buying off CL/Marketplace...

[DetroitReds]

So, there's about 1000 firewood ads out there...most have some picture of their stock. Everyone advertises 'seasoned, dry, ready to burn, etc', but short of testing with a moisture meter, how do you buy, sight unseen? Some people show pictures of giant piles of splits that aren't stacked at all, leading me to believe it's improperly dried. Others have stacked cord wood, but looks like it's been siting out in the open, uncovered, for who knows how long?

My first season looking for serious burning, and need to cultivate relationships, but in the meantime, does anyone have advise for buying via ads with little other info?

 

[firefighterjake]

I'm probably the wrong person to ask since I haven't paid a single dollar for a single stick of firewood in my life.

That said, I might suggest asking around to folks in the area who use modern stoves and know the importance of well seasoned wood . . . wood stove dealers might also have an idea of who is selling wood ready to go as I suspect they would not want to gunk up their display stoves.

 

[shortys7777]

You can always test it with a moisture meter. If its close by offer to go check yourself before they load up the truck. Or buy your wood now and if its not seasoned, stack it and burn it next season.

 

[begreen]

The odds of getting seasoned firewood now are very low. Many will say it's seasoned, but it isn't. They may call trees that have been in log form for a year, seasoned. It isn't. Some will say that wood split this summer is seasoned, it also isn't. Your best bet for this year is to either by truly kiln dried wood, some ash that was split and stacked early in the year or perhaps buy a couple tons of compressed log or brick fuel.

 

[Simonkenton]

You are not going to buy wood that is dry enough to burn this season.
You need to go to the provider and look at the wood they are selling. Carefully inspect the wood, hopefully his delivery truck is already loaded and you have the cash in hand.
See if there is any rot. Lots of these guys are selling wood that is 25 percent rot. You can see the outside of the pieces are rotten.
Rotten wood = Garbage.

I don't know if these guys are crooked, or just dumb but they often want to sell rotten wood. You are there with the cash, you see 20 or 25 percent rot, you take a hike. You see a truck load of poplar and pine, you take a hike.

You see a truck load of oak or cherry and zero, or 5 percent rot, you tell the guy to deliver right now and you pay him cash when he delivers.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Me personally I have never purchased firewood. If I were to do so I would go to the local suppliers and test the wood and see where it is with the MC as well as the quality. I would select a supplier and just assume that the wood is for next year.. If its close I would use some of the wood and mix in bio bricks or equivalent to get me through the first year. Purchas a bunch of wood and season it yourself... then you know its done correctly...

 

[WoodBurnerInWI]

Honestly FB Marketplace ads and Craigslist are a real crap shoot for finding good "deals" on wood. In my experience with Craigslist ads for example, there was only one time I found an amazing deal and that was for locust, $150 a cord. A local farmer was selling it and the story was he had to cut a ton of locust for some new fields he wanted. The wood was great stuff, sub 20% on the moisture meter and def burned like it was dry. That was when I lived in my first house, really wish I could have taken that locust with me!

If you are able to handle full size logs and have them delivered in a convenient area, I would highly recommend seeing if local tree services offer log dumps. These loads are free wood but the catch is you are going to get a mix of species, hardwoods and softwoods. I have been using 3 different tree services around my area and last year I got 4 log drops right at my house in the driveway. All in all it gave me over 10 cords of wood and I was very happy with the quality of the logs. Most of my logs were ash, followed by oak, and then the remaining types were elm, birch and pine. The biggest drawback though is that these logs are likely yard trees and may contain metal or old nails and stuff so it's a really good idea to invest in a cheap wand style metal detector to help detect metal in the wood.

 

[Highbeam]

I think it’s silly to say that you can’t buy excellent quality, seasoned, firewood right now. If you come to my house and have enough money to give me I’ll sell you mine. It’s just that typical woodsellers, like typical wood burners, don’t know what dry wood is. Some do know but are in the business of selling and competing so they lie about the dryness.

I buy logs and ask for green so I know it’s fresh. The logs come in a dump truck. I have three years worth of wood in the yard right now.

 

[sweedish]

I think a we as a group are a bit hard on firewood sellers. Honestly, if you were to go into a woods, find, cut, split, build a woodshed, properly stack, let season for 2 years+, then unstack, probably load into a truck or something then deliver to someone, what would you charge? I think You’d have to be an idiot to sell the Sub 20% mc Wood for Less than 250+ bucks a cord.
I don’t think people are willing to pay much extra for your time, effort and forethought when the ding dong down the road/next ad Above and below Is selling It way less.

I saw a flyer around my area “pickup truck load of firewood delivered anywhere in the county $50.00.” I don’t see any way this guy is getting ahead in any way.

 

[Woody5506]

Just ask the dealer how long the wood has been split. Don't ask how long it's been seasoned since rarely will they actually admit that seasoning only occurs once the wood is split.

I've found a couple things by asking this. One, they either dodge the question of how long it's been split or they don't even answer you at all. Two, they will come right out and say "oh it's been split for 3 months!" because they think that means it's seasoned.

There's one dealer near me who I've bought from a couple times. His wife gave me a lengthy detailed response when I asked them how long their wood has been split. According to her it sits 1 year in log form before splitting, then one year in splits before it's put out for sale. For a firewood dealer who does as much volume as they do, that's about as good as it gets around here.

 

[mrd1995]

It may take some digging but you will eventually find an honest seller. I sold about 8 cord of FB this year I advertised it as green and semi-seasoned( was ash and black cherry c.s.s. for 3-6months, also checked MC on fresh split faces to advertise as accurately as possible). As stated above I don't think the average wood burner understands what seasoned v. green even is. I had one buyer say my wood maybe too dry and mind you I was getting MC from19-27% on the face cord he bought. My point being is there are some decent knowledgeable people they just have to be found.

Best of luck in your search.

 

[Easy Runnin]

Next time I buy firewood I'm will explain to the guy I will pay on delivery, I will be present for the delivery, and I will be inspecting the wood before it is dropped. If it does not pass inspection I will refuse it. If the seller knows this ahead of time, he less likely to waste his time delivering something tht will be refused.

 

[kborndale]

Just ask the dealer how long the wood has been split. Don't ask how long it's been seasoned since rarely will they actually admit that seasoning only occurs once the wood is split.

I've found a couple things by asking this. One, they either dodge the question of how long it's been split or they don't even answer you at all. Two, they will come right out and say "oh it's been split for 3 months!" because they think that means it's seasoned.

There's one dealer near me who I've bought from a couple times. His wife gave me a lengthy detailed response when I asked them how long their wood has been split. According to her it sits 1 year in log form before splitting, then one year in splits before it's put out for sale. For a firewood dealer who does as much volume as they do, that's about as good as it gets around here.

I would have to disagree, around me they split huge mountains of wood. The wood at the bottom of the mountain could be split over a year ago but would still be 30% moisture because it has never seen light or felt wind and never dries out after it rains. Wood doesn't dry in the middle of large piles. If you want wood you know is properly seasoned, season it yourself.

 

[baseroom]

When I have way to much wood in my piles (according to my wife) I will advertise and sell some. I ALWAYS tell people to come and see it! NO One takes me up on that offer. I will only sell 2-3 year old mixed hardwoods......the same wood that I burn. So my advice is go and see the ACTUAL wood you will recieve.

 

[Woody5506]

I would have to disagree, around me they split huge mountains of wood. The wood at the bottom of the mountain could be split over a year ago but would still be 30% moisture because it has never seen light or felt wind and never dries out after it rains. Wood doesn't dry in the middle of large piles. If you want wood you know is properly seasoned, season it yourself.

Disagree with what? Being the best option for buying wood in my region? Yeah, you're right that stuff at the bottom of a mound isn't gonna dry compared to stuff actually exposed to air. All I'm saying is there's no good dealers around here offering better solutions. By and large they split huge quantities during or end of summer and call it seasoned for the Fall, so if you gotta buy from a large volume dealer it may as well be the guy who's actually got the stuff split for a year or more. I'm thankful I don't have to rely on any of these dealers for wood, but in my first year with my new stove I had to buy a little here and there.

 

[kborndale]

Disagree with what? Being the best option for buying wood in my region? Yeah, you're right that stuff at the bottom of a mound isn't gonna dry compared to stuff actually exposed to air. All I'm saying is there's no good dealers around here offering better solutions. By and large they split huge quantities during or end of summer and call it seasoned for the Fall, so if you gotta buy from a large volume dealer it may as well be the guy who's actually got the stuff split for a year or more. I'm thankful I don't have to rely on any of these dealers for wood, but in my first year with my new stove I had to buy a little here and there.

I disagree with when it was split being the best metric for dryness. I would rather have a cord that was stacked for 6 months over one that sat in the middle of a wood mountain for a year.

 

[Simonkenton]

I have bought one pickup load of firewood. Guy said it was cherry and oak. I asked him if there was any rot in the wood because I didn't want any rot.
He said he was a Christian and he loved Jesus and his love for Jesus kept him from lying, and he said there was no rot.
He and two other big guys showed up with the wood. It was about 20 percent rot. It was 85 bucks for that truck load.

I told them to stack it up. I am a big guy as well and have been in a few fights but I didn't want to make anybody mad.
While the four of us were stacking the wood, I showed him a piece that was 20 percent rot and asked what the deal was.
He said, "Well you are going to have some rot in any firewood you get you can't help it."

Like I said above I don't know if some of these guys are that stupid, or if they are just crooked, but it is caveat emptor when you are buying firewood.

That is why, I say to you, go to the firewood dealer's place, and look at the wood he is going to deliver. Lots easier to tell him "Goodbye" before he has driven up to your place.

 

[johneh]

Around here seasoned wood means it was
seasoned in the back of the truck on the way to you
No in all honesty there are 3 guys around here that only
sell wood that has been stacked for 2 years. Mind you
they sell out quickly

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I agree with post number 9.. As stated above I personally have never bought wood. If I were to purchase wood I doubt that it would be exactly the way that i have my wood. I think we have unreasonable expectations of these dealers.. Honestly how is someone who sells 500 cords per year going to get it all below 20%MC its just not reasonable. I have a friend with a tree services.. He seasons his wood in rounds.. splits it in late August early September and sells it in October.. Theres just no room to put this wood where he is. If people thought ahead and got the wood prior to when they needed it and actually let it dry there would be less discussion about this. If people go into this and bought wood knowing the truth that the wood is JUST SPLIT AND NOT FULLY SEASONED the expectations will be met..

 

[Grizzerbear]

I agree with post number 9.. As stated above I personally have never bought wood. If I were to purchase wood I doubt that it would be exactly the way that i have my wood. I think we have unreasonable expectations of these dealers.. Honestly how is someone who sells 500 cords per year going to get it all below 20%MC its just not reasonable. I have a friend with a tree services.. He seasons his wood in rounds.. splits it in late August early September and sells it in October.. Theres just no room to put this wood where he is. If people thought ahead and got the wood prior to when they needed it and actually let it dry there would be less discussion about this. If people go into this and bought wood knowing the truth that the wood is JUST SPLIT AND NOT FULLY SEASONED the expectations will be met..

I agree 100%.....too many expectations from the wood man. Folks need to buy bulk and get a couple seasons ahead....season it themselves and continue to stay ahead so they know what they got. Also you got to know someone around that buys firewood or a guy that knows a guy that buys his wood. Skip the craigslist if you can and go by word of mouth from someone you know if you can.

 

[DetroitReds]

All very helpful information, thank you. Yes, its my first season with soon-to-be installed stove, and much to learn. I did manage to split about a cord mid-summer to get ahead of the game for next season, but still looking for this winter. I have a few promising leads and a moisture meter I need to learn to use .
Living in the city, I know a few folks who split their own, but not many who heat full time enough to have reliable sources.

 

[fbelec]

to stick up for the wood guy i have a friend who deals wood. after the wood was half dry it felt good to him and he would ask what's wrong with that. now that he burns a wood stove he understands. but he is one of the few honest guys. it might be that some of these guys have never been taught what's right and what's wrong

 

[Riteway]

Saw a Marketplace ad from a guy selling fir rounds and it says, in all caps "THIS IS NOT DRY FIREWOOD, STOCK UP FOR NEXT YEAR." Sounds like a pretty stand-up individual!

 

[fbelec]

Nice guy. Rare guy

 

[Shawn]

Well, we were not going to burn much this year so I ended up taking most of my "good" wood to our camp over the summer. Couple of months ago I changed my mind since I was going to be working from home all or most of the winter. I started to look for wood on Craigslist. Found a guy about 5 minutes from home who said he had split/seasoned ready to burn wood selling in 1/2 cord increments for $110. I called him up and had a load delivered. Entire truck load of cherry, stacked higher than I would of stacked, pretty well seasoned, cracked ends, no dirt, no rot. He said he lives on a large property and every year has trees cut down. He splits, stacks, covers, and then sells when he has about 10 truck loads. I ended up getting 5 truck loads delivered over two days.

I found out at the end that he had a couple of truck loads worth of oak as well. I should of gotten that also but I know it needed to season a bit longer and it would of needed to be the first wood burned due to how I had the racks stacked.

Mentioned to my wife that I should call him back and see if he has any left. She thinks we have enough and reminded me that I will get tired of burning sometime in mid-January. She's probably right, but I still might call...