How far would you drive for free maple?

Hi All,
My BIL has 6 maples that came down this last year in the ice storms, but he lives about 2.5 hours away, All the trees can be backed up to, so I'd just have to slice and dice and load. I've got an F-150 and 8x8 trailer, but I'm trying to weigh whether it would be worth the drive or not. Of course, I could make it an overnight and visit while I'm at it, which changes things, no?

What's the furthest you've driven for free wood?

S

Its against the law in PA to transport firewood more than 50 square miles......has to do with the spread of invasive pests. Not sure what the laws regarding firewood transport are in NH. Just be careful.

No more than 25 miles round trip!

Like Scotty Overkill we have a 50 mile radius for transporting firewood in NYS.

Here is a link, http://www.nhdfl.org/forest-health/firewood/agreement.aspx

Zap

You guys need to hone your skills keep it tight and no it light!

I'd love to be particular about scrounging. A coworker has told me I can take some wood from his 16 acre property. But it's 30 miles roundtrip, and since I don't own a vehicle, I'd need to rent a UHual truck/van ($20/day, 59 cents per mile) to transport the load(s). I figure this is better than paying $200 per cord. But just barely.

After doing the work and count your time its a toss up. I need to have the splitter producing ASAP! My longest haul for the last 3 years is just under 12 miles. I can produce a cord for about 40 bucks if everything is perfect. (We do run perfect most of the time) This takes everything from scrounge selection to saw and chain set-up to splitter and trailer location. If everything does not line up I pass! (This also includes a 10hr for my helper)

Like others said regarding the 50 mile distance law. 2.5 hours is a long time to drive for firewood. It may be cheaper to buy a few cords with what youd spend on gas, tolls and wear and tear on the truck. heavens forbid you get hit with a violation for transporting the wood into the area. Just my 8 cents.

Too far. But I also use it as a time to catch up with friends.
I might have went to visit anyway so coming home with wood is a bonus.

for just a straight scrounge, I like the way jay thinks.

That's how invasive pests travel quickly. The worst for ignoring the law and common sense are campers. We were at an Ohio state park 7-8 years ago, and the EAB was there. Four plus hours from the Michigan state line.
Five miles is tops for me. I guess I'm lucky that I don't need to travel any farther.

I might not go around the block for soft maple if I was way ahead. Straight trunks and sugar maple plus seeing my brother might make a long trip. I like the way smokinj thinks 99% of the time

I wouldn't travel much more than 20 miles round trip unless it was a awesome deal or to help out a friend or family. 2.5 hours is WAY too far. I'd buy wood or even propane instead.

If I was just travelling to visit Id take the truck and trailer and come home with a full load but wouldnt go out of my way to get it. I have a 10 mile cutoff rule for my scrounges, might extend it a couple miles or so depending on the circumstances.

I'd probably travel across the Atlantic Ocean for black or honey locust........just sayin'

Free Maple 2.5 hours away aint free.

Reminds me of a frequent comment in chat rooms just say 10 years ago. . . cept it was fly, not drive, and it were not for wood.

If my memory serves me, the consencus was, pretty much in tune with OldSpark.

TANSTAAFL

Thetruck repairs are going to far 'outweigh' what it wood cost to buy it locally.

I can have a log load dropped here for $100 a cord. So my thought is if I cant do better than that scrounging it's not worth it. I can burn up $100 in gas pretty quick pulling a loaded trailer. I can cut all the "free" wood I could every need at the inlaws farm but it's 110 miles round trip.

Can you C/S/S there? Do you visit him on a regular basis? Let it dry (& lose weight) and haul it home on a regular visit with just the 150, sans trailer.

Here in MI, going north for the weekend is a normal thing with millions of folks. It is very common all summer long to see folks coming back with pickups and trailers loaded with firewood. I've talked with several who think nothing of hauling their wood 150 miles! Yikes!

What will they do with all the money they're saving?

That's what I'm talkin 'bout.....As hard as that stuff is you could make a nice raft and float it cross the Atlantic.

Like everyone else . . . I wouldn't go that far just for firewood. I might however take the truck if I was visting and knew I could load up the pick up for the return trip home . . . but even then I would only do so if this was primo maple -- sugar maple.

The furthest I have driven is 45 minutes one way . . . which I did several days in a row. The first day I went since it gave me and my buddy something to do . . . days two and three I did since I was getting some oak, beech and maple that was already cut and split. In all I ended up with a cord or so. I should also mention that on Days Two and Three I loaded up the truck before heading into work since the wood was on my way into work.

Holy smokes, I hadn't even thought about crossing that distance/state lines with the bug thing! Thanks, all.

S

It's illegal to transport from Mass into NH. The state line is only a couple miles away from here, so bringing it from 1 town over could be illegal. I'm not aware of any in-state transport laws. I wouldn't haul wood that far no matter what. What I would do; Go visit for a weekend. Rent a splitter, and the 2 of yous cut, split & stack it. Let is season, and then sell it locally, and split the money.