2 yr dry hard maple...Too good of a deal?

If $70.00 a full cord, grab it. If is $70.00 per face cord, forget it.
Offer him $100.00 for the lot.

$70 for a face cord? That's around 1/3rd of a cord? Depends on your needs. If you need it to burn this winter, it's not a bad deal

Around my parts, a cord of hardwood goes for $200. I'm picking up 2 40 cubic foot bins of 2 year seasoned white oak today for $50 a piece. I'm trying to get 3 years ahead, and it will allow me to let the red oak I split in April sit until next winter. I'll have around 4 cords for 14/15 and 2 cords for 15/16.

I'd be skeptical on the "hard maple" could be a silver or other soft maple cut in his yard. Not bad fuel, but definitely not "hardwood" btu bang for the buck .

osagebow said:

I'd be skeptical on the "hard maple" could be a silver or other soft maple cut in his yard. Not bad fuel, but definitely not "hardwood" btu bang for the buck .

Click to expand...

Well that will be easy to tell - one heft and you'll know. The color and grain are pretty different too.

Better clarify that cord(128cf) vs rick/face (42.6cf) price. $70-90 is avg price for 1/3 cord ( face/ rick/42.6cf)

an MC of about 17% on a fresh split

That pick looks like it is fresh cut, not 2 years old.

blades said:

Better clarify that cord(128cf) vs rick/face (42.6cf) price. $70-90 is avg price for 1/3 cord ( face/ rick/42.6cf)

Click to expand...

Face cord, is not recognized by any commonwealth I know of over here.
And not sure how your figuring your face cord or rick(Who the f uses seriously uses that?) but the face cord would also be dependent on the length of the splits to determine whether it is 1/3 or 1/4 of a face cord, or maybe a lil more than 1/3 if larger than 16" length.
This is exactly why 128sq is a cord, and what is recognized by law.
$70.00 for 1/4 or even 1/3 of a cord for Maple, is a bunch of crap, but hey, if you're willing to pay that, have at it. Not here, I can guarantee you that.
I gave my neighbor at least a cord of Maple last year, and good riddens.
Gave him a bunch of Cherry and Ash too. Far as I am concerned, mediocre wood at best, with tons of ash and medium heat. Almost not worth processing, accept for shoulder season.
At this stage of the game in my life, I ain't fkn around, Oak, Hickory or better majority, with some of that other crap mixed in if need be.
I load it up, and forget it for 12 hours at least, and Maple , Ash and other half assed hardwoods just don't cut it.
Just saying it how it is, thats all.
Enjoy that $210.00 dollar or $280.00 cord(depending on split size) if that works for you.

One other thing, looks like most of those are small diameter rounds. A lot of small stuff, which will burn quick, especially being Maple. Not worth the effort in my book unless he wants to sell ya the lot cheap.

Hogwildz said:

I gave my neighbor at least a cord of Maple last year, and good riddens.

Click to expand...

Hogwildz said:

Maple , Ash and other half assed hardwoods...

Click to expand...

Wow Hog... Could your experience have been with a Soft Maple species? Actual Hard Maple -- also called Sugar, Black, and Rock maple, has the same BTU rating as oak on several websites, and an even higher rating than oak/same as hickory on other websites. That being said, a website's information does not translate to real world experience. Like you, I burn only "premium" fuel: Oak, Bitternut Hickory, Ironwood (Hornbeam), Blue Beech, and yes ---> Hard Maple. I don't notice any difference between any of these species regarding burn times or heat output (maybe it's the cat stove?). My woodshed is full of 3 and 4 year old c/s/s red & white oak right now for this coming season (with a little Ironwood thrown in). The so-called "Soft Maple" species -- Norway, Red, Silver Maples are not nearly the quality of the great Sugar Maple. I have 12 "face" cords of hard maple and 4 "face" cords of Hickory c/s/s right now for next season, and have no reservations whatsoever about it being primarily Maple, because it's the good type.

Identification is best accomplished with the leaves, but the bark and weight can also be used fairly accurately to determine hard from the others.

As for the original poster, firewood around these parts is going for $60-$70 per "face" cord of hardwood (all species); cut 16"+/- long. It sounds about right for cost, but not a steal of a deal, and would be a good purchase if it is actually Sugar Maple. I would certainly offer him less, or maybe you are not going to pursue it at all considering he has already demonstrated his unreliability.

And that concludes my $.03 worth for the day. Cheers!

I would buy it, but only if I split a few large pieces and it metered around 17% and less. And I would definitely dicker the price. 180.00-200.00 is a fair price in NY for seasoned wood. Regardless of species. But with the possibility of it being a lesser wood I would try getting it for 150-180. If I was in the buying market again, I would go after it.

I know when you scrounge wood for free it doesnt really matter what type it is. And when it gets late in the season and and you dont have any dry wood, seasoned wood becomes a premium. There are lots of variable factors to whether its a prudent purchase or not. But I would err on the cautious side of grabbing it up. But thats just the squirrel in me.

I'm a newbie, but if that face cord translates to about 1/3 of a cord, that's $210 per cord of dry wood, I'd jump on it.

Many here seem to be wise in the ways of obtaining quality wood cheaply. It's proabably a mix of experience, location and timing.

For my area right now, most suppliers are not taking orders for wood suitable for this year. In fact I'm hearing that there's a major shortage of suitable wood for the processors to work for next year. Looks like the pellet makers are gobbling it up.

The few that have wood are either selling it as wet, or asking crazy money - one guy wants $460 per cord of seasoned wood!

I just took delivery of the last seasoned wood another guy had; much of it aged at the bottom of a large pile (and therefore not very dry) for $250 per cord. He told me that, normally, he wouldn't be this low until December.

If you're looking for stuff to burn this year, you probably don't have time to be a snob and insist on only oak or hickory. Even if it's soft maple, it's still going to be cheaper than the gas bill you'd otherwise pay. If it was really covered as shown in the pic, for that price, that's probably the best you're going to find.

As a kid, we always bought wood by the face cord, and loaded it ourselves. Say what you want, but you knew exactly what you're getting then, instead of the "mystery" amounts you'll end up with by the dump truck load from the dealer.

I see you're also from WNY - apple country. I'd be on the lookout from some apple if I was buying. Great BTUs and smell, and there's plenty to be found around here. Usually pretty dry too, because it usually sits in piles for a year before anyone gets around to cutting it.

I'm from WNY. Most stuff I see is indeed $70-75 for a face cord of recently split, though I have seen 60-65 for lesser quality firewood. That's a decent deal for maple that dry. Also, fruitwood will run upwards of $80 a face cord (I've seen it on craigslist). The orchards know its good firewood, plus, you are fighting the guys with meat smokers for it.

mudr said:

I'm from WNY. Most stuff I see is indeed $70-75 for a face cord of recently split, though I have seen 60-65 for lesser quality firewood. That's a decent deal for maple that dry. Also, fruitwood will run upwards of $80 a face cord (I've seen it on craigslist). The orchards know its good firewood, plus, you are fighting the guys with meat smokers for it.

Click to expand...

There's a guy a couple miles from me, who's had some stacked out by the road for a few months now trying to sell it. Probably 15-20 face cord. Last time I drove by, didn't look like he had sold any yet. Then again, most people around here *just* started gathering their wood for this winter, so it might have moved by now.

I did think about getting some for the smoker though. Love that stuff for smoking.

TX-L said:

Wow Hog... Could your experience have been with a Soft Maple species? Actual Hard Maple -- also called Sugar, Black, and Rock maple, has the same BTU rating as oak on several websites, and an even higher rating than oak/same as hickory on other websites. That being said, a website's information does not translate to real world experience. Like you, I burn only "premium" fuel: Oak, Bitternut Hickory, Ironwood (Hornbeam), Blue Beech, and yes ---> Hard Maple. I don't notice any difference between any of these species regarding burn times or heat output (maybe it's the cat stove?). My woodshed is full of 3 and 4 year old c/s/s red & white oak right now for this coming season (with a little Ironwood thrown in). The so-called "Soft Maple" species -- Norway, Red, Silver Maples are not nearly the quality of the great Sugar Maple. I have 12 "face" cords of hard maple and 4 "face" cords of Hickory c/s/s right now for next season, and have no reservations whatsoever about it being primarily Maple, because it's the good type.

Identification is best accomplished with the leaves, but the bark and weight can also be used fairly accurately to determine hard from the others.

As for the original poster, firewood around these parts is going for $60-$70 per "face" cord of hardwood (all species); cut 16"+/- long. It sounds about right for cost, but not a steal of a deal, and would be a good purchase if it is actually Sugar Maple. I would certainly offer him less, or maybe you are not going to pursue it at all considering he has already demonstrated his unreliability.

And that concludes my $.03 worth for the day. Cheers!

Click to expand...

"Hard" Maple is slightly more BTU than Red Oak in the charts I have seen, and slightly less to a few BTU less than White Oak.
My beef with Maple regardless of hard or soft, is the ash it leaves, and it does not last as long as Oak for my purposes.
I'll burn it, I will burn anything, but when in the heart of winter, I want good, long burning wood to keep my loading schedule on pace, and know I am going to get hours of heat without having to deal with throwing more in in between loads to get it thorough.
I won't purposely buy Maple, Walnut, Cherry, Ash etc. I tell my guy I want Oak. Now if a stick or two of any of those other species makes its way in, which is will. I have not problem with that.
But one year I got a crapload of Cherry, and really did not care for it. I had a lot of Black Walnut a few years back, and did not care for that either. Medium heat and tons of ash left over.
I am firm on letting the Oak I burn dry for 3 years, because if it is not as dry as I need it, it will become a mound of coals as you will see many have issues with.
We each have our own schedule, heating needs, loading habits etc. I myself went from loading 3x per day, every 8 hrs. to 2x a day, every 12 hours. Shoulder season is actually what may throw my schedule off, as Sometimes it will got 14-16 hrs or so, before reload, others I won't bother to burn but one load at night.
I believe this is my 9th season coming up and at this point, I love it in the beginning of the season, but mid season at best it is more routine than anything, and by end of the season, I am ready to put the Summit to bed and say nighty night till next fall. I love it, don't get me wrong, I love the savings, I love the heat. But the novelty wears off a couple months in. But I would never go back to oil, not till I am older and have had enough of wood, if that ever happens.
I still stand by my view that $70.00 for a "face" cord of Maple is not a deal I would pursue in my book. I do pole length loads and don't mess with the small stuff, unless it is a local guy I have an arrangement with.