Free wood -- Is this a good deal?

[dave11]

I found out about a 20 acre area that was recently forested, with trees cut but lying. It's about 45 miles, 50 minutes from me. There is a parking area near the road, but no access road, and apparently only 4 WD access. The land is sloped and hilly, as is all land around these parts.

But apparently there's as much wood as anyone could want. Oak, cherry maple, by report. Sounds like word is just getting out.

I'm new to scrounging, and I'm wondering if this sounds better than it is. You would need to buck the logs and fill up only as much as you could get in the back of a 4WD pick-up. But then it's a 50 minute ride home, so obviously there's a limited number of trips to be made.

But how else could you get more wood at a time? Rent a dump truck? Rent a flatbed and winch, and drag the logs to the flatbed with the 4WD?

Or is all that more trouble than it's worth?

It's just that free wood isn't that easy to find around here.

Thanks.

 

[Jags]

Go out and take a load. Then determine its worth. It could be easier/harder than you think, but you won't know till you get a taste of it. To me it sounds like a long ways to go, but I don't have to fight for wood either.

 

[basswidow]

It does seem like a far drive to me too. I usually put 1.5 tons of wood into my .5 ton pickup and pray to God that the axle and bearings don't explode on my short drive home. If you are paying to rent a trailer or bigger truck - it defeats the FREE of the scrounge. I have plenty of scrounge sites within 10 miles or less and getting wood is easy.

It does sound great - I would investigate and atleast get 1 load.

 

[ROBERT F]

Thats the way I get my wood. 1 1/2 cords in a dump trailer, 1/2 to 3/4 in the bed of the truck. Makes for a long, tiring day. depending on how acessable the wood is I take just one truck and trailer. if it has to be skidded out, or searched for then anywhere up to 3 trucks, 2 trailers, and two 4x4 quads. Thats if i can inlist the faimily to get up off their butts. They love the heat, hate the work.

 

[dave11]

Yeah, the distance is not ideal, but I get the sense that there's as much wood as anyone could want, so it might be worth renting some big volume hauler, making a few trips and getting many years worth of wood at one crack.

 

[Wood Duck]

I think that is a long drive to be making multiple trips with just a pickup, and you'd spend more time driving than collecting wood. You'd spend probably 3.5 to 4 hours each trip to get a half cord of wood (close to two hours driving, plus an hour or two to load the pickup?). I'd make one trip with the pickup, see how easy it is to get wood, then figure out a way to carry more wood each trip. If you can borrow or rent a trailer, and if the wood is not too tough to get, then it could be worth making a bunch of trips out there. With just the pickup, I would still be tempted to go, but it would be sort of a marginally good idea. With a trailer it would be a lot easier decision to make. If y ou could get a trailer and devote a day to collecting, sounds like it could be a year's supply in a day - pretty nice scrounging if you ask me.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

You didn't mention it in your post, but I'm assuming that people have permission to take wood from there? Not being picky, but just don't want to see you get in trouble. Good luck with the situation.

 

[dave11]

You didn't mention it in your post, but I'm assuming that people have permission to take wood from there? Not being picky, but just don't want to see you get in trouble. Good luck with the situation.

LOL. Good point. I did email the owner, and they will give permission with approval.

Given the distance though, and the tough access, and the absence of a big truck or flatbed, maybe it's not such a good idea.

 

[Wood Duck]

I think you gotta go try at least one load. If it is harder to get than you thought, or just too long a drive, you will have proven to yourself that it wasn't such a great deal and can look for other wood with peace of mind. Otherwise, you're going to always think that you passed up a really great score and you'll compare any wood you find to the imaginary pot of gold you passed up.

 

[moosetrek]

45 miles is a long drive? Mine is 220 round trip to get wood - I'd love it if it was close like that. Definitely worth a trip, over a cord will fit in a full-size truck log-length stacked with stakes; but you'd need a 3/4 ton or bigger truck; green hardwood will hit your weight capacity long before you fill up the truck. If you have access to a trailer, that would be the way to go, bring a couple cords at a time and have someone there bucking while someone else is driving. Two trucks/trailers and 3-4 people, and maybe share the proceeds could yield a lot of wood for a couple days work. I would think 3-4 trips per day would be feasible with some strong backs to load and unload, and have it ready at the cutting site.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Good advice moosetrek. I'm thinking that would be a great family and friend outing. Huge picnic lunch and some beer (save the heavy drinking until the end though; one beer with dinner). Everyone gets involved carrying/loading wood. A couple chain saws and an atv. Wood could really fly and with several trips, one weekend could be very productive. Naturally one wants to consider all costs, including cost of gas. Make sure someone knows how to sharpen chains. Above all, have some fun doing it. Having fun while working sure makes the time go much easier and then you'll also have the memories.

I still would check into renting a trailer and would also advise to make one trip for one pickup load to check things out.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Sounds like my big push last winter to get a year ahead. Trees were on the ground, but over a 50 ft embankment and then a good skid to where I could get my truck and trailer. It was 15 miles away, so, I took the tractor and trailer over and hauled 17 cord out. The advantage of that site was that I had exclusive access and could leave the tractor there and do what made sense given the weather. Picking up a load and checking it out before you invest too much is good counsel.

 

[Tony H]

Take a drive and check it out and get a truckload anyway then see if it's worth it to you. I have a bunch of wood but have a similar situation lots of wood down unknown access and its 45min away . I plan to drive up and take a look after all the guy says he has 17ac of cherry, oak,walnut,locust and others down and ready to buck and take as much as I want. If it looks good will enlist my neighbor and his brother would give us 2 trucks a van and 3 big trailers plus 4wheelers if needed / heck I might even try to get another neighbor who has a dump truck and a 24' trailer and a skid steer now we're talking some hauling /

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I found out about a 20 acre area that was recently forested, with trees cut but lying. It's about 45 miles, 50 minutes from me. There is a parking area near the road, but no access road, and apparently only 4 WD access. The land is sloped and hilly, as is all land around these parts.

But apparently there's as much wood as anyone could want. Oak, cherry maple, by report. Sounds like word is just getting out.

I'm new to scrounging, and I'm wondering if this sounds better than it is. You would need to buck the logs and fill up only as much as you could get in the back of a 4WD pick-up. But then it's a 50 minute ride home, so obviously there's a limited number of trips to be made.

But how else could you get more wood at a time? Rent a dump truck? Rent a flatbed and winch, and drag the logs to the flatbed with the 4WD?

Or is all that more trouble than it's worth?

It's just that free wood isn't that easy to find around here.

Thanks.

45-50 minutes is right at the limit of how far I'm willing to drive for firewood and only because I can get a solid cord in my truck. If I had a smaller truck I'd be much less willing.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Yeah, the distance is not ideal, but I get the sense that there's as much wood as anyone could want, so it might be worth renting some big volume hauler, making a few trips and getting many years worth of wood at one crack.

How much wood do you think you can saw, load, and unload in a day? Bear in mind this number gets exponentially smaller as the distance between your truck and the wood grows. If you can get a truck right next to the wood then 50 minutes is no biggie. In that circumstance I'd bring my old man and have him drive/unload while I stayed back cutting and staging the wood for the next trip.