Small "cord"

Mo,
Really...ROTFLMAO!!

EAA (Energy Abusers Annon) AKA EnerAnon

RSpike, The first stage is denial. It's ok. We've been there. You are among friends.

BikeMedic said:

RSpike, The first stage is denial. It's ok. We've been there. You are among friends.

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ok, ok. Hello every body , My name is Dan ................its been 3 days sence ......... ;-P

there's a dealer around me that insists on advertising green cord pricing without saying its green until you call. kind of like a little bait and switch. so his pricing is always less than others so i'm sure he gets called first by everyone. it's not until you talk to him that he says its green and seasoned wood actually costs $xxx per cord. there is probably a certain percentage of people who can't be bothered to call anyone else at that point and just say fine and buy it.

I dont see anything wrong with the sales of "green wood" when you know about it and the savings is awesome. I cut my own wood and its ALWAYS GREEN. The wood burner just needs to know the difference and season the wood. Wood burners shouldn't wait untel Fall to buy wood nor should the wood cutter/burner of there own supply wait until summer to cut wood for them selves. Pellets are at a premium price and are meant to be burned right away. If i was buying wood and given the choice of green wood and seasoned wood and the green wood was 1/4 - 1/3 cheaper as it normally is then i would go for the green wood and season it 9-10 months for med to low hard wood ( Elm, hackberry ect.. )and 2 summers for the upper of hard wood ( oak ect.. )

Sean, I have been selling wood for 29 years now. Started at 33.00 per cord delivered. We are at 350.00 per cord now. Same customers, we do not advertise. WE ARE A REPUTABLE firewood source. We guarantee 135 cu ft per cord. Clean dry no mud no bugs delivered and dumped within 2 hour window for delivery.

We could not make it on firewood alone. We sell 600 cords a year in a 3 month period. It is a great source of income for this time period and I get a great pleasure from all my customers depending on my service. Once in a while I get to be the SOUP Natzi if I get a customer that is tring to get a deal. No deals on our firewood and we tell them if they are heating their homes with it and they want to save money they should try the newspaper. At that point they order. I can not believe the dealers in my area that sell for 180.00 a cord. We hear about their crappy wood and service and they hear about our high prices. We win in the long run.

My advice is when you do find a reputable wood dealer you are truly fortunate, and when I find a top dollar customer I am also very fortunate. It takes a long time to accumulate these customers.

Just my 2 cents, RELAX AND WATCH YOUR MONEY BURN !

Thomas

NW Fuels said:

Sean, I have been selling wood for 29 years now. Started at 33.00 per cord delivered. We are at 350.00 per cord now.

Thomas

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Wow $350.00 . What state ? In my state thats more than natural gas & LP so i know thats not in the midwest.

Seattle Wash, We also give them free Super Cedars.
Thomas

www.nwfuel.com shows you more of our company.
Thomas

Well Now ......... And i was saying it was high. I didnt know one got "free Super Cedars" with there cord wood. He((-of-a-deal now that you set the record stright . I'll take 10 cords please ! "NO! , NO cord wood for you ! " :vampire: He-He-He , It does make a difference of what state you are at. You selling firewood for 29 years has to say something !

This thread is really hitting home...

I just ordered 4 cords of seasoned firewood in MA. I originally had a supplier from NH all lined up at $250/cord delivered, but he called on the date of delivery and stated his business was shut down by the local officials because he didn't have the proper licenses. SO, after a million phone calls I finally found a guy about 20 miles away. He was a full-time firefighter who also ran a tree business on the side.

Anyways, he agreed to deliver 4 cords of seasoned hardwood for $900. That equated to $225/cord. That price was going to save me $100 right off the bat, but it was also approx. $300 less than my "local" firewood dealer. So, I agreed to his price and the wood was delivered within a few days.

Well, this week I finally finished stacking it all. I did the ole' criss-cross pattern to allow for more air circulation, but still stacked it tight. After everything was said and done I ended up with approx. 3.6 cords. So then I got to thinking. Do I call and ask for the missing .4 cord, or do I just let it go as "normal business practice"? As I already stated, this guy saved me a bit of cash over the other dealers, and he delivered it promptly. The wood he delivered was excellent and clean, and was ready for immediate burning. The local "nursery" is selling their wood for $299/cord, plus $40 to deliver. As of the end of September, that price will go to $349/cord!

I think I did well, but the guy told me to let him know if I "felt I was shorted". Do you think I should bother, or was my load within the "norm"?

Let him know he was short and to make it up next year. I bet he will take care of you. Be sure to give him your exact stacking dimensions so he can do the math himself. If he is worth buying from again that is. He should make it right asap if he really cares.
Thomas

NW Fuels said:

Sean, I have been selling wood for 29 years now. Started at 33.00 per cord delivered. We are at 350.00 per cord now. Same customers, we do not advertise. WE ARE A REPUTABLE firewood source. We guarantee 135 cu ft per cord. Clean dry no mud no bugs delivered and dumped within 2 hour window for delivery.

We could not make it on firewood alone. We sell 600 cords a year in a 3 month period. It is a great source of income for this time period and I get a great pleasure from all my customers depending on my service. Once in a while I get to be the SOUP Natzi if I get a customer that is tring to get a deal. No deals on our firewood and we tell them if they are heating their homes with it and they want to save money they should try the newspaper. At that point they order. I can not believe the dealers in my area that sell for 180.00 a cord. We hear about their crappy wood and service and they hear about our high prices. We win in the long run.

My advice is when you do find a reputable wood dealer you are truly fortunate, and when I find a top dollar customer I am also very fortunate. It takes a long time to accumulate these customers.

Just my 2 cents, RELAX AND WATCH YOUR MONEY BURN !

Thomas

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Hi Thomas. Yes, I knew you to be a reputble firewood dealer. Problem is, you're in Seattle and my customers are here in upstate NY. Maybe you have a network of other reputable dealers and can point me to someone more local to me? I can just about guarantee a good marketplace for your kind of operation here. But it will take a patient and determined individual. These New Yorkers can be tough to negotiate with. But if you deliver on your promises they will be good customers. So far, no one has been able to stay alive in the cut-throat market of cord wood supply. A lot of my customers will pay well over $350 per cord. They have money and wood burning is not a necessity for them. All we need is a good woodsman around here that I can refer people to. Maybe they are here already but, if they are, they are pretty tight-lipped. A secret society of cordwood purveyors.

Sean

Sean, You hit it on the head. We are not in the public eye, or do we advertize. Have you searched the internet< or how about BBB. I know of a company called Prianti Farms in Dix Hills but have not purchased any wood. Im told they have thousands of cords.
Thomas

Nokoni said:

The guys showed up with the remainder of my cord last night. Once stacked it filled about 3/4 of the space that was missing. I think I'm done with this supplier. It is demeaning to him and me to bicker about thirty or so more pieces of wood. What I really need is 1) my own land with my own wood supply (maybe someday) 2) a truck so I can go see what I'm getting and how much before it is dumped in my yard. or 3) someone who will give me what they say they will just like I give them the money I say I'm giving them. One of the three would be GREAT!

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Option #4 -- a truck with a trailer so you can go cut your own wood (with permission) from the land of others. I have access to more wood than I could ever use out here in Indian Hill. 1,3 and 5 acre zoning, lots of trees, no wood burners around and when trees come down or die they are an expensive nuisance to clean up so the neighbors consider me a godsend.

Option #5 -- call around to tree services and see if you can get them to dump their cleaned up waste (trunks) in your yard. I've seen ads in the local community paper offering free cleaned-up "firewood" from tree services.

Nokoni said:

Can you put a trailer on the back of a car or a Subaru? That could work because I can't afford a truck right now but could maybe swing a trailer.

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Look in your owners manual, but your Sub will likely tow at least 1000 lbs or more. Sure beats tossing stuff in the back. I'd like a trailer too. I'd probably tow the darned thing all the time just in case!

Nokoni said:

Can you put a trailer on the back of a car or a Subaru? That could work because I can't afford a truck right now but could maybe swing a trailer.

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Not sure I would recommend it for all cars, but I think you will find that most cars, even small ones, can tow 2000 lbs and in fact have pre-drilled holes for attaching a hitch. I hauled at least 3 cords this year with a little Toyota compact car and a $200 trailer from harbor freight. It wasn't that big of a deal I tell ya.

If you are interested, see my woodstove web page for a complete breakdown of all my costs (for processing and hauling free wood).

I'm still trying to figure out who would pay $350/cord if they are heating primarily with wood? You could heat with natural gas, LP, or oil for almost the same cost, but have none of the hassle that comes from heating with wood. If I had to buy wood, I would still want to save at least a few hundred dollars over the cost of an alternative "maintenance free" heat source.

Nokoni said:

Can you put a trailer on the back of a car or a Subaru? That could work because I can't afford a truck right now but could maybe swing a trailer.

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Depends on the model, but most will take hitches and on average you can tow a couple thousand pounds. Google for "towing capacity subaru" and you can find a chart with your info. So, towing 1/4 up to 1/2 of a cord per trip would be do-able. There are a lot of trailer places around -- I got mine (a nice used 5x8 one) up at Smith's Trailers in the Tri-County area. I use it with a Jeep so no vehicle towing capacity issues for me -- just the weight limit of the trailer.

Insurance for a trailer is REALLY low. Like 10 bucks a year.

Dan,
Check your insurance policy. I have three trailers, and they are covered. So long as I am pulling them, and I am not doing it commercially. (Otherwise, if the trailers are sitting on your property and are stolen or damaged then that should fall under your homeowners insurance.)

Oh... And don't mention to your agent anything about burning wood... That causes them to freak-out!