sigh.... bought "seasoned wood" and its damn near green.

located near waukesha/milwaukee Wisconsin, and got it for 250$ delivered (full cord)

the wood was indeed a full cord, however it was overly heavy when i was stacking it to even be considered seasoned. the kicker was when i tossed the first load in my stove, and it still is not lit. half a 1# jug of propane later and it is struggling to maintain its own flame when the torch is off.

the wood was delivered and they billed me, im thinking this is NOT worth the asking price as it is not as described. I have burned quite a bit of chitty wood ranging from half rotten and not that seasoned, but this is almost the worst wood i have ever had. i have a moisture meter and will dry off a piece and split it to get a true reading.

what is a cord of mixed hardwoods and 10% softwood worth when its not yet seasoned?
sigh, i knew i should not have taken the lazy mans route, and just cut my own wood from standing dead trees.

edited:
I found batteries for my moisture meter. the best log i split had 28% moisture. all others had 30%-overload(more than 40%) on the meter. most averaged around 35-38% after taking almost 2 dozen readings on different pieces.

edited to add the advertisement from which i bought the wood

Mixed Seasoned and Certified Firewood
(90% Hardwood, 10% Softwood)

PRICES
{Delivered}
Full Cord Mixed - $245
Face Cord Mixed - $100

{Pick- up Special}
Full Cord Mixed - $225
Face Cord Mixed - $ 85

Restrictions Apply on Delivery distance.
TO PLACE AN ORDER PLEASE CALL:



FIREWOOD FACTS

Seasoned firewood should have less than 30% moisture content - When wood is fresh cut it contains a lot of water.

To season the wood, it is necessary to split, stack, and store properly. If the steps are followed correctly, the water is then evaporated by the sun and wind.

When the wood reaches a moisture content (MC) of less than 30% it will burn properly and release the optimum stored BTU's (heat). Wood with more than a 30% MC should not be burned indoors!! It is very inefficient and produces dangerous acid water vapor (Creosote) in your chimney.




A full cord is the only legal measurement of firewood. It is a volume measuring a total of 128 cu ft. when stacked
loosely.
It is generally defined as a "loosely stacked pile of firewood that is 4 feet high x 4 feet wide x 8 feet long".

A cord can be stacked in any way as long as the total cubic foot volume measures 128 cu ft.
Cords can range anywhere from 600 to 1000+ pieces depending on the average length & diameter of each piece.

Ram 1500 with an axe... said:

What's the MC reading? Just save it for next year....

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my moisture meters batteries are dead. i am picking some up tomorrow.
i cant save it for next year as i live in suburbia and it is in my garage. in the past i have cut and dragged home standing dead on my buddies property, or cut live trees, split stacked and let dry for 12+ months.
the agreement we have is, i can use his land if i help thin the trees when gathering wood, he does not want me to bring other firewood on his property as it could have bugs/diseases. illogical, but those are his rules

the wood i have now was purchased from a firewood company.
live and learn i guess
uugh, this sucks i might as well just have used my natural gas furnace for 250$

eujamfh said:

Did you pay the bill yet? If not, I would tell them they can come pick up what they dumped since it is not the product described. If you paid, I think the best you will get is to call and plead your case - the wood is not as described. If they balk, report them to the county. In many cases wood dealers that are seling crap are doing so without paying tax or license…you may not get any money but may save the next guy from an unscrupulous seller.

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the bill is not yet paid.
I am going to call them in the morning and see what they will do
I can burn the stuff, but it wont net nearly as much heat, and wont save me as much $ on my utility bill as a result.
i will see what they offer to make it right, as they know they are slinging wet / non seasoned wood.
if i had to guess this was cut within the past 2-3 months.
there are no cracks or splits anywhere on the wood along the saw cuts.

i was quite clear that they come after 5 pm(when im home from work) so i could inspect the wood before they dump it, so i could send them home if it was wet. they said they will try to make 5 pm but if not will dump it in the driveway and leave a bill.

this junk would not burn in a traditional fireplace.

lindnova said:

That is mostly what the big guys have now. They are having trouble getting logs now. The logs they do get are processed and sold right away as premium dry firewood for premium prices like $400/cord dumped in driveway. I decided to sell a few loads of good oak and haven't even got a call on craigslist. Go figure. I have a good picture up and my wood is +/- 20% a lower price. I have quite a surplus still considering the winter and figured I could cash in on some of it. I have been burning some of the wood and it burns pretty good. If I don't sell it more 15% wood for me next year I guess.

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would it be unreasonable for me to ask for a discount as they are listing it as seasoned and it is anything but seasoned?
250 is not cheap for a cord of mixed hardwood and soft wood that is wet

i added the advertisement i found for this wood company in the original post. they tell how dangerous burning wet wood is, yet they are selling it as seasoned.
sigh....

i will release the vendors name once i contact them. i have learned one thing, never burn the bridge if you need to cross it one last time.

i just found batteries for my moisture meter(aimpoints take the same batteries, so i had plenty on hand)
the best piece of wood had 28% MC
the average was 35-38%

what should i offer the guy for the wood? my wife is not going to be happy if the stuff leaves as she helped me haul it from the driveway and stack it... or as i call it marital bonding time lol

if they wont budge, they can come pick it up, as for 250$ i would be better off buying half a cord or 3/4 a cord of dry good wood.
i am trying to get it to dry a bit laying it spread out around the stove, so at least it will start on fire when i put it in.

im thinking i will offer him 150$ if i keep it
or he can pick it up.

i have to have the air throttled back to 50% to keep it burning in the lowest level before cresote buildup occurs temp wise.
when i add more wood it takes a good 10-15 min to get going.
when its light out i will look at the wood and do a larger sampling with the moisture meter.

im not too worried, as a true shady dealer would not open account bill a brand new customer.
they also did provide a full cord. so im happy about that. the problem lies in the BTU's i will net from this load.

oh well, polite but insisting is the rule of the day tomorrow.
i will keep their contact info for the future, as i would not mind buying wet wood cut and split and i dry it on the property behind my work(my biz owns it)
however there are a lot of wood burners in that area and i fear wood would grow legs and walk off.
lol

Auzzie Gumtree said:

How much would kiln dried 1/2 cord be? i would be seriously looking to tell him to take it back - then spend the money on some good stuff.

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im not sure how much kiln dried is.
i do have a kiln... however the idea with me burning wood is to do 2 things

1.) keep my great dane warm&happy curled up in front of the stove
and
2.) save $ on my utility bill.


i just threw a second load on before bed, and it still is not burning well yet.
going on 10 min in there and it is still struggling to burn.

im going to need more kindling, or to kiln dry some pieces to jump start each batch of wood if my stove ever goes cold or has small coals remaining after a long day at work.

rdust said:

This proves what you should already know, you can't buy seasoned firewood especially in the middle of winter! This is the typically new wood burner post not one we see from a veteran member. You have a meter, you know what seasoned wood is, how/why did you let yourself get robbed? I understand they dumped before you got home but why bother stacking it before you took readings on it if it seemed heavy?

The wood is no good this season, have them come pick it up. Even if it was their advertised 30% it still wouldn't be much good.

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i know i know
i have read all the posts about situations like this, i figured i would be smart enough to avoid this, by telling the guy i have a meter and will be checking the wood.
im just glad i did not prepay for this or i would probably end up eating it if the guy was not generous

i had a igiunal hernia surgery this fall so a lot of my ideal firewood cutting time was cut short, as the property i have access to has so much standing dead if i cut it in fall split and stack it is ready to burn at 20% or less MC by end of winter, hell i can drag it out of the woods and leave all but the last 2-3' of the tree and it burns amazing.

I suppose i will suck it up, grab my saw and take advantage of the 40 degree weather that is coming to wisconsin in the next few days and get some wood that will burn hot enough to keep the stove from turning into a black creosote covered box.

well i spoke with the owner and they are going to drop off some good oak. we will see how that goes...
i will use the stuff i have for the shoulder season and split it into smaller peaces till then so it dries faster.
if it is unusable in a few months i will save it for next season.
I may see what price this guy will give me for 4-5 cords of unseasoned wood when its summer time, so i can stack and season it myself.

thats a good idea. i have a pickup truck so i can go pick it up and walk if the wood is crap.
when i walk in with my moisture meter, axe and ask to test their product i bet they will roll their eyes.