Wood purchase - do I ask where the missing 15% is?

[Riverbanks]

There is none of that in my area, too many scavengers who have the low down on it, heck, it's 5$ for a used pallet around here

 

[Riverbanks]

The usable wood never hits a dumpster, lol, probably 9 out of 10 on the job site burn wood. You have to be at the right place at the right time here to get some goodies

 

[Isaac Carlson]

You probably save more wood (as compared to 30% moisture content, if indeed you measured on a freshly split face), by burning this dry wood, than the 15% of wood you did not get.

Note that a cord is not a fixed amount of wood; it's stacked splits in a volume of 128 cubic foot. It does not specify how tightly one has to stack. So legally, it's a tough thing to deal with.

A cord is the amount of wood that, when "racked and well stowed" (arranged so pieces are aligned, parallel, touching and compact), occupies a volume of 128 cubic feet (3.62 m3).[1] This corresponds to a well-stacked woodpile 4 feet (122 cm) high, 8 feet (244 cm) wide, and 4 feet (122 cm) deep; or any other arrangement of linear measurements that yields the same volume.

 

[stoveliker]

Yes, that's my point. "Well stowed" is not a quantifiable term. So it's a tough thing to deal with. My "good" may be your "sloppy" or vice versal.

 

[Riverbanks]

There is too much liability for the dumpster company, it goes in, it gets dumped, on to the next one

 

[Riverbanks]

You see where I'm at, you call 5 local companies and tell me what's available, nada, our recycling is either, burn plant or private owned, no in between

 

[Riverbanks]

None of that, I have not found anything, hoping you could

 

[Isaac Carlson]

Yes, that's my point. "Well stowed" is not a quantifiable term. So it's a tough thing to deal with. My "good" may be your "sloppy" or vice versal.

It says parallel and compact. That means no cribbing or bridging. I think if 10 people stacked wood as described, they would all come out within a few percent of each other in cubic feet. 15% is almost 20 cubic feet. That's a lot of wood missing.

 

[Riverbanks]

I did just find some free "garden gnomes" I'm heading out, lol

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I just paid a price like those mentioned in the thread on ridiculous prices for 1/2 a cord of wood. (Claimed seasoned, but two pieces I tested were 23%. Close enough?)

Dumped in my driveway, then I stacked it up.

Measuring generously, I get 54 cubic feet. Google tells me I should have 64.

Worth calling to ask about the difference? Or then am I just being an annoying customer? 15% seems not insignificant. Do I just cut my losses and buy somewhere else next time?

I say this. You got your half cord. When I stack my wood in winter the bin id full at 2.5 cords. 2 years later the same bin of wood is no longer 2.5 cords .. its more like 2.12 cords of wood. I sell wood sometimes.. Ill stack a half cord.. by the time its dry and gets the the purchaser its shore because of all the moisture lost.. the most important thing is you got dry wood.. and close to the amount

 

[Ashful]

Wood will shrink 10% between freshly split and dry (20% moisture). If you had gotten it from one of the seasoned wet wood guys, it would have been near a full cord. I can tell when the wood here is nearly done drying - the stacks stop heaving and leaning from all the uneven shrink going on, and will have dropped from 60" high to about 6" less.

I seem to notice the height of my stacks dropping even more than 10%. Some small part of that could be settling, but I believe it's almost entirely shrinkage of the wood due to drying. If the 10% is on cross-sectional area, as we know length doesn't vary much with MC%, and the width is constrained at a fixed number, then it would make sense that the height shrinks more than 10%.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

Either way, if he bought it as dry and paid for a half cord, it should be a half cord. If he bought it green and then it dried and shrunk, that's ok because he would have paid for green wood, but he didn't.

I don't buy steaks in a restaurant because they are always half of what they say. I am buying cooked food, not raw, so it better be a 6 oz steak if the menu says 6 oz. I know someone will trounce me for this, but it's nothing but a sleazy sales gimmick to make more money. If I buy a 6 oz steak in the store, it better be 6 oz. I know it will shrink when I cook it, but I am not buying it cooked. I also don't like when they package pork loin or other meats that are loaded with nothing but water and it is sloshing in the package. They are charging you for the water like it's meat, and that's crooked as hell.

When I sell wood, it's at least a full cord, or whatever amount they want to buy. 15% of a cord is 20 cubic feet, and that is a lot of wood to be missing from a full cord. I would be calling him up and getting that wood, or at least a refund for the missing wood.

 

[Riverbanks]

Right on, now I'm hungry, thanks

 

[Isaac Carlson]

Right on, now I'm hungry, thanks

Better go have a steak.... I'm going to have some smoked Pike.

 

[Sawset]

When I had 1 cord delivered I innocently asked the guy - so how much is here, I know deliveries can vary some. Yikes, that must have tripped his trigger, because he then went off about how he'll just load it all back up and take it home, kind of like the Midas commercial about takin that oil right back out your car. I persued a little - oh come on, this isn't the first time some one has asked the question. 20-24ft stacked 4ft high. See, that wasn't that hard - he wasn't amused.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

If he wanted to load it back up, I'd have let him. A couple times calling his bluff and he wouldn't say that any more.

 

[Ashful]

If he wanted to load it back up, I'd have let him. A couple times calling his bluff and he wouldn't say that any more.

Ditto. Better yet, I'd have been tempted to bring out a lawn chair beer cooler, so I could sit and watch him work off his spite.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

Yep. People who act like that are playing you into feeling bad about them taking advantage of you. I have no problem declining something if it doesn't meet my expectations.

 

[Simonkenton]

That sounds cool, order him to load it back up.

Firewood guys are not sissies. They are physically strong blue collar types. They have axes. I bet, many of them have guns. We know he has a can of 2 stroke gasoline. Why, he might also have a cigarette lighter.

You are going to make this guy angry, and sit in the shade laughing while he works.
You might want to rethink that "load it back up" deal.
He knows where you live.

 

[Ashful]

Firewood guys are not sissies. They are physically strong blue collar types. They have axes. I bet, many of them have guns. We know he has a can of 2 stroke gasoline. Why, he might also have a cigarette lighter....
He knows where you live.

You sound like you're scared of anyone who might be trying to rip you off, Simon. I'd hate to live that way.

Personally, I'd do as I stated on page 1, let him know you were shorted, and tell him he can make it up on the next order. But at the same time, if dealing with an poophead who threatens to load back up at the first question, I'd not have any hesitation in pushing his buttons.

So what if he knows where I live? By your logic, law enforcement and the criminal justice system likely knows where he lives, if you're implying he's an arsonist willing to burn your house down over 15% of a $200 firewood deal.

 

[Simonkenton]

A word, to the wise, is sufficient.

 

[johneh]

If it were me I'd want him to make up the difference
On a 1/3 of a cord the shortage at 20 % is over 8 cubic feet
that's a lot to be short on 43 cubic ft. order
That's like buying 43 liters of milk and only getting 35 liter
I know not the same thing or is it Hum must be evaporation

 

[Ashful]

You sound like you're scared of anyone who might be trying to rip you off, Simon. I'd hate to live that way.

Personally, I'd do as I stated on page 1, let him know you were shorted, and tell him he can make it up on the next order. But at the same time, if dealing with an poophead who threatens to load back up at the first question, I'd not have any hesitation in pushing his buttons.

So what if he knows where I live? By your logic, law enforcement and the criminal justice system likely knows where he lives, if you're implying he's an arsonist willing to burn your house down over 15% of a $200 firewood deal.

I didn't write any of that, at least today. Mod's having fun, or a forum glitch digging up old posts, and re-badging them with today's date?

 

[bigealta]

Guys (and girls) from Philly don't take a lot of crap. Same with NYC, Boston, and Jersey. No hesitation to call out anyone on just about anything.

It's all good though thats' just how everyone rolls around here. Everybody pretty much "gets it".

 

[GrumpyDad]

I just paid a price like those mentioned in the thread on ridiculous prices for 1/2 a cord of wood. (Claimed seasoned, but two pieces I tested were 23%. Close enough?)

Dumped in my driveway, then I stacked it up.

Measuring generously, I get 54 cubic feet. Google tells me I should have 64.

Worth calling to ask about the difference? Or then am I just being an annoying customer? 15% seems not insignificant. Do I just cut my losses and buy somewhere else next time?

I had my worst cord ever delivered last fall. It only stacked to 3/4, and that's AFTER I split the larger pieces into 3-4 additional. And it is not seasoned, even though he says it is. Issue is, he charges $200 delivered. Normally he is about 10-15% shy. And honestly, Ive NEVER had a full cord delivered ever. "around here", a cord is what fills a dump to a certain level and that's what everyone has accepted. EXCEPT when you stack it, it doesn't equal a cord! Whatever, as long as Im not paying an arm and a leg Im ok with it, but not if it is only to 75%. SO the guy agreed he owes me another 1/4 the next time. Which means, I might get a full cord next time