Whats your wood worth?

[westkywood]

Twas out there staring at my rows of wood, which I like to do now and then. You know. Wander through the rows. Adoring my accomplishments. Checking out which wood will burn which year etc. Cmon, I know you all do it.
I got to thinking. If I was to sell all this wood, what would it sell for? What is it worth? I have about 11 cords or 33 ricks. I'm figuring 3 ricks per cord. Around here a "rick" of wood sells for average $50.00. At that price my wood would be worth $1650.00. Then I realized, that's not what it's worth to me.
I use propane when I use my furnace. Everything else is electric. In an average winter , burning no wood, best I can remember, I used between 400 and 600 gallons of fuel. Lets say 500 gallons.
I called about propane today to get prices. Right now propane is $1.69 per gallon. She said the highest it got this winter was $1.89. When I rented my tank, I remember paying about $2.69. So if I go with average of $1.79 per gallon, I would have spent roughly $900.00 on fuel this winter. So........... I have 11 cords of wood which should last me about 5 years. 5 years x $900.00 is $4500.00. THATS what my wood is worth.
Of course that's a very rough estimate because of fluctuating prices in fuel, milder winters etc. But I'd say that's the least it is worth. Our winters have been mild and propane right now is pretty cheap...
I filled my propane tank at a discount rate of $1.40. per gallon because it was my first fill. That was 3 years ago and I've only used about 25% of the tank. I paid $559.60 for it and I should get at least another 3 years out of it. Plus, lets not forget the lack of wear and tear on my heating unit. So that can add to what my wood is worth too.
Whats your wood worth?

 

[Jack Straw]

10 cord of wood, average cost around here is $200 per cord.......I think it's worth about 10 grand!

 

[Jags]

Using my labor and speed to produce a cord - I would say about $1000 per cord. No less.

 

[westkywood]

10 cord of wood, average cost around here is $200 per cord.......I think it's worth about 10 grand!

I don't ever see cord prices around here. It's all ricks

 

[BobUrban]

You are not even considering paying yourself for labor - do the math on that at, say, $12.00hr for just simple laborers rate. All the hours spent gathering, splitting and stacking - cost of fuel and equipment, etc... My firewood is priceless and the reason why I wonder how anyone can make money selling css firewood at the going rates. Just does not add up for me?

 

[Jack Straw]

I don't ever see cord prices around here. It's all ricks

They are called face cords around here.

 

[westkywood]

You are not even considering paying yourself for labor - do the math on that at, say, $12.00hr for just simple laborers rate. All the hours spent gathering, splitting and stacking - cost of fuel and equipment, etc... My firewood is priceless and the reason why I wonder how anyone can make money selling css firewood at the going rates. Just does not add up for me?

I understand what you are saying. I don't work much in the winter when I do all my firewood work. So most days css wood is getting me out of the house and getting exercise. I went and got some wood last week that I didn't actually need, just to get out of the house and do something. So I don't really look at it as working by the hour.
I realize I've got expenses also such as gas, saws splitter, wood stove etc. It would be difficult to come up with exactly what it is all worth.

 

[tfdchief]

Way more than anyone would pay for it

 

[ailanthus]

As much as 4-5 years worth in the stacks +/- &heating oil used to cost me ~ $2000 per year. Well worth a little elbow grease in my opinion.

 

[Auzzie Gumtree]

Around here they sell wood by the cubic Metre. For good dry wood, equivalent to oak, you are looking at $140 per Cubic Metre that equates to roughly $506.80 per cord. This means i have ~ $7,000. Its cost me nothing other than the time and effort to collect it - but would i sell it....... never - i have trouble burning it as i know how much time and effort it takes to amass such a collection.

 

[Paulywalnut]

As hard as I work pulling logs out of the woods.
Splitting hedge, mulberry, locust by hand......
"Priceless"!

 

[billb3]

I have 2 or 3 cord of oak and some cherry that is 5 years old.
Plus 3 or 4 cords of younger similar hardwood .
I went to sell a cord to a friend of a friend for $200 and I insisted he come look at it first because no way was I delivering and bringing it back.
He didn't want round wood. Mine is a mix. I don't split under 4 inches and I don't throw out good oak either.
Basically he wanted the green all split crap he was used to from a processor that only can fast process fairly straight logs.
Now I want $300 for it.
Which was the going rate a few years ago before all the storm damage stacked up wood all over the place.
I have no time for idiots.


@ 300/cord I have 2K easy with 1 or 2 on the ground from storms the last 6 months.
Plus a whole bunch of pine that no one wants.

After the last power outage my 80 year old mom is getting a new stove to go with the new chimney, and seriously considering actually using it rather than just having it for emergencies so there goes some of my stash.
My sister may be moving back and firing up her wood stove and will be eying my stash.
I really don't have much extra.
I may be rationing a cord of oak with a cord of pine.
Like a frugal Yankee.

Whatever plays out , I really need to get cutting.
Despite needing less than a cord a year for myself.

 

[FireBones]

To me having an independent source for heat for our home and family truly is priceless. I would never process the wood if I didn't enjoy the heat so much. Some friends ask to buy some but I'd rather put them to work and earn a truck load and really appreciate what it takes to have it.....

 

[red oak]

After all the time and effort I put into it (and I have about 15 cords now) it is priceless. I can't imagine selling it!

 

[chvymn99]

I unloaded about 3 cords this year from my stash. Mostly my "lesser" wood, but when I got to my good stash. I cringed with each toss of the wood. However it was to a Uncle that needed it. But that will be my last time I sell my wood, unless I come across some circumstance that a friend or relative needs it. But as it has been said its very labor and time consuming. Now I have work to be done, I have to recover those three cords so that I'm back to my 4-5 year ahead. Now I just have to go replace the hydraulic hose that just blew the other night.

 

[Gark]

In addition to the reasons already mentioned, why some of us have pride in the firewood stash, can anyone else agree that "the Ikea effect" could be another factor for this pride? I think so. "My stacks look better and burn hotter than anyone else's stacks". LOL.

 

[ChrisNJ]

Geez with the price you get for propane I would probably not bother heating with wood, around here it is going for like $4.55 a gallon :-(

Geez just called a new place and got a price of $289.90 a gallon

 

[Lumber-Jack]

Hard to calculate cost because there is so many ways to do the math. Do I calculate the labor, fuel, time, vehicle and saw depreciation to get it, not to mention the time involved in bringing wood in the house and loading the stove and cleaning out the ashes, as opposed to just flipping a switch on the wall. Or do I calculate the cost of replacing the wood I cut with wood I buy from a firewood dealer? Or do I calculate the cost compared to electric cost of running my heat pump to heat the house instead of the wood stove?
If I go back to the first one and calculate my labor cost as compared to what I charge when I do my regular job, I'd be further ahead just doing my regular job and buying wood, but then I'd miss out on the fun. Besides I'm not usually so busy that I can't spare a few days with the family out in the bush getting the wood ourselves.

My best guess is that my firewood is priceless.

 

[madtrapper]

Mine is worth 45 a face cord. That's what I sell it for all ash and elm. The oak I cut is mine to burn and not for sale. I have sold a 100 face cords a year the last few years as we have cleared out a bunch of fence rows and the ash and elm in our wood lots is dying. I have sold some soft wood for 35 a face cord but only cut it if its in a fence row or on the edge of a field usually maple or poplar.

 

[Jags]

Mine is worth 45 a face cord.

I'll take 5 full cords, please.

 

[billb3]

If you butt three face cord aside each other to equal a cord, is the middle row still a face cord ?

 

[Blue2ndaries]

It's worth some electrical work at least...in a barter. I bartered a cord of oak with a good friend (~$300 around here cut/split) for some electrical work in a bonus room I am beginining to finish out. I think I got the better end of the deal. He would not take any $ payment and wanted to do it for free at first, but I wanted to get him something. Worked out well.

 

[westkywood]

Geez with the price you get for propane I would probably not bother heating with wood, around here it is going for like $4.55 a gallon :-(

Geez just called a new place and got a price of $289.90 a gallon

For me burning wood is a win win win. My work is seasonal. There are some months during the winter that I don't work 3 days so I have to really watch my money. So me saving $1000.00 each winter on heating bills really helps. More important than that, it gives me something to do in the winter months. I like css wood. It gets me out of the house and gets me exercise. I love burning wood. I stay warmer burning wood than if I was using the furnace, plus it's less wear and tear on my unit.

 

[gerry100]

In my case a cord of wood displaces 100-150 gales of heating oil.

Therefore, at current oil prices my 4 cords is worth between $1600-2400

This year I'm going to track my hours this year to find out what my hourly rate is.( no taxes or withholding)

 

[KaptJaq]

I have three seasons of heat stacked in the yard. If I heated with oil it would be about $3,500 to $4,000 a season. So my 12 cords are worth about $1,000 each to me. That does not include the $50/month saved on the gym membership...

In our area unseasoned face cords sell for about $130 each, kiln dried about $230 (LI is expensive). At that rate my stacks are worth about $4,500 to $8,250 depending on how long it has seasoned .

KaptJaq