So here I sit waiting for service to be done on my wife's car....And I am scrolling endlessly through Facebook marketplace. Everything within 30 miles of me is not free...guys want 120 to 150 bucks for a cord of logs...They call it firewood. I offered a few of them 25 bucks to fill the back of my trailblazer. They declined. I am starting to get worried about the next few years supply. Not alot of free stuff in my area. I am not even in an urban area!!! I was drooling over all the free stuff in New York, New Jersey and southern Pennsylvania, even into Maryland and Virginia. I mean nice already bucked red and white oak, even came across what looks like 10 cords of locust in Massachusetts....How many of you guys made road trips for good wood? I don't think I will do more than 40 miles one way, unless it is free CSS. How much should I offer for a load that I have to cut to fill my truck?
I dont and have plenty close to me as youve seen in my prior posts. What happened to that roadside pile of logs? Did you inquire about them? Are they still there? Ive driven across the state more than once for wood. 1.5 hours. Once it was cutting for an aging friend and i got a truckload too. I know cigarsmokingzombie in Delaware travels for decent wood. IMO i wouldnt go more than a half hour from home in your case and it should be high quality wood...and free.
In Connecticut and surrounding states you are not supposed to transport wood across state lines due to insect problems. I live 20 minutes from the Massachusetts border and wood is transported on the back roads all the time. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
LOL I just realized that is your thread...... Everybody's situation is different, some guys live on acres and acres of land or have friends or family that do and just cut what they want when they want, easy peasy for them. Others have an in with a friend or a tree guy that drops wood off, so those guys won't drive a mile for wood, why should they? While others like you and me have to scrounge around for wood scouring FB and CL constantly and you have to act quick or its gone. I've been fairly lucky in my area, nobody burns wood much except a firepit once in awhile and my area has lots of trees so I've been able to find decent scores here or there. I think generally I'll drive approx 10 - 15 miles for a good solid score. But depending on where you live may have to travel further. If I was traveling 40miles one way I'd make sure I have a big trailer for a big load not just an SUV loads worth, but again that's my opinion living in my area.
I don't make road trips looking for wood and not really sure how far I'd drive for some. However, when one really needs wood, methinks he'd not be too concerned about miles. Also looking at that picture of he trailer hitch, one could really say that you have balls!
I don’t travel far for wood, just because there’s plenty out there and the getting is more rushed now since people try to snatch up the last of free but burnable wood online. Other half of it being freshly cut, it’s either costing something or nothing depending on what it is. If you were traveling for work, look in the work areas and then focus with places in between that and home. I’ve probably not ventured off much more than 30 mins outside of that kind of area. You’re doing the regular work similar to mine for offering for truckloads rather than full cords but if you can swing the full cord for the $ and can afford it, do it. Not all of us can scrounge for free but using wood instead of that electric bill, I can’t think of a better alternative. Usually around this time its getting tight for wood grabs, Summer was a big time to hoard since so much was getting cut in preparation for fall storms, power lines were getting plenty of overgrowth. Some branch pick ups were alright, not a huge amount but when it’s the best wood you can find here, no turning it down. Another option you could do while it being a bit of a hassle if they don’t give the wood up as easily is to give your number out to those tree service companies. Just offer it to them, it can’t hurt. Running into those who DO charge for their wood is not unlikely but it does happen. They cut to gain something out of it, so they want to recoup some costs as they may have cut into a tree that ruined a saw or the like. Others don’t keep it because it costs too much to store it or find such places to do so.
I went 40 minutes from my house last year for some oak and hickory. Never again Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Free firewood almost always comes with some expense, I pay $10 per cord, 85 mi round trip, Saw gas & oil, splitter gas About $45 /cord .... Maybe the exercise I get is free
I imagine it is hard to justify the long hauls with a trailblazer right? I go an hour for premium stuff, but I fill my truck and 14K trailer to justify the time and effort.
I have went as far as forty miles for 2 cords of black locust.....i would nt do it if i didnt have a 16 trailer... Do you cut any firewood ?.....if ya do...there should be state forest land somewhere close to you....i dont know if ya said before or not. Ya need to get 3 years ahead....
If you can get a little trailer on there, and do it safely- most importantly- a little bit of a longer drive is a bit more worthwhile. I would say a hours drive is worth a cord of wood... at a certain point you just have to weight the costs and time. Otherwise, you’re looking at either buying cordwood or compressed wood bricks. That’s the position I've been in the last few years. Made big strides this year to get my supply in order for future years. Maybe give a slightly longer trip a shot and see where it brings you.
My best option years back was cutting fence rows for farmers. That's turned into more wood than I could burn in my lifetime. Always ask & be ready when a score comes.
About an hour is the limit for me. Depends how desperate I am for wood too. I travel sometimes to Erie for work, how far north east are you in the state?
Up until about a year and half ago I would travel 30 miles back home around mom and dads to cut firewood. I wasn't getting anything where I currently live. But, after just continuously asking around for permission to cut wood I scored a few nice places. Just keep asking. Hopefully you can get use of a trailer to make it worth it if you do need to drive further.
I don’t often travel that far. But a do have a friend from work that had some trees come down in a storm two different times. I grabbed some from him two years ago and I’m going again this weekend. It’s about 40 minutes each way. But it’s an easy drive and he already cut it to splitting lengths. It’s about a cord of wood and a cold beer! But normally I wouldn’t go more than 20 minutes. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I can usually find free pine....I got 3 free cords back in 2017...most of it was burned in the campfire. I did stash some of the good straight splits, about 1/2 a cord away for emergency use.
