DaFattKidd said:
Thanks for the tips .. I already love the therapy .. ordered an axe yesterday so I can make little chunks of wood out of my big chunks of wood.
Starting to scavenge for wood .. little advice ?
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Thanks for the tips .. I already love the therapy .. ordered an axe yesterday so I can make little chunks of wood out of my big chunks of wood.
Wood Duck
Minister of Fire
You will want to have a splitting axe or a maul - a regular axe has a head that is too narrow, so when you drive it into the end of a log it doesn't push hard enough on the sides of the cut, and therefore doesn't split effectively.
Ask around. Admittedly I live in a place where most lots are large - an acre or more each - but it was surprisingly easy to find people with trees they want removed, or plan to have removed, or fallen trees, etc. I don't attempt any but the easiest tree felling myself, and still have found a lot of wood I can get.
I'd be at the pallet factory all the time until I had a couple years' wood. I think those rectangular blocks would stack really easily.
Ask around. Admittedly I live in a place where most lots are large - an acre or more each - but it was surprisingly easy to find people with trees they want removed, or plan to have removed, or fallen trees, etc. I don't attempt any but the easiest tree felling myself, and still have found a lot of wood I can get.
I'd be at the pallet factory all the time until I had a couple years' wood. I think those rectangular blocks would stack really easily.
Stump_Branch
Minister of Fire
DaFattKidd - 15 November 2010 11:55 PM
New Scrounger Advice:
Craig’s List free section: check it often
Town dump probably has a recycling center where you can pick up free construction debris-a little better than dumpster diving but that works too
Put the word out to friends and family
Get your hands on a truck if possible
I burn wood with nails all the time. It is a non-issue.
Be careful stacking too high. I have a small yard also, so I tend to stack high. I’ve had a few of them fall over. Perhaps Backwoods Savage could school us in the ways of steady stacking. I’m still working this out.
Good luck with your first year burning! It’s my first full year, too. It’s super time consuming and tremendously therapeutic.
I agree, its how i found some of my first bits of wood.
My problem is finding burnable wood (seasoned) i have maybe 5-6 cords of pin and white oak but they arent for at least next year.
Any advice for scrouning this years wood?
New Scrounger Advice:
Craig’s List free section: check it often
Town dump probably has a recycling center where you can pick up free construction debris-a little better than dumpster diving but that works too
Put the word out to friends and family
Get your hands on a truck if possible
I burn wood with nails all the time. It is a non-issue.
Be careful stacking too high. I have a small yard also, so I tend to stack high. I’ve had a few of them fall over. Perhaps Backwoods Savage could school us in the ways of steady stacking. I’m still working this out.
Good luck with your first year burning! It’s my first full year, too. It’s super time consuming and tremendously therapeutic.
I agree, its how i found some of my first bits of wood.
My problem is finding burnable wood (seasoned) i have maybe 5-6 cords of pin and white oak but they arent for at least next year.
Any advice for scrouning this years wood?
Singed Eyebrows
Minister of Fire
A craigslist ad might be your best bet. Saying you are willing to clear downed trees for free(for the wood). The ad is free so nothing to lose, RandyStump_Branch said:
Kenster
Minister of Fire
[quote author="Stump_Branch" date="1289944188"
My problem is finding burnable wood (seasoned) i have maybe 5-6 cords of pin and white oak but they arent for at least next year.
Any advice for scrounging this years wood?[/quote]
That's a tough one. You might be able to scrounge up some standing dead, or dead on the ground. It could well be punky but it will burn. Around here I pass by a lot of burn piles out in pastures and fields. Some of it looks really good, like 12 foot long oak trunks that have lost the bark and aren't the least bit punky. I need to stop by and ask the owner if I can have it. If you see something like that, don't be shy about asking.
You may have to be less than picky this year and take whatever you can find that will burn.
My problem is finding burnable wood (seasoned) i have maybe 5-6 cords of pin and white oak but they arent for at least next year.
Any advice for scrounging this years wood?[/quote]
That's a tough one. You might be able to scrounge up some standing dead, or dead on the ground. It could well be punky but it will burn. Around here I pass by a lot of burn piles out in pastures and fields. Some of it looks really good, like 12 foot long oak trunks that have lost the bark and aren't the least bit punky. I need to stop by and ask the owner if I can have it. If you see something like that, don't be shy about asking.
You may have to be less than picky this year and take whatever you can find that will burn.
Badfish740
Minister of Fire
- Oct 3, 2007
- 1,539
Definitely mention it to your friends and family as has already been said. You'll be surprised how quickly you'll begin to get phone calls and e-mails from them saying that they're having a tree taken down or that they saw a pile of wood a stacked up beside the road after a tree job, etc... My biggest score (on track to total about 4 cords) to date which I'm still processing came from my dad who just heard in casual conversation with his neighbor that they were taking some trees down. My dad went over and talked to the tree company and they even cut the small stuff (4"-6") up into stove length instead of chipping it. I'm also a big advocate of becoming a "pallet pig." Pallets are a little bit of work, but with a good carbide blade in your circular saw you can process them pretty quickly. You can't beat them for starting fires.
shawneyboy
Minister of Fire
Badfish740
Minister of Fire
- Oct 3, 2007
- 1,539
shawneyboy said:
It did until my wife got on my case
But seriously I slam on the brakes for them all of the time when businesses put them out at the road and accumulate them behind the woodshed until I get a good pile. Usually one Saturday morning is enough to knock out 15 or 20, which provides quite a bit of wood.
dafattkidd
Minister of Fire
The first year is tough. I scored a lot of good wood early and was able to have it ready for this season. I had the insert installed end of January last year and started burning 24/7 in February. I bought a cord of less than seasoned wood and mixed it with a lot of construction debris I picked up at the dump. It worked out ok. Once you're burning 24/7 and are working with really hot coals, instead of a cold fire it's a little easier to get the not so seasoned wood going. Since then I've scrounged about 6 cords of wood. I've burned about a cord of it, have 3 cords seasoned and ready for this winter, 1/2 cord cut stacked for next year and a cord and a half of wood still to be split and stacked.
The best score I had was 3/4 a cord of cut and 2 year seasoned oak. I'm telling you be on craig's list like a beast.
If you have to burn green wood split it small. It's a lot harder to get it going especially when it's big. As a novice myself, that's the best advice I could give you.
The best score I had was 3/4 a cord of cut and 2 year seasoned oak. I'm telling you be on craig's list like a beast.
If you have to burn green wood split it small. It's a lot harder to get it going especially when it's big. As a novice myself, that's the best advice I could give you.
Stump_Branch
Minister of Fire
How about this one. Fairly nice strech of road in my area has some very new big nice houses. one has been for sale since before i had bought mine (like 6-7 mo. ago) they have a little over a face cord of rounds that are very well seasoned sitting off to the very far front corner. i believe the house is a foreclosure and no one is home. the wood is but 10 feet off the road in a patch of tree/hedge row? i feel guilty almost thinking about it but its just going to rot....
shawneyboy
Minister of Fire
Stump_Branch said:
Call the broker..... If it is not occupied they will know, and... most likely tell you to take the wood.
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
Doing The Dixie Eyed Hustle said:
Sorry Eileen, she doesn't want me to take pictures of her. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
If I were you, my face would hurt from smiling so much. Free, dried, no splitting needed, blocks of hardwood. What more could you want?
wood-fan-atic
Minister of Fire
Don't be shy. As the Good Book says - 'Ask, and ye shall receive'. When you see wood- anywhere- ring a doorbell, leave a note, make a call. You would be awfully surprised at how many times people have rounds(and sometimes splits) that they dont want or need. My wife thought I was nuts - I would leave notes on peoples cars and in their front doors asking if they were looking to get rid of their wood. The worst thing that could happen is they dont call, or say 'no'. Once in a while, you'll get a 'oh, PLEASE, take that wood. It was left by the previous owners' , or whatever. Like my older brother told me when I was a kid and I liked a smokin' hot girl - if you dont ask, it's a DEFINITE NO. A 'yes' 10% of the time is 100% more than the guy that doesnt ask. ;-P
Wood Duck
Minister of Fire
shawneyboy said:
Tell the broker the wood is "rotting in a pile in the front yard," which is sort of true, right?
Stump_Branch
Minister of Fire
Wood Duck said:
very true didnt even think of playing on the relator...maybe you would sell this place faster is you didnt have all that free heat..i mean ugly pile of trash, sitting in the front yard.
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