Scroungers Dream in Portland OR

[prajna101]

I wish I had a truck!

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/zip/1488558653.html

FREE FIREWOOD, Cords upon Cords! FREE FREE FREE (You MUST haul!)
Date: 2009-11-30, 12:24PM PST
Reply to: [email protected] [Errors when replying to ads?]

So I will cut right to the chase...

We are a small tree service that works in the greater Portland metro area. We are constantly trying to give perfectly good firewood away as a good portion of clients have no need for it.... I am tired of dealing with hundreds of flakey calls everytime I post, and would like to work out a great deal for somebody with the ambition & tools to move wood.

Please email me the following information:

-Name & contact information
-Your vehicle (truck, truck & trailer etc) (this is just to let me know your capacity, honda civics will not work!)
-Your availability (weekdays or weekends)

Here is what you will get:
-A phone call (at least once a week) with an address to pick up wood at (this usually will be no less than 1/2 cord, and in some cases multiple cords)


This is a trial run for me. I in no way want to deal with cherry pickers. In other words don't email me I just want oak... I will delete the email. All of the wood you will be getting for free will be green, so it will need to be seasoned. I will always let you know how much is there to pick up.

 

[Wood Duck]

At least this guy is up-front about what he wants - somebody to take wood off his hands. If you don't have a truck, maybe you can get a trailer for the vehicle you already own.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I hooked up with a guy like that this summer who saw me scrounging at the city mulch pile. Worked out great. I made all the big stuff go away for him and would be home in less than 2 hours with a cord plus of wood already blocked.

 

[Wet1]

That's a dream come true!

 

[firefighterjake]

Sounds like a great deal for a scrounger.

 

[prajna101]

So i was thinking about this last night. I dont have a truck or trailer. Or even a big saw or splitter. And I certainly dont have the space to stack and process. and I dont have the time to do it all anyway. BUT if I did, I think it might actually take some of the fun out of it. I like the search and find. I like the little scores that no one notices. If I were to get a deal like this going, I think it would start to feel like a job. But then, It could be. Haul, processes and season. Most of the wood would hardwoods and season it properly, you could make a lot of money in this town selling firewood on the side of a office job. I could actually be a firewood dealer who is honest with good product. (they are out there, just rare)

But alas, I stare at a computer for a living. I get tired cutting up a cord of wood. I am not tough enough to be a woodsman.

Todd

 

[Gator eye]

So i was thinking about this last night. I dont have a truck or trailer. Or even a big saw or splitter. And I certainly dont have the space to stack and process. and I dont have the time to do it all anyway. BUT if I did, I think it might actually take some of the fun out of it. I like the search and find. I like the little scores that no one notices. If I were to get a deal like this going, I think it would start to feel like a job. But then, It could be. Haul, processes and season. Most of the wood would hardwoods and season it properly, you could make a lot of money in this town selling firewood on the side of a office job. I could actually be a firewood dealer who is honest with good product. (they are out there, just rare)

But alas, I stare at a computer for a living. I get tired cutting up a cord of wood. I am not tough enough to be a woodsman.

Todd

Man up Nancy and get a truck!!

 

[prajna101]

BTW It is not commonly known, but you can fit 1/3 cord of wood in a honda civic! Yes, I have done it. The funniest thing was after stuffing it full and having it squatted down, I had neglected to save a place for my saw!

Oh, and if you think that's pathetic, I am picking up a small scrounge on my way home tonight. On my bicycle, with a trailer. You might be surprised how much I can haul on my bike. It's so Portland.

My Favorite is pulling up in to the loading area at Home Depot with all the guys filling their giant trucks. They wear steel-toed work boots, leather gloves, and tool belts. I am clad in brightly colored spandex with a bicycle and a small trailer. They start to laugh with begin loading it full of 4x8 sheets of plywood or something else ridiculous. Then I ride away with their heads shaking in amazement.

I chuckle when I ride past gas stations as they are filling up! (however I burn about 800 calories an hour while riding so feeding me is really no cheaper than gas).

Todd

 

[Gator eye]

BTW It is not commonly known, but you can fit 1/3 cord of wood in a honda civic! Yes, I have done it. The funniest thing was after stuffing it full and having it squatted down, I had neglected to save a place for my saw!

Oh, and if you think that's pathetic, I am picking up a small scrounge on my way home tonight. On my bicycle, with a trailer. You might be surprised how much I can haul on my bike. It's so Portland.

My Favorite is pulling up in to the loading area at Home Depot with all the guys filling their giant trucks. They wear steel-toed work boots, leather gloves, and tool belts. I am clad in brightly colored spandex with a bicycle and a small trailer. They start to laugh with begin loading it full of 4x8 sheets of plywood or something else ridiculous. Then I ride away with their heads shaking in amazement.

I chuckle when I ride past gas stations as they are filling up! (however I burn about 800 calories an hour while riding so feeding me is really no cheaper than gas).

Todd

OOhhh we just have to have a pic of that loaded down Honda Civic

 

[prajna101]

My wife took a pic. I will see if we still have it on her phone. I think she collects such evidence for use in future arguments.

Me: "honey that is ridiculous! When would I have done anything that stupid?"
Her: "Well. . . lets reference the file from June of 2003. . ."
Me: "I burned that file. It was taking up the whole drawer."
Her: "Ok, Lets reference the file from July of 2003. . ."
Me: "why are you pulling stuff into this from the first months of our marriage?"
Her: "Why would I pass up such fodder just to reference something you did last week, Even though I cannot wait to bring up yesterday's TWO separate trips to the ER. One for you and one for your son."
Me: "Those were SO not my fault. after finding out that I cannot fit into that section of our crawlspace it was only natural to enlist his services. He is SO much smaller than I am. Remember I had not been able to get inside in the first place, so how would I know that the wires were live back there! I had removed the sharp metal that I had cut myself on, so I figured it would be safe for a 3 year old."


Oh well, I cannot win. Soon you all will have pics up me using my electric chainsaw, a hatchet, wearing spandex and loading wood into my civic only to finish stacking my wood, watching the pile fall over and then sitting down with a glass of zinfandel at the end of day. I always have to be laughed at. Now I am off to curl up under my desk for a short cry.

todd

 

[Wet1]

My wife took a pic... Soon you all will have pics up me using my electric chainsaw, a hatchet, wearing spandex and loading wood into my civic only to finish stacking my wood, watching the pile fall over and then sitting down with a glass of zinfandel at the end of day.
todd

Please don't post this picture.

 

[ROBERT F]

My wife took a pic... Soon you all will have pics up me using my electric chainsaw, a hatchet, wearing spandex and loading wood into my civic only to finish stacking my wood, watching the pile fall over and then sitting down with a glass of zinfandel at the end of day.
todd

Please don't post this picture.

+++++++++++1,000,000,000,000 (I'm voting proxy for a few of us)

 

[Gator eye]

I'm not sure we should be talking about chopping wood and spandex in the same sentence. :kiss:

 

[prajna101]

I used to be a competitive cyclist and triathlete. I dont ride nearly as much anymore. But I still do commute and run errands and even scrounge with my bike. I am pretty used to life in spandex and it really doesnt bother me, but hey I am really skinny and have no dignity. What other people think about me is really none of my business. There is a joke that dressing that way only makes us ride faster to keep from getting beaten up!

I cant wait for the days when I show up to parent teacher conferences or school plays donning my aerodynamic gear. My kids will never forgive mehttps://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/smileys/#

todd

 

[myzamboni]

At least this guy is up-front about what he wants - somebody to take wood off his hands. If you don't have a truck, maybe you can get a trailer for the vehicle you already own.

my tree service contact will dump it in my yard/on my driveway (basically where I ask him to). I get a cord+ load of rounds. My only criteria is no avocado and no magnolia.

 

[madrone]

Crap. Missed it.

 

[madrone]

Did find this in Portland Craigslist though:

"I will haul wood for any tree service's companies or private homes having tree's removed, if a tree service company wants to charge for tree removal, after the tree has been put on the ground, call me first and if it's good for burning I will defenately haul it for free.... Tree's that are not burnable for heat are cottonwood, popalar,cedar, three other tree's that are poisonous to burn are laurel, holly, and weaping willow trees, the last three put off poisonous gas when burning......Any other trees I will haul off your property for free"

Poisonous gas! :bug: :sick:

 

[firefighterjake]

Did find this in Portland Craigslist though:

"I will haul wood for any tree service's companies or private homes having tree's removed, if a tree service company wants to charge for tree removal, after the tree has been put on the ground, call me first and if it's good for burning I will defenately haul it for free.... Tree's that are not burnable for heat are cottonwood, popalar,cedar, three other tree's that are poisonous to burn are laurel, holly, and weaping willow trees, the last three put off poisonous gas when burning......Any other trees I will haul off your property for free"

Poisonous gas! :bug: :sick:

Oh crap . . . I burned a weeping willow last year . . . maybe this explains why it looks like Chernobyl out there . . . I was no doubt unleashing the dreaded poisonous gas from the weeping willow.

Of course I really screwed up since I also burn poplar and cedar in my woodstove and apparently these trees are unburnable . . . maybe I need to have a heart to heart discussion with my woodstove and explain that it really shouldn't be burning up this wood.

Some people