Anyone here live near Kensington, MD?

[jason1238]

Don't know why I searched for "firewood" on eBay (I think i have a disease ;-)), but I found this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110101416515#description

...you're gonna' need a BIG truck...

Not sure what I'd bid on it, but I would think just getting it out of their yard would be payment enough!

I'm still working at cutting/splitting/stacking a similar sized tree, or else I might make a road trip...(there's that voice again :gulp: )

 

[keyman512us]

Jason:

Not sure what I’d bid on it, but I would think just getting it out of their yard would be payment enough!

You hit the nail on the head! PM the guy with "Tell you what...I'll give you $1.00 and buy you a beer...so put a "buy it now price on it"...lol

A word of caution though...oaks generally grow in 'moist' soil (i.e. you may get stuck), #2...a green 36" x 1' piece of oak tips the scale at 500#'s...How long of a road trip...and how many times are you going to go back and forth? Hope that wasn't you that asked "How big is the biggest piece...I might be able to get it all in one trip"????

Another "word of caution"...this guy probably had it taken down by a professional (rightly so) that quoted him x-#of $$$'s and the guy "balked" at the price...probably because it had to be 'billy goated' out of the back 40. Be 'leery' of what kind of deal you might commit yourself to.

You're right...his neighbors prolly would 'thank you'...

 

[jason1238]

Nah, Keyman, I was kidding about the road trip. I'm in Cincinnati. But I did give it just a fleeting thought...I'm telling you, I think I have a real problem with wood scrounging! ;-P

My garage is full of chunks-o-red-oak already. I'm in the middle of reducing a very similar sized tree down to stove splits. Same situation you spoke of: "It's going to cost HOW MUCH to haul it away?!?!?"

I can confirm the moist soil...I'm pulling the stuff out of a mud hole. Luckily, I'm making enough sawdust to walk on safely, and I only have to cart the chunks about 20yds to a nice concrete driveway. A couple of sheets of junk plywood ripped down to 1' by 8' make a great cart path through the muddiest parts.

I just figured if someone here was close, they could take advantage of it.

I figure it at about 500 miles one way for me, probably 10-12 trips in my Chevy Astro battle wagon...hmmmmmmmm :coolsmile:

 

[keyman512us]

Jason...
Cool...Do you burn palletwood by any chance? I will have to get a picture for ya...if you like to scrounge wood...(coming soon..someday)

Whatever works! Plenty of woodshops around here like 'scroungers' to get rid of their scrap!

 

[jason1238]

I haven't burned any pallet wood, but I do use kiln dried cherry/poplar/oak for kindling. My next door neighbor is a cabinet maker who does high-end stuff. He's always happy to dump a 30 gallon trash can full of end cuts and trim cuts in my garage, and I am always happy to take them!

 

[sgcsalsero]

Very cool posting that, I think I have the scrounging gene in me as well, free beer tastes better right ? . . I'm
gonna start looking at ebay as well now . .

I think there was a dude in MD looking for a place to get firewood, I PM'd him your post . . .

 

[DiscoInferno]

I'm 5 minutes from Kensington, maybe I'll put down $1. That would be $1 more than I've ever paid for firewood, however. Plus who wants to deal with those monster rounds? (Ready to burn?!)

 

[jason1238]

Yeah, the "ready to burn" is obviously uninformed. Those monster rounds prolly won't be as bad as you might think. You'd never be able to lift them whole, but a little persuasion with a chainsaw and some wedges will pop them easily into liftable pieces. I'm taking quarters of the rounds I've cut like this and they are splitting easily with my little Ryobi 4 ton splitter. If you can handle the volume (and the workout!) you could get some choice stove-food!

BTW- that tree looks to have been about 36" in diameter straight as an arrow for about 20 feet! I can almost hear woodworker tears falling now :shut:

 

[DiscoInferno]

Yeah, the "ready to burn" is obviously uninformed. Those monster rounds prolly won't be as bad as you might think. You'd never be able to lift them whole, but a little persuasion with a chainsaw and some wedges will pop them easily into liftable pieces. I'm taking quarters of the rounds I've cut like this and they are splitting easily with my little Ryobi 4 ton splitter. If you can handle the volume (and the workout!) you could get some choice stove-food!

BTW- that tree looks to have been about 36" in diameter straight as an arrow for about 20 feet! I can almost hear woodworker tears falling now :shut:

In the past I've picked up red oak that I had to quarter first, which wasn't too big a deal. Not this large though. Here, you do a fair bit of work just to get one 3' round into 4 1.5' quarters. All else equal, I'd rather find 4 1.5' rounds.

The last red oak I picked up in this area had a big metal hook sticking out of it, although I guess I didn't run into any other metal when cutting or splitting it. That's the sort of thing that seems to keep most city trees from becoming lumber. That, and a lot of times these trees are in relatively inaccessible backyards. I know I often can't back my truck up to woodpiles I scrounge.

 

[megan]

We burn palette wood. DH gets them free from work, and his workplace is happy to give them to us. They don't have to haul them to the landfill, and we get to start our fire.

We're not too far from a cabinetmaker's; never thought to ask them for wood. We always get enough in palettes to keep us going.

They really do sell everything on ebay, don't they??

megan

 

[DiscoInferno]

Well, they can try. Given the active craigslist trade here in free wood, it's not likely to get much of a bid. Especially now that it's warm. Frankly, given what the tree companies charge to haul away wood, they should feel lucky if someone is willing to come clear it away for free.

 

[jason1238]

I have the same problem with not being able to just back right up to most piles of wood that I find. I picked up one of these:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=129180-52314-129180&lpage=none

...and it works GREAT! You can take the sides off to load the rounds and chunks on it to take to the truck, and after you split it all up, you can put the sides back on to get the splits to the wood pile (or from the pile to the house, if you're splitting next to the wood pile!). It's the best $80 I've spent in a long time.

 

[DiscoInferno]

I actually have one of those in MI. They are extremely handy. In MD I've been getting away with a $30 plastic Sears garden cart for several years, although it's on its last legs (wheels). Neither one is much help on an upslope, though. I just won't do those anymore.

 

[sgcsalsero]

I have the same problem with not being able to just back right up to most piles of wood that I find. I picked up one of these:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=129180-52314-129180&lpage=none

...and it works GREAT! You can take the sides off to load the rounds and chunks on it to take to the truck, and after you split it all up, you can put the sides back on to get the splits to the wood pile (or from the pile to the house, if you're splitting next to the wood pile!). It's the best $80 I've spent in a long time.

Have the same one from Lowes, primarily used for giving my kids rides . .

 

[jason1238]

I have the same problem with not being able to just back right up to most piles of wood that I find. I picked up one of these:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=129180-52314-129180&lpage=none

...and it works GREAT! You can take the sides off to load the rounds and chunks on it to take to the truck, and after you split it all up, you can put the sides back on to get the splits to the wood pile (or from the pile to the house, if you're splitting next to the wood pile!). It's the best $80 I've spent in a long time.

Have the same one from Lowes, primarily used for giving my kids rides . .

LOL, I'm sure mine will be put to the same task this summer. The kids are already climbing into it in the garage!

 

[DiscoInferno]

Update - apparently the worth of a pile of unsplit oak in this area is $2.75. Too rich for my blood.

 

[DiscoInferno]

Update to my update: This exact pile of wood just showed up for sale on craiglist. The guy sent me one of the same pictures as in the listing. I just asked him how he's going to sell it twice. Time to complain to ebay...

Edit: claims the winner never replied. Seems more likely he didn't get the fabulous riches he was hoping for...

 

[keyman512us]

Disco:

The last red oak I picked up in this area had a big metal hook sticking out of it, although I guess I didn’t run into any other metal when cutting or splitting it. That’s the sort of thing that seems to keep most city trees from becoming lumber. That, and a lot of times these trees are in relatively inaccessible backyards. I know I often can’t back my truck up to woodpiles I scrounge.

You bring up a good point Disco...Now here's a little "woodpile education" for those out there that might not know how to spot an "oak with iron" in it.
Oak is quite the amazing species when you stop and think of it. Oaks move alot of water and have great circulatory systems as far as trees go. When an oak gets cut down...the first thing an experienced tree guy will look for 'on the butt' of the log: is there any "Blue-ing". If the fresh cut end of the log is all the same color...there is little likelyhood there is any "iron" in it. If there are several blue streaks...it was either a "sign post" or a "tree house".

The joker trying to sell it twice? Obviously he has no clue! (trying to sell it as firewood).... My sawyer would cry to see that piece of oak go to waste...there is probably a few hundred$$$ worth of lumber there...but getting it off to the saw probably isn't worth it...36" green oak bucked at 8'6" ready for the saw(roughly 4,250lbs)? Probably needs to be 'flown out' by crane... I'll bet the homeowner (who sounds like a 'total cheepskate') went with the cheapest price...(i.e. a couple of good ole boys' with a p/u truck a saw and an old "chuck-n-duck" chipper). They prolly couldn't figure out how to get it out of the backyard without cutting it into firewood...sad waste of good oak..."you can bet your arse...if it was my tree job...that butt log would be off to the mill...one way or the other".
I don't knock whoever cut the tree...if you are in the tree business...you gotta make$$$$. I don't take on jobs like this one unless I know the homeowner is going to be on the ball and clean up the mess. I tell my customers if I do the job..."If you want the wood...do something with it...if not I'll make it disapear before I 'leave the job'..."
Nothing burns my backside more than to hear "Who the ^uck made that mess???"..about another 'professional'....I ain't gonna hear that about one of my jobs!

 

[DiscoInferno]

It's pretty common around here that people don't/won't pay the tree service to haul off the wood, but the wood is almost always left as 18-24" rounds. I can only speculate that either there is simply no economic case to be made for removing these trees whole and getting them to a mill, or nobody knows about the process. The tree services probably charge a lot for disposal, since firewood is not a big business here it mostly goes to a landfill. Generally the left-behind piles show up as craiglist postings for "free firewood", and this is mostly where my firewood comes from. Every now again someone tries to sell their pile, sometimes for split-wood prices, but basic supply and demand has pegged the value of undelivered, unsplit rounds pretty damn near $0.00.

There are a lot of huge old oaks around here, and I've split my share after someone else cut them up, but I've never seen one in one piece on a flatbed. It does seem like a shame. But then, I once cut some curly maple into firewood. Oops.

 

[keyman512us]

It’s pretty common around here that people don’t/won’t pay the tree service to haul off the wood, but the wood is almost always left as 18-24” rounds. I can only speculate that either there is simply no economic case to be made for removing these trees whole and getting them to a mill, or nobody knows about the process.

Disco, It's sad but true! It allways amazes me how the 'market' differs from locale to locale. The smaller stuff isn't worth bunk...36" oak can turn a profit...but with the market the way it is and fuel being so outrageous? I would really be curious as to "how tight" that backyard really is. The oak is probably "junk" hard to tell from the few pictures I see but who knows. Up North here that log could fetch a few pennies...I imagine Kensington is pretty much "DC Metro" so there probably aren't any sawmills around...lol

Two years ago, I might have actually "entertained" the idea of 'going after' oak like that one(for lumber)...today it's just not worth it.

Luckily up here it's "country enuff' to harvest wood for lumber.

Out of curiousity? How much is he trying to get on craigs list for it? lol

 

[DiscoInferno]

I imagine Kensington is pretty much "DC Metro" so there probably aren't any sawmills around...lol

It's a suburb just outside the beltway. There are sawmills around, especially farther out in MD and VA, but I don't know if they buy single/homeowner trees. There are also some portable sawmills in the area (says google). But most people in the 'burbs don't want lumber much more than they want firewood. I pick up a lot of cherry too, which always seems like a waste.

Houses here tend to be on small lots, like 1/6 acre, and even if you could fit a truck between the houses you'd generally have to tear out trees/shrubs/fences/etc to do so. I don't know how practical over the house would be, but that's the obvious solution. There's also often not enough room to drop the main trunk in one piece.

Out of curiousity? How much is he trying to get on craigs list for it? lol

He didn't come up with a price (he listed it at default $1), and after I told him I wasn't going to pay any more than the ebay auction he had ignored we decided not to do business. :blank: I've seen people try to get as much as $75/truckload, but you can get split wood delivered for that.

 

[sgcsalsero]

sheesh what a score for someone, I wonder if the fee to list it on Ebay was more than what he got, what a cheapskate

. . I saw below listing in Medina OH which I pass on the way to work. I put it on my watch list to see if this guy gets any takers, I think he'll be lucky to get $30 a ric, lots of people with wood piles in this part of the country

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&satitle=firewood+medina