So I saw this post in Craigslist.....

[kbrown]

:lol: So, at 1:13pm today, a post comes on the local CL for free maple logs at the curb. First come, first serve. I figured that since it's only 9 miles from me why not go. Earlier today I missed out on a CL ad where a guy was giving away his 3 cords of split hardwood since they got rid of the fireplace and installed......GAS fireplace :ahhh:
That offer was gone as fast as you could read the post. So, once I Google map the place, drive there and all I got was....

...just goes to show you that competition is tough around here! After loading this, my wife and I just stood there and looked at the 12' long bare spot where a nice load(s) of logs once were. :-S

 

[gzecc]

I will never go to a CL posting when the address is listed. People come out of the woodwork!

 

[North of 60]

Looks like theres a few drops of oil saved there, and if it makes it any better for ya, Ill share some of my pine with you.
N of 60

 

[Wet1]

Nice score That should keep you warm for at least an hour or two. :cheese:

 

[Jags]

I really do mean it, when I say that I feel sorry for people that are in a high competition area like that. Hell, I got a place that is 1.5 miles from home that the owners are begging me to come and take the tops from a selective black walnut harvest. I just don't need it. I still gots me a big ol pile to buck and split now, that will probably yield 7 cords and I am 3 years ahead with the split stuff NOW.

I just had a young kid deliver 4 pickup loads of 22-28" rounds of hard maple, just to get rid of it. I though it only proper to have a few cold brews on the tailgate with him. :coolsmile:

 

[SolarAndWood]

I really do mean it, when I say that I feel sorry for people that are in a high competition area like that. Hell, I got a place that is 1.5 miles from home that the owners are begging me to come and take the tops from a selective black walnut harvest. I just don't need it. I still gots me a big ol pile to buck and split now, that will probably yield 7 cords and I am 3 years ahead with the split stuff NOW.

I just had a young kid deliver 4 pickup loads of 22-28" rounds of hard maple, just to get rid of it. I though it only proper to have a few cold brews on the tailgate with him. :coolsmile:

Have you reached the top of the evolutionary chain for scroungers?

 

[Jags]

I really do mean it, when I say that I feel sorry for people that are in a high competition area like that. Hell, I got a place that is 1.5 miles from home that the owners are begging me to come and take the tops from a selective black walnut harvest. I just don't need it. I still gots me a big ol pile to buck and split now, that will probably yield 7 cords and I am 3 years ahead with the split stuff NOW.

I just had a young kid deliver 4 pickup loads of 22-28" rounds of hard maple, just to get rid of it. I though it only proper to have a few cold brews on the tailgate with him. :coolsmile:

Have you reached the top of the evolutionary chain for scroungers?

Lets see:
1.) forward looking eyes - check
2.) Canine teeth - Check
3.) Last name means "The Hunter" - check

Hey, you might be on to something here.

 

[stee6043]

:lol: So, at 1:13pm today, a post comes on the local CL for free maple logs at the curb. First come, first serve. I figured that since it's only 9 miles from me why not go. Earlier today I missed out on a CL ad where a guy was giving away his 3 cords of split hardwood since they got rid of the fireplace and installed......GAS fireplace :ahhh:
That offer was gone as fast as you could read the post. So, once I Google map the place, drive there and all I got was....

...just goes to show you that competition is tough around here! After loading this, my wife and I just stood there and looked at the 12' long bare spot where a nice load(s) of logs once were. :-S

I hope you're hauling with a 3/4 ton pickup at least. Too much more of this kind of hauling with a half ton would severely limit the life expectancy of the truck....

 

[kbrown]

Yea, I'm very happy with my truck. Bought it used with only 18k miles. Was a turn in from a GM employee who opted for the towing package. Extra cooling capacity, hd brakes, towing, etc. Rated 1660 load capactiy; 9100 towing. Never towed anything that big, at most 1500. I heard that you loose about 1k capacity just doing any towing. Looking for a basic 4x8 or 5x10 trailer as my next item.

 

[burntime]

If you are smart about hauling all you really wear are the brakes. I haul about a half cord on and off with a ranger with coil over shocks. Just drive it easy. Like I said the brakes wear sooner but the rest is fine. 110k as of yesterday and had it from 19k for 10 years.

 

[stee6043]

I was kinda kidding about the loading, guys! I was laughing at the photo since there was really only one piece of good sized wood in the pickup bed. Certainly any truck could handle this kind of heavy duty. hah. Sorry, it was late, bad attempt at humor...

 

[daveswoodhauler]

I was kinda kidding about the loading, guys! I was laughing at the photo since there was really only one piece of good sized wood in the pickup bed. Certainly any truck could handle this kind of heavy duty. hah. Sorry, it was late, bad attempt at humor...

I got it...thought it was funny

 

[Scrounger]

Certainly any truck could handle this kind of heavy duty. hah. Sorry, it was late, bad attempt at humor...

Could have taken the family sedan and threw them chunks in the back seat

 

[mayhem]

Nah, it'll mar up the leather. Put it in the trunk where it belongs.

I live in an area where free wood is gone about as fast as the homeowner lays it down on the ground. Most local tree services take the wood and sell it for cordwood or work wiht lumbermills for extra cash (a recent street widening and straightening project had a local tree service take down probably a few hundred trees, mostly nice, old maples about 24-36" in diameter...they tooke very bit of it and when they cut it that laid the trunks over the top of the pile so guys couldn't come at night and jack the pile on em.

Sucks to be a scrounger around here.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Sucks to be a scrounger around here.

Time to move west where a scrounger can still back their trailer up to a pile of free rounds on the way home from the office.

 

[joshlaugh]

After hearing some of the problems some scroungers are having I feel almost guilty when I pass on wood around me. I am getting quite choosy in what I take since it seems everyone and their brother has downed trees with lots of problems getting rid of the wood. I guess I should count my blessings. I still see rounds cut to stove length sitting by the road from this past winter. I have not bothered to stop since I am at capacity already.

 

[mn_jon]

as long as SOMEONE takes them. What drives me nuts is seeing all of the downed wood just sitting there rotting. It's heavily forested up here and for every tree burned there seem to be 1000 on the ground rotting. And yet people just keep burning gas & oil. Hard to figure ?


jon

ps it's mostly pine.

 

[kbrown]

as long as SOMEONE takes them. What drives me nuts is seeing all of the downed wood just sitting there rotting. It's heavily forested up here and for every tree burned there seem to be 1000 on the ground rotting. And yet people just keep burning gas & oil. Hard to figure ?


jon

ps it's mostly pine.

I agree! Although it's not a forest around here by me, it's still much more than most. In my township there are large heavily wooded parks every 50' along with gun clubs, etc. You drive by and see tons of downed trees just rotting! I spoke to a township official and asked why they don't just allow a park cleanup day (month) like some other cities do and let the citizens come in and remove those trees for firewood. He actually thought it was a good idea but didn't elaborate from there. My township has no public works department so this is an even bigger problem since they have to depend on the county road commission to remove trees from public right of ways and such. Hell, I would even offer to pay a minimal fee for a permit to harvest it. Michigan DNR has a program for the north area to gain a permit that allows up to 10 cords of wood to be removed from state forest areas. The DNR has the right idea; gets the fireload down and saves them the time to hire it out! Any of the other Hearth.com Michigan members ever try the permit thing? Too long of a drive for me, I would loose money on the deal; buy the time you factor in beer, gas, & supplies. ;-P

 

[stee6043]

as long as SOMEONE takes them. What drives me nuts is seeing all of the downed wood just sitting there rotting. It's heavily forested up here and for every tree burned there seem to be 1000 on the ground rotting. And yet people just keep burning gas & oil. Hard to figure ?


jon

ps it's mostly pine.

I agree! Although it's not a forest around here by me, it's still much more than most. In my township there are large heavily wooded parks every 50' along with gun clubs, etc. You drive by and see tons of downed trees just rotting! I spoke to a township official and asked why they don't just allow a park cleanup day (month) like some other cities do and let the citizens come in and remove those trees for firewood. He actually thought it was a good idea but didn't elaborate from there. My township has no public works department so this is an even bigger problem since they have to depend on the county road commission to remove trees from public right of ways and such. Hell, I would even offer to pay a minimal fee for a permit to harvest it. Michigan DNR has a program for the north area to gain a permit that allows up to 10 cords of wood to be removed from state forest areas. The DNR has the right idea; gets the fireload down and saves them the time to hire it out! Any of the other Hearth.com Michigan members ever try the permit thing? Too long of a drive for me, I would loose money on the deal; buy the time you factor in beer, gas, & supplies. ;-P

I'll tell ya why you don't see many municipalities letting folks "clean up" - liabilitiy. It's the same reason most propane tank manufacturers won't sell direct to folks wanting to fill them with hot water. The fear of litigation is crippling...and rightfully so.

I've seen the permits you can get here in Michigan but I have often wondered what type of wood you get and how easy it is to reach. I'm in the same boat as you though - too far to drive for it to be cost effective. My limit is about 30 miles....and I have to bring home 2 cord for that to be worth it.

 

[SolarAndWood]

My limit is about 30 miles....and I have to bring home 2 cord for that to be worth it.

You have to bring $300 of wood home to justify driving 60 miles round trip?

 

[stee6043]

My limit is about 30 miles....and I have to bring home 2 cord for that to be worth it.

You have to bring $300 of wood home to justify driving 60 miles round trip?

Absolutely. To fill my trailer (17.5x7x2+) it usally takes me 5/6 hours of dropping, bucking and loading. I'm $50-60 into gas, oil, lunch and beer each time I go. I've done it three times since March this year so far. Seems to make for a good days work. It's not worth my time to go out and bring half a cord back...even though I do it partially for the fun and not just to avoid paying for firewood! I have to justify the cost of that darn trailer somehow, you know.

Someday I'll be scrouging but for now I have unlimited access to mature cherry, ash, some oak and a some sassafras. I can be a bit of a cutting snob for a least a few more years.

Going to where the "free wood" on public property is available in Michigan would be much much further than 60 miles round trip for me. That was actually more the point I was trying to make above....

 

[SolarAndWood]

My limit is about 30 miles....and I have to bring home 2 cord for that to be worth it.

You have to bring $300 of wood home to justify driving 60 miles round trip?

I'm $50-60 into gas, oil, lunch and beer each time I go.

LOL, I didn't realize beer was an allowable expense in a scroungers budget.

 

[stee6043]

My limit is about 30 miles....and I have to bring home 2 cord for that to be worth it.

You have to bring $300 of wood home to justify driving 60 miles round trip?

I'm $50-60 into gas, oil, lunch and beer each time I go.

LOL, I didn't realize beer was an allowable expense in a scroungers budget.

Holy smokes.....beer is arguably as critical as bar oil to THIS wood cutter ha.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Heard ya. I never realized I could charge it to the wood budget instead of the beer budget.

 

[burntime]

In Wisconsin we need an ample supply of leinenkugels. Kinda line the Yenglin in Penn. Without it there is work stoppage