Log length pricing
- Thread starter Fiziksgeek
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weatherguy
Minister of Fire
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Ditto on that. I'd use it as an excuse: "Honey, I need to buy a bigger (newer) saw!" You know you want one.
Unless you plan on using the splitter frequently, it's hard to beat the economics of renting one.
PapaDave
Minister of Fire
Maybe you could noodle down a ways, then cut off. I'd at least try it.
I agree with weatherguy. Deal with the smaller stuff while contemplating how you'll deal with the big stuff.
I agree with weatherguy. Deal with the smaller stuff while contemplating how you'll deal with the big stuff.
If you said what saw you have I missed it. It is possible to work over those biguns with a smaller saw just takes awhile, slice and dice, Oak is close to the gold standard. I would not get miffed about it. Recommend rent splitter so you can maybe try a couple different ones. If looking to purchase saw, rent a couple types first. Minimum 50 cc class, 60 class is a little more versatile when getting in to big stuff as you can pull a longer bar. I keep 20" bars on the 50 24" on the 60 and 32" on the 80, ( yes I suffer from SWAD, saw and wood acquisition disease )
I started a new thread over in the "Gear" section:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/new-saw-and-splitter.87520/#post-1132003
I currently have a husky 350 which is almost 10 years old, and was planning on upgrading anyway, I think this just forces my decision. Just trying to decide quickly what saw I really want/need so I can stop by the dealer on the way home. With a little luck, he'll have what I want in stock!
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/new-saw-and-splitter.87520/#post-1132003
I currently have a husky 350 which is almost 10 years old, and was planning on upgrading anyway, I think this just forces my decision. Just trying to decide quickly what saw I really want/need so I can stop by the dealer on the way home. With a little luck, he'll have what I want in stock!
I had a tree service drop "not too big" pieces of white oak last year...it was free, and I had worked with them before. Apparently since I last took wood from him, he stepped up his business and had some heavy equiptment vice the pick up and trailer he used to use. The load he gave me was 6-8ft in length, and the trees were four ft in diameter. He dumped with a dump truck - the one log was five feet off the ground.
It took me a month to cut and noodle to size...but I ended up with about six cords of primo white oak. Cost me a chain (sharpen with a file myself) but in the end it was woorth the time and effort.
Point is at cheap prices, I submit you have to accept the "not easy" loads they give you. Like above, I recommend you don't burn the bridge....just let them know in the future you would rather know what you were getting. at that price it would be worth the effort to me to figure a solution.
It took me a month to cut and noodle to size...but I ended up with about six cords of primo white oak. Cost me a chain (sharpen with a file myself) but in the end it was woorth the time and effort.
Point is at cheap prices, I submit you have to accept the "not easy" loads they give you. Like above, I recommend you don't burn the bridge....just let them know in the future you would rather know what you were getting. at that price it would be worth the effort to me to figure a solution.
Wow, I wish I had a 'too big of wood' problem. For that price... delivered? You are lucky.
I have the saws to reduce any size logs to firewood length. Having it all here to deal with on my property would be heaven. Far better than burning gas and cutting and loading and hauling firewood here from afar... which is what I usually do.
I have the saws to reduce any size logs to firewood length. Having it all here to deal with on my property would be heaven. Far better than burning gas and cutting and loading and hauling firewood here from afar... which is what I usually do.
woodsmaster
Minister of Fire
You will get a lot of wood out of that big log. Probably more than if you had a bunch of smaller stuff. It is harder to deal with though.
fire_man
Minister of Fire
Fiziksgeek:
I could definitely feel your pain. I kind of got a chuckle out of your story
anyway because it hit home.
You asked all the right questions, - and made it clear with the guy not to deliver huge logs, then had a 45" monster oak delivered anyway.
I once got a grapple load delivered with the understanding "Hardwood only - no Softwood" - written in black an white in a delivery contract. I had to sign it before the load would get delivered, and agreed I would be liable for fuel and return fees if they did not dump the load. Well, they did deliver "Hardwood" but I ended up with half the load being a giant 48" diameter Stinking Cottonwood tree. Technically it was "Hardwood" but others will tell you that Punky Pine and wet Styrofoam burn longer, and they would be right.
Oh - The guy dropped the two 20 foot lengths of the tree spaced about 6 inches apart. Did you ever try to cut two 3 to 4 foot diameter trees laying parallel to each other 6 inches apart - with a 18" saw??? It's not like I own a bulldozer and a monster saw !!
I learned a lesson, but at least in your case you got good wood at a great price.
And you have a good excuse to buy more toys!
I could definitely feel your pain. I kind of got a chuckle out of your story
anyway because it hit home.You asked all the right questions, - and made it clear with the guy not to deliver huge logs, then had a 45" monster oak delivered anyway.
I once got a grapple load delivered with the understanding "Hardwood only - no Softwood" - written in black an white in a delivery contract. I had to sign it before the load would get delivered, and agreed I would be liable for fuel and return fees if they did not dump the load. Well, they did deliver "Hardwood" but I ended up with half the load being a giant 48" diameter Stinking Cottonwood tree. Technically it was "Hardwood" but others will tell you that Punky Pine and wet Styrofoam burn longer, and they would be right.
Oh - The guy dropped the two 20 foot lengths of the tree spaced about 6 inches apart. Did you ever try to cut two 3 to 4 foot diameter trees laying parallel to each other 6 inches apart - with a 18" saw??? It's not like I own a bulldozer and a monster saw !!
I learned a lesson, but at least in your case you got good wood at a great price.
And you have a good excuse to buy more toys!
Guy here on CL wants $300 for what he says comes out to 3 cords of wood after you cut and split it, in the same size odd chunk logs dumped from a dump truck. His photos looks a lot like your wood there. It is a mix of alder and doug fir. Here it seems that the wholesale price for logs is $100 a cord, regardless of quality, size or sepcies. In my book it ain't worth it when I can get 2 year barn dry split cords of doug fir delivered for $175. For $50 a 3 cord load I would do it though, unless it was cottonwood or willow.
I ain't no wood expert, but that big log laying on the ground closest to the photographer is not white oak. White ash, maybe, but not white oak.
Your correct. I thought there was more oak in there, but once I dug in, I found its mostly ash (or elm maybe?). Certainly no expert here either, but definitely not oak. I think I mentioned it in my other thread on the new saw I bought, then it seized, then I got another one...hahaha long story.
I did get everything cut up today. That one big piece was a pain in the you know what. I started by standing on top of it and noodling down the side. Once that got uncomfortable, I looked for a new plan. I ended up using my Milwaukee Model 40 (4 ton high light floor jack) to lift it high enough to tip it up on edge. Luckily it was on a small ~8" diameter branch,so I could get the jack under the edge. I couldn't lift it from that low down, even with the 60" cant hook. Oncfe on edge, I started noodling it, cut it into 5 wedges, then had to cut each wedge to length. Between cutting and moving it around, took me an hour to do that one piece!
Update.
Got Most of the wood cut, split, and stacked. I have 4 and 1/3 rows, each row being 13 feet long, 4.5 feet high, and I cut most of the wood to 20". The puts this around 3.2 cords, CSS.
I rented a splitter from the closest power equipment shop so I wouldnt spend much time driving back and forth. Good news, it was a Timberwolf, bad news if was a P1, horizontal only. So I spent some extra time noodling, which I hadn't planned on doing.I took stacked up the piece I have left to split and put them with the other wood from some trees I have taken down earlier in the year.
There is more than 1/2 a cord remaining to be split, so I would say the guy was right on when he estimated a minimum 3 and 1/3 cord per 20 yard dumpster load, I might be pushing 4 cords here Behind the noodled pieces, is a couple rows of spruce that came from my yard, and on the left you can see the ash that I also took down. Here is a better pick of that form the front.
I hope to get it all split later in the summer. Should give me ~5.5+ cords, CSS for 2013-14 and beyond.
Got Most of the wood cut, split, and stacked. I have 4 and 1/3 rows, each row being 13 feet long, 4.5 feet high, and I cut most of the wood to 20". The puts this around 3.2 cords, CSS.
I rented a splitter from the closest power equipment shop so I wouldnt spend much time driving back and forth. Good news, it was a Timberwolf, bad news if was a P1, horizontal only. So I spent some extra time noodling, which I hadn't planned on doing.I took stacked up the piece I have left to split and put them with the other wood from some trees I have taken down earlier in the year.
There is more than 1/2 a cord remaining to be split, so I would say the guy was right on when he estimated a minimum 3 and 1/3 cord per 20 yard dumpster load, I might be pushing 4 cords here Behind the noodled pieces, is a couple rows of spruce that came from my yard, and on the left you can see the ash that I also took down. Here is a better pick of that form the front.
I hope to get it all split later in the summer. Should give me ~5.5+ cords, CSS for 2013-14 and beyond.
In the end, I spent 1 weekend cutting, 1 weekend splitting, and 1 weekend moving and stacking.
I ended up renting a pickup from uhaul. The neighbor was going to let me use his, but was a little concerned about messing it up (2010 GMC Seirra Denali), plus, I needed to take a run to the town dump with some bulky items from the basement/garage. Ended up costing me $50 since I didn't put many miles on it, but I got 2 project done, dump run and wood moved.
As I mentioned before, I thought I was going to get a horizontal/vertical splitter, so I had to do some extra noodling, which slowed me down splitting, oh yeah, and it was 95 degrees that day. I set up a folding canopy and took my time. So I think with some better planning, I could have done it all in one day.
Cost:
wood $160 (including tax)
splitter rental $80
truck rental $25
Total = $265 = ~$66 per cord if I do get a full 4 cord out of it. Max $75 per cord if I dont.
I ended up renting a pickup from uhaul. The neighbor was going to let me use his, but was a little concerned about messing it up (2010 GMC Seirra Denali), plus, I needed to take a run to the town dump with some bulky items from the basement/garage. Ended up costing me $50 since I didn't put many miles on it, but I got 2 project done, dump run and wood moved.
As I mentioned before, I thought I was going to get a horizontal/vertical splitter, so I had to do some extra noodling, which slowed me down splitting, oh yeah, and it was 95 degrees that day. I set up a folding canopy and took my time. So I think with some better planning, I could have done it all in one day.
Cost:
wood $160 (including tax)
splitter rental $80
truck rental $25
Total = $265 = ~$66 per cord if I do get a full 4 cord out of it. Max $75 per cord if I dont.
Its $115cad a cord log length delivered around here, thats for mostly sugar/silver maple, birch and a little beech, you got a deal, and just think of the work as exercise, most of us need it anyway 
Glad it all worked out in the end for you. Your experience reminds me of one of my first scrounges. We were living about 30 miles outside Portland OR. I saw an offer on CL for free oak. The guy said he is building a house and needs the tree gone that day. After an hour on the road we found the place and there it was. 5' diameter oak tree laying on the ground. I was not sure if I should laugh or cry. That was way too much tree for one guy to cut and move in one afternoon.
bogydave
Minister of Fire
tomc585
Member
Around here we have plenty of free would (for now). Many tree service companies pay a fee to dump at the landfill and are always happy to dump it local. I have had 80% of my wood cut to 14"-18" and either loaded on my trailer or dropped in the driveway. One time I even got 40" rounds of red oak dropped off, they were cut 12"-14". We rolled them like wagon wheels. The one time I took a load of log lengths uncut bit me in the butt. The tree must have had a old chain running up and down inside it about 1/2 way in....wiped out a few blades on that one. Find lots of clothesline pulleys too.
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
Try using a chainsaw next time instead of a "bladesaw" . . . much easier way to buck up the wood.
TimJ
Minister of Fire
Fitziksgeek, you did a great job and your finished product looks good.
You learned alot.........get another load and make some more stacks
You learned alot.........get another load and make some more stacks
Ashful
Minister of Fire
tomc585
Member
I actually finished with a Sawzall. Turned out to be a swing chain that the tree grew around.Try using a chainsaw next time instead of a "bladesaw" . . . much easier way to buck up the wood.
clemsonfor
Minister of Fire
I would call and just say that there must of been a mistake as this wood was fairly large and ask if he could help buck it up as your saw is to small as "we had discussed". But yea dont get nasty, but i do feel for you that stuff is going to be hard to move even bucked!!
You need to look at it next time a head of unloading if it means a trip to the shop first? Maybe ask if they can get the biggest section and bring a few more logs to replace it? Remember they not only made money selling it to you they saved several hundred also, by not having to dump it at the landfill!
You need to look at it next time a head of unloading if it means a trip to the shop first? Maybe ask if they can get the biggest section and bring a few more logs to replace it? Remember they not only made money selling it to you they saved several hundred also, by not having to dump it at the landfill!
Thank everyone. After I got over the initial shock, I am pleased with how everything worked out. Was planning to take more time to complete the job, but my wife dropped it on me that she wanted it out of the way before our son's first birthday, hence the 3 weekend plan.
A guy down the street from me got some long length delivered about the same time. His pile was all long, straight logs, looked to be between 12 and 24 inches in diameter, perfect wood for the homeowner. However, he also paid 2-3x what I did (for the wod alone). Doesn't look like he's done much cuting yet either!
A guy down the street from me got some long length delivered about the same time. His pile was all long, straight logs, looked to be between 12 and 24 inches in diameter, perfect wood for the homeowner. However, he also paid 2-3x what I did (for the wod alone). Doesn't look like he's done much cuting yet either!
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