A Bud on the other side of the neighborhood....................about 1.5miles away and axed if I wanted any wood. Me being the miser that I am; I said, ABSOLUTELY!!!!! My Bud instructed the tree Dudes to drop all the wood at my house. Why is it that "tree Dudes" cannot cut wood to length???? If they cut everything at 22"..................not problem.........................but 22"...............12".................15"............................27"...................................... Do they do this on purpose if'n they're not taking the wood??!!
No usually they cut to the size that they can pick up if they don't have a machine to load it. This saves them time and money.
That is the reason I try to buck my wood without any help. I don't want 16". I don't want 21". I want 18. 18 fits in both my stove and boiler plus its easier to stack if its all the same length.
They're paid to cut down the tree. Dumping at you're house is a bonus! You get free firewood, and they don't have to haul it off. The treer owner paid less for the cutting also, having a nearby disposal of wood. Next time, tell them to cut it like you want it or refuse delivery
Yep, I get all my wood off C/L from homeowners who had a tree taken down by a tree service, or sometimes from the service itself. It is already all bucked into rounds by the time I get to it and the length is all over the place. usually in the 15" thru 24" range
I've gotten wood from tree trimmers, it was cut up in all sorts of lengths, crotches, y's, branches sticking out, 4, 5, 6 inch stubs on pieces.... I think they saw fast as they can, get the stuff on the ground, and move on.
The majority of my wood is from tree services and it's always a mess. I try to cut the long stuff to my length and throw the chunks in a pile. Anything 14-18 inches gets stacked the rest goes in the chunks/uglies pile. Sorry to say they're not concerned about our stoves, they just want to get the job done. Another thing that nerves me is all the angled cuts from a mis-sharpened chain or bent bar. Then I quickly remind myself this is freebie wood and I need to stop my bitching.
Yep, that's the way it is , that's why we have to make cutting jigs , so many chunks/uglies sucks though
That's the one gotcha with tree service wood besides pervasive hidden metal. It took me a long time but I have I finally trained two different guys who drop off rounds to cut at 16", but that usually means 12-16". Still stacks like crap but better than 18" and having to lop off a cookie on every single one. If you can hook up with a tree service operation that has a crane and grapple truck you have it made.
It's funny how easy it is to get PO'd at that. When I was building my 3yr inventory I would take anything, no choice. Now I'm like a snob, if it's not clean trunks of desired wood I pass. Heck, I've got a garage full of saws cause I want to cut trees down and clean them up, not clean up tree service leftovers. Sorry, I know the feeling. I will still take the ugliest of uglys of White Oak, Locust, Hickory. I've got no shame, it's just selective shame.
Oh yea, I hear that about just starting out! I collected anything and everything in the beginning of my hoarding experience. Takes a few seasons to determine what you really need. i'm good for several years. In my own climate, of course,where 30's are rare, lol
Removing certain trees requires cuts that are pretty foreign to most firewood guys and loggers. They're piecing trees down while in a bucket or climbing gear and constantly fighting back leans, tension, etc. From there, groundies usually work fast and furious to clean the drop zones. As mentioned above, you rarely get the perfect round length since that takes extra time and sometimes just isnt possible. I love tree service wood and always take the good with the "bad." Great score, by the way!
C'mon now Whitey. There is a lot of usable wood in those lengths. You didn't really think that it was all going to be cut to 16" now did ya?
I said the same thing to myself when I had a tree guy drop me off a huge load of cherry.. It seems like the bigger the round , the shorter the pieces got. Once the round got over 20" , they noodled them, but were still short. Makes it hard to stack that stuff. But since it was free and cherry, can't complain.
I will take free wood in whatever shape or size it comes in. That is what holzhaus (?) piles are for! Toss the shorts, uglies, chunks, and cookies in da middle.
What I have done only because I have the room this past year is piled all the odd shaped, knotted and ugly ones on pallets then ran an ad on craigslist for sale by the 8' pick up for $50.00. Everybody wins as they don't have to buck the wood and with a little cutting they get over a cord for $100.00. I tell them when they call bring some heavy duty straps because you load all you can fit on the truck and the price is the same. Since all my wood is in exchange for my Tree service guy to park his truck and equipment I have even started to sell off the branches as well same price from 3" up to 8" or 10" I no longer sell split wood as I have to deliver it and it's extra work I don't have time for. This started as a hobby and a way to make a few extra bucks and then I got the addiction I am trying to wean myself off the drug of CSS. I am only doing enough for myself about 3 cord a year.
