How far is too far for free wood? (pic)

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mskif

mskif

Member
Nov 22, 2008
76
Hudson Valley NY
My sister had at least three trees taken down in March (white oak and maple). She saved the wood for me and it has been stacked off the ground, un-split and uncovered for 8 months. There are two stacks, pictured is only one of the stacks which is two rows deep. I estimate 3-4 cords but I haven't measured it. I was thinking about renting a truck but I don't know if it would be worth the $$ for the rental.

I normally pay about $200 a cord for partially seasoned split wood and $250 per cord for well seasoned wood. I also scrounge a cord year. I am all set for this year with about 4 cords that is ready and another cord for next year. I would love to get this home and split, stack and cover it for next year.

I don't mind the work at all and would even be willing to split the wood with someone if they had a large truck. Is there any way I could get this wood and make it worth my while financially?
 

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very sweet
 
How far is it round trip? And how many trips can you make without renting a bigger truck? Oh and if it's near the capital region of ny i'd be glad to take it off her hands if you don't want it, sorry couldn't resist.
 
I forgot to mention that my sister lives 85 miles away.
 
I also forgot to mention that my sister had the tree guy cut all the logs to length at 14 inches ( not my ideal but I would take it).
 
I would rent this for about 40 bucks a day. I rented the smaller 5x9 and hauled about 1.5 - 2.5 cords with the pickup. You should be able to get at least 2 on there. Might take 2 or 3 trips but it would still be worth it.
 

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organic said:
I forgot to mention that my sister lives 85 miles away.
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250 for a cord of season wood + you got to see your sister priceless
 
Glacialhills said:
I would rent this for about 40 bucks a day. I rented the smaller 5x9 and hauled about 1.5 - 2.5 cords with the pickup. You should be able to get at least 2 on there. Might take 2 or 3 trips but it would still be worth it.
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That looks like a possibility. I just checked on the Uhaul site and the 5x9 is 24.95 a day. I just have to make sure our minivan can handle the abuse. We have a class III-IV hitch and the max tow weight of the vehicle is 3,000 lbs.
 
organic said:
I just have to make sure our minivan can handle the abuse. We have a class III-IV hitch and the max tow weight of the vehicle is 3,000 lbs.
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Mini van will not like that load. Don't you know someone with a full size pickup that you can borrow for the day?
 
rdust said:
organic said:
I just have to make sure our minivan can handle the abuse. We have a class III-IV hitch and the max tow weight of the vehicle is 3,000 lbs.
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Mini van will not like that load. Don't you know someone with a full size pickup that you can borrow for the day?
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Things are looking up. A friend of mine, who lives a couple miles away has a dump trailer and I offered to split the load with him. My wife and family are way next weekend so hopefully I will splitting and stacking then.
 
organic said:
Things are looking up. A friend of mine, who lives a couple miles away has a dump trailer and I offered to split the load with him. My wife and family are way next weekend so hopefully I will splitting and stacking then.
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Awesome! That's a win/win for the both of you!
 
i was gonna suggest renting a uhaul truck for 40-50 or over here you can rent a dump truck for 100 bucks a day with 200 miles try your local dealers
but since you got a friend nevermind
 
iceman said:
i was gonna suggest renting a uhaul truck for 40-50 or over here you can rent a dump truck for 100 bucks a day with 200 miles try your local dealers
but since you got a friend nevermind
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Thanks for the info anyway. I didn't know you could rent dump trucks. Good to know.
 
organic said:
I forgot to mention that my sister lives 85 miles away.
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We didnt hear you say this, according to NYS you are not allowed to transport wood more than 50miles from origin.
 
afblue said:
organic said:
I forgot to mention that my sister lives 85 miles away.
Click to expand...

We didnt hear you say this, according to NYS you are not allowed to transport wood more than 50miles from origin.
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I'll leave the wood where is sits then.
 
organic said:
I'll leave the wood where is sits then.
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That sound be followed by a ;) :lol:
 
Check out the rule and the reason sometimes it makes sense sometimes it's BS. We have a law here it's illegal to transport wood from IL to WI because of the emerald ash borer problem and it makes sense but not all rules do.
 
sounds like a uhaul truck is the answer!
 
I'll drive about an hour per cord - which for me is a truckload.

If I had a 2 cord trailer in tow and the wood is already cut up and I can park right next to it a 170mi round trip is a no brainer.

Also, get a truck.
 
I’ll leave the wood where is sits then.
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Which direction do you have to drive? If its East and she's in MA I'd be happy to help clean her yard up. I'm short this year despite my best efforts and I have a full size truck and can access a trailer if necessary. Could probably take it all in 2 loads or so.
 
Just out of curiosity, how much does a full cord of hardwood weigh (on average).

I'll be buying a pickup next year and, between it and the trailer I hope to also get, I'd like to know how much I'll be able to haul.
 
Spikem said:
Just out of curiosity, how much does a full cord of hardwood weigh (on average).

I'll be buying a pickup next year and, between it and the trailer I hope to also get, I'd like to know how much I'll be able to haul.
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Depends on the species and how wet it is... http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/howood.htm

Also depends on the truck and trailer. An F450 with a 14K dump trailer can haul a lot of wood compared to a minivan with a fold up trailer.
 
I brought a cord of maple home from the family farm last week. 350 miles one way. I would not do it just for wood but I was going up with the truck and trailer anyways and don't like to come home empty. And it probally only cost me $30 or so more than running empty.

Billy
 
Truck capacity varies. A mazda with a 4 cyl is a bit different than a F350 with a V8- In general, you can get a cord or so in a one ton.
 
Wouldn't emerald ash borer only travel in ash wood? I thought they didn't like other trees. If it is an oak and maple or whatever, is there really a potential for problems? In general I am law abiding, but if you know WHY they have a rule, and it doesn't really apply to you, use common sense.

Personally we have so many of our own trees that need cutting that we have decided not to travel more than a couple miles to get wood this year. We just go over and cut up an elderly neighbor's trees when they fall over in her yard, to help her out. Alas, she seems to have mainly willow and box elder.
 
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