I always wanted to be a woodworker, but not like this!

[wetwood4life]

This is our second year ordering wood since we bought our stove last Fall. I'm trying to buy each cord from a new supplier until we find someone we like. Thought I'd share the ordeal from our latest cord. The supplier was a friendly local guy, and it was the first time someone's "properly seasoned" firewood was actually dry and ready to burn.

The only problem is instead of 16" - 18" splits as advertised (our stove fits 18.5"), almost the whole load was 20" - 24". I couldn't come to an arrangement with the guy, so I've spent a couple hours each day this week cutting the ends off nearly every single piece. The poor little 10" miter saw is about ready to mutiny, but here's my trophy pile...

 

[Simonkenton]

Getten zie chainsaw [Stihl]

Cutten sie wood

 

[wetwood4life]

Hah! I thought about it when we realized the wood was too long, but learning to use one on hundreds of small janky cuts seemed dangerous. And of course, I plan to be more dilligent checking the load before they dump it next time.

 

[EbS-P]

Ready for a smoker or wood BBQ! Live and learn. At least it was dry.

 

[peakbagger]

Could be far worse, wet & rotten full of ants. Just part of the education.

 

[Caw]

Those little chunks burn too! Great for when you just need a quick burst of heat or to extend the life of some goals until bed time etc.

 

[Vg3200p]

Hopefully you learn to enjoy processing your own wood. There is alot of fun and enjoyment in it. I hate getting logs other people have bucked. I like to cut mine short easier splitting and handling.

 

[wetwood4life]

We had a little fire last week when it was 50 out and those little chunks were great! Good tip too about delaying a nighttime reload, thanks.

The short splits would be nice, if we had 14s I could load N-S which would be nice. Unfortunately, our property is pretty small (5k sqft) and I'm not looking to take up firewood processing as another hobby - too much on my plate already 😄. Hopefully we can find a good local dealer instead.

 

[DonTee]

Can you get more wood from the same guy next year in shorter lengths?

It’s crazy he only sells 20-24” length wood. I think a lot of people would have issues with that size.

I had an old Timberline that would take over 20” pieces, but every other stove I’ve used has taken typical 16-18” pieces.

 

[wetwood4life]

Well... that's where we couldn't agree. He's convinced that all their wood is 16-18" with "maybe a handful of long or short ones in there." I ended up dropping it because we needed wood for this winter, it was the first good dry wood we've gotten, and unfortunately I don't have space for a different delivery while we argue about what is or isn't sitting in my driveway. Now that it's all trimmed down I'm actually looking forward to burning it this winter.

At that size, if he's not getting complaints he must be selling to folks burning in open fireplaces or something.

 

[clux]

If he's charging you for a stacked cord of 16-18" sticks, and delivering the same length of rick stacked of 20-24" sticks....that's all free firewood in your picture, right?

 

[DonTee]

lol. That’s true

 

[clux]

Mama always said, don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Might explain why his customers aren't complaining.

 

[wetwood4life]

If he's charging you for a stacked cord of 16-18" sticks, and delivering the same length of rick stacked of 20-24" sticks....that's all free firewood in your picture, right?

If only! 😅

All stacked, its about 1/2 a cord. I figure the ends round it out to 2/3. Seems to be the norm, or at least my luck, but that's a topic for another post!

 

[Tar12]

A couple years back I responded to a local ad for some locust...I called the man and he was out but would be cutting and splitting some more in the up coming weeks..no worries here as I was 3 years ahead...I asked the man if he would cut it to length for me? Sure I can do that! No problem!I told him no longer than 16 inches..he was selling it for $160 a cord! I told him if the wood was of good quality I would take 5-6 cord as locust is hard to come by here..The weeks went by and I stayed in touched with him reminding him nothing longer than 16 inches...sure...sure he said...the day came when he had the wood ready...I hooked up my dump trailer and headed out for the 30 minute trip...I rolled into his place and backed up to the wood yard...he came out with gloves in hand ...he said he would help load the wood in his ad and we had discussed this prior as well..next thing I know he mumbled something about needing saw gas and I hear a truck fire up and he drives off..that torqued my shorts ! I grabbed a tape measure and there was not one single piece at the 16 inch mark...I was pissed!I got back in my truck and went home...what a fool he was!

 

[wetwood4life]

Picking up the wood seems like the way to go! Not sure if the guys around me offer that, but it'd be way easier to check the wood before it's dumped in a pile on your driveway and your cash is halfway out of town.

It's been really disappointing to learn how untrustworthy the firewood industry is. I probably wouldn't have bought a stove if I knew that in advance. We don't have a big enough property to process logs ourselves or store 2-3 years of wood for seasoning. Live and learn!

 

[JamesGuido]

years ago, i met a guy selling some very nice aged firewood, pretty inexpensively too.
only problem, he would not sell to folks with woodstoves, only fireplaces.
his wood also was very long and refused to cut it shorter to accommodate.

 

[clancey]

These is no customer service and prices are high and the trade skill set is suffering and we might as well learn to adjust to the situation. clancey

 

[Corey]

I you would have cut those with a chain saw, that would have turned even more wood into dust!

Overall, the wood should still be usable. For a couple years after college, I used to heat with scraps not much bigger, or in some cases even smaller than that. I was always on the lookout for free pallets, and a local furniture shop would put out their scraps for free. These were generally 1x2, 3, or 4 boards where the last 3, 4 or 5 inches were unusable, or where the cut out a knot, etc. On a good day, the railroad tie shop would set out the cropped ends of ties which was generally a ~7"x9" block of hardwood 4-6 inches thick.

Just shovel your cropped ends in when you are around around to tend the fire and save the log lengths for overnight, etc.

 

[wetwood4life]

Yes, the ends burn great! That pile got rained on unfortunately, but I bring in a load at a time to try by the stove. I collected a lot of the miter saw dust too, I'm going to try making some of those egg carton wax starters with it. Hopefully the wax is ok in the stove.

 

[Eman85]

The egg carton fire starter work well, but a pain to make as melting the paraffin requires a double boiler setup and we always did it outside. haven't made any since I was a scout leader. We would make a 4" rolled strip of newspaper tied up and dipped in way also. now I just use the egg carton as part of my fire startup.
If you can't store a couple of years worth of wood you might be in the sawdust brick club or think about a pellet stove. You might need to get good at scrounging if you have a truck to find dry wood. Cabinet shops and pallet fabricators use hardwood and the cabinet scraps are kiln dried. Old rough cut lumber if you can find any like old barns and sheds. Log home builders have really nice scraps.
When you buy firewood it's what it is for the price agreed, few standards. If the seller offers a truckload be sure to know what size truck and better if you can see a load first. Around here they'll load and park at a main road with a sign on it.

 

[gzecc]

Unfortunately buying wood as needed every year is going to be a impossible task, if you expect to be satisfied with what you buy.

 

[Marshy]

Well... that's where we couldn't agree. He's convinced that all their wood is 16-18" with "maybe a handful of long or short ones in there." I ended up dropping it because we needed wood for this winter, it was the first good dry wood we've gotten, and unfortunately I don't have space for a different delivery while we argue about what is or isn't sitting in my driveway. Now that it's all trimmed down I'm actually looking forward to burning it this winter.

At that size, if he's not getting complaints he must be selling to folks burning in open fireplaces or something.

So order another cord from him and when he drops it, pull out a measuring tape and show him in person. Explain he has a good product that you want to buy but not at the incorrect length. Yes, that means you would likely have to suffer through one more cord unless you can buy a half cord.

 

[EbS-P]

After running my first three N/ S loads I’d gladly cut everything down to length my self but if I had a choice I’d buy the correct length.