Cordwood

[WayneB]

Wayne,
That is huge money per cord... The prices in Woodstock Ct this year was $175.00 per cord...

$300 delivered.... Wow...

A cord of Red Oak is equal to 181 gallons of fuel oil.

A woodstove running at 50% efficiency will get 12,500,000 btus from a cord of Red oak at 300 bucks.

An oil burner at 80% efficiency will put out 199.8 million btus from the 181 gallons of oil.

Woodstove btu cost = 41,667 btus per dollar

Oil burner btu cost = 55,200 btus per dollar

Guess it doesn't pay to burn wood at 300 buck per cord.

Regards,
Chris

Chris, I just don't buy wood so I am not totally sure of the prices, but I do know three or four people that sell wood around here and that is the prices they are getting. That is cut and split with the length normally around 16 inches. There is one guy that sells 4 foot length split and he is getting $160 a cord and you pick it up.

Log length price is running $550 a grapple load. I am not sure how many cord you get out of a load and if you talk to the drivers and wood cutter they don't know either, or at least they are not saying. I suspect it is between 7 and 9 cord? It all depends upon how it is loaded and how much air space there is on the truck! Keeping in mind the work to cut, slit, stack the price will be up there per cord.

As for the cost of burning wood or burning oil I am not sure. Oil prices are way up there now so who knows. There is no way I would pay $300 a cord, but I would sell it for that and turn the thermostat up!

I hear in the Boston area people are paying over $400 for a cord of wood. I would of thought in CT the prices would be about the same as around Boston, but I guess it depends how close to NY you are.

Wayne

 

[WayneB]

Here is a link that tells more than anyone wants to know about firewood ratings, how to, etc.

Something that sounds totally rediculous but is true.

All species will put out about the same amount of heat per pound.

I finished the season out with about 30 cord, mostly Black Willow. About 10 cord Black Locust that I cut in 96 after a windstorm. That stuff doesn't deteriorate so I am saving it for when I can't cut for myself anymore.
Harry K

Hi Harry,

Are you talking 30 full cord? If so that is a bunch of fire wood. Wood looks nice in the pile!

Wayne

 

[cmhyland]

Wayne,
I cut some of mine and buy some.... I paid 175 this year for one cord and 160 last year per cord.

I enjoy cutting firewood.... Its work, but it gets me outside and in the fresh air and hopefully gets a little sun or my face while doing it....


Its the best way to cure the winter duldrums... Get outside, cut some wood and burn a little diesel fuel.....

God I love the smell of diesel exhaust on a crisp winter morning...

Regards,
Chris

 

[WayneB]

Chris,

You are about the same distance from Boston that I am. I would of thought wood out your way would be about the same price. Guess we have all of the people that move up here from Boston to Tax Free New Hampshire is the reason.

I guess deep down I enjoy cutting fire wood. Usually by this time of the year I am doing winter stuff, but no snow so I am still able to get into the woods. Lots of mud though.

Take care and keep the fires hot.

Wayne

 

[schmism]

when i sold wood i got ~$200 a cord in memphis TN.

I could squeeze a few more $$ out of it if i was selling smaller loads. But for those customers i also threw in a couple of boxes of kindling also as they were the recreational burner.....

 

[cmhyland]

Schmism,

The people who burn a fire in the fireplace on a weekend here or there don't use enough to care about the price.

They are also the people who either take fallen tree limbs to the dump or pay to have them taken away.... Guess they haven't figured where firewood comes from...

Regards,
Chris

 

[MikeS_in_GA]

interesting bit on the BTU's - thanks for posting.

Here around Atlanta, firewood prices are all over the place - as well as how much you will get. Some people advertise "face cord" and some advertise full cords, but then say it will completely fit into a 1/2 ton truck bed. But the biggest gripe I have is how the term "seasoned" is (mis) used. Many of the firewood places I drive by didn't start splitting wood until October, and then call is seasoned by December - of the same year!

As for me... I collect my own. Some from the farm - had a big oak come down last year. Some from nearby neighborhoods with people who are unwilling to do yard work - I'll take that large branch away for $xx. A whole bunch from when a tornado touched down in April (2 miles from my house) - got about 6 trailer loads then. And some when I happen to find a tree crew taking out some oak. But I don't have anywhere near the amount others have posted!

Mike

 

[cmhyland]

Mike,
Here is one of my wood piles... This is the most recent.

Mostly Black Locust, some Beech and Maple

Regards,
Chris

?

 

[cmhyland]

I've been getting this wood by clearing back the edges of my fields...

Here is a before and a progress pic...

 

[bullridin_fool]

man i wish i lived were you guy's do. firewood around here sells for less than $200 a cord(full). i burn around 30 cord + a year, i cut my own. mine get's stacked in the woods until fall arrives. then every last cord gets hauled and stacked in my basement with my woodstove. i refuse to carry firewood during the winter. i like it in my basement nice and dry and warm.

 

[cmhyland]

Wow 30 cord a year!

Where do you live Antartica? You could be personally causing global warming with 30 cord! Just kidding...

What kind of stove or stoves burn up 30 cord a year and how many sqft are you heating with that.

Thats between 600 to 700 million btus worth of wood... That is roughly equal to 4350 gallons of fuel oil....

Regards,
Chris

 

[450EXC]

Do some species give off more creosote than others or is that just a factor of proper seasoning ?

JimWalch's Nebraska link has the btus for Agent Orange, 32.9 million, yikes. It must feel warm when you pick it up to throw it in the stove.

 

[cmhyland]

Wow,
32.9 million btus.... The stuff must be made out of Thermite...

Half wood half rocket fuel....

Regards,
Chris

 

[jeffinsgf]

Not on the list . . . but Osage Orange (aka hedge or bodark) has more btu than the apple and hickory . . . I think it's the densest wood in North America. We have lots of it in Kansas, planted during the dust bowl years.

Rick

According to this month's Missouri Conservationist magazine, which had a similar chart, Osage Orange is 30,700

 

[turnkey4099]

Hi Harry,

Are you talking 30 full cord? If so that is a bunch of fire wood. Wood looks nice in the pile!

Wayne

Yep, full 128 cu ft cords. Of course I only made about 12 cord last season, the rest has been building up over the years.

The picture of the full 'bin" is typical of my 3 areas. The one with the splitter at work was the one I filled this year and I had to use unsplit rounds to extend that. Then there is a third 'bin' to the right of that one full of Locust.
Each 'bin is about 12' wide, the rails/ties are a minimum of 12' (one section is over 20ft. My ricks are stacked as high as I can stack - 6 1/2-7'

Except for Locust I try to burn the oldest wood first, i.e., first in, first used but that requires me to move everyting left over each year to empty one of the 'bins'

Most of the wood is Willow because it is free, and only a short haul. Yes, it burns fast so I have to 'chuck a chunk' on the fire every hour (or less).

Harry K

 

[cmhyland]

Harry,

Your a man on a mission... Do you want to fly up to Connecticut and help me stack some wood?

As for all woods putting out the same btus per pound that makes some sense.. Dense woods weigh more and burn longer....

Regards,
Chris

 

[AMP762]

Do some species give off more creosote than others or is that just a factor of proper seasoning ?

JimWalch's Nebraska link has the btus for Agent Orange, 32.9 million, yikes. It must feel warm when you pick it up to throw it in the stove.

Agent Orange must be pretty hot it took all the leaves off the trees in Nam.

 

[WayneB]

Harry all I can say is that is a bunch of wood. Although I have about 16 full cord cut spit and stacked here too. I am worried about the latest wood as it will be a few years before I will start burning it.

We burn mostly oak, maple, beech and birch. I do cut up some dead elm from time to time and use it in the late fall and early spring. Burns okay, but not much heat. Also if I didn't have a splitter I would not cut any elm.

We use between 4 and 5 cord a year, depending upon the temperatures and wind. Tonight we are talking close to zero so the fire will be hot for sure.

Cutting splitting and stacking wood keeps us young at heart if nothing else.


As for the guy that burns 30 cord a year I am not sure how you can do that? Just a whole bunch of fire wood, plus I am not sure how you would find room in your cellar to store it?

Regards,

Wayne

 

[bullridin_fool]

i'm sorry if i confused anyone, when i wrote 30 cord i meant face cords. i do cut my firewood around 20-22 inches long though. i've got a old farm house, thats right around 3,000 square feet counting the basement. it takes a bit of wood to keep it warm. i start my fire on the 31'st of october and usually shut it down around the middle of april, depending on how the temps are.

 

[cmhyland]

Well one thing is for sure, and this is when you heat from the basement it takes more wood. The upside is the floors are toasty warm.

I know a guy up the road who has a really big and really old house.
He has one of those outdoor boilers... He claims to have run 36 cord through it last year. Man thats a rude amout of wood...

Every time I see one of those outdoor boilers they are chugging smoke or smoldering. My wood stove, you rarely even see a slight whisp of smoke from my chimney.

Regards,
Chris