$350-450 here for all oak. $50-100 less for mixed. And thats not necessarily seasoned to under 20%! Needless to say if I can't get it for under $200 a cord I'm not saving anything. Haven't payed for wood yet though!
A guy started up a new firewood business just down the road from me, he wants $325 cord for mixed hardwoods including delivery. Ouch, that is a lot of money! Jim
Since starting 2 springs ago: Splitter was about $900 with hydraulic fluid Husky 450 Rancher $379+$40 in chains Files and file guides approx $100 3 gallons of bar oil, total of $36 Mix oil 6 pack x2 = $22 Fuel for saw and splitter - not sure of exact $ lets say $125-150 for 2 years. Truck fuel- ? Labor- priceless!, processing the wood is my stress relief and relaxation from the hussle and bussle So an over estimate of $1700 for some extra saw and splitter fuel and I have c/s/s 20+ cord, 16 of which are for myself currently being used/ drying (3 yr plan). Cut on shares on 1 property so shared some there, And sold some free boxelder rounds I aquired and then split (approx 2 cord). So that comes out to about $80 A CORD, not counting my money I made and figuring some of the oil and files and such haven't been used yet. Price will obvioisly go down as I process more wood, the major purchases will last quite awhile and spread out over the years. You can Add the Husky 562xp (recent purchase) $699+$45 chains - Used money from free boxelder rounds I split and sold as campfire wood, so only $175 out of pocket but that hasn't processed but a cord of wood.
This is a little like reloading and homebrewing for some (and nothing at all like either for those who have to heat with wood off their own lots for financial reasons) in my opinion. You don't necessarily save money, really cant include your time, you just get to do it more often and you are extremely pleased with the end product. I have learned a lot, enjoy most of the processing steps and take satisfaction in knowing that I can master another part of life and make a few friends along the way. Oh, and to your question, I can pick up a cord of really wet hardwood/softwood mix consisting of really big splits (6-8 in) for about $175. With all the rain it is probably running 50% MC in the wood lot pile at a local farm. I would have to make three 5 mile trips in a pickup too. They would deliver it for about $45 but I couldnt get it off my driveway in an afternoon. I burned this 'wood' same day as pickup my first two years, until I learned better.
Processor quality was $125, now $115, predicted to be heading down toward $100 soon. This is a 12 cord load of tree length. In the local paper they are asking for $175 for cut, split, delivered (green).
In Michigan they usually sell it by the "face" cord anywhere from 50-80. I've seen it listed for 100 but shame on the person who pays that much! For conversation sake we'll say three face cords equals a cord so low side 150, high side 240. My guess is none of it is seasoned. I sold a "face" cord last week for 50 to a friend of my wife. It was soft maple and tulip so not primo hardwood but all well seasoned.
Yeah, face cord is what you're gonna get around here when you call for a cord of wood-unless you get it from a logging truck. Don't find it very often for $50 (face cord) but more typically for $65-$70. If it is processed in the spring, it is advertised as seasoned. (After awhile, people will be asking about the moisture content)
So it appears green mixed wood, face cord, is $60 to $70. Thus, $180-210 is a good guess at what you would fairly pay commercially for a cord of wood that needs to be loosely stacked and covered for a year before burning. You can go cheaper and cut tree length logs, etc. OP has their answer from a good cross section of the eastern part of the midwest.
I REALLY think that if used in a wood stove, $250-300 is fair in my area IF it is actually seasoned. I have been toying with the idea of selling "Seasoned" wood. I think i could find a good buy on a ton of Chinese moisture meters to hand out to clients and have them prove to themselves they are being screwed by other guys.
^+1 and with you brother, but seasoned wood at anything less than 25% is going to add $50 to $100 to the load and the average buyer isnt going to seek that out as they have no idea what 'seasoned' really means.
And thats why i havent done it, i have 28 acres and a 5 acre woodlot at my disposal here, just don't think i can make it pan out with 3 years of time before profit. AND i refuse to be that guy selling wood over 20%MC.
When I harvest wood for myself I throw my labour in for free just to be nice! Sorry couldnt resist. We dont have much hardwood here except birch so I will refer you to my first comment. Ive seen Birch $300 a cord here!
