Where do you get your wood?

[firefighterjake]

Sweet . . . the tree guys came back yesterday to cut down another tree. One of my co-workers said something about maybe taking a load of wood to camp . . . I informed him that if the wood was still here in the morning I was considering it fair game . . .

Loaded another pick-up full of wood.

Tomorrow it's steak and wood at a friend's house . . .

 

[Dobish]

Sweet . . . the tree guys came back yesterday to cut down another tree. One of my co-workers said something about maybe taking a load of wood to camp . . . I informed him that if the wood was still here in the morning I was considering it fair game . . .

Loaded another pick-up full of wood.

Tomorrow it's steak and wood at a friend's house . . .

I gave one of my co-workers a pile of uglies so he could go camping. Then i get a craigslist notice about free wood 2 houses away from my brothers house. I have to be at my brothers house tomorrow, so i email. Guy is giving away a fire pit, rack, and 1/4 cord of seasoned wood. Karma.

 

[Vikestand]

We live on 35 acres and have another 70 acres about an hour fortyfive minutes away. Oddly enough I haven't had to cut too much on my place yet. My FIL had cleared a portion of a five acre lot to build their house on and that has covered most of my needs for the last five years. Even when I lived on this 35 as a kid, my dad managed to get a lot from his work. In total we have about 20 acres of timber. So that will be more than enough to cut on over my lifetime. If done right, I will only need to rotate between a few acres to supply my obsession.

 

[WiscWoody]

I scrounge neighbors acreages with their permission or my own few acres for all of my wood as we live in the Cheqaumagan nation forest and hardwood is easy to come by and I’ve never had to pay for my own wood and have had enough to sell here and there too. I find Birch, Oak, Maple, Elm, Ironwood, White and Black Ash and Poplar up here. Here’s some I just split and racked. I love the canvas tarps from Menards.

 

[lowroadacres]

For the most part I don't turn down an invitation to pick up a scrounge here and there when friends have tree service's leave rounds on their yards. I keep an eye out for online ads when people have wood to give away but I am terribly picky now as I have found myself picking up rotten stumps before which I will no longer do.

Our main firewood source is the standing dead Ash that has been left from flood kill from the past two major floods in 2011 and 2014 in our region. within less than a mile drive from our acreage is over a 100 acres of bush that has more than enough wood for many years to come.

 

[TJ1]

We live on 42 acres and it is almost all white and red oak. There are so many trees down from a tornado earlier this year doubt I could ever burn them up before I die. Most are only 25 yards or less from a road and I cant even give them away.

 

[edyit]

My inlaws burn wood for heat as well as us. so each year my father inlaw and I go in on a load of logs. both of us are far enough ahead now that this works out really well since we each get about ~4 cords from a load. so what we cut and split this year we will burn the year after next.

 

[Dobish]

From my brothers neighbor

 

[blacktail]

I need a trailer to haul wood....

View attachment 201456

Landcruiser?

 

[Zack R]

Landcruiser?

Yeah a 94' 80 series, just under 300k miles.

 

[firefighterjake]

Well it turned out there was no steak . . . but my buddy did grill up a couple burgers with beef he was given from a neighbor who raised her own beef critter. It was quite tasty.

 

[ZZ Tom]

Well it turned out there was no steak . . . but my buddy did grill up a couple burgers with beef he was given from a neighbor who raised her own beef critter. It was quite tasty.

The old bait & switch

 

[max384]

I get all of my wood from scrounging. I live in a large (about 5,000 acres) development that is mostly wooded. There are tons of downed trees on vast areas of empty lots that I cut up and haul home. There is also a "dump" in the development where they take grass clippings, branches, small trees, rocks, etc. from development maintenance and new house construction. In the spring, they bulldoze all of it into a big pile to decompose. As long as I grab it before they bulldoze it into a pile, I'm fine. I've found trees (nearly all oak here) up to 18" in diameter and around 8-10' in length and the branches already trimmed.

 

[Dobish]

I ended up getting another 1/2 cord of wood from the neighbors the other day when we lost a bunch of trees in an early snow storm. It was a combination of Elm, boxelder, and aspen, and 1 black walnut.

My first year, i did a lot of scrounging, and driving around looking out for stuff. Even now, I drive by free piles and think that I should pick it up, but only do if its primo or really easy. The pine I picked up the other day was 3+ years seasoned, and was dry as a bone. I couldn't NOT pick it up!

 

[FaithfulWoodsman]

We live rural and i run a landscaping company. Between the few trees from clients every year and endless feild lines and fence rows im permissioned to cut, ive got access for years to come. I also check CL now and then for a close free score of white oak or hedge or something.

 

[FaithfulWoodsman]

This fell over in may. Customer paid me to clear it off the path i mow. And insisted on paying me to cut and clean it up in a week when I go get it. It will be left spotless though. I even blow the sawdust away and then blow leaves back to edge to make it look like it never happened. Several million dollar prop and the nicest guy, so i take care of him.

 

[saewoody]

I need a trailer to haul wood....

View attachment 201456

The back of my Suburban has looked like that on well more than a few occasions! Most people don't really use the "U" in SUV.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[kennyp2339]

When I first started burning wood I called in a log truck, $350.00 and nearly 7 cords later I got my jump start, from them on I was able to supply my stash with free wood opportunities from work, friends, and the woods behind my house. ATM I have about 12 cords split and stacked, all my old piles have been moved to my new wood shed in the driveway (holds 8 cords) and I have about 4 or 5 cords in a holtzholsen pile. I'm aiming to collect another 4 cords this winter, I have some dead tree's in the woods that can be cut up and who knows what will be available at work this year, I should be good to go.

 

[bfast250]

Scored this white oak on Craigslist today. Best scrounge I have had yet. Drive right up to the top on the ground and gave my orange tattoo'd Makita a good workout. Should be good burning in 2020.

 

[maple1]

Interesting thread - just saw it.

Very fortunate here to live on 550 acres of family land. Just have to wheel the ATV out of the basement & go at it. I very much look forward to getting out & stocking up the BTUs when I find the time here & there, it's my exercise & therapy routine. Others can have their gyms, I'll take the woods thank you very much. I only go after windfalls that would otherwise rot back into the ground, and the last 2-3 years have been confining that to one 50 acre area that I am pretty sure would keep me going until I can't go any more. So I am improving the wood lot at the same time as maintaining my health - adding more trails as I go (crude as they are). Had no firewood on hand for my boiler 4.5 years ago, now I have almost 3 years in the yard ready to go on top of this winter supply in the basement. If I can keep it up I might even be able to peddle a little bit here & there - never know what the future will bring health-wise & all that.

That said, I would still be way ahead though even if I had to buy my wood, I am pretty sure. When I was burning both wood & oil, I was figuring it would take about 4 tanks/800 gallons of oil to get me through the winter if only burning oil. With the new wood burner (not so new anymore I guess), I think it would take me 1000 gallons to keep us as warm as it does all winter. 1000 gallons of oil vs. 5-6 cords of wood, yah paying for wood would pay off. Now I'm looking forward to seeing how much wood is left next spring, with all the kids out of the house pretty well all winter for the first time & 1/4 of the house not needing to really be heated much. Add a mini-split next summer for shoulders, and I might actually have 5-6 years of wood out the back door. Gotta like that.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

Changes for me all the time -- where I get wood. The guys I like best don't have it every year. I only have a splitting maul, no ability to cut trees. I do pretty well with Craigslist, looking for stuff like oak, hickory, and cherry.

 

[Sodbuster]

View attachment 201843 View attachment 201844 This fell over in may. Customer paid me to clear it off the path i mow. And insisted on paying me to cut and clean it up in a week when I go get it. It will be left spotless though. I even blow the sawdust away and then blow leaves back to edge to make it look like it never happened. Several million dollar prop and the nicest guy, so i take care of him.

Our County/Power Company just dropped a ton of trees that look like the longer log in your picture and left them piled right next to the road. I have bad tendonitis in my right arm and can't cut right now, but nothing prevents me from chaining/lifting them with the bucket on my tractor and piling them at home.

 

[kennyp2339]

When I was burning both wood & oil, I was figuring it would take about 4 tanks/800 gallons of oil to get me through the winter if only burning oil. With the new wood burner (not so new anymore I guess), I think it would take me 1000 gallons to keep us as warm as it does all winter. 1000 gallons of oil vs. 5-6 cords of wood, yah paying for wood would pay off

That's exactly how I think, its what keeps me motivated, I figure I save about $1800.00 a year on home heating oil, I then take that "maintenance money" and do capital work on the house, this year was my 8 cord woodshed. I know it sounds silly but that's how I think and it keeps me focused on always improving.

 

[heavy hammer]

Not only does it save most of us money burning wood. The heat is awesome. I have been getting most of my wood from people who take down large trees and want nothing to do with the wood. A buddy of mine who burns wood, his father paid a tree guy to take down a few monster locusts and ash. First one they called to clean it up was me. 9 out of 10 people don’t want to deal with large trees, I can’t say I blame them but having a couple large saws two diesel pickups and a new 40 horse tractor. I’ll take it all, my heating bill last winter was $135 for heating about 4000sq feet.

 

[gutlo]

Local hardware store. Pallets, oak only, marked HT for heat treated. Saw 'em up with skilsaw, package 'em in recycled plastic bags from pellets (burn those too). When I want a slower burn, stack up the flat pieces with no air between pieces. No creosote, hot burn, no need for drying stack. They thank me for taking them away. Nails removed from the ashes with a magnet.