Ordered a Semi-load of Logs

[jebatty]

After 29 years of harvesting my own wood for the house and the shop and entering the mid-70's in age, I decided to let someone else due the hardest and most dangerous work. I ordered a semi-load of mixed hardwoods, 12 cords of 100" logs, delivered for $105/cord. I have the equipment to handle the delivered logs and will do all the bucking, splitting and stacking myself. Typical wood burning is 8 cords each winter, 4 for the house and 4 for my shop with the gasification boiler. Not to say that there still will be trees that I will fell, just not nearly as much as in the past.

 

[Highbeam]

After 29 years of harvesting my own wood for the house and the shop and entering the mid-70's in age, I decided to let someone else due the hardest and most dangerous work. I ordered a semi-load of mixed hardwoods, 12 cords of 100" logs, delivered for $105/cord. I have the equipment to handle the delivered logs and will do all the bucking, splitting and stacking myself. Typical wood burning is 8 cords each winter, 4 for the house and 4 for my shop with the gasification boiler. Not to say that there still will be trees that I will fell, just not nearly as much as in the past.

Can't wait for the pics. I just had 4 cords of fir logs delivered last night. It takes a lot of the work out of wood heat and lets you focus on the finished product quality.

I get dump truck loads which are 14' long logs stacked the long way. Nobody does the little 100" chunks in the west. Cost is about 120$ per cord so I am jealous of better wood at just 105$.

 

[SpaceBus]

I'm thinking about getting some logs delivered, but not for firewood. I ordered a mill last week and would like to get some cedar logs to make deck boards. Maybe some mature Beech logs would make good decking or flooring.

 

[Geoff C]

Theres a guy near me with triaxle loads for $650. 8 cords. There is another guy selling for $450 but he is across state lines and won't travel.

I'm trying to get my property cleaned up so I can get a load delivered.

 

[NickW]

Theres a guy near me with triaxle loads for $650. 8 cords. There is another guy selling for $450 but he is across state lines and won't travel.

I'm trying to get my property cleaned up so I can get a load delivered.

That's not bad, I've paid more in the past. Just remember 8 cords of logs will yield about 6 1/2 cord of firewood... Luckily I've made several connections for all the free wood I can haul (for now at least). Going to keep at it until I'm out of room, then stockpile more logs...

 

[BIGChrisNH]

Love to see some photos of this when it's dropped off at your place. A 12 cord load will look like a lot of wood. I've only seen 7-8 cord loads as that's about what you can get here in NH as far as I'm aware.

 

[mar13]

Can't wait for the pics. I just had 4 cords of fir logs delivered last night. It takes a lot of the work out of wood heat and lets you focus on the finished product quality.

I get dump truck loads which are 14' long logs stacked the long way. Nobody does the little 100" chunks in the west. Cost is about 120$ per cord so I am jealous of better wood at just 105$.

Seeing a post further down the thread makes me wonder if you got what reduces down to 4 cords of firewood? Price includes delivery?

Ordering logs sounds tempting, but I suspect my summer will be devoted to watching kids in this covid-era , so gotta keep time expectations low.

 

[Lakeside]

Just remember 8 cords of logs will yield about 6 1/2 cord of firewood.

I think this is the first I heard of cords of logs. Is this what is common for what truckers are referring to for cords of logs and not splits / stacked ?

 

[johneh]

I have no idea what a cord of logs is
We get what we call a Tandem load
which from experience you will get
7.5 to 8 cord cut, split and stacked
A Tanden truck is basically a 10 ton flat
bed with log racks a clamshell loader
and dual rear axils

 

[NickW]

I bought a semi load of 10 cords of logs a few years back. Got here the driver said it was probably 11 cord strong, but I paid for 10. Stacked it neatly with the boom and I measured the stack trying to account for the slope at the ends and it measured right around 11 1/2 cord. Split and stacked it was about 9 cord. Another place I got logs from was 5 cords of logs per load, measured out to that, split and stacked was 4 cord... In my experience, when you buy logs it's that many cords of logs, not firewood. I don't know if there's a way to determine how much firewood is in a load of logs... bigger logs yield more firewood than smaller logs, especially if they're straight.

 

[Highbeam]

Seeing a post further down the thread makes me wonder if you got what reduces down to 4 cords of firewood? Price includes delivery?

Ordering logs sounds tempting, but I suspect my summer will be devoted to watching kids in this covid-era , so gotta keep time expectations low.

Last time I had this guy bring a full heaping dump truck of logs it ended up at about 4 cords css. This time it was 480$ delivered, no tax. These are large logs. 36” at the butt down to some 16” butts. I had to go from both sides with my 28” bar.

Seriously, it took me under 4 hours and 3/4 gallons of premix to buck it into rounds. I never even had to sharpen a chain. Mingo marker and cut, roll the logs with a peavey and finish. Splitting is tough since huge rounds are heavy. It’s taking longer and more laborious to split but I’ve got all the time in the world.

Last year it took three full days from dumped logs to a full shed. My little 13 year old daughter helped load the wheelbarrow!

A full log truck, like a semi with 35’ logs would be awesome.

 

[Lakeside]

Seems to me that a "cord of logs " might be a regional term or just the guy delivering it's wild guess. After all it's in the sellers best interest to say a high number. I will someday find out if my 7 cord truck load really is 7 cord ( CSS ) its all Black Locust and I have let it sit for about two years now.

 

[NickW]

I'd be interested to hear what you guys experience... It was still worth it to me. At $100/cord of logs delivered, 5 cords of logs equaling 4 cord split and stacked is still only $125 a cord out of pocket. Better than paying the electric baseboard heat when you don't have access to anything free.

It is impressive to have a logging truck with a pup trailer pull in and unload 10-12 cord... BIG stack of logs.

 

[Beer Belly]

Mid 70's and still doing the work.....God Bless You, that is awesome. I'm just 60 and all my surgeries are starting to haunt me, no way will I be doing this near 70.

 

[kennyp2339]

Same type of triaxles here, 10ton truck with clamshell grapple, around here its advertised 9 / 10 cords but honestly every truck I've done (maybe 10-11 loads) has always yielded about 7 cords, which is still really good, but unless there's a trailer attached to that same 10 ton truck, your not going to get 10 cords out it. @Lakeside that load looks right in line with about 6 cords.

 

[johneh]

This is my truckload from last year
Once stacked was 8.5 cord

 

[ClintonH]

I think "cord of logs" would denote the rough cubic footage of logs divided by 128. It makes sense that those "log cord" numbers reduce when CSS. So a 20' x 8' x 4' trailer, for example, would be 640 ft^3, or 5 "cords of logs." Once CSS with higher packing efficiency, and obviously it shrinks from that 5.0 number. Never bought logs/firewood in my life, but that's my deduction.

 

[Highbeam]

I think "cord of logs" would denote the rough cubic footage of logs divided by 128. It makes sense that those "log cord" numbers reduce when CSS. So a 20' x 8' x 4' trailer, for example, would be 640 ft^3, or 5 "cords of logs." Once CSS with higher packing efficiency, and obviously it shrinks from that 5.0 number. Never bought logs/firewood in my life, but that's my deduction.

That’s right. A cord is simply a measurement of volume like a cubic yard or gallon. You can throw wood in a pile or stack it tightly in the same volume and get different amounts of wood so packing density matters too. In the west we have pretty straight logs so they stack well. I actually expect the logs to fluff in volume as they are css.

I wish we had triaxle trucks out here. 5 cords is not enough for a year but a 6 cord load would be perfect. We just don’t have firewood companies that would own something like this. The guys delivering logs are construction workers moving logs in their dump trucks on the side.

 

[Erichomeowner]

I just got a dump truck of ash delivered about 16’-18 foot logs about 4 cords once split and stacked 100 bucks

 

[jebatty]

The load of wood should be delivered soon, awaiting removal of road weight restrictions.

A cord is a cord is a cord is ....

Minn Statutes:
239.33 STANDARD MEASUREMENTS OF WOOD.

In all contracts for sale of wood the term "cord" shall mean 128 cubic feet of wood, bark, and air, if cut in four-foot lengths; and if the sale is of "sawed wood," a cord shall mean 110 cubic feet when ranked, or 160 cubic feet when thrown irregularly or loosely into a conveyance for delivery to the purchaser; and if the sale is of "sawed and split wood," a cord shall mean 120 cubic feet, when ranked, and 175 cubic feet when thrown irregularly and loosely into a conveyance for delivery. If a measurement is made by weight, the term "cord" or any other term used to describe freshly cut wood shall be based on 79 cubic feet of solid wood content per cord. The weight per cord may vary by species or species group. In case of any dispute when the parties have not otherwise agreed in writing to the weight per cord by species or species group, the weight most recently established by the commissioner of natural resources prevails.

 

[SpaceBus]

Also keep in mind the saw will take out some length off those logs for the kerf.

 

[maple1]

Yes not sure what the confusion is over 'cords of logs'.

It's just the volume of the logs in cubic feet divided by 128. Same as the volume of your woodpile divided by 128 = cords of wood. Of course someone selling logs would not be trying to sell by what it would make in cords of processed wood. He is selling logs, not processed wood. And no, a cord of one doesn't equal a cord of the other - by how much also partly dependant on how it is processed. Which is also out of the log guys hands.

(Tons/tonnes are likely the more common used measure of logs around here - but people have even a bigger problem trying to somehow equate that to how much wood they can make out of it).

 

[NickW]

And weight would be subjective to moisture content... A load of any species will have a fairly significant weight difference from 30% to 40% or 50%. I would suspect wood suppliers to try to sell the wettest wood first then... That's not what we want!

All in all, a cord of firewood is really only a guideline... I can take a "cord" of firewood my kids stacked and turn it into 7/8 of a cord simply by restacking. My brother could take a cord of my big splits (that I stacked)and turn it into 1 1/4 cord or take a cord of my big splits (that the kids stacked) and turn it into 3/4 cord...

@Lakeside, I just noticed your house behind the log pile... It's almost twin to my house!

 

[maple1]

Logs aren't very dry, really, so shouldn't be a wide variation there across truck loads. Usually most are sold as they're cut, or within a month or two, except maybe some might get cut during winter & sold during the year. In some places. From experience with hardwoods, and around here. This year might be different, the local pulp mill shut down early this winter & that has upset the entire wood products market. Might be some older stuff coming out of the wood work, so to speak.

I would take all the wet/green stuff I could get, if I needed wood & it was reasonably priced. IMO everyone should assume all the wood they get still needs seasoned, and treat accordingly - buying 2 or 3 years ahead and drying it themselves. If dry wood is a premium in your area, you can take advantage of that & buy green wood cheaper and let it sit for a couple years. And likely end up with better stuff than the premium dry being sold.

 

[Lakeside]

@Lakeside, I just noticed your house behind the log pile... It's almost twin to my house!

Here's a side shot with some snow too. It's a small world.
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