Craigslist....This is Just absurd!

Area code 508 is Massachusetts, isn't it. So, at least half the cost is for taxes.

Seriously though, is $300 for cord bought in winter that far out of line? At this time of year it's a seller's market isn't it? Supply and demand and all that stuff.

I wonder how many days it's been 'seasoned" and exactly what type of wood it is.

I'm in a rural part of North Central Mass, and here a cord is going for $250-$275 seasoned (cut and split a month ago LOL)
I don't think $300 for Boston is way off base.

last winter, i used all free wood; gathered, hauled, split etc. by myself. some mornings i was out in the woods at 4:45a.m. in the summers, our dawn comes early. this year a local logging yard was selling "cullwood" for $45 a full cord, or $450 a truckload. delivered and unloaded 40ft from my pile. albiet, the wood was quite large and knarly (california term?) and i only have a spliting maul, but i couldn't pass up the price..3 winters ago, it was being sold for $35 a full cord...full cord=4x4x8. damn inflation!

I must be a gold digger.
My price for 3-4 year seasoned beech is $350/cord delivered right now.

A-cord-ingLEE said:

I must be a gold digger.
My price for 3-4 year seasoned beech is $350/cord delivered right now.

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I'm shocked :ahhh: How can you boast so ShamelessLEE?

That price is right in line if not low for the south coast, beleive it or not. Look under firewood in the classified adds. People wouldn't keep running their classified adds if they were not selling.

The actual problem is that now is probably the best time to get some new fuel in, any hardwood felled now will have the sap down, and will probably season quite well over next summer and be ok to burn next winter.

Just my thoughts on a minefield of a subject........ ;-)

WoodPorn said:

I agree with all of you, I am extremely lucky to have the ability to scrounge and the fortune to find it. But I just think this is highway robbery..I mean it's wood not a commodity.

I know, I know, late in the season, seller's market, blah blah blah. Still out of line to charge so exorbitantly. I'm not saying he/she's a crook or misleading, just waaayyy too expensive!

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I would definitely consider firewood to be a commodity just like any other heating fuel (oil, natural gas, propane, electricity, coal....). You are not only paying for the physical wood itself, but the labor it requires to find, fell, limb, buck, split and stack the wood. All that takes proper equipment and time and is hard work. In purchasing firewood you are covering the cost of the wood, labor, equipment, maintenace, fuel for the equipment and the dreaded profit. If the seller cannot make a profit he will not do the work to produce the product, after all, he has a family to feed.

Just my 2 cents, but I believe it is a valid opinon.

Raptor said:

WoodPorn said:

I agree with all of you, I am extremely lucky to have the ability to scrounge and the fortune to find it. But I just think this is highway robbery..I mean it's wood not a commodity.

I know, I know, late in the season, seller's market, blah blah blah. Still out of line to charge so exorbitantly. I'm not saying he/she's a crook or misleading, just waaayyy too expensive!

Click to expand...

I would definitely consider firewood to be a commodity just like any other heating fuel (oil, natural gas, propane, electricity, coal....). You are not only paying for the physical wood itself, but the labor it requires to find, fell, limb, buck, split and stack the wood. All that takes proper equipment and time and is hard work. In purchasing firewood you are covering the cost of the wood, labor, equipment, maintenace, fuel for the equipment and the dreaded profit. If the seller cannot make a profit he will not do the work to produce the product, after all, he has a family to feed.

Just my 2 cents, but I believe it is a valid opinon.

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I agree. Though I have access to 10 acres of heavily stocked oak/hickory,I still grab wood that's stacked or piled on the curb or roadside thats free for the hauling when I have the time.Not to mention getting free stuff from local CL when I can,whether its still standing & needs cut down or cut/stacked & ready to go.Earlier this summer I grabbed 1 load of dry siberian elm (almost burned up now),2 loads of decent large silver maple & in September lucked upon 3 loads of unsplit Black Walnut (1/3rd from 14" to 20") just 3 blocks from my house,that came down in a violent storm last Spring.All the smaller stuff will be burned eventually,the larger rounds will be milled into 3"-4" blocks/slabs for woodturning & for sale on Ebay.

i have payed 225 a cord last year cut split delivered, thats as high as i would ever pay tho

I have seen it from 225 to 350 in WI. Thats why I scrounge.

WoodPorn said:

How much do you chaps pay for a cord over there?

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My local tree surgeon sells half a cord of 9 inch spits for £120 delivered, rounds are cheaper at £45.

Plenty of money to save by having your own axe

WoodPorn said:

I agree with all of you, I am extremely lucky to have the ability to scrounge and the fortune to find it. But I just think this is highway robbery..I mean it's wood not a commodity.

I know, I know, late in the season, seller's market, blah blah blah. Still out of line to charge so exorbitantly. I'm not saying he/she's a crook or misleading, just waaayyy too expensive!

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What do you do for a living?
What's your annual income?
Whatever the answer is ,,, it's too much and you should take a pay cut! Your costing your company too much money!

I don't know how much time and $ you have invested in education to maintain your career as well as you have no idea how much I have invested in property,equipment,tools and inventory to end up with a fair wage at the end of the year.

I've spent over 40 hours the last 10 days just keeping the 5' of snow we have received cleared at my facility. How do you suppose that was paid for?

Don't like the price don't buy. There's someone somewhere that will.

I agree with Lee, when I look at the amount of work I put into harvesting a cord of wood, I would go broke trying to make a living off of it at $300 a cord. It is definetly a commodity, it is fuel. Now I am not in the business so I will occassionally sell some fine wood for less money to a needy family.

lol i have seen $400 a cord was listed here on this site that's crazy!! fuel oil is cheaper then 400 cord of wood crap.... i am getting mine delivered tomorrow for 165 a cord around here goes for 100-180 a cord wished i could brought out the apple wood that they were selling for 180 a cord but got sold too fast!! and some guy a few days ago tried pulled a fast one on me they were all like 10-13 inch long and told him they are supposed to be 16 inch range and told him i don't want it he got mad i mean i am not buying something that's not even a full damn cord.... i got my markings on my walls in the garage along the walls and can hold 1 cord and 2 face cords.... so before they drop the stuff off i tell them pull in the garage and full it up to those lines i have on the wall and hand them the tape measure to prove its 4 ft tall and 8 feet wide per face cord... and i will refuse any thing like i had a few days ago 10 to 13 inch logs.....

$225-$275/cord is a typical range here in southern CT. $300 near Boston does not seen out of line to me.

There is so much labor involved in taking a standing tree and turning it into stacked firewood, I would not sell it for $300/cord, I'd rather burn it, so thats what I do!

is LP/Propane/Oil/Electricity three times higher in those places, too? How can wood compete if not?

WoodPorn said:

A-cord-ingLEE said:

WoodPorn said:

I agree with all of you, I am extremely lucky to have the ability to scrounge and the fortune to find it. But I just think this is highway robbery..I mean it's wood not a commodity.

I know, I know, late in the season, seller's market, blah blah blah. Still out of line to charge so exorbitantly. I'm not saying he/she's a crook or misleading, just waaayyy too expensive!

Click to expand...

What do you do for a living?
What's your annual income?
Whatever the answer is ,,, it's too much and you should take a pay cut! Your costing your company too much money!

I don't know how much time and $ you have invested in education to maintain your career as well as you have no idea how much I have invested in property,equipment,tools and inventory to end up with a fair wage at the end of the year.

I've spent over 40 hours the last 10 days just keeping the 5' of snow we have received cleared at my facility. How do you suppose that was paid for?

Don't like the price don't buy. There's someone somewhere that will.

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Lee, there was no disrespect aimed at anyone, and I don't knock anyone for feeding the family. I'm talking about gouging, I'm not some sh*t bum off the street that has no clue and wants to whine out loud, I am an Electrician and I know first hand what it takes, and what it means to have expenses and overhead. When I set out to do a job, whether It is a busy time of year or not I work at the same rate. There is no inflation because I have several requests to perform work...no gouging...that's my point.


-Respectful-Lee
Brian

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"Gouging" is a made up term by those who feel entitled.
"Greed" is a term made up by the have nots about the haves.


By the way,,,,,, as long as you're an electrician. I had a mill set up around 05 . All electric. Equipment in place. Just plug and play. No inspection needed due to being off grid, meaning , connected to a genset. Got 4 bids for the job. The highest bid I got first and proceeded to call other contractors using said high bidders spec.
Lowest $13,500
The 2 middle bids were under $20,000 but I don't remember an exact figure.
Highest $46,300
You can guess which contractor I went with.
Was the high baller gouging?
No, he was busy and didn't need the work or his estimator forgot to take his Midol.

Most of us get our wood for free, because it grows on trees and we can harvest it with our labor. You have no choice with electric, oil or gas, you are not going to harvest that stuff yourself unless you have solar panels. Now time is another matter. If you are in business, like I am, and have to bill for your time you soon find you have to bill $60 to $100+ dollars per hour. You might think that is high but when you realize how much of your time in non billable you realize you have to do it to survive.

Now if you can cut a cord of wood, move the cord of wood to your splitting area(or split it in the woods), split the cord of wood, stack the cord of wood for 2 years and deliver the cord of wood and restack the cord of wood in less than 3 hours, I say you could make a living out it. If you can do that on a regular basis then you are probably superman. Around here we can get a cord of unseasoned wood for $175 a cord, but obviously this is not someones full time job, it is a supplement. It sounds expensive when you pay more, and I have never had to pay for any, but I can certainly understand it.

I know how much it takes for me to process a cord of wood. I happen to enjoy doing it. There
is no way that I could sell what I process and make a profit from the effort. I brought in 10 cord
of Larch from about 4 hours away in order to make some money to pay for a hydraulic splitter.
I am charging $650/cord and getting it. Good firewood is VERY hard to come by around Calgary
and must be brought in from great distance. Even though I am getting $650 for it,I will not do it
anymore. I can make the same money in less time by working a bit of overtime at work.