Answered an add for a face cord of "Seasoned Red Oak"

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Little Digger

Little Digger

Member
Sep 3, 2015
123
Southwest Virginia
I just answered an add on Craigs list for "Seasoned Red oak" $100 a face cord. It will be interesting to see the response if I get one.

I wrote: So, how long has your red oak been seasoning? When was it split and stacked? What is the average moisture content? What is your definition of a Face Cord?

If it is truly seasoned, I might even purchase some, but around here $100 is pretty steep for a 3rd of a cord and I'm willing to bet it's not even close to being seasoned. The guy is also selling a mixed face cord for $90. (cherry, red oak, hickory, maple, and white oak)

I may even direct him here to help educate him!
 
BenTN said:
Sounds expensive. Ricks are selling for $50-$65 here.
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That's what it usually runs around here too! I'm figuring he did a search and found that in the northern states a lot of places are charging that much.

On Craig's List I've found a lot of people think they have gold when in reality it's just a cheap grade of gold colored aluminum. (an analogy)
 
I guess it's worth whatever someone's willing to pay for it, and I'm sure it will sell at that price. Curious to see if/how he responds to your inquire.
 
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But of course, if someone is willing to pay through the nose, let them.

I would bet the all of the wood he has was felled in July or August, and not bucked, split, and stacked until a few weeks back at best and then just stacked directly on the ground or maybe thrown in a pile on the ground. The actual moisture content will be between 35 and 45%.

I only responded to the add because it was irritating. Not because I need firewood. I already have 13 plus cord which give me 6 years worth at my current rate of consumption with a buffer of one plus cord. 4 cord is truly seasoned being C/S/S for 3 plus years. 2 cord is 2 years seasoned and the rest is under 6 months. If the guy can come up with the right answers, I will go check out the actual firewood and bring an axe and moisture meter with me. If it truly is seasoned (all oak needs a minimum of 3 years, cherry 18 months, hickory 2 years, and depending on the kind of maple can be anywhere from one to 2 years) I would pick up at least a 3rd of a cord providing it is 16 inch splits and if I can get the price lowered a bit. Like fair market value for this area!
 
I didn't get a response to my inquiry so I sent another message this morning as well as a link to this forum. !!! My message was as follows:

Well, since I haven't heard back from you I'm guessing you don't want to sell your wood or you were unable to answer those questions.

But here is a little information for future reference.

Firewood begins seasoning once the wood had been cut to size, split, and stacked. Not when the tree was first felled! Even left in log form for a year or two doesn't mean it is seasoned. It has to be cut to size, split and stacked. When stacking, it needs to be up off the ground whether you use saplings or pallets.

For firewood to be truly seasoned, it needs to have 20% or less moisture content measured on a freshly split, split and measured from the center of the fresh split.

As for your definition of a face cord, you could have answered a third of a cord because I noticed you sell a full cord at $300. A full cord measures 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet or 128 cubic feet. So one third of a cord would yield 42.66 cubic feet or 16 inches by 4 feet by 8 feet.

As for seasoning times and using the types you have in your add.

It takes 3 years to season any kind of oak. It seems oak is reluctant to give up it's moisture so it takes at least 36 months to be truly seasoned. Also, red oak has no more value than the other species of oak. And actually, red oak yields 22.1 mbtu's per seasoned cord vs white oak that yields 24.2 mbtu's per seasoned cord

Cherry takes 12 months.

Maple, depending on the species can take as little as 12 months or as much as 24 months.

Hickory takes 24 months.

Burning wet wood, that is if your even able to light it, is the main cause of creosote. It doesn't matter the species.

If I were to order one of your Face Cords, I would test it, and if the moisture content was in the 35 to 45% range, or for that matter anything above 22%, I would refuse the load. The formation of creosote is dangerous, and I sure as heck wouldn't want to have my house burn down due to a creosote fire when I come across some seasoned wood. The hot fire from seasoned wood would ignite the creosote.

In other words, sell seasoned firewood, not wood that came from a tree that was felled (chopped down) sometime during the summer, then cut to size, split, and stacked perhaps a month ago.

If you want to learn more, go to this Internet site. It is a forum which has helped educate many.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/forums/the-wood-shed.17/

You might also consider checking the other adds and see what their cordwood goes for per cord or fraction thereof. $65 seems to be the going rate right now per face cord. Just something to consider.
 
jb6l6gc said:
I find it funny you think the seller cares. To him your just an annoyance when he can sell his sub par seasoned firewood to people who know no better.
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Oh, I'm sure they don't care, but I like to plant seeds. If this vendor read the email, the seed has been planted. Whether it grows will depend wholly on whether this vendor has a conscience.
 
Have you considered that this seller MIGHT actually know what they are doing when it comes to firewood? If there was evidence that he was uneducated on this sort of thing, I would think your lecturing is valid. Other than the fact that there are a lot of firewood idiots out there... why are your pestering him?
 
Kwehme09 said:
Have you considered that this seller MIGHT actually know what they are doing when it comes to firewood? If there was evidence that he was uneducated on this sort of thing, I would think your lecturing is valid. Other than the fact that there are a lot of firewood idiots out there... why are your pestering him?
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Actually, the price points demonstrates the person is not educated in the ways of firewood. The price range of a cord around here is anywhere from $180 to $225 a cord. Next price point is he thinks red oak is more valuable than white oak. Does that show he is educated? Not responding means he either doesn't know or doesn't care, and doesn't want to deal with someone who does know. Then the God Bless at the end of his add was likely to show he might be a religious person which could have other religious people purchase his wares. (my opinion and not open for debate is a religious person is usually a hypocrite to the nth degree. Holier than thou when attending a church function, and the devil incarnate all other times. Hateful, lying, thieving, gossiping, etc.) The post just rubbed me the wrong way, however, I was willing to make a purchase if we were able to come to terms and IF the wood was actually seasoned.

If I'm going to spend money on something, I want to know exactly what it is I'm getting. And the vendor should be able to answer those questions without hesitation IF they are educated in the ways of firewood as well as honest and above board.
 
Religion my friend can be viewed in many different ways not just your view or opinion. Anything you post on a forum is open for debate ... That's the point! I'm not super religious but do enjoy the positivity at my local.

That being said maybe he didn't reply because he's busy selling firewood or just doesn't care for the way you've replied to his ad.
 
Kwehme09 said:
Have you considered that this seller MIGHT actually know what they are doing when it comes to firewood? If there was evidence that he was uneducated on this sort of thing, I would think your lecturing is valid. Other than the fact that there are a lot of firewood idiots out there... why are your pestering him?
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Yeah, now I often give people too much credit but his add sounds about right to me if its true. I've seen folks around here selling what they think is a cord of seasoned oak - and if its just oak they charge more, maybe $200 ish. Now that is usually shy of a cord and unseasoned. For properly seasoned 3yr oak then $100 for a 1/3 doesn't sound far off to me. shrugs.gif What would you charge for 2-3 year seasoned oak? That is a lot of time invested.

If it were me, maybe I'd list it for $100 and perhaps be willing to go $75 if someone wanted to negotiate, but frankly $225 for a full cord of 3 yr seasoned oak sounds a bit cheap really. If you sent that message to me I'd probably not be very happy.

Of course he could be completely ignorant of seasoning. Instead of asking him how long its been split and stacked, I'd just ask if he minds if you come over with a moisture meter to check how seasoned it really is.

if he didn't answer you how do you know he thinks red oak is more valuable than white? Just because he has it listed as part of the mixed one for $90? If its mixed with all those others I don't see as that means much. He may just sell red on its own if he has 10x more of it. He might just list white in the mixed stuff because 1 of 100 trees he cuts is white.
 
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Kwehme09 said:
Have you considered that this seller MIGHT actually know what they are doing when it comes to firewood? If there was evidence that he was uneducated on this sort of thing, I would think your lecturing is valid. Other than the fact that there are a lot of firewood idiots out there... why are your pestering him?
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Exactly. Seems like a pretty strange and unnecessary attack absent any proof whatsoever that the seller is anything less than reputable. Pretty sure I'd dismiss such an email my darned self.
 
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Man you told him - You are the one not prepared to burn this season - not someone selling wood::P
 
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jb6l6gc said:
I find it funny you think the seller cares. To him your just an annoyance when he can sell his sub par seasoned firewood to people who know no better.
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Agreed, I say pump the brakes a little. Not worth getting all worked up over someone who may or may not be as educated as we are lol
 
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