Firewood cost per cord

[rozett]

I'm actually have a small firewood business. Last year (2004), I cut, split, and delivered 90 cords of seasoned hardwood. This year, I cut that in half. I was selling seasoned for $175 and green for $130 earlier this year, but I stopped taking orders in July. I tried to keep my price at market. When oil prices soared, wood dealers went up over $200 a cord. I stood by the price I quoted when I took the order.

There are a number of dealers in the area with firewood processors. They suck up most of the hardwood from loggers and can create cords of firewood with very little labor. In my case, I cut by hand and use a hydraulic splitter, and then load my trailer by hand. Good work for a high school kid or two. But it is very strenuous work for an old guy. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif I haven't decided if I will do it next year. Just looking for cashflow until my Christmas trees mature.

 

[Highbeam]

I suppose you're right that there is competition from the mills for the big logs. Seems that every firewood cutting outfit I've ever known is a fly-by-night outfit that scrounges for the leftovers from a logging operation. You know, the buttends and culls that are of no value to the logger. You can get a scrounge permit from the local timber giants and the forest service to do this but then you need to travel to where they are logging and that can be a long ways.

When I had my land logged something like 7 trucks left and lots of it was culled by the sawmill for rotten centers or if it was spruce. Culled and sent to the pulp mill where the value plummets to where the load made a whoppin 50$ profit for the logger after fuel and cutting. I asked the logger if he would deliver these pulp wood loads to my house for cheap and he said "sure, that's my hunting money". So my firewood will likely be cut from maple, alder, hemlock, cedar, and other pulp woods. He has a self loading log truck.

 

[PhilNH5]

Tourist town or not those prices are lower than down here in almost Mass. Today's Union Leader had ads with $250 being the cheapest. Others were 265 to 275 a cord. Ouch

Phil

 

[arthr31]

before the holidays, i had seen ads for 1 cord about 350 -- seasoned could be more. this is in the greater boston area too...

i get a lot of my wood from roadsides... seems that others are now doing this too... could be a turf war soon over free wood!

I don't want to lean to hard on my wood lots, but i might have to in a few years...

Anyone in NE want to go in on a tri-axle of uncut log length, let me know... i think it was about 300.00 last year.. yields about 10 cords

 

[cisco]

In my area, it's about $80 per half cord, delivered. Last month, I kind of wondered, when cutting up a large fallen oak into 20" segments (I've an MS 260, and an MS 180), and then using a rented log splitter ($60 for a day), whether all my work, dulling a chainsaw blade ($8 to sharpen) and logsplitter rental made sense - probably not - but I had a good day outdoors, and got to play my "toys".

 

[Boondox]

With prices like that I ought to open a roadside stand at the end of busy weekends. I could sell little bundles to folks going home to Boston and finance that backhoe I'm drooling over! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Pete

 

[Boondox]

Oak is the BEST firewood! Unfortunately we only have two oaks on our entire hill. The wife and I call it our retirement plan. When we feel the end is near we'll drop those trees and use them to keep us warm those last two winters.

Pete

 

[PhilNH5]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Unfortunately we only have two oaks on our entire hill )</font>

Boondox, so what do you burn for heat? Our property is the opposite. The oaks rule. Great for firewood but lousy for maple syrup making. I read a few books when I was trying to identify the sugar maples and they said that oaks tend to monoculture.

Phil

 

[2nstonge]

Southwestern VT: $150-175 cord; cut, split, delivered. Of course, you can only get green wood this time of year. I usually order my 4 cords in March, gets delivered in April so I can stack it and season it for the next winter.

The local Home Depot just started selling plastic wrapped "bundles" (3-4 fairly slim pieces, the size I use for fire starters) for $10. I can't say they seem to be moving quickly.

-Norm

 

[Youare]

A month ago there is a man selling hardwood fire wood a mile up the road that has been cut and split about 8 months. He is charging $210.00 a full cord delivered witnin a 15 mile radius, one cord min.

The past fall the price ranged from $175.00 to 225.00 for a full cord delivered, dumped in your driveway. The problem most buyers have is determining what "ready to burn" means and the meaning of "seasoned".

Many people are selling wood that was cut in the spring left in tree length until late summer then cut and split and heaped in a big pile. They call this seasoned, maybe they added a little salt and pepper I don't know.

I my mind that is really not seasoned wood and certainly not ready to burn to get the highest heat from. If you travel to a more suburban area about 50 miles away you can get from $250.00 to $275.00 a full cord right now.

Randy