Needing some advice-Firewood delivery not as expected

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southbalto

Feeling the Heat
Nov 20, 2008
366
Mid-Atlantic
Trying to get ahead for next season, I decided to go ahead and purchase two cords and let them sit over the summer to make sure they are ready for the fall. Here is what was advertised:

MD DNR Licensed Firewood Dealer
Nice mixed woods -mostly Oak
16" - 18" lengths. Ready to burn now
Free Delivery and dumping- Baltimore and south
100% Satisfaction and customer service guaranteed
Email zip and contact for quick response
Thanks= and have a great day

Very friendly guy shows up on time this afternoon and backs the truck up the driveway. He then tells me that he runs a milling operation and what he's selling is debarked slabwood. I probably should have put the brakes on this right then, but I thought for 150 a cord It was still probably worth it. He proceeds to dump it, I pay him in cash and I end up spending the next few hours stacking.

I realize pretty quick that this stuff is rough...lots of scrap pieces, little 6 inch stubs, and some gnarley pieces i'm going to have to use a saw on before it goes in the stove. Probably a good 1 1/3 is stackable, however.

What I'm most upset over, however, is how green it is. It pegged my moisture meter and some of the wood was dripping when split.

I really don't know how to handle it at this point. I was counting on burning this next year 2010-12 while I work on scrounging for the following season.

Would It be unreasonable to ask for some cash back?
 
I would call him and say how you feel, but that wood being slab wood will be ready by fall. Would not try and over think it until you hear from him. (Lynch mob) lol
 
I cut fire wood last winter with guys who were taking the wood home & burning it right away.

I tried to convince them to get enough so they could season some & try burning dry wood
but the "seasoning wood speech" fell on deaf ears. Thought I was an cheechako or something.

Some people think wood is ready to burn when it's cut to sizes that fit in the stove. :)
 
southbalto said:
Firewood delivery not as expected

It usually isn't!

I would've stopped him at slab wood, I'm not interested in giving someone money for their scraps. I know a lot of good wood can be left over from the milling process but I'm not a fan of it. You have 7 acres of hardwood, get to cutting!

Start by giving them a call and see where it goes.
 
slab wood wasn't mentioned, but I don't think he was out of line by bringing you some.

It should be ready to burn next fall, it's nice that it's debarked.

the ad does say 16-18". This is the part that would have me upset. Only way to make up for short and unstackable stuff is to provide you with a definite overage. If you have 2.25 cords of the stuff then it starts to sound like a reasonable transaction. How much do you figure he got you?
 
andrewdee said:
The ad says 100% satisfaction. Are you ?? Call him NOW

+1 !!!!
 
People should realize anytime they get slab wood, the mill saws when the logs are still green.....so the slabs will be green unless it has sat around for a long time which is unlikely.

For the price I'd probably accept it but may not buy again. If you are not happy with the load then you should call but if I were the seller I would wonder. Why did not the buyer say he didn't like the slab wood when I delivered it because he was right there and then paid me in cash? With that it would seem the buyer was satisfied, but, he did say 100% guarantee.

This is a case of just use your own good judgement. Do you burn it or do you have it picked up? I think at this point you might be asking too much of the seller.
 
Backwoods Savage said:
People should realize anytime they get slab wood, the mill saws when the logs are still green.....so the slabs will be green unless it has sat around for a long time which is unlikely.

For the price I'd probably accept it but may not buy again. If you are not happy with the load then you should call but if I were the seller I would wonder. Why did not the buyer say he didn't like the slab wood when I delivered it because he was right there and then paid me in cash? With that it would seem the buyer was satisfied, but, he did say 100% guarantee.

This is a case of just use your own good judgement. Do you burn it or do you have it picked up? I think at this point you might be asking too much of the seller.

+1 100 Make a phone call see how you feel then...Flip side to this: I had a customer on some Guitar blanks I let him have it! lol Just could not hold myself back. He could not read a tape with Pics to prove I was 1/4 inch over what he ask for.....Bottom line I think he was looking to screw me! Not sure though (but glad I had pic's with measurement)
 
Slab wood will dry quickly, and burn nicely. It should be ready for fall no problem - stacked in a nice airy sunny place.
Did you get your full 2 cord?
I'd keep it, and see how it goes this next season.

But you did learn a few more questions to ask for next time, eh? :)
 
'Thought about it overnight and decided not to pursue the seller further. I'll chalk it up to experience.

I was most concerned about it being too green for this upcoming season....but it sounds like it might be ready. It still kinda ticks me off that the guy sells this as "seasoned wood."
I dropped a maul into a large piece this morning. It penetrated about an inch with water squirting out everywhere.

Here are a few pics from late yesterday
DSC01990.jpg


DSC01991.jpg
 
WoW... and I hate stacking wood that is not exactly all the same lenght! THAT does not look stackable. I wouldnt buy from that guy again,even if it were $75 a cord. Lesson learned.
 
oh, wow. not quite what I expected even given your description. When I picture slabwood, I picture this:
wood_shavings_sawdust_woodchips_slabwood_firewood_delivered_guilford_branford_madison_durham_etc_9305674.jpg

Obviously, I understood that there were shorties and some unstackable stuff, i figured you meant because of knots and stuff, but I also pictured above without all the mess of bark. I don't know why this guy thinks it's ok to dump off tons of shavings with the load.

I don't know this stuff very well, but to me, that isn't milling slabwood, that's milling scraps. you kinda indicated that, I just didn't hear it.

I'm starting to lean a little more towards complaining. I don't know what it takes to be a licensed firewood dealer, but geesh, I guess not much.
 
southbalto said:
'Thought about it overnight and decided not to pursue the seller further. I'll chalk it up to experience.

I was most concerned about it being too green for this upcoming season....but it sounds like it might be ready. It still kinda ticks me off that the guy sells this as "seasoned wood."
I dropped a maul into a large piece this morning. It penetrated about an inch with water squirting out everywhere.

Here are a few pics from late yesterday
DSC01990.jpg


DSC01991.jpg

Any pic's of what was already stacked?
 
somebody please shrinky da pics.
 
thats too bad southbalto.. looks like a pile-of-pain-in-ass :shut:

hope ya can do something with it ;-)

loon
 
That wood looks like junk.
 
Tell him to take it all back.
 
It'll burn, ok for shoulder season I guess, I would have sent him packing before unloading. If you do keep it at least you'll get some btu's and learn who NOt to call next time.
 
So this is what might be referred to as "biomass" :)

Will
 
southbalto said:
'Thought about it overnight and decided not to pursue the seller further. I'll chalk it up to experience.

I was most concerned about it being too green for this upcoming season....but it sounds like it might be ready. It still kinda ticks me off that the guy sells this as "seasoned wood."
I dropped a maul into a large piece this morning. It penetrated about an inch with water squirting out everywhere.

Here are a few pics from late yesterday
DSC01990.jpg


DSC01991.jpg

Don't let this guy get away with this. Its not right. I'm also in business and do what I say I'm going to do. The ad states "16-18" satisfaction guaranteed". They are not either. Tell him to make it right. Don't let him continue to do this!
 
Ouch! I feel for you! One of the reasons to buy cut-to-length is when you don't want to deal with sawdust. That's the worst clean-up mess I've seen anyone have to deal with. Sorta like going into a restaurant to order a hamburger and getting served the leftovers from butchering. At least it's on asphalt so you can sweep up the leavings.

You said that about 1-1/3 of it is stackable. Is this the other 2/3 cord? I think this is worth at least a call to him, and maybe emailing a picture to him, plus the moisture content reading, and ask him for a partial refund, or to bring you more wood without the shop sweepings. I find most people are more ready to put something right if it doesn't involve taking money back out of their pocket. You said he was real friendly, and he might work graciously with you.

I just bought my first load of wood. It was advertised as "cut to length for your stove", requested 18", and got a delivery of wood that's ranging from a foot to 25". Not just a longs, either--about half of what I've sorted is over 20". When I looked at the pile as it was getting dark I thought he'd thrown some poplar in there, too, but I was wrong about that. It's all beautiful wood, though, nice birch, spring cut before the sap started rising. I knew that going into it, and figured for the buck-and-a-quarter less that he's offering it for than the seasoned-wood sellers, it could sit around my place and season. But the irregular lengths I was not prepared to deal with. So I'm out there with a stinkin' tape measure! sorting while I'm splitting and stacking, and the futher I go, the more it's going to look like it's coming up short, and that I'm not prepared to accept, either. Until it's split and stacked, I won't know how much I've got, so that's my weekend project.

I decided that he needs a chance to put this right, so am going to call him, ask him to come and cut this stuff to 18". We talked about this as he was unloading, apologized, and said he'd had a buddy that was a little cut-happy and not measuring. I told him about the Mingo Marker, which a local stove shop carries, and he said, "That tool sounds like it would be a handy thing to have." He agreed to bring his saw when he came and cut this to length. I'm going to ask him to make up the shortfall, if there is one.

Here's what I ended up with to be filed under "Experience is what you get by not having had it when you needed it":
If at all possible, go take a look at the wood before you buy.
Ask for references, and if he doesn't have any, it's not a good sign.
Ask the seller how he measures his cuts.
Ask the seller, "What if I get it cut and stacked and it comes up short?"
Ask the seller if he/she heats with firewood. There's a lot that a burner will understand about burners' needs that a non-burner just doesn't get.


What did you learn from this one? What would you do differently?
 
Certainly not all 16-18" there.
 
Well, I finished replitting the large stuff and now have it all stacked.....minus some of the junk i'm going to burn.

Depth Height Width CuFt
Stack in Shed 3 4.75 5.5 78.375
Large Stack left 3.5 4.5 6 94.5
Large Stack right 3 4 3 36
208.875
1 cord 128
2 cords 256
Volume Short 47.125
% of cord 0.368164063

I had about 3/4 cord in the large stack. I ended up stacking the new stuff on either side


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Bonfire Material
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