Cost of FREE Firewood?? was $31 for mine.

True, free is relative.

Dave,

You got a good deal!

I'll offer mine...but don't shoot...


I get mine for free from work.
When we have a tree to cut or prune, we cut up the best parts for firewood, then stack it to dry.
And for my trouble, I get a paycheck

Rob

Last year I did 30 cord. 20 were within 5 miles. The other 10 were within 10. It takes 2 hours and I get a cord a load on average and around 10 mpg when towing. So, $120 in gas for the truck. I burned maybe 2 or 3 gallons in the saws. It takes me an hour and a half to split a cord and I am probably pulling 7.5 amps on average @ .18/kwh. Doesn't seem right but that's $14.58 for the year? So for the 30 cord, out of pocket $5/cord, 120 man hours, plus some wear and tear on both equipment and me.

Can someone check the electric math? 15 amp motor single phase 240. I figure splitting alone I might draw 7.5 on average? 7.5 at 240 is 1800 watts. Electric is .18 kwh, 1.5 hours per cord. So, 1.8 kw * $.18/kwh * 30 cord * 1.5 hr/cord =$14.58?

Good luck working that deal out Dave. 90 miles is a long way to go for free firewood.

Another weigh-in from the BK Brigade. I've got Dave beat, my "Free" wood is about 140 miles round trip. Up here, it just takes a while to get anywhere. I consider it the cost of doing business. As the crow flies, the wood isn't all that far away. But.... neither is my place of work (31 miles), but it took me over 1.5 hours to get there this morning. On I-70.

I have around $50.00 in 7 cord with a chain, gas, oil, and 5 mile round trip to the woods. Don't know how many hours.

yeah an if your busy cutting wood or hauling to the house your not spending more on other stuff.
keeping yourself busy is the best way to save money if you ask me.

Don't forget the money saved on health club dues.

Probably 40mi.round trip,would not trade it for the world.Don't get to cut on a farm to often and It's grate to be invited.

Lynch said:

yeah an if your busy cutting wood or hauling to the house your not spending more on other stuff.

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Unless you're spending on wood-related stuff. I just picked up an ATV so my next cord is going to cost me a couple thousand. hh:

All my wood is "free" from CL. I'm ended up with about 16 full cords from 2010 and already another 2 cords in 2011. All the wood has been withing 10 miles of the house.

The cost, since this is my first year of burning:

Stihl 391 - $350
22T splitter - $1500
Trailer - $600

Not having a gas bill over $35 this winter....priceless.

If you enjoyed collecting the firewood, subtract the cost of whatever you would have been doing for entertainment instead of firewood. Unless you just sit on the porch you would have been doing something, and probably would have spent some money doing it.

When I was paying someone 10 bucks an hour I would easily come in under 30 bucks a cord. Now its much cheep maybe 10 bucks a cord.

Approximate cost for gas for travel 2hrs round trip to parent's acreage - $18-20
Time to cut,split,stack or load 1 pickup load's worth - 2-4hrs depending on how where I cut,ground is muddy,deep snow or its 75+ degrees outside.Doing 95% the work all myself.
Gas,oil,maintenance etc for the saws - $2-3 max
Time spent relaxing with parents or just walking through the woods taking a break enjoying the outdoors - PRICELESS

Sol said:

90 miles is a long way to go for free firewood.

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Its not actually that bad for up here Solar. We all have trees surrounding us and they are plentiful. We are just not allowed to cut them. Alive or dead. Only in a permit-ed area that they are wind blown or standing dead. These areas are always away from city limits. Hence the extra miles. The last fronter has still got its rules too.

For sure. Free stuff often comes at a cost.

Another good one: You can go broke saving money.

This year, I bought 2 new axes/mauls and rebuilt the chainsaw carburetor. Wood was "at no additional cost" from Craigslist and some leads I got from a friend in the real estate business.

I have another friend that was loading "free" a couple hundred feet to the road wood using a wheelbarrow because he couldn't get his truck close enough. I respectfully declined the offer saying I can't afford that sort of "free" wood.

north of 60 said:

The last fronter has still got its rules too.

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I guess population density isn't so bad when people consider hardwood a liability.

As mentioned, free is relative to the situation. I learned before starting to burn firewood that you need to look at the big picture, so many have said here and elsewhere to take into account all fuels burned(truck, splitter, saw), any rental costs(splitter, etc), any repair/replacement costs etc etc.

At the end of the year I still get that smile on my face knowing I have "saved" BIG bucks compared to where we were just 2 years ago. The cost will be getting less and less per cord as I accumulate the tools I need in the early years unless I get chainsaw fever and start buying the "wants" versus the actual needs.

Never bothered to figure out the exact cost . . . I know I pay for the cost of gas to get my vehicle and trailer over to the family land (maybe 10 miles away) . . . and then there is the cost of gas/oil and chains (new ones or sharpening or cost of buying files) for the chainsaw . . . and the cost of the gas for the splitter . . . and the cost of gas for the ATV to haul out the wood . . . factor in the cost of snacks/lunch/drinks . . . cost of buying the splitter, new trailer for the ATV, etc. . . . taxes . . . I wouldn't call my wood "free" . . . but even without doing the calculations I'm pretty sure I come out ahead when it comes to heating the house with wood vs. oil.

A lot of people who "buy" their firewood still have many of the associated processing costs, especially if they are buying it in log form and/or have to travel to pick it up themselves.
I just call free wood, "free".
Getting firewood and heating with wood is something I like to do as a family hobby, and in total we spend less than 5 day out of the year getting all the wood we need to heat us through the heating season. Sure we spend a bit on gas and tools, not to mention the cost of the woodstove, chimney and woodshed, but if we didn't spend the money there we just would have spent it somewhere else.

If I was to start getting too technical with comparing costs time factors, all I would have to do is compare the time I spent getting my free wood with my boys against the time I could spend making money at work and the whole system collapses. That "free wood" suddenly becomes very expensive wood.
Thankfully life isn't about just working and making money.

But yeah, it cost me about $25 in gas per cord hauling the stuff out of the bush. Firewood permits can be obtained "free" (on the internet) here, however there is the cost of the paper and ink to print them out, and the printer cost and computer and the monthly internet fee,,,,,,,, did I miss anything??? ;-)

The free part is when the gas or electric or whatever co calls and says there is a problem that they need to come out and correct. So the big smile spreads across your face knowing that their efforts are in vane!

SolarAndWood said:

Good luck working that deal out Dave. 90 miles is a long way to go for free firewood.

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Your going to love this then, I just mapped my route on google my complete round trip for firewood (about 1.25 cords or so per trip) is 234miles. Now before you spit your beer out know that I dont take that trip just for wood! We have no local family, its 97 miles to get to the inlaws, which we do about every other weekend. Even if I am not going for firewood we often bring the 1-ton to haul bikes / kayaks / whatever auction stuff my wife innevitably buys when we go up. From my mother-in-laws house its another 20 miles to the farm I cut wood, hunt, hang out, whatever. So basically I am down there all the time and love going there, very nice to be in the middle of nowhere.