So I live on a small farm with a shared driveway to a neighbor behind me who mostly has wooded land. We occasionally have some dead trees cut down on our property and I rent a splitter to chop up the wood to put in my woodshed. My mother in law just told me the neighbor has just asked her if he could have some of the wood. To me this is odd. Guy has a lot of trees on his property (even some down already) and owns a chainsaw. Have never seen him split wood or even cut up the downed trees. How should I handle this? I don't want to be a dick neighbor, I could give him some, but I'm thinking this could lead to a permanent ask in the future. Most of the larger trees we have to call in a tree service to take down which is pricey.
Need advice/opinions
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I have 0 rounds..everything is already split. Like i said he has downed trees laying around and I know he has a chainsaw.
I had an old neighbor, Fred, who wanted some of my firewood, well all of my firewood. He was still on the cost of firewood from older days - I sold him everything I had for something like $75 (a couple of cords, I wasn't burning at this time). Then I found another stash I forgot about - he wanted that too (at no additional cost). Obviously we were friends. I helped him stack it at his house (how he wanted it stacked), and then we covered it.
He had me pile up some on the back porch. Later on, his wife who had dementia and was frail went out on the back porch and tripped on some firewood. She was all bruised up. He was mad at me for this. He burned some of the wood but it mostly just sat there. He stopped burning and gave all of the wood back to me. His wife died, and he died 3 or 4 years later. I think the firewood was just a reassurance for him to have a heating option if things got tough. Maybe when he was younger he was always struggling to get wood/keep the house warm for his wife.
So, I would just give your neighbor some wood. Maybe see if you could take some of those downed trees on his property. You might even do it together - kick start him into getting his own wood.
He had me pile up some on the back porch. Later on, his wife who had dementia and was frail went out on the back porch and tripped on some firewood. She was all bruised up. He was mad at me for this. He burned some of the wood but it mostly just sat there. He stopped burning and gave all of the wood back to me. His wife died, and he died 3 or 4 years later. I think the firewood was just a reassurance for him to have a heating option if things got tough. Maybe when he was younger he was always struggling to get wood/keep the house warm for his wife.
So, I would just give your neighbor some wood. Maybe see if you could take some of those downed trees on his property. You might even do it together - kick start him into getting his own wood.
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Is it an opportunity for you to help him with a bit of wood but gain access to his woodlot for future cutting? Pass him a bit of wood and be able to cut in your backyard is pretty handy IMO.
Depends on the neighbor, sometimes it's better to be a dick. Shared driveway part might come back to bite you though. I have neighbors I would walk through fire for, and some that I wouldn't pee on if they were on fire.
thewoodlands
Minister of Fire
Does he just need some dry wood to help him through this heating season? If so, I'd offer to give him some if he replaces it later on. If his health is bad and he's not able to do it at all then that's a different story.
Why is he asking your mother in law and not you? How much wood does he want? Why does he want it? I would need more information before just giving him wood. I guess I am a mean old lady. If I had to pay to have trees taken down and then me and my husband did all the work to get it split there would have to be a real good reason to just give the wood away to a neighbor.
We have had trees come down(2 oaks) and had trees taken down(1 oak and one hickory). We own one chainsaw, an axe and a few wedges. It was so much work to get rounds cut and split to get them to a size that we could actually get them up the hill. Then it had to all be split using an axe and stacked. If a neighbor was having health issues or on hard times and needed wood to keep his house warm I would give him some. Other than that...no.
We have had trees come down(2 oaks) and had trees taken down(1 oak and one hickory). We own one chainsaw, an axe and a few wedges. It was so much work to get rounds cut and split to get them to a size that we could actually get them up the hill. Then it had to all be split using an axe and stacked. If a neighbor was having health issues or on hard times and needed wood to keep his house warm I would give him some. Other than that...no.
Don't think I want to go that route. His property is 100% wooded, Mine is 20%. He HAS trees down and a chainsaw. Never seen him attempt to cut anything up.
This is a way to look at it.
Shared driveway is a concern (and actually needs re-paving which will be another issue). We are on Hi how are you terms, not buddy buddy. ALthough he/family has been over to a few get togethers we've had.
He has work hours where is goes in super early and comes back early...I was not around at the time, but he's more communicative with her than me (partly due to being more of an introvert). How much ..why? I don't know yet. I don't mind giving some, just don't want it to lead to more and more asks.
Yes it was a lot of labor to split (even with a splitter). Guy is about the same age as me (middle age). No health issues. This is not a hard times case.
No, he's got propane heat. No health issues and he has other people in the house who could also help him.
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
So no clear hardship issue, and nothing offered in return.
Then the answer is "nope". You're not asking him for 50 gallons of oil etc. either...
(That was my answer to neighbors here asking for wood to burn fires on the weekend... That's my heating fuel. I'm not asking for oil or an extension cord from you to heat my house either.)
Then the answer is "nope". You're not asking him for 50 gallons of oil etc. either...
(That was my answer to neighbors here asking for wood to burn fires on the weekend... That's my heating fuel. I'm not asking for oil or an extension cord from you to heat my house either.)
For me it would depend on in general i try to help my neighbors as much as i can so long as im not gettin stabbed in the back by them an if i was id tell hell no but in this case if it were me id put out a counter offer of lettin the dude cut up whatever in return for cuttin up some wood on his place
Sticky situation. I would want to know what his circumstances are that he wants the wood. I would come right out and ask him. The main thing is you don’t want to cause a rift with a neighbor, especially one so close that you share a driveway. Going through the mother in law is not good communication on his part.
I like the "this is my heating oil" angle.
If he has burnable wood on his property, help him get some of his for him and take some of it for you. Having a chainsaw and knowing how to use it aren't necessarily a go-together thing..
Some people don't realize how much others put into things that they are not familiar with.
And perhaps he doesn't realize how much wood he could get in just a few hours.
Or maybe he's a sissy boy and is afraid of his forest. Oops, did I say that out loud? Lol.
If he has burnable wood on his property, help him get some of his for him and take some of it for you. Having a chainsaw and knowing how to use it aren't necessarily a go-together thing..
Some people don't realize how much others put into things that they are not familiar with.
And perhaps he doesn't realize how much wood he could get in just a few hours.
Or maybe he's a sissy boy and is afraid of his forest. Oops, did I say that out loud? Lol.
Update: OK. He never asked me directly about it...the other day I heard the sounds of a sledge hammer and wedges from his yard. I think he decided to split his own wood. My guess is he's having some sort of event/party this weekend and just wanted a bit for ambience. Anyways that's it. I was going to go with the "this is our main source of heat so I can't really spare much."..which IS the case but it never got to that point.
Be ready to be smoked out this weekend if he is splitting wood today to burn tomorrow!
Never been invited over so wasn't expecting to anyway...I may have been mistaken...no event took place and I just heard more splitting today so maybe it was going to be a continuing ask.
