Why is firewood so expensive?

[af2018]

I got quoted for $80 per face cord.
$960 for four full cords.

Im trying to rationalize it and would appreciate clarification.

Our guy has a firewood processor more than likely paid off. He sits in a seat as he cuts the tree, plops it in the processor, and the machine cuts and splits the wood to size. He then sits in a seat in the skid-steer and loads it into a truck. He then sits in a seat and drives it to my house where the truck automatically dumps the wood... he gets paid almost $1,000 just like that.. and drives off.

Am i wrong to assume that the cost of firewood is due to the convenience of it more than the actual product? Yes, i didn't have to cut down the tree or split it... but it seems like firewood should be around $30 a face cord.

I know they have to pay for gas, fuel, maintenance, possibly an employee or two.. but come on now. Almost $1,000 for wood??

Is there anyone out there who sells their own firewood who can clear up for me what I'm missing?

Honest question here.. when you're done dumping the load and you're driving off and have $1,000+ in your pocket.. do you laugh or call your customers 'suckers' for paying for something that cost you much less?

Even more... a lot of these guys have tree removal services. So.. they're getting PAID to cut the tree down, but then are being PAID again for the same product!???

So when the first customer thanks them for removing the tree, the owner knows that the product they just cut down and was paid to do so will be sold for even more profit!

It's almost like its one of those businesses all firewood people DONT want you to know about or think about starting so that you don't take business away from them. I feel I should get into the business.

And whats worse is many of these people spout their wood is seasoned when in reality its not. Ive only found one guy who actually cuts and splits and STACKS his wood (not in piles or cuts the tree the day before delivery).

 

[kennyp2339]

Well there's a little more to it then that, but not quite a $240.00 dollars worth for a cord.
Take into a count the cost of health insurance, the same coverage 8 years ago (if its offered anymore has almost doubled) local property taxes have gone up, cola (cost of living) has gone up, fuel, truck repairs (parts & labor), interest rates, business insurance / taxes have gone up.
What has gone down is forestry, in the northeast, many paper mills have slowed, lumber production has nudged up, but only enough to keep timber prices steady but not bring in droves of guys into the woods / industry, so there are less tree tops to get, meaning supply and demand is low for tree tops, but lumber trees have a higher dollar figure.
Imo - I source my own wood, but I have noticed the cost for firewood slowly creep up over the years, when I first started burning we were at $150 a cord, it then creep up because of high fuel prices, then came down when the hurricane and early fall storms hit, due to high supply and minimum demand; then 2 bad winters in a row and we're at $200.00 per cord, a truck load of logs has been fairly stable in cost, between $400.00-$500.00 depending on how far the delivery is, or if you specifically ordering a certain size or species.

 

[af2018]

Well there's a little more to it then that, but not quite a $240.00 dollars worth for a cord.
Take into a count the cost of health insurance, the same coverage 8 years ago (if its offered anymore has almost doubled) local property taxes have gone up, cola (cost of living) has gone up, fuel, truck repairs (parts & labor), interest rates, business insurance / taxes have gone up.
What has gone down is forestry, in the northeast, many paper mills have slowed, lumber production has nudged up, but only enough to keep timber prices steady but not bring in droves of guys into the woods / industry, so there are less tree tops to get, meaning supply and demand is low for tree tops, but lumber trees have a higher dollar figure.
Imo - I source my own wood, but I have noticed the cost for firewood slowly creep up over the years, when I first started burning we were at $150 a cord, it then creep up because of high fuel prices, then came down when the hurricane and early fall storms hit, due to high supply and minimum demand; then 2 bad winters in a row and we're at $200.00 per cord, a truck load of logs has been fairly stable in cost, between $400.00-$500.00 depending on how far the delivery is, or if you specifically ordering a certain size or species.

are you saying i could BUY a truckload of logs uncut and just cut them myself for cheaper?????

 

[kennyp2339]

are you saying i could BUY a truckload of logs uncut and just cut them myself for cheaper?????

Yup a tandem log truck will yield between 6&7 cords (4x4x8') per cord

 

[johneh]

We process our own fire wood select cutting
We cut 20 cords during the winter 5 cord for me and 5
each for my 2 sons . The extra 5 is for a friend who trucks
it home for use . We have been doing this for the last 20
years with my boys and add 20 more years for just me .
When I started the cost was 18 dollars a cord and now 40
years later it costs 92 dollars a cord . . You can by a truck
load of 8 cords in log length and the cost this past year is 1250 dollars
( hard wood maple ,beech and oak)
works out to 156.25 but you have to process so there is work involved
I enjoy the processing and at 70 years old am happy I can still do it

 

[weatherguy]

I've cut a few cords since I got a stove, $240 isn't enough for me to do it for a living, I'll do it for myself and somewhat free heat. My BIL does it the old fashioned way and charges $180 per cord. Sometimes he has to pay the landowner per cord that he cuts from. Still cheaper than oil.

 

[vtwoodheater]

Have you processed a cord of wood, tree to CSS?
Have you priced out a wood processor, conveyor, and dump truck?
A cord of firewood is like 110 gallons of fuel IIRC. How much is #2 fuel oil right now?

More importantly, this person has the firewood, you need it. Supply and demand. The american dream. Small business ownership.

You pay for two things: Those you can't do, and those you don't want to.

Not impressed by the rant.

 

[zrock]

The guys equipment is not cheap to buy or repair and maintain. 20g for a processor, 80g for a skid steer, 20g for a truck and these are all low ball prices. Costs him probably 180 per hour min yo operate equipment by the time u pay wages, insurance, maint, and anything else I missed. Then the cost of a major brake down or replace equipment. Not to mention the cost of wood it's not all free to him.

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

 

[Marshy]

@af2018, sounds like you need to buy your own logs and process it yourself. Last time I bought a tri-axle load it cost $90/cord. Maybe then you'll humble yourself.

 

[GadDummit]

Just order your own logs or put an offer on craigslist "Will cut down your old rotten trees for free. Trying to keep family warm in winter" or something. You'll get hits. You will have to work, but I don't think you're afraid of that. That's what we did and one of the places that had us cut wood has more cedar, oak, and cottonwood than we can ever burn. And we have free access for as long as we want.

 

[wooduser]

Ummm. Many of the tree services around here have a shredder that will shred any wood thrown into it. That's what happens to the wood.

Most of the rest seem to leave rounds of wood for the homeowner to use or dispose of.

A homeowner who doesn't have a use for the wood is lucky if he can get the contractor to haul it away for free.

Personally, if I wanted to pay for fuel, I'd just turn up the thermostat and use my gas furnace.

But I can get scrap wood for free, so I burn that for fun and because I like to be frugal.

Sounds lijke you have many choices you could make ----that's a luxury. Why complain?

 

[Bad LP]

Is OP a part of the free stuff movement? There are a lot of moving parts in a tree processing operation and none of it is cheap. You're complaining about 250/cd csd when you could do it yourself for less or walk up to the wall and adjust a dial to stay warm.

I'm short of time so I bought 4 loads of cut and rough split at 200/load that works out to a cord of stacked. I still need to resplit all of it and let it dry in the wood shed for 2020

 

[gzecc]

Anyone I have ever known that has processed their own wood has always expressed how cheap firewood is on the open market. If I sold my wood it would have to be $700 per cord to make the effort worth it. If you desire to make $10 per hour maybe you could survive here.

 

[GadDummit]

Anyone I have ever known that has processed their own wood has always expressed how cheap firewood is on the open market. If I sold my wood it would have to be $700 per cord to make the effort worth it. If you desire to make $10 per hour maybe you could survive here.

Here we pay 150/rick (I think that's what yankees call a face cord) for seasoned, 90/rick for unseasoned. It's still too expensive to buy outright unless you're freezing and frugal because to run the heater at 72 degrees all month is only $400 on gas heat. I can't imagine selling my self-cut wood for less than $200/rick cut and stacked. Takes all summer to build a nice pile of wood. And it seems it's gone in an instant.
A puff of smoke, you might say

 

[barnaclebob]

Let us know when your firewood business is booming for undercutting your 240 a cord guy. Plenty of people get paid a whole lot to sit and operate machinery. I get paid to sit in an air conditioned building all day.

 

[Dug8498]

Anyone I have ever known that has processed their own wood has always expressed how cheap firewood is on the open market. If I sold my wood it would have to be $700 per cord to make the effort worth it. If you desire to make $10 per hour maybe you could survive here.

Like he said, If I sold wood I process myself (as I dont have a splitter), I would charge over $500 per cord. When I buy wood I pay $230 per cord of hardwood delivered and I consider that to be an extremely reasonable price. I can heat our whole house, in NH, for the entire winter, using no other heat source, with 2.5 cords. That's $575 for the whole winter. If I heated using the electric heating in the house I'd be paying $400 + per month.

I've spoken with the guy that sells us our wood. He processes 2,000 + cords per year and buys his wood in log form. This is his sole vocation. He does process it all automatically but he offers me the convenience of having good quality wood delivered already cut in the length i request and split to the size i request. If you would like wood as cheap as you want it, sounds like you better find some trees to cut down.

 

[Chimney Smoke]

Go process a cord by hand by yourself and then answer your own question of "what am i paying for". Why would anyone run a business to break even?

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I got quoted for $80 per face cord.
$960 for four full cords.

Im trying to rationalize it and would appreciate clarification.

Our guy has a firewood processor more than likely paid off. He sits in a seat as he cuts the tree, plops it in the processor, and the machine cuts and splits the wood to size. He then sits in a seat in the skid-steer and loads it into a truck. He then sits in a seat and drives it to my house where the truck automatically dumps the wood... he gets paid almost $1,000 just like that.. and drives off.

Am i wrong to assume that the cost of firewood is due to the convenience of it more than the actual product? Yes, i didn't have to cut down the tree or split it... but it seems like firewood should be around $30 a face cord.

I know they have to pay for gas, fuel, maintenance, possibly an employee or two.. but come on now. Almost $1,000 for wood??

Is there anyone out there who sells their own firewood who can clear up for me what I'm missing?

Honest question here.. when you're done dumping the load and you're driving off and have $1,000+ in your pocket.. do you laugh or call your customers 'suckers' for paying for something that cost you much less?

Even more... a lot of these guys have tree removal services. So.. they're getting PAID to cut the tree down, but then are being PAID again for the same product!???

So when the first customer thanks them for removing the tree, the owner knows that the product they just cut down and was paid to do so will be sold for even more profit!

It's almost like its one of those businesses all firewood people DONT want you to know about or think about starting so that you don't take business away from them. I feel I should get into the business.

And whats worse is many of these people spout their wood is seasoned when in reality its not. Ive only found one guy who actually cuts and splits and STACKS his wood (not in piles or cuts the tree the day before delivery).

So it looks as if you think that 240 a cord is alot. Around here its 180 to 200 for mixed, 225 to 250 for all hardwood. Firewood processing is a little expensive and hard labor. That being said your price dosent seam high. It seams that you have verry little understanding of how estimates work. If i ask somone to remove a tree for me the price is to cut it down hall it away and clean up the site. The price dosent include cutting into rounds, moving the wood around, and splitting the rounds, loading the truck halling the split,dumping and stacking it for you. So your theory of a contractor being paid twice for the same product is way wrong.
If you want cheap wood you need to purchas log lenth, or green wood and split and process it yourself
If you want really really cheap wood, like free wood, go out and harvest it yourself. Take your weekends and process it yourself, go deep in the woods and hall out as much as you want.
Let us know how you make out with it..i think you'll have a better appreciation for us that process our own wood or the people that do it for you

 

[Stinkpickle]

$80 per face cord delivered is about average around here. I can get it cheaper by loading and hauling it myself.

 

[woodhog73]

I’ve sold split firewood from time to time using an ad on Craigslist. Just for extra spending money. I get $150 for a face cord of oak delivered or $100 for pick up. Always split 2 to 3 years ago and very dry. I own the trees I’m not out looking for trees to cut.

Most people I have sold to live in the nearest suburban community and buy it for their fireplace especially for the holidays. They don’t have trees to cut and if they did probably wouldn’t want to do the work. So to them having someone deliver them dry oak firewood is worth the $150.

To the OP have you ever cut down big trees ? Big heavy hardwoods ? Hauled the wood out of the woods, and processed it into firewood ? It’s alot of work. You have the obvious cost of chainsaws, skidding equipment like a tractor or skid steer, gas , wood hauling trailer, truck to pull trailer , etc. but what about the manual labor involved ? It’s not easy.

It’s rewarding to cut your own firewood and heat your house from your hard efforts. It’s a good workout and healthy for you. Some might say it’s even fun.

Yes some tree service guys do sell firewood. Some sell just logs to wood burners who want to save money and process their own firewood. Many don’t sell any firewood and instead chip it and haul it to a city recycling center where it is used to make clean power and get paid for it. But a tree service has a lot of expenses. Big equipment to pay for, big workers comp premiums, etc. You don’t expect them to give the wood away ?

I don’t think firewood dealers are making a ton of money. I think dollar for dollar if you were heating with wood full time on an outdoor boiler, wood will be cheaper to purchase for a heating season than fuel oil or propane.

 

[jetsam]

I've never bought firewood, but I can tell you that I wouldn't sell you a cord of mine for $250.

 

[Manly]

Here we pay 150/rick (I think that's what yankees call a face cord) for seasoned, 90/rick for unseasoned. It's still too expensive to buy outright unless you're freezing and frugal because to run the heater at 72 degrees all month is only $400 on gas heat. I can't imagine selling my self-cut wood for less than $200/rick cut and stacked. Takes all summer to build a nice pile of wood. And it seems it's gone in an instant.
A puff of smoke, you might say

I can relate to your comment. I get my log length wood from a friend who cuts trees. He dumps them in my back yard, then I'm on my own to turn them into fuel. I have a couple of high quality chain saws, a 1970 vintage John Deere splitter that I have overhauled (Good old Yankee ingenuity), and my own labor. If I calculated just the time I spend processing at my exceptionally high Yankee wage, I suspect a cord would be worth a grand or more. Bottom line, it is a labor of love and the love of the fire. I could heat with oil at a reasonable cost, but we love the flame and local heat. In my area of New England, we buy, sell and burn wood by the cord; 128 square feet. Never saw or heard of wood being sold by a face or a rick in this area. I do have a rick who lives down the street who burns wood and my wife said he has a nice face, but that's about the connection I've experienced with ricks, face and wood. Just sayin.

 

[GadDummit]

I do have a rick who lives down the street who burns wood and my wife said he has a nice face, but that's about the connection I've experienced with ricks, face and wood. Just sayin.

Awesome! But you're right, it's a labor of love for the flame. We like the smell/sound/feel of a crackling wood fire and so we put effort into that. Heck, I got 4 kids so some of us like the fire a bit too much, but putting a pile together is theraputic too. It gives us time to think, bond with family if we make the kids get involved, it burns our fat bellies off and it's one of the few harmless hobbies you can have anymore (for now).

 

[jetsam]

Tell Rick to eat hearty... we need him to have as many BTUs as possible in him.

Because... reasons. If he asks.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

$240 per cord would be a decent price where i live. Dropping the trees in the woods, hauling them out, bucking them up, chipping/disposing of the brush, splitting the logs. It's a lot of work, not to mention the equipment, etc. I get asked for some of my wood every year, I think it's crazy someone would think I would just give it away.