Can Anyone Truthfully Say They've Bought Seasoned Firewood?

[DanCorcoran]

I've read lots of posts on here from folks looking for seasoned firewood and from folks complaining they were promised seasoned firewood but didn't get it. It occurred to me: can anyone tell an upbeat story about their experience buying firewood that burned like it had been seasoned for 2-3 years? Firewood that met, or maybe even exceeded, your expectations?

(Where's that popcorn-munching smileyface when you need it?)

 

[karl]

I buy slab wood from a lumber mill. It's sopping wet when it arrives. I always buy it early and I have slowly been trying to get a year ahead on wood. It does dry quickly, so a May delivery is ready to burn in the fall.

Last year due to the economy they weren't cutting much wood. I got a load in September sopping wet. I was still waiting on my third load all the way until December. When they called to delivery it, I accepted thinking I'm going to be using the furnace all winter but at least I'll have would for next year. When it arrived it was perfectly cut 2x8 18 inches long, not slabs. I asked the driver and he said the owner cut up a whole warehouse of 2x8's he didn't sell because so many people were out of wood and freezing. This stuff wasn't kiln dried, none of their wood is, but It had been sitting in a warehouse for over a year. The stuff lit like a match. I mixed it in with the other load and burned it all winter. Really nice guy.

 

[muncybob]

I lucked out in my first year of burning. A guy had several cords of wood that had been split and stacked for over 3 years. He was not burning wood anymore and just wanted to get rid of it. If I could have afforded more I would have bought it all. Mixture of hardwoods...first and last time I bought actual dry firewood.
It did cost me a poly wheelbarrow though...throwing splits into one is not suggested!

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I can say I've never bought firewood

 

[lukem]

I bought some at a campground one time. It was dry. Based on the astronomical price for a small bundle, I probably paid over $2k/cord....but hey...the kids got their s'mores.

 

[DanCorcoran]

I can say I've never bought firewood

Yeah, I've never bought either. I just thought it'd be easier to be able to answer folks' questions (about where to buy seasoned firewood) by responding that no one in the history of this website has ever been known to have bought seasoned firewood...

 

[fossil]

I've bought plenty (many cords) of perfectly seasoned firewood...both softwoods and hardwoods...ready to burn as soon as it was unloaded. Just gotta know your supplier and the right questions to ask. Rick

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I've bought plenty (many cords) of perfectly seasoned firewood...both softwoods and hardwoods...ready to burn as soon as it was unloaded. Just gotta know your supplier and the right questions to ask. Rick

I bet drying time in Bend is half what it is anywhere on the east coast

 

[fossil]

I've bought plenty (many cords) of perfectly seasoned firewood...both softwoods and hardwoods...ready to burn as soon as it was unloaded. Just gotta know your supplier and the right questions to ask. Rick

I bet drying time in Bend is half what it is anywhere on the east coast

No doubt. High desert. Very dry. Not at all like the 12 years I lived in Northern Virginia. Just answering the question. ;-) Rick

 

[jeff_t]

If I ever have to buy it, there's two guys in my area I'll buy it from. One I know personally, the other has 50-60 cords in each of two stacks that get rotated every year. My wife gives me sh*t about noticing this stuff, but it's good to pay attention.

I have another friend who cuts and sells. He gets an order, goes to the woods, and gets it. He had a customer over the winter pissed off because the ten face cords of oak he bought wouldn't burn. I said that he was right, and my friend got pretty defensive. He's cutting tops that have been down for five years, so therefore 'it's seasoned' and the guy should know it's oak and he has to mix it with something else and it will burn fine. Whatever, I could see that was an argument going nowhere.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Jeff, that somehow sounds very typical.

I bought firewood one winter. Fresh cut ash. We got through it but hope I never have to do that again. Yes, you can burn ash when green.....if you want to. It still is much better seasoned a year or more. Lots of ours is seasoned 5 years or more. Hey, I still have a few splits that are 8 years since being split and stacked! Don't really know why I didn't burn them last winter other than I forgot they were there. They will burn fine this coming fall.

 

[Elderthewelder]

I can say I've never bought firewood

Neither have I. However I have spent alot of money of the equipment to scrounge and process it myself. So in turn i guess I have bought it in a round about way, like they say there is no such thing as free firewood

 

[wendell]

I have bought 1 cord of wood, all oak, right when I bought my first stove. I would say that it was very well seasoned, especially for oak.

 

[wendell]

I would add, that after figuring out that what I saved in NG was exactly what I spent for the wood, I knew I would never buy wood again.

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

I don't think anyone ever buys truly seasoned, ready to burn firewood. People selling it never seem to hang onto it long enough to let is season, and then don't cover it properly while they have it. I always tell people to buy wood at least a year ahead of time and season it themselves.

 

[DanCorcoran]

How much wood would a wood-guy buy, if a wood-guy would buy wood?

 

[Battenkiller]

There's a place nearby that sells well seasoned hardwoods, but it will cost you an arm, two legs and your reproductive organs. He calls his business "Gourmet Firewood", and he has his own unique measures of the amounts. My favorite is the "fireplace cord", which I believe is just over 1/6 of a real cord by it's volumetric description. It's yuppie wood for sure, but it's split and stacked two years, right there in the open at his roadside stand.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I can say I've never bought firewood

Neither have I. However I have spent alot of money of the equipment to scrounge and process it myself. So in turn i guess I have bought it in a round about way, like they say there is no such thing as free firewood

I have never "scrounged" and have never had any second or third party to blame for the condition or quantity of my firewood

 

[woodchip]

We have a firewood suppliers not too far from where we live, they sell fully seasoned ash/birch/beech mix but it works out to £450 a cord ($723 at todays rates).

Very few people would actually buy all their wood for heating at that price, because oil would work out cheaper

Partly seasoned wood elsewhere works out to about £200 a cord, it's worth having a pile stashed away.

I've bought part seasoned more than once, never bought the fully seasoned though........ ;-)

 

[okotoks guy]

I purchased a cord of Yellow Birch about 5 years ago and was told that it was seasoned. The guy who delivered
the wood apologized because it still neaded another 2 or 3 months to be fully seasoned. He offered to take the wood
back if I was not happy with it. I asked what the MC was and he said it was 17%! Needless to say I was happy with
the wood.

I have sold a few cords of wood this year and was told by at least 1/2 the people: " Wow,that's a lot of wood!"
Apparently in Southern Alberta it's fairly common for some unscrupulous guys to sell as little as 1/2 a cord and call it
a full cord. I went to one lady's house who purchased a cord of "Seasoned" spruce to burn inside her home. She was
very adamant on the phone with me about making sure that the wood that I was delivering was indeed dry because she
already had a cord that "didn't burn very well" I told her (and many other bitten buyers) that if you are not happy with
the wood that I show up with for any reason,just tell me and I will not unload it,no problem. I brought my Moisture Meter
with mejust to reassure her. The other guy basically delivered about 3/4 of a cord of fresh cut spruce! It buried my Moisture
Meter which only goes to 50%. When I split mine it was about 11%. I was shocked that somebody would endanger people
by selling wet wood and telling them that it was just fine to burn inside.

 

[richg]

There's a place nearby that sells well seasoned hardwoods, but it will cost you an arm, two legs and your reproductive organs. He calls his business "Gourmet Firewood", and he has his own unique measures of the amounts. My favorite is the "fireplace cord", which I believe is just over 1/6 of a real cord by it's volumetric description. It's yuppie wood for sure, but it's split and stacked two years, right there in the open at his roadside stand.

Yeah, we have one of those types down in central NJ. The guy makes a big to-do about how you're getting ripped off by other firewood vendors who sell short cords for $200.00.....while he charges the equivalent of $700.00 per cord. What the flip? They do stack their wood but it is uncovered. In the photos of wood being loaded into customers cars, all of the wood has its original color and none of it appears gray. I'd love to go there with a Fiskars and moisture meter, buy an armload and moisture test their wood on the spot. Man, what a scene I'd make if it wasn't seasoned...tee hee hee ;-)

 

[ChrisNJ]

I have had many short and unseasoned deliveries of wood made, but I do have one guy, a hippie guitar player living in an old building on his fathers farm and for spending money when his truck is working he cuts and splits long dead Hickory and Black Locust which burns great, kinda expensive at 100 bucks a load but its the best I have ever bought and in a pinch I will call again.

 

[Todd]

If your lucky yes you can find some truly dry wood for sale. A few years back I found a guy on Craigs list selling wood and went over to check it out. He had two different stacked rows of Oak, one was split and stacked for 1 year and the other was stacked for two or three. The guy tells me everyone so far wanted the younger wetter stuff cuz it burns longer. Guess which stack I picked from?

If you have the opportunity to go check the firewood out before the purchase you will have a better chance of receiving dry wood. Just calling a guy and taking his word for it really hurts your chances.

 

[CTYank]

About your original question: "Can Anyone Truthfully Say They’ve Bought Seasoned Firewood?"

That's really unanswerable, given that the meaning of "seasoned" is so subjective and unquantifiable. Kinda like measuring with a rubber ruler.

It is what you wish it to be, sometimes.

Given that, the answers are YES and NO. But extremely little.