Log loads

[JoeB]

I am new to wood stoves. We moved into a new house this year and it has a Glacier Bay wood burning insert with a huge fire box. I love it and it heats the whole house.

As I prepare for next year my question is whether its cheaper to order a load of logs to cut myself, or buy pre-split? I can get a face cord split for $65 but I'm not sure how much the logs are or how many logs make a face cord.

Can I ask for different type logs to get a good mix or would the log guy think I was being too picky? Any advice for a newbee

 

[NH_Wood]

Welcome to the Forum Joe B!

So.....you'd be paying $195/cord (3 face cord = 1 true cord). Not a bad price by southern NH standards. Buying log length should save you some cash. You need to add in costs of things like chainsaw (if you don't have one), then chains, chain sharpening (if you don't do your own), bar and chain oil, chainsaw fuel, and perhaps splitter cost and fuel cost. Many of us like to work on wood, and you get to size your splits to your preference, etc. I think PapaDave estimated his costs of the above items for log loads he received - might search for that thread to get an idea. If you have extra cash to invest (and space to store) - buy a big load - perhaps 20 cord - you'll get well ahead on wood - will have super dry wood after all is c/s/s, and you'll save more money in the long run. Also, it is like money in the bank (you can always sell the split seasoned wood for more than you paid if things don't work out or you need some of that cash back). So......think about whether you'd like to do the work and have room, try to estimate your savings, and go from there. I don't think you'd be dissapointed with the log loads - just think of all that wood sitting on your property - it's sooooo nice! Good luck! Cheers!

 

[LLigetfa]

As I prepare for next year...

That, the timing, is the key point, more so than cost. Chances are better that the C/S/D wood will be seasoned much more than whole logs. Order up the C/S/D wood you need for next Winter and get it stacked right away to further season. Logs you buy now would be for two or three years from now.

 

[KB007]

$65 bucks for a csd face cord is cheap compared to what they want for it around here (Ottawa, ON), usually it's around $125 per face cord here. If it was only $65 here, I may not have started buying log loads and the saw/splitter to work it. My load was $1000 for about 25 face cords (8 full cords) or about 40 bucks for the raw wood per face cord. It's a lot of work to buck, split and stack it all, but it does get me out of the house and off the couch.

The thing about buying it csd is that they will say it's seasoned, but it usually isn't, so if you continue to buy each season, you continue to get badly seasoned wood each year.

If you're leery about doing all the work and buying the saw/splitter - for $65 bucks buy about 3 yrs supply, get a bulk discount and you'lll have seasoned wood for a few years. Doubt that price will stay that way for long, wish it was that cheap here

 

[PapaDave]

Joe,
Welcome to the Hearth. Tons of good people and advice here. I'll throw my $.02 in here.
The answer to the question you posed is that, as far as I've seen, it's always less expensive (in monetary terms) to get the log load. I (and others) get log loads and do the work myself. You're a little late for getting log loads to be used for next winter (if getting oak), but that can be offset by going the c/s/d route in conjunction with the log load. I did that after the first winter here. Then, start getting the logs prepped right now for the following winter and beyond. You'll thank us for this advice (if you follow it) later.
If you find the wood burning experience enjoyable and not work, then start thinking longer term than this coming winter. Find the room. Make the room. The only way to get ahead of this yearly concern for dry wood, is to either find a REALLY good source for DRY wood, or get started doing it yourself, or do both so that you've got more than that prepped and on hand all the time.
If you hang out here long enough, you'll find that most of us who have burned for more than a couple minutes, have more than a years worth of c/s/s wood on hand unless they've found a very good supplier of DRY wood, and that's not always easy.
Keep the questions coming, and if you'd like ( I know WE would), post some pics of your setup.

 

[LLigetfa]

Ja, PapaDave offers sage advice. Not only is it hard to find a reliable supplier for C/S/D dry wood but it can even be hard to find log loads. There have been years where I worried whether my load would get delivered and ended up having to skip a year or scramble after Spring break-up. Around here, if the wood doesn't get out of the bush before the frost leaves the ground, it's stuck there until next Winter. If you don't have log load in your yard by now, it's not likely you will get it.

I started this Winter with a three year supply and intend to stay ahead. The days of burning same year wood are behind me.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Keep an eye on Craigslist. I have routinely seen 35-40/fc this winter in Syracuse. There is a guy right now selling all you can get in your truck for $20. I almost feel stupid for processing my own wood at that price. Standard price around here is $60-$70/fc but the little guys are selling at obscene prices.

 

[PapaDave]

Joe, here's another thought.
If you have any sawmills nearby, check with them on slabwood. It's usually cheaper than log loads and might dry pretty quick if you can get it cut down to size. Stack it loose in the sun, if possible. Pine will dry very quickly that way.
Around here, I've seen bundles (huge) of slabs for $20/.

 

[PapaDave]

Ja, PapaDave offers sage advice. Not only is it hard to find a reliable supplier for C/S/D dry wood but it can even be hard to find log loads. There have been years where I worried whether my load would get delivered and ended up having to skip a year or scramble after Spring break-up. Around here, if the wood doesn't get out of the bush before the frost leaves the ground, it's stuck there until next Winter. If you don't have log load in your yard by now, it's not likely you will get it.

I started this Winter with a three year supply and intend to stay ahead. The days of burning same year wood are behind me.

I musta' got lucky last year. My guy brought the latest load out in May, within about 3 weeks of calling. The load I got in '07 got here in September, also within less than a month.
Good guy.

 

[JoeB]

Thanks for the tips guys. I do enjoy working with wood and scrounged the wood I used this year. I have a chain saw and old cork screw splitter so maybe I will try some logs AND c/s/d.
Now its just a matter of finding a reliable and fair supplier.

 

[LLigetfa]

Ja, PapaDave offers sage advice. Not only is it hard to find a reliable supplier for C/S/D dry wood but it can even be hard to find log loads. There have been years where I worried whether my load would get delivered and ended up having to skip a year or scramble after Spring break-up. Around here, if the wood doesn't get out of the bush before the frost leaves the ground, it's stuck there until next Winter. If you don't have log load in your yard by now, it's not likely you will get it.

I started this Winter with a three year supply and intend to stay ahead. The days of burning same year wood are behind me.

I musta' got lucky last year. My guy brought the latest load out in May, within about 3 weeks of calling. The load I got in '07 got here in September, also within less than a month.
Good guy.

Around here the MNR forces the loggers to build Winter roads through Tag Alder swamps deliberately so that the public can't use the roads in Summer to access remote lakes. They claim it's to preserve the fish and game population but I think they are just pandering to the Fly-In Fishing and Hunting Tourist Industry. The loggers get real busy this time of year racing to get all the market wood out of the bush to mills and the firewood gets left behind if they run into bad luck. Here you need to get your order in before December and then keep calling them so they don't forget about you. Then you don't dare complain about price, quality, or quantity, else you ain't gettin nuttin from nobody. There are only 3 guys with self-unloaders here and if you PO one guy he'll tell the other two and you'll be SOL.

The most popular firewood here is Birch since the pulp and paper mill doesn't take it but Birch got real hard to come by after the OSB plant starting buying it. Ash has fewer BTUs so most people prefer the Birch but now a lot of them are snapping up all the Ash they can get. The OWB guys like Ash cuz it seasons better than unsplit Birch and it splits easier for those that do bother to split it. Some of the OWB guys are even buying Aspen but they have to pay the going rate set by the OSB plant. There is no way that I would pay top dollar for Aspen. Heck, I won't even burn the free Aspen I can take of my own land.

The mill here has a huge biomass boiler and they buy up anything that burns. Some of the loggers can't be bothered to sort out firewood and so they just chip up everything and sell it as biomass fuel.

 

[PapaDave]

LLigetfa,
Wow, great detailed info. I don't have that, I just know I give this guy a call and he wants to know if I want mixed hardwood, all oak, or softwood. Price diff. is negligible, so I go with oak. I don't argue the price, since it's so much less than c/s/d. The c/s/d guy was giving me MOSTLY oak when we first got here.

 

[hammercore]

This past weekend i got about 2 face cords for free (would have got more but my already injured back was getting really sore). Our city has two yard waste centers that you can take all the wood you want, what ever is left they just chip it for use as wood chips in playgrounds. Its a good idea to have your saw with you and a splitting axe, some guys actually had brought their hydraulic splitters with them. This weekend was my first time going there and the small stuff was like 20" in diameter on up to about 38". I talked to another guy that was there splitting and he says thats where he gets most of his wood. He told me that he cuts there pretty much all summer.

Its just another option to look into, maybe a city or town near you has a yard waste center that you can take free wood from instead of always having to buy it.

 

[Adkjake]

My wood guy up here in Essex County sells a truckload of 12 ft logs, which will yield 9+ face cords when cut (16 in), split and stacked for $400

Or 5 face cords, 16 inch, split for $350, not seasoned

No brainer for me, went for the logs

 

[Wood Duck]

I guess others have mentioned this, but you are already behind schedule getting next year's wood cut, split, and stacked. Most hardwood takes at least a year to really be seasoned (dried) so it will burn well. I think at this point, unless you can get the logs delivered pronto and devote a day or two to wood processing, you should buy c/s/s. get your wood for next year seasoning in a sunny, windy spot, then buy logs for the year after that and enjoy processing them a little more leisurely. Of course the alternative to buying is scrounging, which can work out fine, too, but probably won't yield a year's worth right away. You need to get some firewood in the yard fast, I think. Don't count on buying any seasoned firewood next fall or winter - it won't really be seasoned.

 

[firefighterjake]

Not much to add here that hasn't already been said . . .

1) Yup . . . tree length wood is almost always cheaper than cut and split wood.

2) If you're working on next year's wood right now you'll be better off getting the cut and split wood now since you will want to get it stacked as soon as possible since oftentimes the "seasoned" wood most folks buy isn't truly seasoned as defined by most of us here at hearth.com.

 

[IHnum1]

Joe B, shoot me an email and I will give you some names of guys in Western NY. I have a list of several guys who sell logs in the WNY area, just depends where you are located.

 

[michaelthomas]

I had done the log length thing the past few years and it was definately a cost savings, however to cut split and stack, it took me about 40 hours to process it. Granted my system is a bit labor intensive because I can't stack the wood where the logs were dropped, but it took a-lot of time. If you have more time than money and enjoy the work than this will be for you. This year I found a supplier who delivered 6 cord of cut split wood for $1000. Last year I paid $850 8 cord of Logs that stacked to about 6.5 cord. So this year it made sense to let the woodguy do the labor for $150 more than the logs would have cost. I was very happy to find the woodguy this year