What does Firewood really cost?

[blueriver]

Just got me thinking ... add about 300 for the Chainsaw add 100 bucks for the carryall and 100 bucks for the homemade splitter ...and all the other little things.

Darn glad I got the wood stove with the house !!!

 

[RTII]

Don't forget the man hours!!

 

[jlsmith]

Sad thing is i dont have a wood stove in the house but have to cut firewood every year so the wife can have her fire in the pit in the front yard lol:laughing:

 

[Car Doc]

Just got me thinking ... add about 300 for the Chainsaw add 100 bucks for the carryall and 100 bucks for the homemade splitter ...and all the other little things.

Darn glad I got the wood stove with the house !!!

You are getting by fairly cheap my friend stove included with house good deal for you!

Well this is my feeling on the subject I have been at it awhile- my big saw was about $800 in 2001 my new trim saw was $425 just 2 years ago and my splitter was $950 in 1999, I have bought 2 chain grinders and numerous other saws and accessory's my wife is not aware of.

The wood I burn has saved me enough to buy all those and a few more I even bought my hotblast furnace to heat my shop.

I figure what the heat bills were before heating with wood and that's how I figure out what it costs and it really is cheap heat. The other thing is if I spent say $450 a month on natural gas I wouldn't have anything to show for it but a $450 saw will be around for a long long time.

I like getting out in the woods in fall anyway even if I wasn't "making money" doing it there is something about the whole firewood thing that relaxes the mind have fun with it!

 

[s78wingrider]

Don't forget, you won't need to buy any exercise equipment!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dmccarty]

If one had to pay for the wood in my area I don't think it pays to heat with firewood. Firewood goes for around $200 a cord. And I doubt those cords are real 4x4x8 cords.

Firewood saves us at least $100 a month during the coldest part of the winters. Maybe a bit more. And we are certainly more comfortable with the stove.

I do not count the saw in the firewood costs since I bought the saw before I burned wood to heat the house. We did buy a hydraulic splitter for the tractor. It, hoses, and the stand I made cost about $1,000 so I guess that took two years to pay off in heating costs.

If we include the wood stove that is another couple of years. And another couple of years for the hearth.

Sure is expensive to heat with wood!

But at this point it is paid for so it is all gravy now! :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[wolc123]

I like almost everything about firewood. Starting in January or February, dropping some big old trees back in the woodlot. Those that I can reach easy from the edge of the woods, I drag up to the woodshed right away. The tractors pull well on the frozen ground and the land is not damaged. The rest (usually about half) I leave back there until late summer when the ground firms up again and I can also drag without damaging the land. This breaks up my cutting/splitting to twice a year. I do all the cutting outside on nice days, and split inside the woodshed on rainy days and/or when its dark. I can heat my 2000 sq foot home on 8-12 facecord a year depending on the severity of the winter, and that wood is easily made in my spare time over about 4 weeks total. I always season the wood 2 years minimum before burning. I love the feel of a woodfire on cold days and nights, and the look of the fire thru the glass stove doors. Even the smell outside from the chiminey is wonderfull. Fetching a half-facecord or so a week form the woodshed to bring up to the porch with the old 8n Ford and carryall is fun. Even cleaning the chimeny twice a year and taking out the ashes a couple times a week aint bad. The fact that this hobby nearly eliminates home-heating costs is merely icing on the cake. There are a few things I can see that would take some of the fun out of firewood - Not having a woodlot on my own property and needing to puchase or transport firewood over the road., Not having a woodshed that makes it easy to get at the wood when the snow is deep, get the splitting done inside when the weather is bad, and keeps the wood at good moisure content., Having a stove outside or downstairs where the fire cant be viewed and it is inconvenient to service., Having a long chimeney that is a pain to service. Having a door on one side of the house and the stove on the other so the mess is scattered across the whole house. Having only a real big, heavy chainsaw that is hard on the back., Trying to burn wood that is not properly seasoned, and needing to split wood manually.

 

[F1520]

This is our fourth winter heating 95% with wood. The cost of the wood stove, chainsaws, etc., all figure in to the overall cost of heat. But there is one thing to keep in mind. If you spend $1,000 on heating oil during the course of a winter, at the end of the winter you have nothing.

If you spend $1,000 on, say, a log splitter, that splitter has value when the first heating season is over. Not only will it split wood for future winters, but if you decide to sell it, it has resale value. Good equipment that is taken care of always has some value. The value of an empty oil tank in April is $0, no matter how much you spent to fill it.

 

[Scooby074]

About $175 a cord cut/split here

 

[blueriver]

We ... in this deep cold region of the US ... heat 100% wood and the cost savings is amazing. Wish I could use wood in the cooling unit and keep the summer electric bill down.

I simply hate giving my money out for that ... as others have said, I too enjoy everything about wood ... espescially the tools associated with the job!!