Craigslist score that actually worked out

[EPS]

Two weeks ago I answered an ad for free wood only to come across a pile of five rotten logs. Yesterday I answered one that brought me to the land of plenty. A man is clearing out property and is bucking countless logs of poplar and pine, but others as well. I wish he was closer as it was about 50 min each way, but I'm definitely going back for more.

 

[HisTreeNut]

Sweet score there... Glad it worked out.

Sent from my VS835 using Tapatalk

 

[Simonkenton]

You are driving 50 minutes for pine? You must be hard up for firewood.
Because, it costs roughly 50 cents a mile to drive a car, figure tune ups, gas, tires usw.
You are probably driving 50 miles. So you are paying $50 to get a truck load of primarily pine and poplar? I won't burn either of those and I just whacked a 12 inch poplar today in my yard.

 

[Chimney Smoke]

I like free wood as much as the next guy but I agree - 2 hour round trip for pine and poplar isn't worth it! And I even like to burn both of them!

 

[peakbagger]

You burn what you have. Its a good start but in NH both Pine and poplar is regarded as low grade wood compared to the local hardwoods.

 

[johneh]

Hay Guys lay off he got free wood maybe it is not what you would burn
maybe he does not have access to a lot of hard wood . Up North they
do not have hard wood so they burn what ever they can get it is all BTUs
50 miles here is nothing He^^ its 50 miles for my wife to go to work
If I could get free wood I would burn soft wood to . so take a chill pill

 

[weatherguy]

Woods expensive in New Hampshire so hes coming out ahead even with the travel involved.

 

[KJamesJR]

Is that the wood listed in Gilford?

There’s another ad for Oak in Lee which might also be closer if you’re coming from the south.

 

[EPS]

I knew I shouldn't have posted this as soon as I did as it is the kind of thing that attracts the firewood snobs. In the future I will only put up stuff that meets the approval of those who only burn the hardest of hardwood. My apologies.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Wood is wood. Yours is already bucked. Good score! Depending on how much he has, you may be able to rent a uhaul and really take a lot home per trip! At work we often get a 6x12 double axle trailer for $30. Load it up!

 

[bholler]

I don't care what the wood is you shouldn't be transporting firewood that far

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

I go for any free wood, Pine or Oak, or what ever. My driving limit is about 10 - 12 miles each way.

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

You are driving 50 minutes for pine? You must be hard up for firewood.
Because, it costs roughly 50 cents a mile to drive a car, figure tune ups, gas, tires usw.
You are probably driving 50 miles. So you are paying $50 to get a truck load of primarily pine and poplar? I won't burn either of those and I just whacked a 12 inch poplar today in my yard.

Maybe the OP has not an unlimited wood supply on his property like you have.

 

[KJamesJR]

Lots of folks don’t understand the firewood economics here in NH. Processed wood is expensive here. $250 for a cord of green mixed, $350 for “seasoned” and up to $500 for premium kiln dried. The average Joe won’t own acres upon acres of land because the property taxes here are high. A decent lot of hardwood acreage are typically snatched up by logging companies and cleared quickly.

As a result, anytime there is wood up for grabs the average Joes swoop in, usually during normal working hours and scoop it up. I had a 100+ year old maple getting dropped on the corner of my property, near a semi busy road when I left for work one spring and by the time I got home there was nothing left but knots and uglies. Probably 5 cords, practically stolen from my land.

I don’t blame the guy for going out of his way for pine, it’s heat for your family in winter. Would I do it? Probably not unless I could carry back a cord at a time. However up here, you gotta do right by you because we don’t get the luxury of cheap hardwood by the bulk.

I typically see a trend with firewood snobs... either have a lot of primo wood at their disposal, it’s cheap enough to buy processed or they earn enough to pay for large quantities without sweating it.

 

[HisTreeNut]

I just got a free score of some great wood...and I am driving 30 minutes to get it. Usually, the only free wood around here is pine & poplar as no one wants it. The least expensive wood for sale I have seen locally is $235.00 for a full cord. If it's free and not punky, I usually take it.

 

[EPS]

As a public school teacher I have summers free, but not a ton of extra cash. I have plenty of woods, but not a great chainsaw, or any help with felling trees, and it's on a significant slope. So if someone has free bucked wood and all it costs is 10 bucks in gas to get there and back, I load up because there's always room to stack wood of any variety so as to keep my family warm from October to May. I also sell bundles of pine to people going to a nearby campground, so never a bad idea to stock up for next year.

I'm not trying to be defensive, but I was caught off guard by the scoldings I received.

Thanks to those of you who show reason.

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

As a public school teacher I have summers free, but not a ton of extra cash. I have plenty of woods, but not a great chainsaw, or any help with felling trees, and it's on a significant slope. So if someone has free bucked wood and all it costs is 10 bucks in gas to get there and back, I load up because there's always room to stack wood of any variety so as to keep my family warm from October to May. I also sell bundles of pine to people going to a nearby campground, so never a bad idea to stock up for next year.

I'm not trying to be defensive, but I was caught off guard by the scoldings I received.

Thanks to those of you who show reason.

Keep doing, what you're doing. Ignore the negative comments.

 

[TheAardvark]

Good score

 

[Highbeam]

I've driven an hour each way lots of times for wood of similar quality, but, I can haul a whole lot more in my f350 with cab high sideboards. I've seen some heavily loaded toyotas, is there a way you can load more per trip?

50 cents a per mile is silly. That's almost the IRS rate.

 

[bholler]

Lots of folks don’t understand the firewood economics here in NH. Processed wood is expensive here. $250 for a cord of green mixed, $350 for “seasoned” and up to $500 for premium kiln dried. The average Joe won’t own acres upon acres of land because the property taxes here are high. A decent lot of hardwood acreage are typically snatched up by logging companies and cleared quickly.

As a result, anytime there is wood up for grabs the average Joes swoop in, usually during normal working hours and scoop it up. I had a 100+ year old maple getting dropped on the corner of my property, near a semi busy road when I left for work one spring and by the time I got home there was nothing left but knots and uglies. Probably 5 cords, practically stolen from my land.

I don’t blame the guy for going out of his way for pine, it’s heat for your family in winter. Would I do it? Probably not unless I could carry back a cord at a time. However up here, you gotta do right by you because we don’t get the luxury of cheap hardwood by the bulk.

I typically see a trend with firewood snobs... either have a lot of primo wood at their disposal, it’s cheap enough to buy processed or they earn enough to pay for large quantities without sweating it.

Again I don't care what type of wood it is you should not move fire wood that far.

 

[bholler]

There are no legal limitations on transporting firewood within nh but hauling firewood that far is just asking to spread invasive species.

 

[lsucet]

There are no legal limitations on transporting firewood within nh but hauling firewood that far is just asking to spread invasive species.

50 miles here is nothing. People that come for wood here travel way more than that to get wood. What is the other ways of getting the wood then? The invasive species will spread either way cause the guy that cut the wood, process it and sale it, he travels longer distance too.
I get wood from arborist friends that they drop it here from way more than 50 miles. People coming to get wood here at the jemez mountain or in Ponderosa, 100 miles each way can be an average distance for many.

 

[bholler]

50 miles here is nothing. People that come for wood here travel way more than that to get wood. What is the other ways of getting the wood then? The invasive species will spread either way cause the guy that cut the wood, process it and sale it, he travels longer distance too.
I get wood from arborist friends that they drop it here from way more than 50 miles. People coming to get wood here at the jemez mountain or in Ponderosa, 100 miles each way can be an average distance for many.

So we shouldn't even try to control the spread of invasive species? Untill recently in PA even loggers were limited on distance they could haul before heat treating. And that is probably coming back because of the spotted lantern fly. I know people do it all the time. I am saying people shouldn't. Our forrests in PA have been desimated in the past decade by invasive species and it may get worse with the new ones. Our ash is all but gone our hemlock numbers are dwindling. But no reason to try to stop it right?

 

[PaulOinMA]

Glad I started using the same person my neighbors use for tree cutting. I'm the only one that burns.

He was on the street right behind me … properties very close to each other. Asked if I wanted the trees he was cutting down. Really nice oak. He cut it to 14" - 16" and dumped it just off my driveway for me to split. A cord +/-. $100.

 

[KJamesJR]

There are no legal limitations on transporting firewood within nh but hauling firewood that far is just asking to spread invasive species.

Our logging companies tranport wood that far exceed the capacity and distance this guy is doing with his 1/2 ton pickup.