This look like three cords?

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I cant see close enough in the shot to guess which species. Folks tend to want oak so usually if its oak they will advertise it as such. Ash is definitely coming on the market in southern NH as EAB is moving in . Red maple is a good possibility unless its urban wood and then you may see some Norway or Silver maple mixed in. White and yellow birch is obvious but you will not see much yellow except from cuts in older sloped lots. Might be some cherry mixed in.

For a new burner a mix of species is the way to go until you get ahead on your wood. Oak is great but it takes 2 to 3 years to season while red maple, white birch and ash will dry quicker. As I mentioned before no poplar as its not great wood. Weighs a lot when green and they dries to very low density so short burn times. At that price there should be no softwood in the mix.

If in doubt ring count is a good but not perfect indication of ultimate dry density. Tight close rings of any species will generally yield a denser dry log and the denser it is dry the longer it will burn.
 
I'm guess 10' x 8' x 4' box = approx 2.5 cords if tight, closer to 2 to 2-1/4 with a loose load.
If $120.00 per load, not a bad price even if it is 2 cords, delivered to your place and dumped where you cut & split.
 
For New Hampshire the price isnt bad, dont know why a state covered in woods would be expensive but it is.
 
weatherguy said:
For New Hampshire the price isnt bad, dont know why a state covered in woods would be expensive but it is.
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The economics of logging has changed big time in NH . The capital equipment cost for a small operation is well over a million bucks. Sky high workmans comp means hiring employees will put someone out of business so most logging jobs is a loose group of independent contractors hoping they dont get hurt or have a spouse who has insurance. The economy of southern and central NH is booming so many of the independents are working skilled trades or construction so there is not a lot of forestry going on besides grubbing out a lot prior to development. There is still active logging going on up north but its not economic to haul firewood 100 miles as the diesel burnt to move it exceeds the Btu content of the wood. Even up north the firewood dealers value their time and realize that if someone can afford to pay they will pay a high rate for wood.
 
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KJamesJR said:
Just to clarify, it's $120 per cord. So they're charging $360 for the truck.
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That doesnt seem like a good price to me but your regional price may very. I can get log length for $90/cord if I want mixed oak/hard maple/beach/cherry. If I want mixed hard/soft maple/ash/cherry then about $80/cord.
 
Where I live in southern nh I see “log length deals” like this one all the time and they are almost all less wood than they claim. I don’t feel they are worth my time. As many mentioned that is most likely closer to 2 cords which would bring the cost to approximately $180 per cord. I can get a full cord delivered at $230 a cord and all I have to do is stack it. Is saving $50 a cord worth it when I take into account the time it would take me to cut the logs up and split them? I don’t think so


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I agree entirely that if cut wood is available and delivered in a closed volume any savings rapidly disappear for buying log length wood. I think the OP is in the mode where he is new burner and just plain can not find a source of wood in the present.

The last time I bought firewood from a dealer in the Conway NH area (Western Maine Firewood) they offered to stack both cords for me. They deliver in a standard box truck so its was pretty easy to see they delivered a fair volume. They admitted the free stacking was as much for their protection about someone claiming after the fact that they got shorted. They are a logging operation so they aren't buying loads of wood, they are just setting the wood that has defects or grading issues off to the side and getting a revenue stream off of it instead of selling it for $40 bucks a ton chipped and delivered to the biomass plant in Tamworth or log length to the chipping operation in Shelburne NH. My guess is the real ugly stuff just gets chipped.

Over the years I know others who have bought log length wood and its usually the low grade tops and branches that are not good enough for pallet wood (unless its their family). It basically gets sold as bulk firewood or pulp. Pulp mills pay by weight so they don't really care how straight the wood is so it the trucker wants to bring in load of air its on him. What some folks don't realize is that if a dealer has a standard automated firewood processor they cant really handle the bent twisted pulp wood with crotches very easily or at all as the equipment usually is designed around a relatively straight stick being fed into it. Therefore the dealers firewood used for the processor is frequently more uniform as they are buying or sorting log that are on the edge of pallet grade. I expect they cut the ugly spots out and set aside the really misshapen wood before it meets the processor. I process my own wood and I take what I can get down to 1 or 2" in diameter so my wood piles and splits are decidedly less uniform than what I got when I bought it. My stuff may not be pretty but my boiler doesn't seem to run any different with pretty wood. Of course I am running the boiler at full load to charge up the storage so stuffing the firebox with uniform splits to maximize burn time isn't of concern.
 
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I told the guy I'm not interested if it's primarily red maple. He didn't contact me again after that.

I got another lead going for a 7 cord grapple for $975. It's from a tree service company. They're saying just mixed hardwood.
 

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That's probably a mix of every deciduous shade tree that grows in that area and really including the very soft maples (Silver Maple). Beware.
 
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$975.00 is still; higher than the going rate around here. Not sure what the going rate is in your area.
 
Pittsburgh PA grapple load ~7 cord

$700 Hardwood (mixed)
 
Okay so after a lot of phone calls I got someone coming with a grapple this weekend. Had to reach out a little further north. The company with the 7 cord grapple, they were yard trees and said if I wanted “processor grade” there would be a premium, additional $300 on top of the $975.

I know it’s all getting burnt up, but I value my time and don’t want to spend it trying to split knots.

Found a guy up north, about 40 miles north, says he can bring roughly 8 cords of lot trees for $1000. No extra charge for delivery. Mixed hardwoods. Told him I didn’t want birch or soft maples and he said that’s fine. He’s bringing mostly beech, hard maple, oak and ash. He said there may be a birch or red maple in the mix but I shouldn’t worry about finding too many of them. I think I got a good deal.
 
I agree. For $1K I can get a log truck plus a pup trailer.
 
I don’t know why there so expensive or hard to come by in my area. I’ll ask the guy if he knows what’s going on with the market.

This is the truck load I’m paying for. Again I can’t really tell what’s in there but it looks pretty well packed with medium sized, straight logs.

He said he doesn’t like to make promises but should be ABOUT 8 cords.
 

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KJamesJR said:
He said he doesn’t like to make promises but should be ABOUT 8 cords.
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If I had to guess, I’d say those are probably the words of an honest man.
 
Ashful said:
If I had to guess, I’d say those are probably the words of an honest man.
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Even if it comes out to 8 or slightly under (maybe more fingers crossed), $125 a cord of green seems to be the “good deal” range for my area. Specially given he’s bringing it from 40 miles north. Add to that the cutting I’m doing on my property I should be ahead for the next two or three years. Hoping for 12 cord c/s/s by the time the ground thaws. 22” splits seems to make for faster work. Glad I didn’t go with a 16” or 18” stove. Gets dicey trying the whole 24” though. 22” seems to be the sweet spot for my stove.
 
DES in NH (Department of Environmental Services)
DEP in Me (Department of Environmental Protection)
 
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