wood scrounger blues

[tuco1963]

hi all
ive scrouned the past two days from a muncie indiana tree trimmer , day 1 was hard maple a half of a full size pick up full ,day 2 today was 1 1/2 - 2 " limbs cut 4-6 feet long about a truck and a half load of maple is it normal to drive 30 miles for a mediocer scrounge or am i just feeling ungratefull :red: what is protocal and procedure for scroungeing ethics ?

 

[Gark]

Been there done that. At first the pickin's can be thin. But keep asking around and keep at it and in time as you get stocked up, better & closer scores happen. Then you can be more choosy. Couple months ago I was offered near two PU trucks full of splits and rounds to help clear out the guy's yard. Ended up with two wheelbarrows of worthwhile wood. It was mostly too far punked out or tiny sticks. 15 miles away. Oh well, my neighbor ended up with a good addition to his outdoor fire ring supply.

 

[tuco1963]

thanks for the pick me up . my wife said keep the same thing that maybe they will throw me a good load if i keep up the good work with the limbs and twigs

 

[Beer Belly]

Around the corner from me, there are 2- 60 ft Oaks with the branches on the ground (around 10" across), some cut to 16"....some 4 ft.......most of the brush gone, just 2 tall sticks left standing tall. Knocked on the door, nobody home....left a note in the mailbox....got a Union meeting early in the morning.....wanna bet by time I get home, it'll all be gone....this would be the second time I had to go to a meeting, and lost out on wood in the past 3 weekends (NOT doing the happy dance)

 

[WoodpileOCD]

Don't know how long you have been burning or what your stash looks like but whey you are starting out it seems like a full time job just trying to get ahead. Take anything and everything within reason and do whatever you have to to get 2-3 years ahead and then your drive radius will shrink dramatically because you can get more and more picky as Gark said. You will learn new tricks and places to find wood and the word will get out that you are willing and able to come and get it. Before you know it you'll be turning down scrounges or passing them on to your wood burnin buddies because you are getting so picky.... :-S Well maybe that's stretching it but you get the point. Do what you have to to get ahead and the rest will be easy after that. Good luck.

 

[weatherguy]

I had a very slow start this year scrounging but when you dont expect it, wood appears, I ended up with this (see pic below) and I got an email from a neighbor yesterday telling me he had two big oaks come down in the snow storm and he bucked them for me and asked me to get them out of his yard before it snows, I said Ill be there sat.

This is about 75% of what I scrounged this year with more still coming.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I wouldn't move and process 2" stuff even if it was on my own property. I would tell the guy that you don't mind taking the 4-6" stuff as long as you have a full load of bigger stuff underneath it first. It may be free but you still have 4 gallons of gas, wear and tear on the truck and your time just to get it home. Don't do that for brush no matter how hard up you are. Also, if you take it, you will be the guy that gets called for cleanup after other guys have taken the good stuff.

 

[Beer Belly]

Had a guy down the street with an Oak cut up, and on his lawn....gave him my number, and my buddy and I got about 2 truck loads each......6 months later, said he's got more wood, told him I'd be right over, ended up more or less clearing his brush pile.....which isn't that bad, had some smaller pieces that I'll use (3" across), and I'll add it to my brush pile and chip it in the spring.....but for now on, I tell anyone that I'm dealing with, "I don't do brush....I'll drag it where you want it (within reason), but I do not take it"

 

[Backwoods Savage]

One has to consider driving said truck 60 miles. If truck gets, say, 15 mpg, that means you will buy 4 gallons of gas. At $3.70 per gallon that is $14.80. I also agree with Solar with those 2" limbs. Not much heat there and a lot of work for very little wood.

 

[oldspark]

I use 2 inch stuff but I would not drive any distance for it, I even have some 1 inch stuff that I put E/W under the N/S splitts when I start a fire which gets it going quicker than just setting on the bottom of the wood burner.

 

[oldspark]

I had a very slow start this year scrounging but when you dont expect it, wood appears, I ended up with this (see pic below) and I got an email from a neighbor yesterday telling me he had two big oaks come down in the snow storm and he bucked them for me and asked me to get them out of his yard before it snows, I said Ill be there sat.

This is about 75% of what I scrounged this year with more still coming.

Great find, they even "seasoned" it for ya.

 

[tuco1963]

hi all
after sleeping on it and talking to the owner instead of the owners wife i found out that they do alot of work in new castle my hometown :cheese: and that i will be the sole scrounger sooooooooo i guess i will keep on scroungeing and my thanks to all the replys i think im close to haveing enough for this winter i hope so with luck i can start on next year

 

[bogydave]

Nice thing about scrounging is you never know where it will lead.
Lots of bunts & singles but eventually you hit the "home run".
Without the bunts & singles, the home run wouldn't feel near as good.
It's all good honest hard work, good exercise, meet good folks, lots of other positives.

 

[SolarAndWood]

after sleeping on it and talking to the owner

That is the deal right there. They want you as much as you want them. Let them know what your deal is and show them you show up and make wood go away and you will get the calls closer to home.

 

[Duetech]

Used all my wood learning a new boiler last winter. There is now about 13 full sized cords near the boiler A lot of it was standing and dead until the storms blew in. I was getting set to do a buy program with a local tree service for 20 face cord c/s/d. A couple of questions and a couple of phone calls changed that (as I was stressing over the cming heat bills for oil there may have been a couple of prayers too). I have standing offers to come any time and clean up about 30 more cords but work gets in the way (lol). Try advertising in a local paper or try craigslist. Craigslist was responsible for two of the places I have been cutting and a co-woker for the other. It got kind of depressing checking craigslist and I almost missed a local ad that is responsible for for about 4.5 cords of hickory and oak. I missed the ad three days in a row being bored with the selection. That was close as the add was deleted shortly after I started cutting.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

hi all
after sleeping on it and talking to the owner instead of the owners wife i found out that they do alot of work in new castle my hometown :cheese: and that i will be the sole scrounger sooooooooo i guess i will keep on scroungeing and my thanks to all the replys i think im close to haveing enough for this winter i hope so with luck i can start on next year

Fantastic!

 

[woodchip]

hi all
after sleeping on it and talking to the owner instead of the owners wife i found out that they do alot of work in new castle my hometown :cheese: and that i will be the sole scrounger sooooooooo i guess i will keep on scroungeing and my thanks to all the replys i think im close to haveing enough for this winter i hope so with luck i can start on next year

Sometimes, a small scrounge can lead to better things, people see you trying hard with small twig size stuff and let you in on when some better stuff comes along.

And the best time to start with next years wood is last year, but failing that, now will do just fine, just keep on scrounging ;-)

 

[Beer Belly]

Around the corner from me, there are 2- 60 ft Oaks with the branches on the ground (around 10" across), some cut to 16"....some 4 ft.......most of the brush gone, just 2 tall sticks left standing tall. Knocked on the door, nobody home....left a note in the mailbox....got a Union meeting early in the morning.....wanna bet by time I get home, it'll all be gone....this would be the second time I had to go to a meeting, and lost out on wood in the past 3 weekends (NOT doing the happy dance)

Not a thing has moved since I spotted this stuff on Saturday. Knocked on the door, got a young girl (15 y/o)...she said "I don't think anybody is gonna want to take ALL of it, so if you want a little bit, I guess it'll be okay"....I told her "I don't want to step on anybody's toes, if you don't have anyone coming for the wood, I'll take it all, and stack the brush for the town to take for storm clean up"......so far, no call.....I'll stop by again Monday afternoon :coolsmile:

 

[babzog]

Sometimes, a small scrounge can lead to better things, people see you trying hard with small twig size stuff and let you in on when some better stuff comes along.

That was my thinking yesterday. Fellow wanted a couple of manitoba maple taken down. One was standing dead, the other behind his shop. Ended up with a about a cord. I know it's not very good, but, I'll burn the dead stuff now while it's not so cold out (save my good stuff for the icy days) and the rest will start next October's pile. As I was leaving, he said his folks own a place nearby and they have a large treeline with many tall and very old trees. Said he'd contact them and would be in touch. So, a disappointing scrounge nets a contact for a potential goldmine.

 

[Wood Duck]

Scrounging is like fishing. If you need a bunch of fish for dinner tonight, you probably won't catch much despite trying all day. If you're just out enjoying the scenery you'll end up filling the boat.