Do people here buy or process their own wood?

Red I bought enough to get ahead and currently have 7-8 cords here so I need 3 cords a year. I have 3-4 cords in the shelter and 3-4 cords stacked outside of the shelter. Some of that wood I did myself the rest I bought. I wanted to buy a grapple load but my wife doesn't like the idea of having a pile of logs there. I am not comfortable dropping trees but I am fine with cutting logs into rounds and splitting them. Eventually I'll get my wife to "like" the idea of a grapple load. Until that time I will do C\S\D as it is still a bargain compared to oil plus I like to see a fire in the wood stove.

Ray

Myself & 3 cutting buddy's process around 75-100 cord per year. All from scrounges, fence line jobs, tree jobs, whatever. We sell a little, give some away, & burn the rest. The only heat in my shop is wood, & it heats the house as well. I've never bought firewood, but if I had to I would. It would still be cheaper than other options around here. Grew up on wood heat, & learned the equipment & trees young, so I don't really know any other way. A C

We get two wheeler loads of tree length in spring (14-15 cords) and get a permit to go poach the rest in the woods while hunting and fishing. Finally after 4 years of 20+ cords a year all three families are 2 years ahead and we can calm down a bit till next year

Ray, I have a buddy up in Ashburnham. Plenty off wood up in those parts! Same here where I live in Douglas. I am within walking distance to the State Forest. When I purchase, most of my wood is from a local wood tree service. They get contracts from the State and local land owners for forest managment/clearing. End result is wood from the local area at $135.00/cord c/s/d green. So, either way, scrounge or purchase, it's a good deal in my opinion.

I scrounge as much as I can but I have no problem buying if needed. I even have a guy that will deliver cut, split, and even stack it for $150 a cord. Hopefully next year I will have my shop built on the property and will be mainly heating it with wood which will probably push my wood consumption up to 8-12 cords a year. That will be a little tough to keep up with. Also we heat with wood because we enjoy the stove, the heat it produces, and the enjoyment we get from the whole process. We have cheap (currently) natural gas with a 95% furnace and 26 SEER/10+ HSPF heat pumps so we definitely do not heat with wood to save money. Of course it also gives me an excuse to feed my illness with buying power tools, saws, splitters, tractors, etc. and since the wife loves to be warm she is understanding about the mentioned problem.

I needed to take a nap after reading your post! LOL that's loads of satisfying work for all involved!

Ray

That is a great deal! I pay $50.00 more per cord here C\S\D and I still consider that a good deal!

Ray

I either look on craigslist for free firewood, knock on someones door if they have a pile from a just cut down tree, or have the tee service drop a load here (still waiting on a nearby job) and lastly buck up down stuff in my woods. Theres just too many people that write free on there wood rounds. I have gotten 3 cords in past month due to free wood

I do NOT PAY for my firewood, but rather I GET PAID for cutting it! I love getting paid to heat my house! Having a tree-removal gig on the side has it's perks, but it's a lot of responsibility, not to mention hard work. But I love to cut.......

Seems the Pa. people have much more opportunities than around this area.. Nice!

Ray

It's nice Ray, but it seems lately the jobs we are getting are NIGHTMARES. We have a TON of work lined up, for over the late fall through winter, and a lot of them are 'piece-it-down' jobs. I'm not real crazy about piecing some of these trees down, but I can't quit cutting all that good fuel!

I do both, I have four wooded acres and the ash trees didnt stand a chance with me and a chain saw, I do buy some because it saves alot of time just to make a phone call and poof theres four face cords of wood sitting in the side yard waiting to be stacked. For every 40 or 50 bucks i spend on a face cord saves me well over 100 bucks on the consumers bill too not to mention wear and tear on the natural gas furnace.

Etiger this how I feel. I heat my home for a good price for as we know there is no free ride. If I happen across some "free" wood I will snag it but I do not rely on this.. My truck is 15 yrs. old and I want to get rid of it as it costs quite a bit just to keep it on the road and it's one extra item to maintain..

Ray

I process all of my wood, and because of this site in the last 18 months have c/s/s 30 cords. It's gotten so bad that last weekend while hauling some wood my 3 year old son asked why I needed more wood and where are we gonna stack it.

Keep in mind that this is the Wood Shed. I bet people here are a lot more likely to cut their own wood than average Hearth.com members. I am assuming some people read the Hearth Room forum but not the Wood Shed.

I posted this in the hearth room but it was moved here.. Yes I think the results may be a bit different there..

Ray

I remember when I first got on the forum. The Hearth Room was all I did. Then I decided to look into the Wood Shed....

I had no idea that people bought wood until today. I didn't realize that people sold wood, either. (I've led a city life and have to learn these things as I go).

We planned to harvest all of our own wood, because we have it and it's "free", though a little bit of a drive away.
After reading this thread, I looked on craigslist and found 3 people close by giving away wood - just needs split. 2 of them have ash, which is what I will need this year, since we're way behind the eight ball. Yay to get a jump start!
On another note - it looks like cord prices are ~$100 in the central ohio area...and that seems really expensive...??

Thanks for helping me broaden out from the Hearth Room so quickly!

No problem Leslie and we are happy to have you aboard. Maybe your husband might also want to post. He is welcome too.

I'm trying to win him over. Right now, he thinks the new stove will be cake, since he's grown up burning wood. So, so far, he's not willing to dip his toe in to a new forum I'm sure it's only a matter of time

When we first got our stove, we bought some wood that was "seasoned"........

Since learning about moisture content and seasoning on this forum, I have spent a whole load of time sourcing my own wood to c/s/s and properly season myself.

Buying c/s/s here costs about $600 a cord, and we get through about 2 1/2 cords a year.

You soon develop a wood radar for scrounges to avoid paying those prices..........

In my first year of burning I have bought wood c\s\d, and picked up several cord c\s and had 2 each 6 cord log load delivered. Since spring I have found a place to cut for a small fee $10.00 a face. I now have about 15-16 cord on hand. Good for 3, maybe 4 year's.

Holy cow, 600 USD's a cord!! I would be scrounging like a madman to avoid paying 600 a cord!! Just out of curiousity, does heating with wood at that price still beat heating with whatever other fuel source is prevalent in the UK? I assume you guys generally use NG, right?