What would you do When tree guy rips you off.

[RISurfer20]

Purchased additional cord wood from a local 2 wks ago. I stacked a weeks worth inside and attempted to light the stove last night. I suspected the wood to be not seasoned even though the tree guy stated it was seasoned. The fire went off strong with the kindling and then died out once the flames touched the so called seasoned cord wood. The logs turned black and sizzled. Could not get the stove above 300 degrees. Not happy since this is all the wood I have left for the remaining season.
The company is selling seasoned cord wood but obviously it is not yet ready to burn. What would you all do? I figure I will call and complain and see if they can replace the wood with seasoned wood.

Also does anyone here on the lit know of any reputable wood dealers in RI?

 

[cmonSTART]

If it were me, just to cover my rear end I would let the wood sit on my woodrack for a day or so inside, just to make sure any dampness from being outside (rain, snow, etc) was dried up. See if it burns better then. If not, you have a stronger case against the tree guy.

 

[Girl]

You get what you get when you buy this late in the season.
What one would call seasoned is not what another person would call seasoned.
Did he say semi seasoned or seasoned?
Did you split any pieces to get a better idea?
I bought seasoned wood one year, it was seasoned but soaked by rain when I got it.

 

[burnham]

I'm in the same boat, it's my own fault for buying this late in the season. I brought in half a face cord and stacked it next to the fire. If I have to buy this time of year again I'll probably scrounge around for covered or kiln dried wood. I've also been thinking of getting half a load of bio bricks and mixing them in.

 

[ctlovell]

Get some pallets and some biobricks or some other manufactured all wood logs and see what you can do by mixing in the "seasoned" wood you just got. Good Luck!

 

[stoveguy13]

You cant expect to get seasoned wood at any time of the year the best thing you can do is try and by "green" early and offten and take care of it yourself. just how most of the tree and wood guys work.

 

[elmoleaf]

I don't think you have any recourse against the seller re: wood being unseasoned. It doesn't appear that RI legally defines "seasoned" relative to firewood. However, their laws are similar to Mass in prohibiting use of the word "cord" etc. Also RI requires seller to provide a delivery ticket: "The delivery ticket or sales invoice shall include the name and address of the seller and the purchaser, the quantity delivered to the purchaser in terms of cubic feet or cubic meters, the date delivered, and the price of the quantity of wood delivered."
(see (broken link removed to http://law.justia.com/rhodeisland/codes/title47/47-12-3.html) and (broken link removed to http://law.justia.com/rhodeisland/codes/title47/47-12-4.html))

Unless you own a moisture meter to check wood before buying, you can protect yourself in the future by:
1. get word of mouth recommendations about trusted firewood sources.
2. ask lots of questions about when the wood was cut and split, where & how long stacked etc. Even wood that was cut a year ago but left in long logs or unsplit until recently may still be too unseasoned.
3. learn as much as possible about what seasoned wood looks & feels like: weight not as heavy as wet, should have deep end grain checks & splits, bark that will not bend/easily peel off etc.

 

[crazy_dan]

Do not use them anymore and buy in the spring and stack it and let it dry all summer, sometimes the wood is cheaper in the spring and you might get a better deal. Try to get a full year ahead on wood have next years wood before you start burning this years wood if you have room for it. then your Unseasoned worries are over :coolsmile:

also one way to get an idea if wood is seasoned or not is take 2 pieces and smack them together you should hear
Seasoned will have a sharp crack kinda like when a baseball hits a wooden bat
Unseasoned will have a duller thud

 

[They Call Me Pete]

Probably none if you paid cash. I just got a load yesterday and it rained a 1.5 the day before so it's a little moist but is burning fine. The real kicker is I sold 1.5 cords in the fall and left one for fireplace but then bought a stove a few weeks later. Talk about kicking yourself in the pants. Tree guys split it and make a huge pile and don't touch it until it goes into truck. Some may cover it but most don't

 

[Michael6268]

Unfrotunetely you have no recourse. There is no dealer that is going to replace your wood with new wood once it is dumped. Also, they dont have any seasoned wood to replace it with because if they did have seasoned wood, they would have given it to you to begin with. The thing is that almost no wood sellers have any seasoned wood left at this time of year. You should do as someone said. Get as many pallets and maybe some biobricks and once you have a super hot fire going try to mix in some of your wood.

 

[RISurfer20]

I called and complained. The owner stated he has had numerous complaints. He came this morning and dropped off half a cord of his own stash. Next year I will purchase ahead of time.

 

[Mandoo]

I called and complained. The owner stated he has had numerous complaints. He came this morning and dropped off half a cord of his own stash. Next year I will purchase ahead of time.

Nice customer service, sounds like a guy that cares about his reputation! Something hard to find these days.

 

[jtp10181]

Yeah if you do have to buy wood, I would buy "seasoned" wood from someone in the early early spring and save it for next year. Or buy wood that was just split (green) for a cheaper price and hang on to it for two years and season it yourself.

 

[ctlovell]

Sounds like you solved your problem. If I were you I would buy more wood from this guy NOW, let it season all spring, summer and fall and you should be good for next winter and have a head start on the year after next. I would certainly give this wood dealer a second chance.

 

[Haston]

I'm in the same boat. Fell behind on wood production last year (out of laziness and repeated mtn bike crashes resulting in broken ribs), and am paying for it now. I usually order at least a cord a winter from a very reliable source. Last week he delivered wet wood, more than half of it having a moisture content of 35% (I didn't check it when he dumped it, as he's always delivered seasoned hardwood before). Anyway, I'll pick through what I can use now-- and hope that some of my early spring/summer split oak and hickory will turn out to be dry enough to carry me through Feb going forward. I plan to touch base with my supplier and let him know what he delieverd is not all properly seasoned and that it;s an added groan to have to sort through the stack piece by piece-- but I'll probably still order a second load from him this winter and treat it as a cord to go into next year's "wood bank". Just to be clear, I'm more mad at myself than my wood guy. H.
P.S. Oh, yeah, I broke my ribs (and elbow) again, this time colliding with a deer at night on my bike. It's called taking it up a notch.