"The firewood market is dead for years...."

Not my words, but those of a tree/firewood business owner. We are in a post-Sandy, post-Irene area. There are so many downed trees, most of good/great firewood quality, that anyone wanting wood will have it easily. What will be the affects of this? Wood stove sales up? Firewood value down? Great market for used saws? I am thinking of renting an old barn in order to store wood for future sales. It has a cement floor and is drive in at the lower level. Split outside and use a loader to push it in. Room for hunders of cords.

I'm not sure how much the barn rental is, but that could seriously cut into your profits. I would imagine it could easily cost $500/month. If you have to hold on to it for five years, that's $30,000. Say you put 200 cords in and sell for $300 a cord, half of your gross income went on rent. Now consider all the work that would go into gathering and processing 200 cords of firewood. Throw in the costs of fuel and wear and tear on equipment (saws, splitters, trucks, etc). I'm not saying its not worth it to you but for the time you'd put in, working a few hours a week at a part time job would probably pay better. If the rent is significantly less, I guess it could be worth considering.

Current oversupply is temporary.

Interesting thought about the impact of this sudden windfall of available wood and how it might affect wood usage, sales, etc.. Not having been thru anything even remotely like Sandy I likely can't fathom how much downed firewood there is likely available in some areas. But assuming that a good portion of this windfall is harvested by homeowners/woodburning folks and not just disposed of, it does seem that there might be a current oversupply that could impact some wood sellers in the short term. I assume they would harvest and process it for future sales, perhaps a bit in advance of their normal schedule. .

Myway, do you process and sell wood now? I have to think that getting all you can stockpiled can't be a bad thing if you have the room. As for renting a barn or something, I agree with Dune that that might be prohibitively expensive, especially if for very long.

Keep us posted.

My thought, the firewood suppliers will actually have it easier now with large quantities of wood available. The VAST majority of fire wood customers are not going to be scrounging/processing wood. It is a lot of work that very few partake in. It is a wind fall for those like us who enjoy the work. Strike while you can! In our area Sandy didnt leave much damage but last falls freak October's snow storm provided many cords of firewood.

I have to agree with this train of thought. Not everyone has a truck, trailer, splitter, saws, knowledge, and work ethic to get their own wood. I would think that those types of people would be in the minority. Anyone who's home was destroyed or harmed, is NOT going to be worried about getting their firewood supply. They just want a home again. On the plus side (for you at least), after all the power outages I read about, more of them may be apt to actually get prepared and buy some extra wood so they are ready if it happens again.

I just read your thoughts on this. If the firewood guys got a lot of this wood and split and stacked it they could actually sell "seasoned" wood starting next year and for ............ Just like the adds say.

It'll be seasoned next year. Right before it gets split and delivered.

+1. And a lot of suburbanites with fireplaces who don't own a truck, a saw, or a maul.

Lots of people will continue to buy wood, never fear.

[quote="Got Wood, post: 1283394, member: 7423" The VAST majority of fire wood customers are not going to be scrounging/processing wood. It is a lot of work that very few partake in. It is a wind fall for those like us who enjoy the work. Strike while you can! .[/quote]


I completely agree...very well said.

Everyone in the North East could have plenty of firewood all the time if they went to the trouble of looking for it, cutting it, hauling it, splitting it, stacking it and waiting a year. Up here at least, when you buy firewood for $150/cord or $10/bundle, you're really paying for the labor of someone else to do all the hard work. Lots of trees down doesn't change it that much.

Yup. Unfortunately a very good portion of this wood will be tossed and do nothing but rot. Just to much of it for the few people who do burn wood to process it. They need it out of the way now.

That math is sensible and easy to work out. The deal I am looking at would be more like 400-500 a year. That is one reason I am considering it.

$400 to $500 a year would be a great deal. Three cords a year covers your cost. I'm just wondering how well the fresh green wood will dry/season closed up in a barn.

worry not my friends...it will have zero impact on firewood sellers, in my opinion. Like stated before, most woodburners dont have the tools, time, or want to put in the effort to scrounge wood. Hell, i've already hauled out 2 cords of black locust from my town dump that has been opened up to dump brush and logs. And there is currently a pile that would take me all year to get through of pine, that no one will touch.

Ya. And myway. Would you be planning on stacking it in the barn? Or are you going to throw it into piles?

My guess is any barn that can be rented for $400-$500/year will likely have plenty of ventilation!

The only thing Sandy will change will be the amount of wood suppliers have to cut. I would not expect price to change all that much if any and I would not expect many people to start cutting their own because it is there to get. If they have been buying it; they will likely continue buying. Cut all you can and get it somewhere dry and it will help you down the road, but don't expect any big changes in the market.

Sandy increased the supply of raw wood, not the supply of processed wood.
Someone said it right, those who buy now will still buy, lots of work involved.

Don't think the supply of well seasoned dry wood for sale will change much either.

But it must be a scrounger's heaven, wood to be had everywhere & able to be selective

True dat on the ventilation! If used for firewood, I would not stack at all. Split it and push it inside. Windows on all sides plus the big door, and none have glass.

Great point on how firewood gains value; elbow grease.

[quote="bogydave, post: 1283733, member: 12640

But it must be a scrounger's heaven, wood to be had everywhere & able to be selective [/quote]

It certainly is-so much stuff just laying around and lots of good hardwood. Most of the damage was to Pines but like someone else before said there's tons of that but with the hardwoods around who needs it.

We just need more time to harvest it! Maybe I'll quit my job lol I'll run that by the wife later....

I am the only person in south eastern pa to notsee any major sandy damage. I was all geared up went out the day before bought to new chains gas oil etc. I didnt cut one stinking log on the roughly 110 combined acres I have to scrounge in diffenert locations. I didnt even see that much while driving from place to place

Around here there is in general enough easy scrounging that anybody who chooses to scrounge firewood can get enough every year. A big storm would make it even easier, but if you're not trying in the first place, easier doesn't really make a difference.

There is a lot of firewood stockpiled on landings in this area because the market is so flat. Pulp/chip prices are very low. High-end firewood markets (kiln dried, shrink wrapped) report large decrease in demand (likely both weather and storm cleanup related). Some are considering leaving the logs on the landing for next year. Tree length loads are about $90/cord delivered.