Save $$$ - Heat with Wood

[turnkey4099]

I don稚 agree with putting a dollar amount on 吐ree wood other than actual cost such as saw, splitter and fuel. You do need to put a value on your time. I can稚 imagine having to cut wood for heat. I agree, that would take the fun out of it.

Quite the opposite. I am retired and cutting wood is my recreation. I'm retired and burn about 6 cord/yr and enjoy every minute of the processing. I also sell 4 or more/yr and enjoy every minute of processing that. Currently I'm clear cutting willow trees for farmers for free and only use part of the wood resulting. I cut somewhere around 20 cords last year and am starting to leave rounds where I remove the trees.

 

[turnkey4099]

A question for those that sell cord wood...do you pre-stack the wood to know when you have a cord?
Do you use a predetermined size container like a truck bed or trailer?

Did you first stack a full cord and then load the container?

I realize every split is not the same size but it can be averaged...anyone have a loose/rough idea of a count on the number of "average sized" splits in a cord?

I set "T" posts 20ft apart and stack the wood I split in there 5' high. That makes just a tad over 1 cord. It sets the year I split it plus another season. I stockpile rounds in the summer and manually split in the winter. I do have a hydrualic splitter but it only sees the tough stuff unless the "to be split" stock gets a bit too big.

 

[/pine]

Thanks for all the insights on measuring volumes...one other question I have is about seasoning...

is there any difference between wood that is from say a 2 year dead standing or wind blown tree and 8 weeks after splitting it is at 20% or less and green wood that is split and aged a year or so and is at the same moisture content?...isn't it all about the MC and not so much about how long it has been split and stacked?

 

[Industrial Toys]

I like to cut dead standing trees and put the wood on the porch FIC (for immediate consumption). It's not wood worth storing away and the immediate enjoyment and connection to the work is appreciated. But it's never as clean and easy burning as stored wood. Even if it's been dead and standing a couple of years/

 

[LD1]

It all depends on species too.

Wet and green, elm.....that stuff can still have a high moisture content even after being split and seasoning for 2 years or more.

Nothing fancy to measure, but when you throw it on a fire, and it boils/steams water out the ends, it's too wet. And elm does that even after a few years.

Ash on the other hand, cut, split, stack in summer. Burn that winter and have no issues at all.

Been cutting tops from a logged woods that was logged 3 years ago. Summer cutting and splitting is winter's wood. So it had 3 years to season prior to splitting, and a good 6 months after.

Maple....maple is wet. If you don't cut it within the first few years it rots before it drys. Red oak good for a little longer even though the outer white ring gets a bit soft, the red inner wood stays nice.

Ash....Ash is about the best firewood for a seller IMO. Splits nice. Low moisture even when green, means it don't rot fast, and it dries quick. Not as dense as some others like oaks and hickories....but best all around IMO.

So moisture and seasoning time all depends. So there is no easy answer. Some wood dries faster or starts drier. Drying time depend on if left as logs (standing or down), or if split. How small/large are the splits? Etc etc.

I have NEVER had any complaints about wood I sell. Only praise for quantity and quality.

Have had many customers state that "this is the most wood anyone has ever brought, you sure that's only a cord" (yea....many scammers out there that think a tossed on pickup load is a cord....and advertises as such of $95 as opposed to my "true" cord for $160) it just amazes customers. Hard to believe that so many people are that ignorant to what an actual cord is, and just take the deliverers word for it. Have also had customers say they have turned away many loads claiming to me seasoned, when clearly they weren't. Never a complaint.

I only wish I had time to cut hundreds of cords a year, because I have no doubt I'd be able to sell all of them and have happy customers. And run the wannabes selling green junk by the pickup load claiming it's a cord a packing. Just don't have the time or equipment to do more than 20-30 cord a season

 

[Oaktree]

I've found my truck holds 3 rick loose. My tractor bucket holds 1/3 rick stacked, and I've got a rick rack. I've got another basket that takes 3 baskets to make 2 rick.

Not to ask a stupid question, but what is a rick? Never heard the term before. Everyone I know uses cords, a cord being defined as 4x4x8 feet.

 

[LD1]

A Rick is an unofficial measurement, as is rack or face cord.

When I say unofficial.....I k ow that to be true in Ohio. As wood can only be sold in cords, or fractions of.....or in bundles where cubic ft is clearly labeled. (Think camp wood)

A Rick, rack, face cord, etc....typically means one stack...4' high....8' long.

With a cord being 4x4x8......a single 4x8 stack would be what the "face" of a cord looks like....looking from the broad side of that 4x4x8 stack.

Rick and rack are the same. Problem is, people start referring to it as face cord......then at some point drop the face and just start calling it a cord....which become very misleading.

Rick and rack....same deal. A stack of wood 4x8. That's a square ft measurement right? And quantity of wood is in volume right? So if someone sells a Rick of 14" wood vs a Rick of 18" wood vs a Rick of 22" wood......see the issue?

Someone feeding a boiler and cutting 4' wood...yea a Rick would equal a cord.

 

[/pine]

Like I supposed...seasoning is all about moisture content...
I mostly harvest dead standing or downed trees...mostly red, white and chestnut oaks (and whatever the big oaks bring down with them when they fall)...hickory, maple, birch, sourwood etc...

Something I've observed that can be a small issue (extra work) when processing trees or logs for firewood...is the bark...green wood split and stacked will lose it's bark about the same time the MC reaches 20%...tossing splits...knocks a lot of the bark off and it has to be dealt with and several cords of a big chestnut oak can leave you a huge pile of bark...

 

[ultrarunner]

When my brother bought the old farm it came with a very small Lopi wood stove in the family room and it was installed with a permit.

My sister in law was quick to say they were getting rid of it and her mother seconded it. I was too quick when I said I will have it out of here today before I go home... then there was a huge pause and she said it was not a priority and she needed to think about it.

The place came with maybe 8 cords of loose split wood in piles... all oak but some highly degraded.

My brother called a few friends asking if they wanted free wood and soon it was mostly gone... what was left was a sprained ankle waiting to happen and home for mice and snakes... Mom and I spent a day organizing when the family was away for a wedding... used cinder block and 4x4x20' posts laying around to get the wood off the dirt... Mom loves to stack and it came our real nice and tidy...

Brother and Sister hosted Christmas that year for 40 people... I fired up the Lopi stove and had a beautiful fire... soon everyone had migrated to the family room with the kids mesmerized by the fire... most had never seen anyone burn wood as it is highly regulated or forbidden in the Bay Area... now it is something she looks forward to on winter nights after spending all day out with the Christmas trees from now to the 24th...

Many times she has said she had no idea just how nice a wood stove could be... and they have plenty of Oak on property...

Fired it up last night for the first time since last year and was well received... in part because you don't have to feel guilty keeping the room a little warmer and no Propane Bill surprises burning wood.

Last year for their anniversary I came out with the splitter and spit some storm fall... so they are in good shape.

I offered to leave the splitter for my nephew as a chance to make some firewood money but no interest... I bet he could park his pickup with a load of split oak and a for sale sign and it wouldn't last a day...

 

[ovrszd]

I cut alot of firewood. Rather enjoy it. But dont use it for heat in the house. Not cost effective at all.

I bought the hose a few years ago, with baseboard heaters only. But had a chimney in good shape.

After a rather mild november and having a $400 electric bill that month, I expedited putting in a wood burner.

Heated with wood for 2 winters and about 6 cord of wood each winter. What a mess in the house. Bugs, ashes, uneven heat, etc. And no AC in the summer other than the two widow AC units. Which also produced and equally uneven cooling.

Installed geothermal. Nearest guess is it cost me about $100 per month in the 6 months of winter, and in the summer to cool the whole house costs no more than the window AC units did.

Still enjoy cutting firewood. Sell it for $160/cord. So I sell the 6 cords I would have had to burn in the house....take that money.....and gladly give to the power company so they can keep me warm. No more mess, no worry of fire, no concern about the wife keeping fire going when I am at work for 12 hrs....etc.

If one factors the current cost of a central air system, or even the current prices of propane, and what the current cost of a cord of wood is,....wood dont save money IMO. I am just glad there are still many that heat with wood.....so I can make them my customers and sell to them.

Comin late so sorry if this has already been answered.... What did the Geothermal cost?