Buying Seasoned Firewood in Bucks County PA

[bluehens66]

Hi all,

First time poster here. I am having the Regency i2400 wood insert installed this weekend and would like to purchase a cord of seasoned wood ASAP. I've been looking at some of the local firewood suppliers in Bucks County but cannot find a reputable one thus far. There aren't a lot of reviews. I tried searching the forum but haven't found any recommendations.

I am looking for a supplier that can sell me truly seasoned wood. I realize that most places may not deliver < 25% MC wood consistently but perhaps someone on this forum has experience with a quality supplier who more often than not can provide truly seasoned wood with a low MC. Please reply here or PM if you have a recommendation. I would greatly appreciate it!

I'll post some details and pictures of the install next week provided that the NE blizzard doesn't interfere.

-Brett

 

[Oldman47]

Welcome to the forum.
You may find people local to you who advertise "seasoned" wood but most of it has been seasoned less than a month so it is green as grass. I would guess you are SOL for this year. If you can get wood right now you might be able to burn it next winter. If you really want to use that stove this year look into the burnable bricks made from sawdust like Bio-bricks. You do not want to burn the sawdust and wax logs made for people with fireplaces because no modern stove does well with significant wax burned in it.

 

[bluehens66]

Welcome to the forum.
You may find people local to you who advertise "seasoned" wood but most of it has been seasoned less than a month so it is green as grass. I would guess you are SOL for this year. If you can get wood right now you might be able to burn it next winter. If you really want to use that stove this year look into the burnable bricks made from sawdust like Bio-bricks. You do not want to burn the sawdust and wax logs made for people with fireplaces because no modern stove does well with significant wax burned in it.

I realize that I am likely SOL for this year. However, I would still like to purchase a cord or two from a reputable seller to dry for next season. Does anyone in Bucks County have a recommendation?

 

[Flame On]

Bright's in Doylestown is probably your best bet. I just drove by there yesterday and could see they have some grey wood in the giant piles they have in their yard.
There is also a place on 263 in Furlong just north of Swamp Road (Sorry, not sure of the name, but again, I've seen their piles from the car window.)
Bryan's Farm up off of 232 in Wrightstown is another option.
The one time I bought wood was from my tree guys, Warwick Tree Service. Great tree guys, but I'm not sure if they still deal firewood...
Bucks and Montgomery are pretty good places to scrounge. I've been able to get my hands on enough rounds to process my own wood over the last 8 years. The advice on this site is always "get at least two years ahead with your piles." It is oft repeated because it is solid advice. You will always have racks that you know are ready whether you buy your wood or process it yourself.
Sorry I can't be more specific with suppliers.

 

[Pennsyltucky Chris]

In Quakertown, a man named Rob sells legitimately seasoned hardwoods. Good stuff in his bins, like Ash, Oak and Hickory. He sells by the quarter cord, at $50 a piece. He usually has lots. He stacks his bins in a lot and leaves them there for a year, minimum. He will do a moisture test if you request one. I will message you his e mail. I don't want to post it in the forum. I have his phone number too. But you may want to e mail him first. Occasionally he runs out of seasoned wood and he will not sell the unseasoned stacks. He's a bit of a hard @ss, but he's honest and legit. Check your messages.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

If you can find where Pennsyltucky Chris lives you could raid his stash......

Just kidding Chris, in a playful mood today ha ha!

 

[Pennsyltucky Chris]

If you can find where Pennsyltucky Chris lives you could raid his stash......

Just kidding Chris, in a playful mood today ha ha!

All I have is pine. He'll get a chimney fire.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

Seasoned wood is hard to find most places, it seems. I buy two years ahead.

 

[jeffesonm]

Where in bucks? If you want to drive 20 mins into NJ I would sell you some from my stacks.

 

[Kristen]

would like to purchase a cord of seasoned wood ASAP

Based on opinions in other threads my summary would be:

Buy (and split & stack) enough wood for the next two seasons NOW!

Finding firewood that has been stacked and dried for a couple of years, and has a low moisture content, is very rare. If you do find some buy enough for the whole of your first season, in case the supplier runs out, or fobs you off with rubbish on the second delivery.

Get a moisture meter. Reject any delivery which is above whatever threshold you set (measure a freshly split log-face, not the outside). I would suggest 20% or less

For the current year:

Compressed sawdust wood blocks. Get old pallets and break/cut them up. Do not use any that have treated wood (the chemicals are not good for you or your boiler ...). You might find that mixing either of those with greener wood works OK.

Stack logs indoor / near the boiler. This will probably only help with moisture near the surface of the logs, unless you have room for a months worth indoors?

It seems that selling a house, with a stack of fire wood, is seen as a big turn-off for would-be buyers. If you can find a house for sale, with a wood stack that is not wanted, buying that at the same price, or less , as you are paying for "wet wood" might be a good deal. Take your moisture meter with you, and a splitting axe, to test a sample, and make sure the wood pile isn't rotten in the middle (or only pay for what you take, and leave behind anything not suitable)

Burn Oil / Gas this year ...

For next year:

Stack your next-year's-wood in the most advantageous position for drying, irrespective of The Wife Factor etc.! Cover the top (tarpaulin, corrugated-tin sheet, etc.), position the stack so that the prevailing wind blows through the stack side. For year two onwards you can stack it somewhere more out-of-the-way

The aim being to get the first wood pile dry in one year. If there is a choice of wood type available then the fastest drying would also be good for next year, even if that is not the right one longer term.

Buy "seasoned" wood and stack that for for next year (so it is dry in time), and green for the year after. Thereafter buy green wood, as cheap as you can find, each year and split, stack and store for two years. If you can find dead, standing trees, which you can cut down then they may be dry enough for next year. (I buy hardwood as although it costs a little more, over here, it is less cutting, splitting, stacking, hauling, and boiler-loading than softwood)

 

[mellow]

Look for a supplier of wood bricks in your area, you can use them to help burn underseasoned wood. In a pinch you can get the wood bricks from Tractor Supply, but they have not been rated as well as other suppliers. You can also see if anyone sells Kiln Dried firewood, but you gotta watch that as sometimes it will be dry on the outside and still wet on the inside.

 

[DUMF]

Dear Brett:
"...and, I will love you in the morning dear...." About as real as finding honest seasoned wood in the middle of winter.
As said: use the compressed bricks, break up free hardwood pallets, get hardwood scraps from cabinetmakers, etc...
The only firewood sellers that sell real seasoned firewood are $$$$ since they kiln dry the splits.
Heating with firewood is a long range plan at least 1 year ahead. It can be fun, great for physical condition, and you can buy all kinds of man toys.
This is a DIY in spades.

 

[bluehens66]

Where in bucks? If you want to drive 20 mins into NJ I would sell you some from my stacks.

Shout out to Jefferson for selling me some great dry wood! I've been playing around with the new Regency I2400. It's really cold in eastern PA! I've had a nice fire going all day. Here's a video of the secondaries kicking in on the insert with temps just above 450F and damper a little more than half closed.

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Stay warm!

 

[jeffesonm]

Glad to help... good weekend to have a stove!

 

[woodhog73]

Seasoned wood is hard to find most places, it seems. I buy two years ahead.

I cut my own trees and family has trees too so don't have this problem but I know lots of folks do buy wood did you look on crg list ?

I'm not where you are but there's lots of people selling seasoned wood on craiglst I've sold wood myself by placing an ad. No shortage here so I was surprised to learn your having a harder time.

 

[Simon Templar]

Bright's in Doylestown is probably your best bet. I just drove by there yesterday and could see they have some grey wood in the giant piles they have in their yard.
There is also a place on 263 in Furlong just north of Swamp Road (Sorry, not sure of the name, but again, I've seen their piles from the car window.)
Bryan's Farm up off of 232 in Wrightstown is another option.
The one time I bought wood was from my tree guys, Warwick Tree Service. Great tree guys, but I'm not sure if they still deal firewood...
Bucks and Montgomery are pretty good places to scrounge. I've been able to get my hands on enough rounds to process my own wood over the last 8 years. The advice on this site is always "get at least two years ahead with your piles." It is oft repeated because it is solid advice. You will always have racks that you know are ready whether you buy your wood or process it yourself.
Sorry I can't be more specific with suppliers.

I saw this while searching the 'net in general for firewood so I wanted to add that I've purchased from Bryan's on 232 and it was far and away the worst wood I've purchased. Ever. And I've bought from the likes of Splitz on occasion. I was attracted by the large piles I saw off of 232 so I finally broke down and paid $275/cord, and what I got was a pile with a lot of scrap, fence posts, planks, and other nonsense. I'll politely recommend that others in the area look elsewhere.

 

[sigruts192]

I would be paying Bryan a visit.

 

[maple1]

Cover the top (tarpaulin, corrugated-tin sheet, etc.), position the stack so that the prevailing wind blows through the stack side.

I have found the opposite to be the best. Orient your stacks so prevailing winds blow at the end of your stack. That way there is only the small end of the stack for prevailing rain to directly hit (which you could cover if you wanted to keep all wet out) and prevailing rain won't get driven into the sides of the stack. The wind will still pull moisture out from the stack, by blowing across the ends of the wood. There might be a double effect too depending on which way your prevailing winds come from. If it's from the south (mine is), or north, and you orient your stacks so the ends are pointing that way, then the sun will also hit each side of the stack through the day.

 

[Jls667]

Hi everyone,

Reviving an old thread. I'm wondering if anyone had any new recommendations on where to get truly seasoned firewood in Bucks County. I'm new to burning this year. Since starting I've used two different sources (I won't mention names since I don't want to impact their businesses) and have been fairly disappointed. A lot of wet wood. Some really dry pieces but mostly green.

I'm closer to spending a touch more and switching to nearly all compressed blocks instead for a reliable heat source that actually burns and doesn't smolder, and then filling in with free wood I'll scrounge up, cut and store myself.

Any recommendations would be appreciated! Thanks in advance.

 

[kborndale]

The only way to guarantee that your wood will be dry is to buy it at least a year in advance, stack it and let it dry. They chance of buying wood at 20% moisture and lower is pretty low, but almost every dealer will tell you that their wood is "fully seasoned".