Firewood prices
- Thread starter Sharky
- Start date
SouthernN'Proud
Southern Discomfort
We heat with wood exclusively, save a coil heater in the bathroom. Installed a fireplace insert this year. Heats great, but right now I'm having a huge problem with it smoking up the house when the door is opened. Gonna hafta work on that.
A neighbor and I help one another with the wood. He has a splitter, so when one of us finds some available wood we get it, cut split and haul it, and share it equally. Between that, a benevolent neighbor with more trees than he'll ever use (322 acres and counting), my dad who knows everybody alive in the neighboring county, and other creative resources, I don't have to buy much wood. I spent $50 on about 6 truckloads of wood last year, but I had to haul it. Having a pickup truck is a necessity back here. I probably have enough wood right now to last this year and half of next year. I'll put in about 4 Saturdays next fall, and be set for the winter. When you consider that last year our electric bill was around $275 a month, and the one I'm paying today is less than $68, I think it worth it.
A neighbor and I help one another with the wood. He has a splitter, so when one of us finds some available wood we get it, cut split and haul it, and share it equally. Between that, a benevolent neighbor with more trees than he'll ever use (322 acres and counting), my dad who knows everybody alive in the neighboring county, and other creative resources, I don't have to buy much wood. I spent $50 on about 6 truckloads of wood last year, but I had to haul it. Having a pickup truck is a necessity back here. I probably have enough wood right now to last this year and half of next year. I'll put in about 4 Saturdays next fall, and be set for the winter. When you consider that last year our electric bill was around $275 a month, and the one I'm paying today is less than $68, I think it worth it.
SouthernN'Proud
Southern Discomfort
Inkara1 said:
Oh yeah. We have two out buildings. I stack enough inside one to last all winter, then use it sparingly when it rains or snows. That keeps me a good supply of seasoned wood from year to year too. The rest is stacked outside against the building's wall. I'll use that when the weather is dry. If it gets rained on during the non-heating months, I don't worry about it rotting; I won't have it long enough to rot. I don't get that far ahead on wood.
Gato_Solo
Out-freaking-standing OTC member
Thulsa Doom said:
That's just sick. Nobody wants to hear about your drunken excesses.
I will give some advice, though...Chainsaw. Cut that cracked tree down to about 18 inches with a chain saw, and then cut the trunk into sections. Split, keep what you need, and sell the rest.
PrincessLissa
New Member
There is a place near here that sells a cord for $90 but you have to come pick it up. My old boss told me when we drove by it that $90 was pretty cheap.
We don't have a fireplace, but that's okay. We have enough fires here in CO to begin with.
We don't have a fireplace, but that's okay. We have enough fires here in CO to begin with.
Thulsa Doom
New Member
Gato_Solo said:That's just sick. Nobody wants to hear about your drunken excesses.
I harken back fondley to my drunken excesses. Those were the days... especially that time last weekend!
I have this little chain saw... (heres the part where the real men come in and give me shit about the size of my chainsaw and brag about how many inches their chain is...) and it wont cut ANY of the stumps in my yard. Even the little ones. The stumps laugh at it. And the guy I bought the house from left like a good 10, 12 stumps in the back yard. I figured I could get em up in no time. But its a project. Especially since its on whats basically a black diamond ski slope... Dont really want to pay for it. I hear you can speed up the natural decay by adding some kind of acid to the stump.
Sharky
New Member
I would imagine that the firewood prices in metro Atlanta would make that well worth the effort.unclehobart said:
That is cheap.PT said:
I read somewhere about that backdraft problem, and for the life of me I can't remember what the solution was. If I remember it I'll get back to ya.SouthernN'Proud said:
Benevolent neighbors are a blessing - we have a neighbor who collects "toys", he has a backhoe, a wood splitter, a posthole auger, and lots of other odd tools that he generously loans out to the rest of us. In exchange we always volunteer to help him when he starts a project, such as the pole barn we all got together and built for him recently.
Yup, that's the plan. Since I have plenty of split wood already from last summer when I limbed another old oak, I'm going to give it away to the neighbors who are going to help me cut it down (see above).Gato_Solo said:
I had to cut down a couple of trees a few years ago, and had a guy come by with a stump grinder to remove the stumps, in exchange for a load of firewood from the trees I cut down. Got a dump truck load of excellent mulch from the grinding, too. Since your stumps are on a steep slope, the acid is probably your best bet.Thulsa Doom said:
catocom
Well-Known Member
I cut my own that I use in a stove I have in my barn. (have central in the house).
My bro inlaw buys his though for his shop. He says he gives $60/pickup load. (that's about 3/4 of a cord)
So I'm guessing average around here is 80-100 per cord now.
I've still got a good stand, myself, around here, and couldn't see paying that
for as little as I burn.
My bro inlaw buys his though for his shop. He says he gives $60/pickup load. (that's about 3/4 of a cord)
So I'm guessing average around here is 80-100 per cord now.
I've still got a good stand, myself, around here, and couldn't see paying that
for as little as I burn.
Sharky
New Member
It looks like prices are fairly even around the country, then. I'm surprised, I thought it would have been higher in the colder areas and the metro areas due to higher demand. 
Not surprised that it's much higher in Cali, but I can't imagine paying $160 a cord for pine. That's the worst wood you can burn in a fireplace because of the pitch.
Inky, does eucalyptus smell good when it burns? I'm imagining menthol scented smoke.
Not surprised that it's much higher in Cali, but I can't imagine paying $160 a cord for pine. That's the worst wood you can burn in a fireplace because of the pitch.
Inky, does eucalyptus smell good when it burns? I'm imagining menthol scented smoke.
Inkara1
Well-Known Member
I don't remember the smell being much different, but the logs burned a little funny if I remember right. Itt's been probably a decade or so since I've been around burning eucalyptus.Sharky said:
When my family moved into a house with a non-gas fireplace in 1989, we got a crapload of eucalyptus logs somehow. I remember watching my dad split log after log with a wedge and sledge hammer. There was still something like half the pile left when we moved in 1995.
Gato_Solo
Out-freaking-standing OTC member
Thulsa Doom said:
Get a good drill, a 1 1/2 inch spade bit, and a 5# bag of salt. Drill as close to center as your bit can take you (from the side at around a 45 Degree downward angle), and pour about 1/2 pound of salt into the whole, or until filled. Do that with each stump, and wait till spring-thaw. Works every time...
SouthernN'Proud
Southern Discomfort
And if that doesn't completely destroy it, it'll make the rest easy to burn or dig out.
Gato_Solo
Out-freaking-standing OTC member
SouthernN'Proud said:
That's the method my dad and I used to get rid of a 'mulberry problem' we had one summer. That sucker had been growing since before I was born, and was more like a tree than a bush, so we limbed it, cut it down with a saw (yes...a hand-powered cross-cut), and just did the old 'drill and fill'. The drill, thank God, was electric. The stump of that bush was nearly 2 feet across...
...but, 3 months later, we only had this rotted wooden mass that could be yanked out by hand. The stump actually came apart in our hands...