Thoughts on Slabwood

More bark..more coals.

Price seems ok. Not sure what you would pay for logs but I would rather have the log load.

Doesn't hurt to have some slab wood depending on the quality, if it's a lot of bark I'd pass but if it's some thick pieces of good hardwood it seasons quick and is good to burn. I'd still try and get logs though.

Jbels said:

I've been trying to find someone who will deliver some tuck loads of logs to my home and have yet to be successful. However, I do have a guy who will deliver 7 FC of slabwood uncut for $300. I would assume that I would end up burning more with the slabwood vs normal splits. What are your thoughts/experiences?

Thanks!

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Jbels, I can certainly understand why you are looking and considering this. However, that is a super high price for slabwood. Once you get it cut and stacked, you will end up with less than 2 cord. That is at least $150 per cord which is very high priced.

But even more, do you know what the slabs are cut from? Was it oak? Maple? Pine? How long has it been since the slabs were cut? In other words, how good will the wood be? Will it be green wood (most likely) or have the slabs laid around for a year (unlikely).

Cutting slab wood is not difficult, especially if you put together a jig. Yet, you can also cut them without building a jig. I cut about a cord for a neighbor who was injured a year or so ago and they were just thrown together on the ground. I simply went to work with the saw where they laid and it did not take long to get the job done either.

Burning slab wood can be okay but it depends upon what type of wood it is and how much wood there is. Most will be bark. Bark does burn but not much heat in it and it gives lots of ash.

In my humble opinion, the price the fellow is asking is at least double what it should be but considering it will be delivered, that is worth something. Which ever way you go, we wish you good luck with it.

Jbels said:

I've been trying to find someone who will deliver some tuck loads of logs to my home and have yet to be successful. However, I do have a guy who will deliver 7 FC of slabwood uncut for $300. I would assume that I would end up burning more with the slabwood vs normal splits. What are your thoughts/experiences?

Thanks!

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Jbels I bought a load of slab wood from a mill a few years ago. I will never do it again , it was green and softwood and full,of sawdust and other foreign material? I think it cost around 400 Canadian and I think I may have got around 7 FC . Logs are the way to go IMHO .

HotCoals said:

More bark..more coals.

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Not if it has been debarked, most mills of any size have debarkers. Price sounds steep unless he is traveling quite a ways.

nrford said:

Not if it has been debarked, most mills of any size have debarkers. Price sounds steep unless he is traveling quite a ways.

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No bark would make a diff..no doubt.

That is high for uncut slabwood. Should be about half that price.

Did you try asking the slab wood mill for a referral to who brings them logs? One of those log haulers would be the person to get firewood logs from.

Jbels good to see a local I live in Geneva anyways that guy on cl is nuts asking that price go on Watkins glen cl and there is a guy selling trie axle loads for 700$ around 6 or 7 cords says free delivery 40 miles your another 30 see what he has to say

If it were oak slab wood then maybe that price is doable, but I have found that it is usually green poplar or pine and a lot of sawdust. Most will do it once and learn the hard way like me.

Jbels said:

I was actually thinking of just going and scouting around the places that sell cut/split/seasoned wood full time and taking down the numbers I see on the trucks that deliver to them. I'm still waiting to hear back from a few folks, I've just found that they are picky about how far they are willing to go.

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Yes I can see how they don't want to deliver. There isn't much money in firewood logs and saw logs cost exactly the same to get out of the woods, onto a truck and to a buyer, but for a lot more money. Firewood logs , at $100 a cord delivered break down to about $60 for the logger, $30 to the trucker and $10 for the landowner . With +- 10 each there isn't much money to be had. They would much rather drag the high value stuff out of the woods and haul it to the mill. If you keep at it you will eventually get someone with a job close to you where the trucker doesn't need $30 to break even and it might work.

I've run out of dry firewood and burned slabwood and had good luck with it. But I get it all ready cut up for about $45 a cord. So that is about 1/4 of the price that guy is asking and it is already cut up. I go pick it up with my truck though. Even so, that price is crazy.

I burnt slabs for 3 years but I got the for $10/huge bundle. The were from a mill cutting for furniture so there were many time id have to split it and it was all decent hardwoods.

That price seems pretty out of line to me

$300 for 7 face cord seems a bit much for slab wood. I can buy 9 cords of oak logs for $850.

Slab wood is fine too burn just more bark and ash to work with. The biggest advantage is that it will season quickly.

Jbels- I live not too far from you, just north of Batavia. I got a load delivered, there are a number of guys out in my area and there has to be someone out near you, you've got more woods near you! I was going to send you to craigslist, but I see you've been there

I will pm you with some numbers.

Jbels said:

I've been trying to find someone who will deliver some tuck loads of logs to my home and have yet to be successful. However, I do have a guy who will deliver 7 FC of slabwood uncut for $300. I would assume that I would end up burning more with the slabwood vs normal splits. What are your thoughts/experiences?

Thanks!

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That price does sound steep for a load of slabs. But I guess it depends on how far the driver has to travel to get it to ya.

A sawmill down the road a ways sells slabwood at the lot dirt cheap. I've driven by there and seen the local Amish picking through it. They've got a mountain of slab wood, mostly crap. Bits and pieces, lotsa bark and dirt, scraps etc. If ya don't mind burning up half the day picking through it, you can get to the better stuff.

Don't want to hijack a thread, but I was just looking at THIS AD, and wanted to know what your thoughts are here?
Is this good price for two cord of oak slab with little bark?
Or are their better deals out there to be had? Firewood in my area is selling about @250 a cord delivered for reference.

Thanks!

The pics look pretty good. But around here a cord of split wood is 150-200 bucks, so for me, I wouldn't go for that since it still needs to be cut (which will be a pain unless you have a sawbuck)