't use up near as much wood...

+1 for the wood insert. Offers much more heat into the house than an open fireplace and mine burns around 70% efficient. Uses much less wood and doesn't suck the heat out of the house and no need to leave a window cracked as with an open fireplace.

Just ordered a cord of mixed hardwood, delivered and stacked, two weeks ago and it cost me $295.

 

[venomballistics]

in my former situation we'd get a semi load of mixed hardwood right around 500.
its a lot of wood and you have to put your back into it. This may be impracticable in your situation if your too populated for neighbors to put up with a chain saw and log splitter in extended sessions.

 

[Faulkner]

I paid $125 a cord, split, delivered and stacked, for a mix of red oak and post oak a few weeks ago. I'm also burning some wood from downed trees on my property that were blown down back in the spring.

I used to have a good stand of elm trees, but disease has killed them off a few at a time the past 15 years or so and I've been burning wood from them. Got two more left and one of them is showing signs of disease so I'm cutting it down this winter. Elm makes a good fire, but burns to ash without any coals.

 

[rburg]

A few weeks back I paid $160 for 2 ricks (a cord). Its mixed, but even has a fair amount of Walnut. I started a thread on that last month. While we were stacking it (the guy said he'd stack it, but its my woodpile and I did my fair share.) So we separated the walnut out into a pile (unstacked). I then moved it up to the porch (dryer and closer.) I've split some into "sticks" and use it to excite the fire for quick heat. It doesn't burn long, but it sure is hot.

Also in the stack is some pink wood. I think its red oak, and its not real dry. I'm guessing I need to spend some time the next sunny day tearing into the pile and separating it out into a "not to burn pile". It'll be OK next year. There's other wood, too. Some locust, and its dry. The seller said I have some cherry, but I don't see it.

I've still got some hackberry. Trash wood if there ever was, but its over a year old and its tinder dry. Except for the off smell, it burns real well. I got that from a buddy. He sold some to my son for about $150 a cord.

Guess the number of down trees we got from hurricane Ike a while back is a factor. The woodcutters have a field day with already down trees. Someone pays them to remove them, then they dump the slash and sell the rounds to double their take.

In the past I was healthy enough to cut my own. Maybe I'll get back to that point. My son has a few huge ash trees right behind his property. Its on city or county land, but they won't cut them to keep them off his fence. His approach is cutting them for the city is a favor. If they complain, he'll file a claim against them for not protecting his property.

Live trees falling is an act of God. If its a dead tree, its the owner responsibility to remove the threat. Yes, always send them a letter notifying them of the problem. They'll ignore it.

 

[oldman45]

I paid $125 a cord, split, delivered and stacked, for a mix of red oak and post oak a few weeks ago. I'm also burning some wood from downed trees on my property that were blown down back in the spring.

I used to have a good stand of elm trees, but disease has killed them off a few at a time the past 15 years or so and I've been burning wood from them. Got two more left and one of them is showing signs of disease so I'm cutting it down this winter. Elm makes a good fire, but burns to ash without any coals.

Wish I could get some for that price. I have a small farm about 125 miles south of here. Maybe 500 trees on it, 499 of them are pine. One oak and I hate to cut it down.

 

[Bullseye 2620]

$150 a cord, split, delivered, and stacked, and 100% locust.


Bullseye

 

[USSR]

Around here, $150 a cord delivered is the going price. I shut my propane-fired boiler off and just use my wood stove during the winter. It basically costs me $450 to heat my log home every winter.

Don

 

[rburg]

$150 a cord, split, delivered, and stacked, and 100% locust.


Bullseye

Um.. How far will you deliver?

 

[Doc Mark]

Hey, All,

WOW!! You all surely have inexpensive oak firewood where you live! I try to harvest my own, for which you can get a permit for only $20. But, up in the CA mountains, some folks have been known to charge as much as $400-$600 for a cord of nice oak!! That's WAY too much money for me, and most others, too. But, in some of the ski areas, quite a few folks have more money than sense, and they will pay the tariff, no matter how high it is!! I got my last two cords of oak from an unemployed contractor, whose parents had a fire come through and kill off a bunch of their oak trees, a few years ago. We've been burning that oak for about three years, now, and still have quite a bit left! Better to harvest your own, if you can, or shop for the best price, up here. You guys are getting it for a steal, me thinks!! Take care, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

 

[ladder13]

With a chainsaw and some gas, nothing.

 

[Road Rat]

I'm the guy that supplies the wood!!! My place has about 8 acres of Black Locust trees- talk about hard - and after they have been dead for a year or so a few gents drop by and cut them up (many chain saw blade sharpening's later) and haul them away. I get rid of my dead and fallen trees and they get free firewood.

One lady told me she loads her stove in the morning before leaving for work and still has fire when she come home that evening.

 

[DOEBOY1]

My nephew is selling a long bed dodge desiel truck load of locust stacked for $100. He likes to bust it with a go devil. I just bought a log truck load of locust for $500. My wife split it with the hydrolic splitter and I tried to bust with the go devil, man that was awful. Locust isn't that hard to bust the dry stuff. Got a load last year of hard wood and it was like trying to set a cucumber on fire. Doeboy

 

[oldman45]

My nephew is selling a long bed dodge desiel truck load of locust stacked for $100. He likes to bust it with a go devil. I just bought a log truck load of locust for $500. My wife split it with the hydrolic splitter and I tried to bust with the go devil, man that was awful. Locust isn't that hard to bust the dry stuff. Got a load last year of hard wood and it was like trying to set a cucumber on fire. Doeboy

I will take a couple of loads for $100 each. That truck ought to hold a half cord. I figure it will take a long days drive to get here so I think he should pull a trailer load to make a few more dollars out of it.

 

[jeepjeepwhat]

$10 for the State Wood Harvest Permit and a couple of hours of hard work. You can take anything laying or dead standing.

 

[HoosierMike]

I have an old Fischer wood stove in the walkout basement. Burns slow, and puts out a tremendous amount of heat. It and a couple of strategically placed box fans keep my 3000sq ft home in the low 70s all winter. The central heat only gets turned on when we are out of town. All it costs me is alot of sweat. Oh and last winter I was tossing wood into my pickup and threw a piece right through the back glass. That was an expensive truck load of wood.

 

[gregintenn]

It goes for around $40 per rick here. I assume that is about 1/3 a cord? Anyway, it costs me some chainsaw gas, bar oil, and a little effort.

 

[ridewv]

How much is split firewood going for in your area?

Have about 45 acres of mature hardwood so there's way more fallen trees than I need for the wood stove. Each year I take 6-8 pick-up loads in to town and give to my friends. Two years ago a large 32" trunk cherry tree tipped over. That tree alone would last us a few years. It is a boundary tree which means it could have had nails put in over the years, otherwise it'd be worth good money as lumber. So I'll start cutting and splitting it this spring.

So to answer your question, it's free. Well except the Stihl saw and chains to keep sharp, $1,000 wood splitter, $4,000 hospital bill to amputate the wife's finger after she caught it in the splitter, $7,000 Kawasaki Mule to haul the wood,....