With all of the free wood that has been showing up on Marketplace in my area. How do you to decide if free wood is a bridge too far to you travel. Do you travel farther for Oak and Locust, than you wood for Pine and Maple? Does the size of the wood have any bearing on your decision? Do you go to look at the wood before committing to the owner, as to your intentions about cutting.
Being far enough ahead I pass on a lot of stuff that I would've driven 50 miles one way for in the very beginning of my serious hoarding. Now I’ll pass on anything too small, or too large, or if I already have a lot of a particular species. I’ll willingly consider going out of my way for what I’d consider special scores such as elm, locust or hickory. Although I don’t do Facebook anymore, Craigslist has yielded me a ton of wood over the past year and I straighten things out with the owner first before committing. I won’t tell someone XYZ before seeing anything in person. I don’t want to oversell myself or waste the owner’s time so I try to be upfront and professional. It’s worked out well for me so far.
It depends on the quality of the wood and the ease of retrieval...ie back up cut and load or do i have to work just to get to the wood. Ill travel farther for black locust and hickory. I frown on bigger wood as its too much grunt work. Goldilocks wood preferred. Eric Schamell sent me a lead on FBM last week for some cherry. I checked it out online and emailed the owner asking to see it first as it was in my home town less than ten minutes away. No phone number or address given. Never heard back from them. Poor communication my main reason for not browsing for free wood. Doesnt hurt to take look before you commit. I like to see what im in for. Some folks want you to take it all, some say take what you want.
For me it depends on the amount I can get. A huge oak would sway me to travel a little further. As wood a premium, high btu hardwood. If I see a decent size, nice straight log with access to be able to get the truck real close, game on, but about an hour drive is pushing it. There's just so much close, I don't have to go further. I've been sharing scores in the post Craigslist/Marketplace finds. If anyone in the central/south central PA, northern MD area needs wood, check it out. I'm looking on a regular basis.
Case by Case basis... I personally wont go out of my way for it, but being 3 years ahead helps keep me in the comfort zone. I'll pursue Craigslist...
I get offered "free" wood on a regular basis. I will only commit to coming by to look at the job. I'll very seldom haul anything off free of charge unless it's elderly or disabled folks. Chipping/brush clean up etc. is $150.00/hr no exceptions & no favors. I'm very fortunate/blessed to have more than plenty of firewood & I need to be very mindful of how I spend any unpaid time. Distance wise it just depends on what I need & what it pays. I like to stay within 10 or 15 minutes from home if possible.
Getting far ahead on your wood pile will help a lot on making decisions as then it will become easy to turn down those nasty jobs and probably also cut down your mileage.
15 minutes is my limit. I live in a fairly rural area. I communicate with the property owner to make sure I can drive to it and ask if I can run a saw if necessary. I take the wood. I charge for hauling brush, etc.
Distance, direct truck access, and diameter play the biggest roles for me. I'm fortunate enough that I have tree services drop off and don't have to really worry about going out and finding scrounges these days. Lets me cherry pick the easy scores.
