Trading wet wood for seasoned wood.

[slamotto]

So I'm looking at my "ready to burn" pile, and guessing that I've got 4-6 weeks of heat left. I've also got about 3 cords of wood that is cut, stacked, and split for next winter. The thought has crossed my mind this morning....what if I were to find someone who is way ahead in their wood supply, and trade them a cord of my "wet" wood, for a cord of their "ready to burn" wood.

Anyone ever done a swap like that?

If you are one of the lucky ones who is way ahead in their supply, would you do such a swap? Why or why not? Would you require more "wet" wood to replace your seasoned wood?

 

[bluedogz]

I've done such a thing with my neighbor who burns also, but we're friends and neighbors. For any friend I'd make the swap even-steven if I was ahead in supply. For just some guy, no... get stuffed.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Dry wood prices seem to always be minimum 50% higher than green here, often 2x. I think this is justified given shrinkage, storage cost, etc. Given that, I don't think it is unreasonable to say that dry wood is worth 1.5 to 2x what green wood is in a swap. There are a lot of other factors like quality of wood, size of splits, length uniformity, etc. that come into play as well though.

For me, I'd rather have the cash than the swap and selling dry wood is pretty easy anytime but especially this time of year.

 

[gzecc]

Looking for a even swap is asking for too much in my opinion. Quality being equal the provider should get at least 50% more in return and of course do no work.

 

[Wood Duck]

If you are trying to trade the same amounts of wood, you should provide 10% o 20% more wet wood because the wet wood will shrink. I'd trade a friend even volumes of wet for dry and not worry about the difference unless he brought it up. For a stranger I think I might ask for extra wet wood to make up the volume difference and the extra value of dry wood - maybe 1.25 cords wet per cord dry?

Of course it would be easier to simply sell a cord of dry wood and that is probably what I'd prefer - less room for disagreement. I'd sell a selected stack for a selected amount of cash - no claims about the volume of wood, # of cords, species, or dryness except to say it has been stacked for xx years. I'd let the buyer examine the wood and we'd agree on a price and after that what you see is what you get.

 

[lukem]

I wouldn't do it for a stranger or casual acquaintance, but if a good friend for family needed some dry wood I would consider a trade and not worry too much about how much I got back in return, if any.

There is no benefit to the "dry wood" party to trade to the "wet wood" party, so the "wet wood" party would have to pony up some extra wood, or higher quality wood, IMO.

 

[Beer Belly]

If it were for a close friend, or family.....and I was ahead....take what ya need, as long as I got enough for myself....no trade needed.

 

[velvetfoot]

As has been said though, I'd hate to do any work related to the exchange.

 

[Dairyman]

If it were for a close friend, or family.....and I was ahead....take what ya need, as long as I got enough for myself....no trade needed.

+1 The only cost would be having to listen to my lecture on getting ahead with their supply.

 

[Hiram Maxim]

I've done such a thing with my neighbor who burns also, but we're friends and neighbors. For any friend I'd make the swap even-steven if I was ahead in supply. For just some guy, no... get stuffed.

+1 I called it the wood exchange program.

Traded some 2 year seasoned Ash,Cherry and Oak in the Winter with my close buddy and neighbor Terry & Jaime for some Black Locust, Cherry and Oak in the Summer.

 

[Hiram Maxim]

I've done such a thing with my neighbor who burns also, but we're friends and neighbors. For any friend I'd make the swap even-steven if I was ahead in supply. For just some guy, no... get stuffed.

+1 I called it the wood exchange program.

Traded some 2 year seasoned Ash,Cherry and Oak in the Winter with my close buddy and neighbor Terry & Jaime for some Black Locust, Cherry and Oak in the Summer.

Now 2 years later and they maybe close or even with me with the amount of fuel put up!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I made the offer to a neighbor just this week because his wood is not quite as dry as it should be. So I just told him to take what he needed and replace it. I know he will make it right.

 

[zzr7ky]

I'm with Backwoods on this one. I hate to see folks struggle. The folks I swapped took good care of me when they were back in a position to, and continue to look after me when they see and opportunity.