Unprepared.. advice?

[Dustin]

Alright, help me feel better about this..

I’ve been burning for a few years and learned a ton here. I moved to a new house, with no stove. There was no plan to install a stove. Well, low and behold I ended up with a deal I couldn’t pass up, and now have one installed!

So, I have no firewood. Yeah, totally my fault.

Question... down the road, a guy has a cord of “seasoned” Douglas fir for 170. He says it was cut down in 2016, and split this May... seems dicey to me.

Should I buy this cord? OR.. the local stove shop sells a pallet of high energy fire logs from west Oregon wood products. 309 dollars a pallet, and you get about 358 logs.

The fire logs will be dry and won’t give me any fuss. The cord wood is gonna be a complete roll of the dice.

Help me feel better about spending the 309 on the processed stuff?

 

[gibbonfd2]

Get a moisture meter off amazon and check the Doug fur before you buy it


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[Zack R]

Alright, help me feel better about this..

I’ve been burning for a few years and learned a ton here. I moved to a new house, with no stove. There was no plan to install a stove. Well, low and behold I ended up with a deal I couldn’t pass up, and now have one installed!

So, I have no firewood. Yeah, totally my fault.

Question... down the road, a guy has a cord of “seasoned” Douglas fir for 170. He says it was cut down in 2016, and split this May... seems dicey to me.

Should I buy this cord? OR.. the local stove shop sells a pallet of high energy fire logs from west Oregon wood products. 309 dollars a pallet, and you get about 358 logs.

The fire logs will be dry and won’t give me any fuss. The cord wood is gonna be a complete roll of the dice.

Help me feel better about spending the 309 on the processed stuff?

Grab your moisture meter and an axe and go see what the wood in his cord looks like. I'm in a similar situation where I had a stove installed a month ago but don't have enough wood for the winter. I've been busting my butt getting any dry wood I can find locally which out here means lodgepole pine.

You might also have some luck on craigslist. I've seen some pretty good deals for wood western Oregon (free from tree service companies), not sure how dry it is but at least you can get started for next year.

This is from yesterday's outing after work, a downed dead ponderosa on national forest land in the wood cutting area (10min from my house).

 

[johneh]

Buy them both if the wood is a good price !
You will have a start for next year and have
something to burn this year in the way of fire logs
If the Doug Fir is wet then you can also mix with fire logs
And be warm and happy

 

[ValleyCottageSplitter]

Well I'm getting a BK Ashford in a few weeks and I have 1/4 cord fully seasoned, then 1 cord of ash/N maple that's at 26-27%. It's not worth it for me to buy any especially this soon. I'll have to wait until the cord seasons before burning. So maybe that makes you feel better?

On the bright side I've already got 2+ cords of w. oak, ash and maple for next year and 1 cord of hickory for 2019.

I would go check the Doug Fir first. If it looks close enough I would pick that up, otherwise I would get the fire logs. It's not cost effective for me to buy wood so if you are in a similar boat I would start hitting CL hard to build up your stash for next year. I'm sure those softwoods will season nicely by Fall 2018.

 

[Dix]

Buy them both if the wood is a good price !
You will have a start for next year and have
something to burn this year in the way of fire logs
If the Doug Fir is wet then you can also mix with fire logs
And be warm and happy

I agree with this. AND git yer boot scooting Boogie cranking on getting ahead !

 

[Sodbuster]

What type of heat do you have in your new house and what's the fuel, Natural Gas or Propane?

 

[Dustin]

What type of heat do you have in your new house and what's the fuel, Natural Gas or Propane?

I have an electric heat pump. The stove is in my finished daylight basement. It’s always 10
degrees colder down here then the rest of the joint when I’m using the heat pump

 

[Sodbuster]

So if you spent the 170 for a cord of "seasoned" wood, you're taking the chance that it will be frustrating to burn. With the high energy fire logs, you are guaranteed nice burning wood. I think you need to take a look at how much electricity your heat pump drew to heat last year, and compare that to the cost of the wood. Hopefully the old owners or the electric utility can provide those numbers. If you just really want a fire,( and who here can blame you), I'd go with the high energy logs for this year, and get to cutting....immediately.

 

[Destructor]

Try to find construction scraps or paint free demolition scraps, 2 X’s. Even if they have been out in the rain they will dry quick. You won’t get overnight burns but they’re good heat and split down nicely into kindling. My father scrounged nearly a cord of scraps from homes being built nearby. It got to the point where the workers stopped throwing scraps in the dumpster and piled them on the ground for him to take. The nice clear pieces he built things with. We also had plenty of hardwood but those scraps provided a lot of heat.

 

[Jeffm1]

Get a moisture meter off amazon and check the Doug fur before you buy it


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Ditto. DF seasons pretty fast. You could always do both. Buy the cord of DF. If it's dry, burn it this year. If not, save it for next and it will be ready then and buy the other stuff for this year.

 

[coutufr]

I would wait a little before committing to buying wood. Your heat pump will do the job in the meantime. I know the feeling of having a woodstove without firewood and it is not fun but keeping your money and finding yourself a good chainsaw would be good option right now.

 

[Dustin]

Thanks for the advice!

Lots to ponder.. I’m gonna check and see if the seller will let me come prod with a moister meter...

 

[littlalex]

What he said, solve your dilemma for 20 bucks or so and look how to measure moisture. Most folks do it wrong.

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[littlalex]

If he doesn't want you there with a meter walk quickly in the other direction

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[Tyson]

I have a Quadrafire 3100 Millenium and had a similar issue last season when my wood guy screwed me over with short cords of wet "seasoned" wood. I bought a moisture meter and laser thermometer gun to keep tabs on drying progress and burn stages. I brought the D-fir down to (mostly) small splits/large kindling and dried them near the hearth for few days before burning. This stove ain't happy without <20% moisture wood. I used the D-fir to make a good base for some pressed sawdust firebricks and had many a happy warm evening using a mix of the two. I don't require 24hr heat output most of the time so this worked well for our us.

I assume you were considering a pallet of something like this:

(broken link removed to http://www.northidahoenergylogs.com/energylogs.php)

I tried to buy some but my local supplier jammed out so I went with these:

(broken link removed to http://canawick.com/en/produits.php?cat=Bricks&c=9)

They worked great and the conveniences are real, so you do see some value that way, even though it doesn't feel very woodsy.

Good wood at a good price and convenient to boot? Buy it for next year if it's not dry enough for this season.

 

[CheapBassTurd]

Really, guys? Ya know there's bundles at the C-stores for 5-7 bucks. LOLOL

If you are the type who rolls a pickup truck, consider cutting up some
roadside deads. If not in a ditch or wet area it's "ready to burn" so to speak.
Meaning it only has to dry, not season. This is why I mentioned deads. The greens
dropped by tree companies are free scrounge for upcoming years of nearly free heat.
This is all I use and got a few years ahead in one year's time. The avatar pic shows
only a few percent of the stock on hand now. All deads for this season and greens
split and seasoning now for upcoming years. Nearly all property owners I ask are happy
to be rid of it. If they were stovers, it wouldn't be there. lol

Rockin' it, CheapMark

 

[Soundchasm]

When I first started with no knowledge and no support, I had a few winters burning wet wood. If it ever does light, it buggers the imagination to see a fire and NOT feel any heat. It was crazy.

And of course it caused all kinds of problems with creosote and blackening the glass. It is SUCH a frustration to be avoided at all costs. Even though you paid for "dry" wood, it won't light and it won't heat. ALL that money is gone...

 

[Woodsplitter67]

If i was in your position... i would not be pondering much.. as you have your work cut out for you.. not only do you need this years wood but you need to get wood for next year so that is seasoned.. its pretty much a no brainer start getting as much wood as you can and start working on wood storage for the wood you purchased and processed..

 

[Tar12]

Do yourself a favor and buy both....you are going to have drop some coin period..this will give you a head start...get you a saw and don't let up for awhile!