Useful hints when you buy firewood split and delivered.

[RedRanger]

For those of you that may or may not have acreage like I do, with no room for a logging truck to get in - and must buy your wood buy the cord or two. Plan in advance and buy green wood for next year,that way there will be less disapointment. Get to know your supplier and if possible, always give him a hand unloading.

Giving the guy a hand and discussing things that ya have in common will ensure that you are never shorted. eg. got my last cord today, and after measuring, it is 1.25 cords. And I never have received less than 1.15,just because I make a point of telling them that I appreciate the work they do and how invaluable they are to people like us.

Even in todays world, some kindness and a helping hand still does go a long way.

Suppliers come and go , that is the nature of the business. So if your first cord from them is "iffy". dont dismiss them automatically, get to know them better,discuss things in common, give them a hand, and next delivery you will probably find they have been quite generous,and when supplies are short, you will be first in line.

 

[colebrookman]

Never pay for dry wood, because it probably isn't. Plan ahead if you have the room to store 3or4 cords. And if the dealer delivers your cord in a 1/2 ton truck, hide your wallet and your firstborn.

 

[Scott in IN]

Never pay for dry wood, because it probably isn't.

Stop it you are killing me...

I ran out of wood and ordered one cord of "Seasoned Dry" wood that was delivered at night (whooops). Well, if it was seasoned it was at the bottom of a lake.

So, still needing some wood I call another guy and he never shows up.

Still needing wood I call yet another guy and told him of my problems and he said he stuff was seasoned for 3 years. Great I think and tell him to bring out a rank / rick for me to try out first. It's a little better than the first guy but not by much.

This spring I WILL cut plenty of wood for next yet.........

 

[Chettt]

Good advice Sonny. Courteous behavior can help in so many situations.

 

[downeast]

CSD Wood

Wood 101: Plan. Plan.

You use wood for heat, think ahead. NOW is when CSD wood is bought for NEXT winter. Buy it green during the winter/early spring when most wood is cut by loggers, developers, arborists doing the serious thinning and dropping. You buy it green means less handling and storage for firewood producers. Think about your wood all year for the following winter. Make it part of your secondary life ( and, "step away from the computer" boys. It is not life.). Ask. Look. Scrounge. Get a buddy or buddies to spend a weekend cutting. Good for your body BTW.
Unless you have the experience harvesting firewood, you don't understand the effort involved getting wood from stump to your yard...with or without heavy equipment. This is no virtual game. Harvested firewood warms more than twice; try 8 times from stump. Some even think that it's "hard work" bucking up log lengths dropped off in the driveway. %-P Example: when you whine about "unseasoned" or "wet" CSD, where do you think that wood pile is stored ? Yes, it's wet from being outside. It can be green, or usually just wet from being exposed to---weather. No producer has the facility or time to store firewood in a shed.

Wood 101 II: wet firewood can be seasoned. It's just plain water wet, not green.

Wood 101 III : Never buy firewood by anything BUT cords or fraction of a cord. Forget weight, forget all this "rick", "rack", "face
cord", or bananas.

Wood 101 IV : Most firewood sellers HAVE to be honest. Don't assume that you're going to be shorted. Most they sell to don't have
a clue about the effort ( BTU's) involved in "making" that pile of CSD. Firewood ain't lettuce. hh:

Now, flame away.

 

[eernest4]

I have just one question:

WHAT IS CSD?????????????

i UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING ELSE YOU SAID BUT i NEVER HEARD OF A SPIECIES OF WOOD CALLED CDS & my caps lock got stuck again ,too.

 

[colebrookman]

[/quote]step away from the computer” boys. It is not life.).Now them's fighting words. But all the rest I agree with. I could never understand when they say wood warms you twice. It's bull work every step of the way. If you harvest your own wood you should never need to join a gym. And as I found out the hard way this year, log length wood is not dry even if you leave it for a year. As others have said, it at least should be bucked to usable length even if it's not split right away. It looks as if the rain will be stopping soon so it's back outside to work on next year's wood. Of course rain can be a great excuse for computer time.

 

[eernest4]

So, for those of use that don't want to pay for CDS brand wood (whatever that means),
april is the time to start looking for more free wood. Go 2 the dump with an empty trailer & wait for someone to show up with a truck full of wood.

If you have a tree on your land that can be dropped & cut up for firewood,march is the month to cut it down, so that you have from march to nov to season it. Now,where did I leave the garlic & onion powder?? i got 3 trees that I have to cut & season.

The dump guys wont allow anyone in the dumpsters for liability reasons, but it ok to remove wood from another guys truck & put it in yours. but ,you could have to hang around waiting 4 quite some time before you get lucky.

most people go to dump at what time to dump wood???
maybe dump attendant can tell you & save U some waiting .
Landscapers dump their old wood at what times during the day or at quiting time.

Don't forget,unpainted lumber burns good too. Cruse the area on trash day looking for burnable lumber your non burning neighbors throw out.

No plywood or painted wood or particle board
or pressure treated wood or anything with a finish on it or glue as they all give off corrosive & toxic fumes when burned.

Now , get out there & scrounge some free firewood or spend your money for CSD????

Dont ask me what CSD is , ONLY DOWNEAST KNOWS. :-S

 

[Mandoo]

CSD

Cut/Split/Delivered

 

[Jags]

Pssssst- eernst4

CSD = Cut, Split, Delivered

Edit: crap, I type to slow.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

For those of you that may or may not have acreage like I do, with no room for a logging truck to get in - and must buy your wood buy the cord or two. Plan in advance and buy green wood for next year,that way there will be less disapointment. Get to know your supplier and if possible, always give him a hand unloading.

Giving the guy a hand and discussing things that ya have in common will ensure that you are never shorted. eg. got my last cord today, and after measuring, it is 1.25 cords. And I never have received less than 1.15,just because I make a point of telling them that I appreciate the work they do and how invaluable they are to people like us.

Even in todays world, some kindness and a helping hand still does go a long way.

Suppliers come and go , that is the nature of the business. So if your first cord from them is "iffy". dont dismiss them automatically, get to know them better,discuss things in common, give them a hand, and next delivery you will probably find they have been quite generous,and when supplies are short, you will be first in line.

sonyhinbc, I just had to post to congratulate you on such a fine post. You are correct in that kindness and a good work works wonders. At least it does 99.9% of the time.

One time when I was laid up for a while I had to buy some wood. We even had the guy in for coffee after he unloaded. Much appreciated and in the end we did get much more than we paid for.

 

[Ken45]

And if the dealer delivers your cord in a 1/2 ton truck, hide your wallet and your firstborn.

I one time called about some wood being sold by the "truckload". I asked how how much wood it really was and was told "it's a big load, the truck has a lot of gears"...

 

[JustWood]

Sonny and Downeast, Your statements could not be closer to the truth !
I have been a vendor for 21 years and have seen it all. Customers who treat me, my drivers, or secretary (when placing an order) like a human are rewarded justly. We have delivered as many as 5000 cord in a year in our heyday. The customers who know we are coming the night before but wait to move their vehicles out of the drive till the minute we get there,the customer who always complains about size-length or too much bark or species, the customer who bounces a check,the customer who asks you to back a 40' - 35 ton vehicle half a mile off the road through waist high orchard grass,the customer who absolutely needs you to be there at 2:19 PM so they don't miss their dog grooming appointment, the "don't dent my lawn " customer, the "I just threw my last piece of wood in the fire and I need a load NOW" customer ,I could go on forever but these customers are usually placed at the end of the list or may get a load of red maple instead of beech or oak or they may be told to get their wood from another vendor. I have 20-30 customers who complain EVERY year about their delivery but the next year place an order. Kinda makes you wonder. My advice to those who buy wood and always have a complaint is to buy all the equipment ,go to the woods and try to make a marketable product that everyone is happy with out of LOGGING WASTE and try to feed your family with the profit. Like I have always said "if you want it done perfect ,do it yourself ,that way you have no one else to blame but yourself"

 

[SPED]

I think this applies to a lot of industries, you really should treat anyone who supplies you with a service well it will almost always pay off.

Case in point slightly off topic...a tree branch fell on my cable line a few weeks ago, i called to tell the company they dispatched someone that night, mind you i didn't ask them to or try and get any special treatment. So the guy comes to the door about 9:30 at night, tells me he's gonna work on it, I invite him in ask him if he wants something to drink/eat etc offer him the use of any tools he might need. So he fiddles around for a while can't get the old cable to work again, since it was stretched inside. He comes back we chat for a minute and he says tell ya what i'll run a line on the ground for you, they'll come back and bury it in the spring and then you won't have to deal with it anymore. Can't beat that... the tree the branch fell from is a pine that drops at least one big branch a year so it'll be a huge help.

Back on topic, i always treat my wood vendors well and to this date I have never ever, even once received more than what i paid for, and only once what i paid for. This year I did find a guy i'm gonna stick with, once stacked my 3 cords came to just under and I'm certainly willing to allow for stacking differences to say i got my 3 cords. Real nice guy I chatted with him for about a half hour after he dropped it off. I told him to come whenever was good for him, i have a home office so i'm here. Now am I dissapointed? No sir, all i want is what i pay for, I am thrilled with this load. I will most definitely buy from him again, and my dad has already ordered 3 cords from him as well. All nice wood too, mostly red oak.

 

[downeast]

Sonny and Downeast, Your statements could not be closer to the truth !
I have been a vendor for 21 years and have seen it all. Customers who treat me, my drivers, or secretary (when placing an order) like a human are rewarded justly. We have delivered as many as 5000 cord in a year in our heyday. The customers who know we are coming the night before but wait to move their vehicles out of the drive till the minute we get there,the customer who always complains about size-length or too much bark or species, the customer who bounces a check,the customer who asks you to back a 40' - 35 ton vehicle half a mile off the road through waist high orchard grass,the customer who absolutely needs you to be there at 2:19 PM so they don't miss their dog grooming appointment, the "don't dent my lawn " customer, the "I just threw my last piece of wood in the fire and I need a load NOW" customer ,I could go on forever but these customers are usually placed at the end of the list or may get a load of red maple instead of beech or oak or they may be told to get their wood from another vendor. I have 20-30 customers who complain EVERY year about their delivery but the next year place an order. Kinda makes you wonder. My advice to those who buy wood and always have a complaint is to buy all the equipment ,go to the woods and try to make a marketable product that everyone is happy with out of LOGGING WASTE and try to feed your family with the profit. Like I have always said "if you want it done perfect ,do it yourself ,that way you have no one else to blame but yourself"

Sorry guys: yes, "CSD" = Cut, Split, Delivered. Those TLA's will get you every time. ( T.L.A. = Three Letter Acronym ---an old techie joke about software engineers who use secret insider letter codes).

Now Mr. Lee, an admonition : near 1/2 of our home harvest is Red Maple---; we burn what the land grows. The rest is Paper/White Birch, then odds of Red Oak, Ashes, very little Beech ( diseased badly here downeast), and shoulder season spruce and fir. The rest of the yearly harvest is spruce and fir pulp.

BTW: I'm always surprised at the low margins and intense labor in the firewood business no matter how mechanized. Don't know how you can sell so cheap...even in this high demand time. Maybe a sliding scale for cordwood based on the assessment of the house and the vehicles. " Got a '08 Beemer , huh , that'll be $500/cord." Ain't lettuce. :roll:

 

[bbc557ci]

I completed my stove install on 1/21. Started making calls for seasoned wood a week or two prior to that. One of the 1st guys I called was quite honest. Bacically he said "I don't have any seasoned wood. I have logs cut, and I process the fire wood when a customer calls for it". Then he said to be careful, beacuse some will tell you their wood is seasoned, when in fact it is not. He was right. I called a place advertizing SEASONED fire wood. And got a load of 4 FC from a guy advertizing the seasoned wood. I couldn't be home when he dumped the load and told him I'd leave a check inside the back door. Guy said no problem. I got home after he unloaded, and the load of wood he delivered is not anywhere close to being seasoned. Only seasoning it got was from the trip down the road. I kicked myself in the azz, and said to myself.....lesson learned. NBD.... I can use it next season.

Still needed wood for this season so I called another guy advertzing SEASONED wood. Said he had a mix of oak, maple and cherry that was cut/split for 3 years. And it was 16-18 inches long. Heard that and I about got a woody (pun intended). But having learned my lesson, at least about being home for a wood delivery, I was here when guy no. 2 showed up. He backed in and the wood looked good. He dumped the load, I handed him a check, and off he went. As I stacked the wood, some was as he described. But I'd say 50% of it is pure crap. 8-12 inches long. Wet, very dark in color, looks like it was stored in the bottom of a pit, or something. Caked with dirt, has what appears and smells like mold on allot of it. Some of it is soft and punky. But, for the most part, most of it has dried pretty well since I stacked it.

A guy about a mile from me sells great fire wood that IS seasoned but I gotta pick it up, no delivery. And I have to buy 1.5 cords minimum. So, I mix the semi crap wood from guy no. 2, 50/50 with the good stuff from the guy up the road. The burn seems ok when I do that.

Now, I need wood for next season. So, I called the 1st guy I mentioned. The guy that was HONEST, saying his wood is NOT seasoned. I gave him a brief run down of my experiences buying wood so far. And told him I was looking for 12 FC for next season. He said he will cut the wood any size I want. He asked if I burned a stove or a fire place. Then explained which species of wood, would be better for each. Then he asked what stove I had. I told him a PE T6. He said 16-18 inches should be good, and suggested splits 4-6 inches. I told him that sounds about right. Then he said he would process 2 FC and deliver it. And if I wanted it bigger, smaller, whatever, he'd deliver the rest with what ever changes I wanted. The guy lives about 10 miles from me, and named off a couple of neighbors of mine he delivers wood to. And said to give them a call for a reference if I wanted. Said he gets $65.00 per FC. Then he said that might sound like allot of $$ for a FC of wood. I interupted him and told him, not at all. And told him that I realize the time, labor, equipment and fuel expense involved. He thanked me, and said he'll be at my place Saturday morning with the initial 2 FC delivery. And again said he'll make changes in size if I want him to, for next 10 FC to be delivered. Now I could be wrong, but he comes accross as as a genuine and honest person. He took the time to ask me questions about what/how I burn, and answered all my questions. I was really appreciative of the time this guy spent talking to me about this. And was impressed with his offer to make changes in the size of the splits.

In the past couple of months, I've been "semi screwed" twice buying fire wood. And some other people I've talked to about buying wood from seemed to be BS'rs. And then I come accross this one guy that seems to be up front and honest. If the guy is even half of what he seems to be, I'll be a regular customer, every year. Question..... how do these other jerks stay in business ????? No offense to to any wood suppliers here on the site, but there are some pretty shady characters in the fire wood biz, at leat around here.

Sorry for the rant :lol: But maybe my experience will be somewhat of an eye opener to another newb look'n to buy fire wood ;-)

 

[elleninpa]

even I got CSD but what is NBD? okay now you can stop ROTFLYAO okay!

No damn better?
no better dead?
next batch delivered?
....

 

[bbc557ci]

even I got CSD but what is NBD? okay now you can stop ROTFLYAO okay!

No damn better?
no better dead?
next batch delivered?
....

NBD = No Big Deal

 

[downeast]

CSD Wood

Wood 101: Plan. Plan.
You use wood for heat, think ahead. NOW is when CSD wood is bought for NEXT winter. Buy it green during the winter/early spring when most wood is cut by loggers, developers, arborists doing the serious thinning and dropping. You buy it green means less handling and storage for firewood producers. Think about your wood all year for the following winter. Make it part of your secondary life ( and, "step away from the computer" boys. It is not life.). Ask. Look. Scrounge. Get a buddy or buddies to spend a weekend cutting. Good for your body BTW.
Unless you have the experience harvesting firewood, you don't understand the effort involved getting wood from stump to your yard...with or without heavy equipment. This is no virtual game. Harvested firewood warms more than twice; try 8 times from stump. Some even think that it's "hard work" bucking up log lengths dropped off in the driveway. %-P Example: when you whine about "unseasoned" or "wet" CSD, where do you think that wood pile is stored ? Yes, it's wet from being outside. It can be green, or usually just wet from being exposed to---weather. No producer has the facility or time to store firewood in a shed.

Wood 101 II: wet firewood can be seasoned. It's just plain water wet, not green.

Wood 101 III : Never buy firewood by anything BUT cords or fraction of a cord. Forget weight, forget all this "rick", "rack", "face cord", or bananas.

Wood 101 IV : Most firewood sellers HAVE to be honest. Don't assume that you're going to be shorted. Most they sell to don't have
a clue about the effort ( BTU's) involved in "making" that pile of CSD. Firewood ain't lettuce. hh:

With all the complaints, worth repeating above. Never anything BUT cords or fraction of a cord. "FC" !! Give me a break. There's a big bridge for sale in NYC.

And: learn wood species: bark, end grain, smell, color. Get out and feel how really seasoned, dried splits feel...feel. Damn, would you go to your Proctologist without getting references, or looking at the Board Certifications ? :bug:

 

[SPED]

I think the way the shadier guys stay in business is that they aren't worried about repeat customers. For the most part those of us who buy seasoned wood are either new, in a jam, or have no storage. I would guess 90% of the people buying seasoned wood are not planning on doing it again and will be buying a year ahead after that. So by the time someone who gets ripped off knows better there's a whole new crop of people to rip off. That being said, one more good thing to ask firewood sellers is if they sell green and seasoned, may not mean anything but sometimes means they are actually looking for repeat customers.

 

[milner351]

$65 a FC delivered?
Holy cow - I'd get rid of my saw if i could get it that cheap!

 

[fugazi42]

Assuming it's a 16" FC, that works out to $195 per cord, which isn't that cheap- at least around here.

Josh

 

[dj2cohen]

Is "FC" a face chord, full chord, fractional chord.....

If the price is $65 for a Full Chord, then darn right, I would buy instead of cut etc.

I have more than that wrapped up in time, fuel, saw maintenance, etc.

 

[JustWood]

Terminology is different in different areas. In western NY 99% of my customers go by face cord (4x8x length of wood) if you use the term full cord these same customers have no idea what you are refering to. Just across the state line in PA my customers go by full cord (4x4x8) and if you talk face cord they know what it is but ask you to clarify. When buying wood ask the vendor to give you specific dimensions of what you are getting. Yes I know most states have laws about only selling wood by the full cord but if a customer is used to buying face cords thats how you sell it to him because thats what he understands.

 

[downeast]

I think the way the shadier guys stay in business is that they aren't worried about repeat customers. For the most part those of us who buy seasoned wood are either new, in a jam, or have no storage. I would guess 90% of the people buying seasoned wood are not planning on doing it again and will be buying a year ahead after that. So by the time someone who gets ripped off knows better there's a whole new crop of people to rip off. That being said, one more good thing to ask firewood sellers is if they sell green and seasoned, may not mean anything but sometimes means they are actually looking for repeat customers.

OK, let's look at this attitude. Think that that "new..in a jam....no storage" customer has any responsibility for getting information about say: the attorney, the car salesmen, the political candidates, the proctologist ? Firewood is a tough, labor intensive, low margin , dangerous business. It's a commodity that the poor "new..in a jam...no storage" customer thinks that he knows all about those "shady guys" and how they're just waiting to "rip you off".
If I were selling ANYTHING, or offering 'said customer' a professional service, I wouldn't. Not the kind of fool I want to deal with or have my people deal with. Period.
Stop whining. Get out. Do due diligence.