It was just one load...so, yes all on that truck in the middle of a heavy snow here. He told me it was one of his top 3 loads ever and he only did it so he wouldn't here me gripe to him...and I still will...but we are friends and I am sure he is expecting it. But seriously, it is a pretty generous measure of wood.
Keep us updated with pics of your progress, I like to see logs getting processed. Looks like a good deal to me.
Opportunities like that don't exist around here that I know of. I think that is a heck of a good deal, no brush, de-limbed, at the split site. Enjoy! Thanks for answering my question.
I kind of thought that $850 was a bit high...there are some more and some less expensive guys in my area...from what I know about the market here is that he gives a full load of logs that is deemed to be as big as any one else, it truly is all white oak and shagbark hickory (1 log of ash), plus we have a good relationship...and if you look at that picture, well there aren't too many guys that would deliver that load of logs in a snow storm and that counts for a lot. So, hope to start on the pile in a week or so. Overall I think I got an honest deal and good logs, plus it will put me a solid three years ahead!
I still have some logs to finish from the last tri-axle we got. It may cost money for the wood, but it's a heck of a lot more efficient than all the puttering around on the ATV that I was doing before getting the loads dropped off. Besides, it still costs me a LOT less than fuel Oil, considering one tri-axle load will net us a few years worth of wood, and FO cost around 1,000 - 1,300 per winter. I've got a lot that needs cleaned up on the property this year, but will likely order another tri-axle load of logs this summer. I have to get started on a 3 year plan.
Definite time saver. When there were a couple guys in the area doing some clearing and were advertising to unload it locally - I didn't need it. Luckily right now I've got my hands full in my own back yard. But wrestling them out of the woods is a project too.
If I could heat my house for a grand I would burn oil in a second. I spend over a grand per season getting free wood to my house. I figure I spend 1,500 a year in consumables. To heat my house with FO would be in the 6k range. I am making out like a bandit.
While 1,500 a year to gather wood seems like a lot. I haul over 20 cords out of the woods. Lots of fuel with truck, snowgo, wheeler, tractor and s saws. Last few years I have been buying saws each year. Started making my own loops. My spares have spares. I look at it like, why not I save a ton by not buying oil. As longs as I get the money spent out of its use I am ahead of the game.
You obviously have a larger house than we do, I also close off the upstairs as it's me/wife/dog in the house. We usually can get by on 8 face cord per winter, or just shy of 3 cord. An average triaxle is around 20-21 face cord (~7cord) so I can easily get 2 years of wood for $850. It's a whole lot easier than the trips up and down the hill with the quad and cart. Cart holds about 1/3 of a face cord per trip, so I end up making a LOT of trips up and down the hill. As stated earlier (or diff thread) I spent more time moving wood than cutting or splitting. Main reason I'd love to have a nice Kubota or something similar to drag logs down off the hill and process down here. But until that happens, I'll harvest the fallen and broken trees so as not to waste the wood, but @ $425/year for log firewood, yeah I can live with that easily.
Hey Chaz...$850 a load...like up here my way...nice! I was just shy of two full cord this winter (I have a small place) Probably could have not fed the fire so much at times...I got better as the season went on. Glad the log loads work for you and your situation!
I burn in-between 15-20 cords a year. Alaska is a we bit colder than NY, and winter is allegedly longer. Its common to have 100* or more difference between inside and outside for months. Its all good. I like to burn wood and have no intention to burn oil, even though my FO comes from here in Ak. I am fortunate that I live close to a 6.5 million acre wildfire burn from 1997. I get wood for free, just have to go get it.
Ya know, I never looked at your location. It would figure that you would burn a lot more wood than I do. Although parts of Ak were actually warmer than here a few times this winter. I have about 15 acres of woods that I can harvest from, but as mentioned, the cost of bringing in logs is so low that there's no incentive to go through the good tree's I have standing.
Yeah shack we're pretty close in the grand scheme of things. I actually have heard of a guy that delivers some good hardwoods and it's $750 per load, so I will try to give the guy a call and see what he has available late year, and if the price is holding. I have to finish off what we have left first, probably around 2 full cord on the yard at the moment. I have tried to just bring in what we need every year, hadn't thought about a 3 yr plan till I found this site. edit.. WOW.. under 2 cord this winter, that's pretty da@@ good. We will be closing in on 10 face cord this year, so just over 3. That's pretty unusual for us, but when the cold front hit in Dec, we went through nearly 4 fc in one month alone. We only had 7 stocked this year as last summer was kind of hectic. Before this year, the most we went through was 8 fc, so I was hoping we'd get through, but had to get a couple fc from friends FIL. Yeah.. the log loads work great for us.
You might have to explain that to people who live in smaller places like New Zealand or Texas. How do wildfires result in free wood twenty years later?
A vast majority of the trees are standing dead. We have a dry climate as well as things are frozen for 8 months. The state gives the wood away to local residents. Alaska doesn’t like to waste resources. The 6.5 million acres is state forest.
