Would you do this to save just over $400.00?

[Backwoods Savage]

Like all of us, I'm trying to save money where I can here and there. While I work out of my home, and can make time for firewood tending, I don't have the room on my land (or neighborhood) that would allow for a grapple load of logs delivered.

Over the past couple of winters, I've bought firewood already cut and split. The wood I bought last year from TreehuggerFarms.com was exceptionally good - de-barked, semi seasoned, and dried nicely on my south facing patio to a MC of approximately 20% +/- a few. It was expensive though. And, I'm looking to get another 4 cord to get ahead for next year. It will cost me $986 and change for 4 de-barked cord from TreehuggerFarms.

I spoke with the guy I got firewood from my first year, not Treehuggerfarms, and he said he would be willing to sell me 4 cord of rounds (I would do the splitting - by hand) for $580.00. This is a $400.00 difference.

Would you do it?

I do have experience splitting by hand.

Would not be able to answer your question without knowing what the wood is. Hardwood is not enough information either. I would need to know the type of wood. I will say if it is oak, I would pass on both because not enough time to dry properly.

 

[Applesister]

Buying rounds seems odd to me. Or selling, even.
Here its either log or fully processed.
If you have never bought from the treehuggers ask them if you can try a cord of their Rounds to see if you are able to split them.
That way you can see what you are getting. Its a PITA to cut 2" off of wood too long for your stove.
Or are they offering you Rounds as a special request from you?
Otherwise its definitely a Why Not scenario.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I only paid $30 to rent a 30 ton splitter. No way would i even try to do all that by hand. Hand splittin you be wore out in short order, but operating a nice Hyd splitter well you could do that all day.

 

[WiscWoody]

Up here you can get firewood any which way you like, rounds, split, logger cords by the truck load. Green or dried. It's much cheaper here since logging is a way of life up here. An out of work logger will often cut a cord of Ash and sell it for $80 but you will need to split it and let it dry. I'd look into a electric splitter and use that with a Fiskars if you want to save some cash. Or? There's lots of options for you... I figure I got into this wood burning thing to save as much moola as I can and so far my wood has been free, so I can justify some capital improvements if you know what I mean....

 

['bert]

OMG that young fella just missed his knee when he cut through his jeans - close call

 

[weatherguy]

I like to split myself so I can make the splits the size I like but around here wood goes for $150 a cord split and delivered. I scrounge but if I have room in my pile I'll pay.
I had 6 cords of oak in rounds that I thought I'd split by hand at my leisure but I kept getting tendonitis in my elbow and never got through it, bought an electric splitter to finish it and eventually bought a hydraulic. With the money you save you could buy a small electric splitter and try some scrounging, once you get some free wood you get addicted.

 

[WiscWoody]

Is debarked fire wood somehow better than fire wood with the bark attached? I've never seen it offered like that.

 

[Christopix]

Too bad you just can't find it, I've been lucky, I scrounged 6 cords of wood this year. Here in nj there is wood everywhere, you just got to keep your eyes open. Ask some tree cutters, Check Craig's list, all this snow and ice will bring more wood in the spring, lots of tree damage....

Ideally, I would like to be able to scrounge firewood. Right now two things work against me trying to scrounge: my anxiety that I won't find enough good wood in time to dry for burn season, and the fact that I don't own a pickup yet. I'd likely be able to quell my anxiety if I were able to get ahead by a couple of years, I simply don't have room. I push it keeping a little over 6 cord here. And I'm sure I could manage several very small loads using my Outback...

Might be worth pulling the trigger and get a truck so I have a viable option of scrounging.

 

[Christopix]

Is debarked fire wood somehow better than fire wood with the bark attached? I've never seen it offered like that.

Well, in many respects, yes. The operation uses a machine to completely de-bark the 8 foot log before it is bucked and split. This leaves the sap wood exposed to the air. After being bucked and split, there is close to twice as much surface area exposed to the air. This means that there is one less layer impeading the drying process. The bark layer DOES after all help keep a live trees' moisture within. And there are significantly less bugs (as most bugs seem to live in the bark layer) as well as less mess in the yard and around the hearth.

It is a good option for folks that live in a situation where the amount of room they have on their property is limited to one years worth of firewood - drying has a better chance of taking place in the 6-8 month range. And it costs a bunchless than kiln dried.

 

[WiscWoody]

I bought my 78 Ford for my scrounge wood. And it's just handy to have for whatever you might need to haul. I made sure to get a long box. After having a Ford Ranger for years I just had to have the real deal!

 

[mike van]

The place selling the debarked wood should be selling the bark too, as mulch. $$$$$ in mulch these days. The wood itself should be cleaner without the bark, and if there happened to be a really thick barked wood like locust, you'd wind up with more actual wood. Some 25 years ago, I split 4 full cords with my Didier splitter, in a day. Long day it was.

 

[nrford]

Seriously? That $145 was for bucked up rounds. I paid $246.00 per cord (bought 6 cord) last early spring for this years heating season. Mind you, everything was de-barked and split so it dried quickly and very very little mess. I can't imagine getting rounds delivered at $73.00 per cord like you are getting there in MI! I would jump on that deal quickly!

I think the cheapest cut and split delivery around here is $185.00 per cord and green. And from what I've learned, that is a pretty good deal around these parts.

No, the way I took it was that you where offered a cord of pulp length wood(100") at $145. If that was the case you could buy that here for $70/cord. Not sure what a cord of unsplit rounds would run you here. My bad!

 

[Christopix]

The place selling the debarked wood should be selling the bark too, as mulch. $$$$$ in mulch these days. The wood itself should be cleaner without the bark, and if there happened to be a really thick barked wood like locust, you'd wind up with more actual wood. Some 25 years ago, I split 4 full cords with my Didier splitter, in a day. Long day it was.

Oh yes, they sell the bark mulch. Pretty good operation if you think about it: charge a little more for de-barked firewood, then sell the removed bark as mulch to folks prettifying their yard. Treehuggerfarms.com are good people, they are honest, have always been cord proud with their deliveries to me. I simply pay well for that resource. I think while it is expensive to buy from them, it is cheaper than buying from someone looking to pull the wool over your eyes in one way or another.

 

[BillLion]

Buying rounds seems odd to me. Or selling, even.
Here its either log or fully processed.
If you have never bought from the treehuggers ask them if you can try a cord of their Rounds to see if you are able to split them.
That way you can see what you are getting. Its a PITA to cut 2" off of wood too long for your stove.
Or are they offering you Rounds as a special request from you?
Otherwise its definitely a Why Not scenario.

Until last year I bought split wood. This year I got by on 1.5 purchased cord and a few cord I scrounged in the past year.

Recently, I've worked out a deal with a local tree guy to buy 14-18" length rounds delivered to me for about $95 for 2 cord worth. It's green ash that will be freshly cut from a job he's got.

Advantage to him, he doesn't have to pay dump fees and for a little bit of bucking he can instead make a few bucks without having to split and store the wood for a year.

Advantage to me, I save a lot of money and I avoid bucking (I really don't enjoy that at all) and I get to split the wood (which I absolutely love to do).

Win-win -the best way to do business.

 

[Tom Wallace]

Might be worth pulling the trigger and get a truck so I have a viable option of scrounging.

Is a trailer an option as well? Would be a lot cheaper than a truck I imagine. I've hauled a uhaul trailer full of rounds using my Honda Accord. It's not something I do often, though, as I'm sure it puts extra wear on a car not meant for hauling heavy stuff. I was hauling about 1 cord of green rounds and did it twice in one night.

 

[Hogwildz]

Hell yeah! After two years, you saved enough for a decent splitter. Or one year and you can get a smaller electric splitter.
The Ryobi 4 ton I have and used before buying my hydro, did a great job.

 

[BillLion]

Hell yeah! After two years, you saved enough for a decent splitter. Or one year and you can get a smaller electric splitter.
The Ryobi 4 ton I have and used before buying my hydro, did a great job.

Maybe I should get one instead of renting one to catch up. Did your 4 ton split most stuff? Any wood that bested it?

 

[Christopix]

Is a trailer an option as well? Would be a lot cheaper than a truck I imagine. I've hauled a uhaul trailer full of rounds using my Honda Accord. It's not something I do often, though, as I'm sure it puts extra wear on a car not meant for hauling heavy stuff. I was hauling about 1 cord of green rounds and did it twice in one night.

You know, I hadn't even thought of renting a trailer from Uhaul. You pulled a cord of wood with your honda accord? Your car must have been cussing at you something fierce! I've contemplated getting a HD trailer but then I let that go as I don't want to find a place on my small property to store it. I might use your idea of renting a Uhaul in the short run though. In the long run, we are going to need a pick-up for all the work and updates we are planning for our house. Plus, I'm getting tired of my Outback smelling terrible after bringing our garbage to the dump. The pickup will make short order of dump runs!

 

[weatherguy]

Maybe I should get one instead of renting one to catch up. Did your 4 ton split most stuff? Any wood that bested it?

I split a few cords of mostly oak with my 5 ton homelite and it did 98% of what I had, just a couple crotches it couldn't do but I just hacked at those with my Fiskars or cut them in half to fit in the stove.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Maybe I should get one instead of renting one to catch up. Did your 4 ton split most stuff? Any wood that bested it?

Think twice before buying an expensive splitter.I rented a 30 ton for $30 about 3 years ago and im still using the wood i split.
Even the 30 ton stalled on some knots in some of those big rounds.
Granted i dont burn 24/7 but if you can split a couple cords for $30 ,a thousand for a Hyd splitter would take quite a while to recover that investment. A trailer is another story as it can be used for so many other things.

 

[Hogwildz]

Maybe I should get one instead of renting one to catch up. Did your 4 ton split most stuff? Any wood that bested it?

That little 4 ton split almost everything I put on it. I mean I had 3' rounds of pine on that little thing and it split like a trooper.
There was only a couple times it would not split, and that was really super gnarly maple. Matter of fact, even my hydro didn't split it.
I am very pleased with the Ryobi, and it did much more than I thought it could.
I suggest a 12 gauge extension cord at minimal. That is what I used.
On larger, tough rounds, just chip away from the outside in and you will do fine. Unless your splitting a straight grained, easier splitting wood, like red oak, ash, cherry, even maple etc., on the larger rounds (24"+)you may have a tough time trying to split down the center in, just work your way from outside inward.

 

[weatherguy]

Think twice before buying an expensive splitter.I rented a 30 ton for $30 about 3 years ago and im still using the wood i split.
Even the 30 ton stalled on some knots in some of those big rounds.
Granted i dont burn 24/7 but if you can split a couple cords for $30 ,a thousand for a Hyd splitter would take quite a while to recover that investment. A trailer is another story as it can be used for so many other things.

It's $90-110 to rent a splitter around here, I called a few places before I bought mine.

 

[paul bunion]

Renting a splitter might be cost effective but it forces you to do all your splitting in one session. There is some benefit to being able to process wood at your own pace as it comes along.

 

[WiscWoody]

I had a electric splitter for a few years starting out. I'd split with it here and there, pile it up and then stack it. It was always plugged in and was kind of a fixture by the wood racks. I only paid $230 for it and I sold it for $145 when I found a deal on a bigger badder rig. It split a lot of wood but at times you had to jog the rounds around until you found the weak point.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Renting a splitter might be cost effective but it forces you to do all your splitting in one session. There is some benefit to being able to process wood at your own pace as it comes along.

As i get older i want to do it all in one session cuz i need help. Its good way to get paid back from all the folks who owe you money or favors.