$500 a cord in Mass
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Caw
Minister of Fire
Fully seasoned or green? Green has always been $250 give or take so going up to $300 isn't far fetched. I'm in central MA, east of Worcester.
I’m south of Boston. Seasoned 1 to 1.5 years. Have 3 places. Two guys near me only have a small number of customers. Paid $260 and $300. Tree service near me processes a lot of cords over 600. $300 in the summer $325 in the season. All word was great quality mixed hardwood.
Caw
Minister of Fire
Sounds about right. I get 2 cords of hardwood logs delivered for $100 myself. I usually get 2 deliveries a year for my own home heating and occasionally a 3rd if anyone wants extra wood to share.
I think the days or processing myself is over. Use to split old school maul and wedges but knee arthritis makes it tough now. I did resplit some of the bigger pieces and made kindling with my kindling cracker which is a great tool. I’m using about 50% less natural gas now. Mini splits in shoulder season .
I think the recent pricing decline has to do with supply and demand. The weather in New England has been setting records for unusually warm. We are coming up to the statistically coldest part of the winter in the net few weeks and the forecast is for warmer than normal temps. The run up in wood pricing last fall was in anticipation of a "normal" winter. I see the same with pellets, the local TSC that was running out got a second shipment that is moving very slowly. I still see ads locally for green firewood in the newspapers where folks saw the run up in prices and shifted into higher production and then the demand fell.
Prices were high in metro west which is a more affluent part of Mass. I think some of these places were trying to hype up the prices. Lots of competition near me. Prices vary $250- $425 cord do best to shop around.
Caw
Minister of Fire
It really depends who you buy from. I've seen $250 for green and $500 for seasoned. Log length is consistent though. Even if I had to pay $500 a cord for wood it would still be way cheaper than using the heat!
Everything is more expensive in this part of MA. Houses, taxes, goods, etc. Price of living here.
Everything is more expensive in this part of MA. Houses, taxes, goods, etc. Price of living here.
Caw everything is expensive in Mass no matter where you live. They don’t call it Taxachusetts for nothing!
Log length has also been consistent with sellers here 16”-20”. My stove is 18” max so really like under 18”.
Log length has also been consistent with sellers here 16”-20”. My stove is 18” max so really like under 18”.
as of today, i've burned very little of my wood order. and have used very little propane (last order was about 59 gallons on 11/22 in a 100 gallon tank and still have 40% left). have used a little extra electric for space heating a bedroom. the temps, esp. night, have been pretty mild compared to this time of year normally. so, so far a strange heating season. no long stretches of cold weather, no snow cover, significant mild periods (with rain). i consider winter over on March 1st (though march can be nasty).
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Any of you MA folk close enough to go to Assabet Vo-Tech for lunch? It's right at the end of 290.
Epicurean Room open Wednesday - Friday for lunch. First and third Wednesdays are breakfast buffet. Second Wednesday lunch buffet.
Going for lunch tomorrow.
Epicurean Room open Wednesday - Friday for lunch. First and third Wednesdays are breakfast buffet. Second Wednesday lunch buffet.
Going for lunch tomorrow.
JRHAWK9
Minister of Fire
I'm selling some of mine off for $405/cord. I'm selling by the face cord ($135) simply because of the logistics of selling a cord at a time and getting out of my yard with a loaded truck/trailer. I can deliver a face cord for $10 + $2/mile. I also don't want to sell it fast, so mine is priced high for that reason. Slow but steady. I also probably have the driest firewood around the area, as it was cut/split/stacked in spring '16. I've had two people drive 3 hours round trip because they were sick of dealing with people selling wet firewood. I've got about 2 and 2/3 cord more that I want to sell (out of about 8 and 1/3 cord). After that I don't know if I will sell anymore till maybe next year.
My stuff is cut 20-21", so I know I am limiting those who can even burn that long of stuff.
My stuff is cut 20-21", so I know I am limiting those who can even burn that long of stuff.
lml999
Minister of Fire
Any reliable sources on Cape Cod? I haven't found one yet...
...closest was Plymouth...decent wood, good quantity, but a lot of dirt/crap included. Tired of dealing with the cleanup...
...closest was Plymouth...decent wood, good quantity, but a lot of dirt/crap included. Tired of dealing with the cleanup...
Caw
Minister of Fire
I'm about 20 min away from you. Suburban wood burning!
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JRHAWK9
Minister of Fire
This is what happens when wood seasons. LOL Of course one could always run it through a tumbler, but that would just be an additional cost that would be passed on to the consumer.
Sounds like LP/NG/FO is your best option, as that is dirt free.
Caw
Minister of Fire
That's the major downside with wood heat: it's very messy. I'm cleaning up my hearth a few times a week, sometimes more. Just a quick vacuum and organization. If left unchecked for a week it's a disaster. Same with my basement wood rack...I run the shop vac over the area weekly. I personally think all the benefits outweigh the mess but it's not for everyone.
I bought wood my first year and remember it being tons of dirt etc from the bottom of the truck too. Any chance you can process your own log length? No dirt just sawdust!
Manufactured logs aren’t completely mess free, but better than cordwood and are dry. It’s probably not a bad compromise with cordwood costs being so high.
When I was kid we would visit my uncle in Mt Laurier Quebec (way north of Montreal) He had an automated stoker fed wood boiler that ran on the center cores of hardwood logs from a nearby veneer mill. These looked like they were turned on a lathe and cut to what looked like standard lengths. No bark and generally a solid core. It was a standard wood boiler from what I remember with an automated door and a 10' long near horizontal chute slightly tilted towards the boiler. He would load it up with logs in the morning and when the boiler called for heat it would open the front door and then move another log in the firebox and shut the door. I was probably 10 years old before my family burned wood so I dont remember many details but it was a slick rig and that wood looked way too good for burning. He ran an automotive salvage yard and was a real smart character so it may have been home brew. Unless someone made real uniform splits I do not think the stoker would work as well with regular wood.
I don’t mind paying $250-$325 cord delivered. I did buy some compressed bricks at TS to try .
Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
I just looked up.some wood.. its astonishing.. of how much people are selling wood for.. this guy is in New England. He is selling a 1/3 of a cord for 350.. or 1 cord for 1050.. seriously.. I don't care how dry that is.. I cant see anyone buying that.
Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
This is buy me.. 199 a half cord for GREEN wood and 239 a half cord for "Air dried".... Really...Air dried.. is there any other way of actually drying it.. I bet the air dried isn't even sub 20%MC.. thats 480 per cord.. 400 for a cord of green wood..
Ashful
Minister of Fire
I guess "air dried" to distinguish from kiln dried, as only KD is allowed for transport across county lines in many states.
I've heard of some tumbling wood to clean it, but have never personally seen such a rig. I thought most large scale op's palletized and wrapped in breathable plastic (i.e. synthetic burlap) from a conveyor right off the wood processor. At least, that's how I would do it, if I were in the biz. Firewood kiln temps are low enough you could probably pass an entire wrapped pallet thru, achieve your pest remediation requirements, and load onto truck right from the kiln.
Yes kiln dried goes for big money here. Some of the rich folk like it since no bugs and can store inside. I know a guy who pays $800 a cord for it.
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