How much more is dry seasoned wood worth than fresh green wood. I have plenty of room to store and season wood. Wondering if it might be worth cutting extra wood and sell it once its seasoned but I have no idea how much more valuable it might be. Oak would be the type of wood.
green wood vs. dry wood prices ?
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jackofalltrades
Member
People are only going to pay what the going rate is for wood. Most wood advertised is not nearly as dry as the saler would claim it to be. If you were really saling good dry wood, you would have a loyal following once you got established. I don't think you could get a whole lot more than the normal price in your area for it though, atleast thats the way it works around these parts. People will pay a little more for something they know is good, but it takes a lot of work and time to get established like that because so many people have made all those great claims before you about the dryness of their wood and all. If you can prove it to them that you have the real goods then you are on your way.
Thanks for the info. I'm not trying to make a living, maybe recoup the money I spent on my heater, chainsaw, and splitter a little sooner. If I could get 200-250 a cord, I would love to sell 3-4 cords a year.
barkeatr
Member
i think you are on to something with this. Gasification burners are on the rapid rise with new laws for outdood wood boilers and they have to have dry wood. I cut my own wood but sincei i bought a gasificatoin boiler this spring i have to buy a years worth to get ahead. I pay 55-65 a face cord if I pick it up. Depth of face cord wood is 16". Wood is two years old and is 8-12% moisture. Same guy sells one year old wood for 55 per face cord. Bein that i have to pick it up, i spect this guy is making ten more per cord than if it was green wood. I want to say there are 4.25 face cord in one full cord of 16 inch wood, give or take so 4 x 65 is 260 a cord right?
wood-fan-atic
Minister of Fire
barkeatr said:
By definition - a face cord should be 1/3 of a cord of wood -- or 42.66 cu. ft. of wood
Kenster
Minister of Fire
There is no such definition. There is no definition for ANY measure of firewood except the CORD, which is 128 cu feet.
People use the term 'face cord' to describe any stack of wood that is four feet high and eight feet long but are all over the place in defining the length of the split. According to some, six inch splits would qualify as a Face Cord. As would 16 inch splits. Or a 24 inch split.
I see people arguing all the time about a "Rick." Some people say it is a third of a chord. Others say four ricks make a cord.
Too many regional and local terms and definitions for those terms.
As educated members of this forum we should stop using any term but CORD and fractions thereof!
A cord being, generally, a tightly packed stack of wood measuring four feet x four feet x eight feet but regardless of the dimensions, totaling 128 cubic feet.
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
smokingout, with it being oak and if you let it season for 3 years then I would expect it to sell from $20-$40 per cord higher. However, as stated, the sales might come pretty slow for a while but once a few get that wood I'm sure the word would spread. For sure it is worth a try. Even at the worst, you'd have some great firewood for yourself. Get 2-3 years ahead on your own before attempting to sell any though.
Kenster said:
Amen to that. This "face" stuff is simply an enabler for a shell-game (a swindle.) So much so, it's like fingernails on blackboard, to me.
Some states explicitly state what you say above. And that seller must provide written info as to what, and exactly how much, was provided in current transaction.
Ever note how all gas pumps have sticker from most recent inspection by Weights & Measures? Wonder why? Some folks think honesty is optional, and that you can carry a cord of hardwood on a half-ton p/u.
smokingout said:
Every wood seller in this area calls their wood seasoned, in paper c/l valley trader all seasoned wood, as you are aware their is alot of work to cut, split, stack a cord of wood, I can think of alot easyer ways to make a dollar.
Your idea of trying to sell a little wood is problematic , I had the same idea and thought it would be good to get a little extra spending cash. But around here there are many people out of work, and everyone of them is trying to sell firewood to make ends meet. On the road into town , I notice new wood sellers that wern't there last month. Also, there is a large increase in people trying to sell wood on Craig's list. I don't know what the answer is but I do know that my selling a lot of wood isn't going to happen. David
amateur cutter
Minister of Fire
Maybe get some truly seasoned wood stacked ahead of time, then wait till mid to late winter, advertise at the premium price, & word will spread quickly as people realize that it burns well, when they run out in February. Should make for loyal customers. You may be able to sell some greener wood to people that plan & buy ahead & still get decent money without sitting on it for 2 yrs. A C
fprintf
Member
You could do what everyone around here is doing... cut down a bunch of trees in the late winter/early spring, leave it in logs until late spring then split it and dump it into a pile. Put it on Craiglist as "seasoned wood". By the time you get to September, people are starting to think about winter and will gladly snap up a cord of wood for $225 that "has been seasoned since spring". Not only will you sell all of your wood but you won't even have to go through the effort of stacking and drying it. There are so many customers now buying wood that I don't think you'll have any problem just getting new customers to replace all the ones that get annoyed when their fireplace won't light from your semi-dry wood.
Seriously, in my state, Connecticut, there are very strict guidelines for how you may sell wood from a volume perspective - it must be a cord or a fraction thereof. No face cords, ricks or anything except by the roadside where folks have little piles for $5 or $25. But the state doesn't have *any* guidelines for how seasoning must be done. So we get these tree cutters and arborists that sell wood sold this year as seasoned just because it sat in a huge pile in the sun for a few months.
A shout out to all the folks in CT on this forum (I've seen a few!)
Seriously, in my state, Connecticut, there are very strict guidelines for how you may sell wood from a volume perspective - it must be a cord or a fraction thereof. No face cords, ricks or anything except by the roadside where folks have little piles for $5 or $25. But the state doesn't have *any* guidelines for how seasoning must be done. So we get these tree cutters and arborists that sell wood sold this year as seasoned just because it sat in a huge pile in the sun for a few months.
A shout out to all the folks in CT on this forum (I've seen a few!)
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