My wood for next winter!

[kevin85]

I took delivery of this truckload on MLK Day this past January. $500

My goal was to get it done as quickly as possible as I usually drag my feet. So I started cutting immediately.

And with only a few more rounds to split, this is what I have for next year. The middle pile is mostly maple from my mom's house cut in October. The rest is from the truckload.

I cut my pieces about 20 inches for my Tarm wood boiler and hopefully, a new insert to be bought this spring/summer. I am actually going to buy another truckload as soon as my yard is dry enough for the truck to drive on again. I want to get a year ahead this year if I can.

 

[Wolves-Lower]

That looks like a fair deal!
All hard maple?

 

[bbc557ci]

Cool !! How many face cords did you get from the truck load ?

 

[kevin85]

It was all mixed hardwoods...some oak in there too. It is supposed to be between 6-8 cords of wood, not face cords. A truckload should last me the year, depending on the temps. This year I burned from Nov. 15th through now on about half of what is in the pictures. I plan on starting earlier next year and adding an insert to keep the house a little warmer in our most used rooms.

 

[Hanko]

my brother and my son stay a year ahead. we spend the fall cutting a splitting for the following year. we have approx 60 face cord thats ready. I have a logger guy that brings me all I need in the spring soon as it drys

 

[RonB]

Good looking load of wood and you do a nice job of processing it. Even though my wood is "free" (on my own property) there is still a lot of time/labor getting it up to the point where yours was delivered. I would be tempted to buy it at that price/quantity/quality if same deal was available. Can you estimate how much time you have in labor for X number of cords stacked? You could also do the math and determine how much wood you actually bought. If you need help let us know (128 CF in a full cord).

 

[whphel]

Very nice load and thats a great price per cord. Compared to out here at $175-275 for a green cord split and delivered.

 

[kevin85]

I will take some measurements of the piles this afternoon and let you know. As far as time spent, I have enjoyed it completely this year, so it is tough to estimate. I usually spend three hours every couple days out there. I probably spent three, 7 hour days mixed in there too. I am just proud of the fact that it took me less than two months to get it all ready this year, and that it is done before the end of March.

 

[abj1969]

man thats alot of wood... i have to get my butt in gear and start cutting and splitting what i have set aside for next winter.

 

[gpcollen1]

Thanks for the motivation!

BTW - Face cords were mentioned twice in this thread. I always thought face cords were for those who only burned a couple of pieces in the fireplace on the weekends? Or is that just the lazy mans way of measuring wood?

 

[kevin85]

I probably go through a "face cord" a week in the middle of the winter!

 

[ansehnlich1]

man that's sweet! I just got a load myself and have to fire up the chainsaws soon

sheesh, you're so good at it, wanna come practice on mine???

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/16369/

 

[kevin85]

ansehnlich1,
I saw your post...you got some nice stuff there. One thing I noticed about your pile....the tree guy just laid all the logs right on the grass, I think. My guy puts 2 or 3 logs down perpendicular and then lays all the rest of the logs on top, therefore keeping most of the stuff off the ground. It makes it a lot easier to cut without dulling the saw!!

The reason I hit it so hard this year really comes down to oil prices. Last year I dragged my feet and ended up having to order 2.5 cords of CSD wood in October to help me get through the winter(I had just paid $579 to fill my oil tank and it scared me into getting more wood). The 2.5 cords cost me nearly as much as the whole truckload! I swore I would never do that again. Oil is anywhere between $3.54 and $3.75 in my area right now. My oil tank hasn't moved off the 3/4 mark since I started burning Nov. 15th. I would like to finish 2008 without having to top that off, if it is possible.

 

[eernest4]

Face cord is susposed to be 2 ft deep, 4 ft high & 8 ft long.64 cubic ft wood.

1/2 a regular cord.
reg cord is 4 ft deep,4ft high & 8 ft long 128 cubic ft wood.

Now, that's if I be a recollectin arightly.

 

[Ncountry]

The volume of a face cord depends on how long your wood is cut.A face cord is a stack of wood 4'x8' or 32 square feet on the "face". The length of wood depends upon what you or your wood cutter cuts it.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Kevin, that is some good thinking on your part. Congratulations. Getting it all split and stacked now should have you all set for next winter. If you didn't in the future you might consider stacking the oak separate as sometimes it needs a bit of extra time to season. Also this sets aside your best wood for the coldest part of winter or for night chunks. We don't have much oak on our place and that is how I handle what we have and it works like a charm.

btw, I looked at it yesterday and it appears we have about 5 1/2 years cut wood on hand. Only what we cut this winter needs splitting and stacking and as soon as we can find the splitting pile we'll get busy on that. Now if you'll send us some Spring weather we might be able to find that pile of wood under the snow.

 

[Henz]

So Kevin85, how many cord is that? I was getting a full cord delivered for around $65 last year. It will be higher this year.

 

[kevin85]

It was advertised as $85 a cord, but he charged me $500 for the truckload which he has always said works out to 6-8 cords cut, split and stacked. I have never took a serious measurement as I usually just burn what I have and he always brings me a truckload. This is the third time he has brought me wood over the years. I will try to take some measurements this afternoon.

 

[Henz]

I wish I could find someone around here that had a picker to drop the logs..Everyone here uses dump trucks

 

[RISurfer20]

Nice Deal. Does your supplier travel to RI? I would love to find a deal like that in this area.

 

[kevin85]

I doubt it. With fuel prices the way they are, no one wants to travel more than 10 miles anymore. I heard of a guy about 25 miles from me who needed to get rid of excess wood last fall(tree guy). He wouldn't travel more than 10 miles so I was out of luck....wouldn't even make the trip for extra$$.

 

[savageactor7]

Props to Kevin on his foresightedness and ambition.

Damn I'm usually more that a 3d done with my next years wood but the continued snow cover has seriously cramped my style...

...PS I see you use a bud rim too as a field expedient camp fire, they're really neat.

 

[Henz]

Just placed an order for 6 cord to cost me $390

 

[kevin85]

My neighbor made that fire pit for me. He attached a small, hollow pipe on the inside rim at the top and also made me a grate with a solid bar attached at the corner. The bar slides into the pipe so that I have a grate to cook food on that pivots over the fire or off to the side. I don't know if I explained it very well, but it works very nicely.

 

[savageactor7]

Ours is just the bare rim with extra holes I burned out of the sides for forced air. If you keep 'em on the ground they will rust. Our second one sits on a set of fire place log holder grates....we keep moving it around the garden...great to kick your feet up on it too....all the refuge of splitting goes into the wheelbarrow then to the bud rim.

...just say'en you have a very neat operation going on there.