The Summer Scrounge is on!!!

[chevyhd]

I was talking to the neighbor over the weekend and scored a wild cherry tree. He told me the tree just up and died last summer. He said I could have it and he would just haul away the stuff I didn't want. Can't get much closer, only two houses up the street.

 

[fespo]

What a good day today at work. I work for our local school dist, and over this weekend they had abig tree service in to cut some trees down. They cleared every tree on the back lot for a new addition. The service chipped up everything 8in and under and left everthing else. So my boss asked if I wanted any wood for home, ( of course I wanted the good wood ) He loaded it up for me with a bobcat and dumped it in the school truck, drove it home for me, gave me the saw, gas and oil to use. And the best part was , I was getting paid to take it home. I took all the Ash, Oak, Mulberry and Hard Maple. I left the Elm because it had more twist then a piece of twine, Willow and some Boxelder. The Pine tree was about 3ft across in dim. I never seen such a big pine tree in my whole life. The Ash trunks are about 2 1/2 ft in dim. All joking a side, I saved them money by taking it home so they would not have to pay to have it hauled away I probably got about 5 to 6 face cords.

 

[wg_bent]

What a good day today at work. I work for our local school dist, and over this weekend they had abig tree service in to cut some trees down. They cleared every tree on the back lot for a new addition. The service chipped up everything 8in and under and left everthing else. So my boss asked if I wanted any wood for home, ( of course I wanted the good wood ) He loaded it up for me with a bobcat and dumped it in the school truck, drove it home for me, gave me the saw, gas and oil to use. And the best part was , I was getting paid to take it home. I took all the Ash, Oak, Mulberry and Hard Maple. I left the Elm because it had more twist then a piece of twine, Willow and some Boxelder. The Pine tree was about 3ft across in dim. I never seen such a big pine tree in my whole life. The Ash trunks are about 2 1/2 ft in dim. All joking a side, I saved them money by taking it home so they would not have to pay to have it hauled away I probably got about 5 to 6 face cords.

Sounds like a great score! I'd take the elm and pine though. Elm may be nature's cruel joke, but it sure burns good. Cut it in 6" disks with the chain saw and burn them whole. No splitting required.

I'm up to 8 cords now. Just finished stacking/splitting full cord of cherry. I have about 1/2 cord of it to pick up and bring home still, plus a large elm, and a 18" 20' section of the cherry they still want dropped and removed. (another 1/2 cord ) Today at lunch while I was picking up some of the cherry, I noticed the neighbor (my original source of the Elm) had dropped a small ash, a very large dead elm, and one other tree, Apple maybe. The elm alone is worth 1/2 a cord.

My parents neighbor has a good 1/2 a cord of apple still, plus I my wife's cousin has 3/4 acre of hard wood (oak, maple, elm, and cherry) they want cleared. Actually, I can't even keep ahead.

 

[fbelec]

fespo you got a good score. if it was going to cost more to have that stuff taken away than to have a worker on their payroll take care of it then they did the right thing. take the other stuff also. it's free

 

[fbelec]

dylan it happens all the time. if you were in his spot you would refuse the wood until you could pick it up on your time because it might cost the town less money for him to take it away then to have somebody truck it out of there. put it on a scale. looks like a win win situation. the town got rid of it cheap. the worker got a benefit that he should have got. and the stuff didn't get chipped up like most city and states do when a tree is in their way. HELLO ANYBODY IN THERE

 

[fespo]

Dylan, no disrespect but what would you do? leave it there or bring it to the wood/branch dump where you pay by the size of the load. I would have still had to load it, Drive to the dump,about 1 hour ride each way, or to my house which is 6.4 miles. So to make heads roll where did they lose! They saved more money then you can shake a stick at. Its people like you who get on phone , make phone calls ,cause problems and have no idea whats going on in the real world. They saved money in fuel, dump fees, time on payroll, the list goes on. Do be upset just because you didnt get a good summer wood score Just from a one good ole boy to another!

 

[BrotherBart]

Dylan, no disrespect but what would you do? leave it there or bring it to the wood/branch dump where you pay by the size of the load. I would have still had to load it, Drive to the dump,about 1 hour ride each way, or to my house which is 6.4 miles. So to make heads roll where did they lose! They saved more money then you can shake a stick at. Its people like you who get on phone , make phone calls ,cause problems and have no idea whats going on in the real world. They saved money in fuel, dump fees, time on payroll, the list goes on. Do be upset just because you didnt get a good summer wood score Just from a one good ole boy to another!

As one good old boy former local government employee to another:

Well heck fespo. Just drop in at the next School Board Meeting and tell them what a good deal they got.

Use of the Bobcat, truck, saw, gas and oil. Hours on the clock. Shoot, they will thank you for saving them money.

PS: Your are right Dylan. Even the appearance of pokin the pooch ain't allowed in local government.

 

[Shane]

My .02 I think him letting you have the wood was reasonable, maybe even dumping it for you (since they'd of had to haul it anyway) but giving you the saw gas and wage to cut it was probably a stretch.

 

[wg_bent]

My .02 I think him letting you have the wood was reasonable, maybe even dumping it for you (since they'd of had to haul it anyway) but giving you the saw gas and wage to cut it was probably a stretch.

Yup, Shane's closer here. Loading the truck was fine, and dumping it in his yard vs the dump was o.k. cause that had to be done anyway. The problem is, it get's so hard and wastes time (ie money) with this stuff. The right thing to do would be to set up a non-associated company that does wood removal (his wife?) and charge the district 10 bucks (to cover the gas and saw) for the job. OR...expand his job duties to log remover, and be up front that he's being paid on the clock for log removal. When the logs are gone, he's done his job. No one will ask where the logs went. But they better ALL be gone. Be a good chance for the district to "Own" a chain saw that the log remover would use for all district removal jobs. That way the district wouldn't have to "borrow" the log removers. It's all in the wording.

I sure wouldn't brag about the use of district equipment to anyone. In reality, the right thing was done to save the district money, but think of how this kind of thing could get out of control quick if a different and less honest person was taking advantage of the district. Or sued the district because you got hurt using your chainsaw with thier gas. I could see that one biting the district big time.

 

[PAJerry]

Just started hauling and splitting a whole bunch of scots pine rounds that my neighbor had cut last spring and stacked up all over his property. He is planning on building a good-sized storage building and had to remove a lot of pine trees that had been planted by the gentleman that built the house back in the 1950's. He said no one wanted the wood last year because around here it is taboo to burn pine - creosote problems. Well, with what I've learned here and after seeing how well the Vista burns, I'm going to mix it in with my ash and apple. There is more wood there than I could ever use and some of it that is setting on the ground is getting a little ugly so I'm just going to take a cord or so and leave the rest.
It is a shame to see so much go to waste!

 

[fbelec]

dylan it happens all the time. if you were in his spot you would refuse the wood until you could pick it up on your time because it might cost the town less money for him to take it away then to have somebody truck it out of there. put it on a scale. looks like a win win situation. the town got rid of it cheap. the worker got a benefit that he should have got. and the stuff didn't get chipped up like most city and states do when a tree is in their way. HELLO ANYBODY IN THERE

fb....and, I guess, fespo,

I'll say it again....YOU'RE A RATIONALIZER.....plain and simple. I'm curious, tho: Do your wood cutting/processing skills come anywhere close to your ability to justify your being treated as special??

:coolsmile:

 

[babalu87]

How could I turn down fresh cut Maple in about 2 foot rounds 8 minutes from work.......... going back tomorrow

Though they did say it was Oak, who am I to argue?

 

[suematteva]

The dump is one of my special scrounge places. I actually look forward to going there to dump the yard waste that we don't compost...Every year I easily collect 1.5 cords there always good maple, apple, beech, ash etc.....The Mrs...never asks what took you so long..She doesn't even tell her brother about this place.

 

[Sandor]

The women sent out the message that we were looking for wood.

Coworker said come on by her house, she has plenty of "hurricane" wood.

Stopped by on Friday, and there is like 10 cords all in a huge pile, already bucked.

The dowside side is that she said I can have "only" 3 full size truck loads.

Uh, Ok.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Every year the trade association I work for puts on a trade show for the forest products industry. Some of the machines being displayed and demonstrated are firewood splitters and processors. When the show is over, there are always piles of split firewood littering the outside exhibit area. The locals and grounds staff are hip to the routine--they move in right after the show clears out and haul off all the wood (some lumber and mulch, too). That saves us much of the cleanup expense and gives these people a source of free firewood.

One of my closely-held, core beliefs is that for every person looking for free firewood, there's another person trying to get rid of some. You couldn't ask for a better system than that, IMO. The ants are rewarded for their work.

 

[fbelec]

now if i can only locate the person thats trying to unload that pesky load of wood they have in their yard

 

[wg_bent]

now if i can only locate the person thats trying to unload that pesky load of wood they have in their yard

Just keep your eyes open and ask. I always ask people, and I'd say my succes rate is near 90% positive. But do pay attention to who your asking. Look at their chimney. If they have a fireplace that's clearly being used or a wood stove (clue is a chimney liner), then I don't bother. Also, look at the size of the peices they've cut. Wood burners will cut shorter. Non-wood burners typically cut into 20-24 inch lengths for ease of stacking. Most people don't have stoves that big.

 

[fbelec]

honestly since this thread started i've been on the look out. most people around here burn. but if i do find that person with 24 inch rounds or splits i be in my glory. my stove takes 24 inch

have a nice day

 

[mailman]

a 24 inch round is 24 inches thick right? not tall? Just want to get it right.

 

[DonCT]

Speaking of scrounges, I saw a pile on the side of the street on the way home today. I whiped the truck around and went to talk to the owner. Apparently, the city decided to drop his tree. They cut it into 16-20" rounds and took all the brush. I ask him if he has any plans for the wood. He replys "Nope, it's all yours!!". I almost started doing backflips on my way back to the truck. It looks like a white oak.

It's about 3 truck loads, so this scrounge should complete my pile for this year. Any extra will be gravy for next year

 

[Eric Johnson]

a 24 inch round is 24 inches thick right? not tall? Just want to get it right.

I think he's talking tall (long).

 

[DriftWood]

This is a first! My daughter saw a man cutting a tree and piling of wood across the street from her boyfriends house. She asked the owner if she could have it for her dad who burns wood. He said take it all. Then she arranged for her boyfriend to load it and deliver it the next day after he got out o work, in his pickup truck. Scrounging doesn't get much better up than that.

 

[wg_bent]

honestly since this thread started i've been on the look out. most people around here burn. but if i do find that person with 24 inch rounds or splits i be in my glory. my stove takes 24 inch

have a nice day

Yes, but that's the exception and one heck of a big stove. My stove maxes out at about 17-18, but generally I cut wood about 15 or 16"...and if it's elm more like 8"...but they can be as big in diameter as as you like. The ones I found were like 24" across and 24" long. Happy happy.

 

[scfa99]

i've been scoring big time. 2 full trailer loads (approx 3/4 cord each) on saturday - maple, found it in the classifieds online.

yesterday driving back after dropping off a tractor at my buddies, tree company limbed out a huge oak. asked the guy if i could have it, he said "i don't care i'm a tenant". rounds were all 14-16", another full trailer load. best of all they will be coming back to take down the rest of the tree so i'll be back over there tonight.

 

[precaud]

Got two loads today, a little over 1/3 cord each in my longbed Ranger. Standing dead pinon, perfectly seasoned. I'll go back for more next time the weather cools off, like it did today.