Got phoned this morning about big leaf maple.

[RedRanger]

A rather pleasent surprise when one of my suppliers phoned and woke me up to say he was selling 2 cord loads of csd maple for 350. Even though I got 7 cords of douglas fir in my sheds and no more room in them I said bring it on! I`m just gonna stack that stuff in a long row in the sun and wind and move it into the first 2 cord shed that gets emptied this winter.

As most of you guys say-"ya can never have too much wood stashed away". fyi most csd cords of softwood are selling for between 175 and 200 these days here on the island. I`m starting to look upon wood as (brown gold).

 

[begreen]

Sonny, sounds decent if that's for 2, true cords, split. How do they measure a cord up there? Metric?

 

[fossil]

...fyi most csd cords of softwood are selling for between 175 and 200 these days here on the island.

Same down here in Central Oregon. I can get a cord of rounds delivered for $150.00, but if I want CSD, I'll pay $175.00. Some sellers are even asking $200.00. I lucked out on a craigslist ad - couple in a town 30 miles away moving to Nevada, wanting to get rid of their wood...turns out we pulled about 6 full cords out of their place (three trips with pickup & trailer), a mix of pines, larch, fir, juniper, and some really ancient dry-as-a-bone stuff that came out of his uncle's place. It's all seasoned, lots of it split, but lots of very large half-rounds and quarter-rounds that'll required a bunch more work...but we got it for right around $100.00/cord, so I think we did alright, all things considered. I currently have on-site about 11 cords, and another cord & half of lodgepole on its way (I had some wood already ordered when I saw the craigslist ad). So, I think we're set for up to two seasons, depending on the temps, of course. Bunch of work to do this spring/summer to get it all split & stacked. Rick

 

[RedRanger]

Sonny, sounds decent if that's for 2, true cords, split. How do they measure a cord up there? Metric?

Ha,ha, and that would be 4x4x8 feet. I have been buying from this guy for about 8 or 9 years and he always delivers a full cord.He has never phoned me before and I`m wondering if he got laid-off from his job at a remanufacturing wood plant? Will have to ask when he shows up next week.

A side note BG. I googled alder and big leaf maple and was surprised to learn they are hardwoods. Not as hard as the eastern varaities but hardwood nonethless. As for the nice weather we are having,well, long range forcast is for overnite frost again next weekend-hope that forcast is wrong. Or maybe I don`t so I can give the new beast a good test run.

 

[begreen]

Yeah, we hit 76 today; it was wonderful. By tomorrow night the forecast is for 42 and 38 the night following plus back to wet. Glad I got the peas planted today. Hope they make it.

 

[Highbeam]

Some people think that any deciduous tree is a hardwood and that any conifer is a hardwood. So my 5 cords of cottonwood is a hardwood I guess, Ha!

He may have a cord measured in feet but his dollar is a metric dollar.

 

[Todd]

Sounds like a good score. Where does Big Leaf Maple fall into the BTU charts, I can't find it anywhere? Is it considered a soft Maple or hard? Well whatever it is, it's going to look good burning in that Kodiak.

 

[begreen]

Big leaf maple is pretty low on the charts. Below cottonwood, poplar, doug fir, and ponderosa pine. I'm burning it because it's plentiful and free. It's good for fall and spring, but come mid-winter it's not my favorite.

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr29.pdf

 

[RedRanger]

Actually that difference in btu`s wont matter in my case. recroom 26x15 with 7.6 ft.ceilings gets up to 80+ even with my old insert in only a matter of about 3 hours. It is that elusive longer heat time that I`m looking for to put an end to the up at 3 am for feeding the old beast.

Was interesting this past winter when I experimented doing that how much warmer the top 3 levels above remained as long as I didn`t let the fire go out. A real pain in the butt though so that assignment only lasted about 3 or 4 days-nights. From a cold start and a boost from the old boiler it takes a good 10 hours for the house to get comfortable again. So I`ll be happy if I don`t have to get up till 6 am to feed the new bear.

Like all true wood-maniacs I wanna burn 24/7...... ;-)