Price of a cord of firewood

[Midniteoyl]

Yep. He had boards over the top to keep the rain off. But we are talking YEARS of it sitting in the woods. And by years, I mean most of my youth! :laughing: It was all oak, as I recall. But, his mistake I believe, was it was on the ground. The rot worked its way up from the earth. For me, I stack in a circle, 10' in diameter, almost 10' high. There's a 4x4 pole up the center that's 12' long buried 2' in the ground. I stack it to almost the top of the pole. As it dries, it shrinks down about a foot and a half. I have a tarp with a hole in the center over the post. It only overlaps by a foot or so. That way, the rain stays off, but the sides remain open for air drying. I've got pictures of it here on TBN somewhere. I'll try to find them.

I seen that on a youtube vid.. interesting concept.. I use a 10'x12' metal shed I got for free that had a tree limb fall through the first 2' when it was only 2 yrs old. I disassembled it, took the first 3' sections out, and now its my wood shed.

 

[Jstpssng]

Up here in Michigan it goes for about $150 to $225 for three face cord [ 4'X8'X16" each ], which would be equiv to one full cord of wood.. usually not stacked, and sometimes not delivered. There was a local guy down the road who was buying big 20 full cord loads and wacking it up.. he was the one that would deliver three of the face cord locally for $50 each. But, for the life of me, I don't know how you can do that much work for so little money......

And every time you cut it or split it the wood takes up less space. Yep, he's earning his pay.

It's the middle of November and they are out of seasoned wood? Wonder if a lot of folk up there are expecting a hard winter...yet there are mountains and mountains of wood at local processors not far from my home, with wood that's been out there all year. Seasoned wood. They ought to take some huge trucks out of this area and head North...

We prefer that they didn't... and in many states (including mine) there are laws against moving firewood long distances in an attempt to reduce the spread of invasive species.
(Yet we import timber mats from down your way... and routinely ship hardwood logs over to Vermont... )

 

[dave1949]

I don't know how lucrative the firewood business is.

The processors that cut and split the logs probably run ~$35K-$40K for a commercial unit that sees a lot of use. You'd need a reliable dumper that can haul two cords, and most guys have log grapple in their yards to load the processor if nothing else.

They sometimes have a front-end loader with rock-style bucket for scooping up split wood and loading it onto the delivery truck if they aren't processing straight into the truck with an elevator. To sell really seasoned wood, it would have to be split at least in the spring and sit in piles. To get it loaded on the truck efficiently means investing in more equipment like a loader. All that assumes they are buying delivered logs at $80 or $100 per cord, and they have a lot of equipment to maintain to boot.

If they get too much invested and have to charge high prices, it becomes more worth it for people to do their own, or turn up the thermostat. Plus, high prices are going to attract "boomers" who jump in for a year or two but don't invest in equipment for the long haul.

Till they cover their overhead, make a living and pay taxes, and their accountant, and 100% of Soc. Sec., $250/cord sounds skinny.

 

[IXLR8]

I don't know how lucrative the firewood business is.

The processors that cut and split the logs probably run ~$35K-$40K for a commercial unit that sees a lot of use. You'd need a reliable dumper that can haul two cords, and most guys have log grapple in their yards to load the processor if nothing else.

They sometimes have a front-end loader with rock-style bucket for scooping up split wood and loading it onto the delivery truck if they aren't processing straight into the truck with an elevator.

This describes my wood supplier, he has had his wood processor for over 25 years... he has gotten his money out of it, elevator dumps the split wood directly in his truck. He has 2 trucks, one that handles 1 cord and one that handles 2 cords. He also has a loader and a stake truck with a log grapple on it. His dad started the business when he was in high school. Since he lives 3 houses away from me.. he doesn't charge me delivery fees and knows better than to short me.

 

[scott_vt]

Good Evenin Drew,
At my Ct home I have seen seasoned hardwood advertized as low as $200, and at my Vt home in western central Vt I have seen it as low as $165. They are all dump and run around here...

I cut, split and stack my own cordwood, but Im not sure how many more years I an do that...

My Uncle Dave who is about a mile up the road from my Vt house, ususally buys about 8 cord a year. Last year he paid $160 per cord and I believe he says it went up another $5 this year. Then he usually gets a local boy to stack it for him at about $10 per hour and the kid s really fast...

I used to help him do that but Ive got my hands full with my own wood...

 

[brokenknee]

I purchase a grapple load 10 cords for $700 or $70 a cord. I do have forty acres but it is mostly poplar and pine. I do burn some in the shoulder seasons. Last year went through 12 (full) cords. Old inefficient wood furnace; this season I have yet to light a fire.

I purchased a new epa wood stove but have not installed it yet. I hope to get it in by the end of the month. It is going in an addition we put on this summer and I am not quit ready for it yet. I also purchased a pellet stove. I am currently heating my house with that. While it is cheaper than the baseboard electric I have, it is not as cheap as I hoped it would be. I plan on making wood my main heat source once the stove is installed. The wife likes the wood heat MUCH better than the pellet heat. I have heated with wood exclusively the last two years so I am aware of the work involved. It is more of a life style, if you want to figure your time into how much you are saving on your heat bill, you will most likely be better off using other sources of heat.

The benefits of wood heat are; it is a renewable resource, carbon neutral, you are not tied to the fluctuations of prices other heating sources, you get some exercise and get to be outside. You support your local economy But the main reason I heat with wood is because I am cheap.

The price of cut and split ranges in the $180 to $220 a cord delivered, I don't think that is stacked though, not sure as I have never ordered any.


This is an old picture, but this is10 cords of red and white oat right after delivery.

 

[Redneck in training]

For those of you interested in energy content of dry oak wood:

 

[brokenknee]

Here is a fuel cost calculator. just plug in your numbers.

Fuel Cost Comparison Calculator

 

[dave1949]

Here is a fuel cost calculator. just plug in your numbers.

Fuel Cost Comparison Calculator

That's a nice calculator.

For the available fuels and their prices here, $250/cord hardwood is the cheapest, then wood pellets.

 

[EMcPhee]

It's $350 to $400 for seasoned oak in my area. But, we can only burn on an offical burn day-- only in California. Please take back all of the nuts and flacks that left your State for the Golden State.