Excluding tools & equipment. Cutting next door & have about $10/cord for free wood Cutting in the state cutting area, @ $10/cord for the permit, & about $30/cord for fuel to process it & get it home. Distance traveled is my highest cost, State area 40 miles round trip +/- So each scrounge is different costs. Fuel for saw & splitter about $5/cord. I'd guess about $45 tops per cord but that includes the $10 per cord to the state (but that's pretty near free IMO )
3 trips on the ATV to the woods - 3 miles total. I have no idea what kind of mileage I get, but let's say 10 MPG loaded down. $1.16. I usually can load the trailer on one tank of saw gas…so 3 tanks @ 1.5 pints = .375 gallons. $2 for 2-stroke oil and gas = $4.65. I can run the splitter about 45 minutes on a tank, and it holds about 1 pt = .25 gallons. It takes about 2.5 tanks to bust a cord. $2.18 I can get about 4 cord or more out of a chain. Figure $5 per cord on chains and files. I think that’s it. $12.99/cord. Not bad.
The wood is free, it's the getting that costs. Nowadays. Lately, I've been cutting about 8 miles round trip from home and the Jeep gets about 16-18 mpg on short trips like that, so 1/2 gallon. I can get almost 1/3 cord in the back (I don't, but can), then add a tank of fuel and B&C oil each per 1/3 cord. Without checking the fuel and oil capacities for the saw, I dunno. One tank of fuel in the splitter per 2/3 cord. When I do log loads, it's just all the fuel/oil for the saw, splitter, and GT. Oh, and about $75/cord for the logs......Oak.
I used the same chain for 8 cords so far. Still using it, so I'll add $2.50/cord for chain ( figuring 10 cord per $25 chain)
Yea, never cut hedge, but did some dry locust, its tough on chains too. Green birch is easy on chains, it's the dirt that I get on the log skidding it out. I got better about cleaning & looking for rocks imbedded in the bark. Spruce is the toughest on the chain, Both have glacier silt in the bark that take a toll after about a cord, I do a file touch up & saw cleaning after each cord load.
So true. 6 - 8 hours just to get a cord of rounds home. I pay myself a negative minimum wage , I bet I have over a 1000 hours of time in it by the time it's ashes are being emptied in the garden. Savings pays for the tools & fuel & I have fun & get good exercise.
When I go to my private arborists tree dump it's ~20mi round trip but only hardwoods and nice straight ones at that so time consumption is very minimal as opposed to hauling it out of some of the draws on my own property. I tow the splitter once and c/s enough for two loads sometimes three depending on daylight. Ol Blue is "good" for 2/3-3/4 cord depending on green weight of the mostly oak or hickory that I haul. I'd say I'm under $20/cord for the hauls over there but when I average out the stuff I cut around the house probably closer to $10-12. In reality it doesn't pain me to fill the truck a couple times a year, fill the couple 5 gal cans once or maybe an extra one in the fall, shelling out $20-30 a few times a year is a whole lot better than throwing down $1200 to fill the propane tank in September and maybe another 3-400 in February
oh and those propane bills are 5+yrs old, I filled one of my 5gal cylinder for $23 today should have just taken the short cylinder exchange at wallyworld for $16
Not sure the wally world tanks are as full as ones you take & get filled. Plus I've had a few of the Lowes & wally ones not work on my grill.
Free is pretty close to free for me. No acquisition costs. No transportation costs. A couple of dollars a cord for fuel/oil to cut it. I have no idea as to how much electricity the splitter uses but it isn't much. I think the single most expensive thing is the tarp to cover.
It's ~3.5gal on a swap, the filled tank is ~4.7gal....I stopped on the way home from town and had it filled but the price difference didn't seem quite right, I didn't ask the filling station what the exchange rate was but Wallyworld was $15.82. with tax: so 4.97/gal for exchange or $5/gal for fill, price might be higher right now due to the shortages but I didn't want the Big Easy to be without fuel if we get some ice tonight, a man needs to eat right ya know
Gas 1.5 gallon jug plus oil but that lasts a while! Then gas in the truck and any food I buy ( Normally PBJ in a lunch bag and coffee ). It costs about 35 to 40 a cord depending on where I cut. If I cut in town the cost is way way less than that because I'm less than a mile from home.
