How far to travel for wood until it's no longer worth it?

Worth is "TOTALLY" subjective to the individual. That is a fact..............no matter what our Governments try to tell us.

If you NEED wood and you don't think the distance is unreasonable.................It may be WORTH it to you. If you live on 10 acres of woods, it's probably not WORTH it to you!!!

Worth will vary individual to individual, and circumstances to circumstances, and often other things come into play..................

 

I travel around 100 miles round trip for my wood. I may even be loosing money if you just based it on firewood but that's not really what its about for me.

 

Sorry double post.

 

This has a lot to do with it doesnt it? If I broke down the labor into an hourly rate, wear and tear on my truck etc then it wouldnt be worth it but even if I almost broke even it would be good for me as I just cant do without the feel of wood heat

 

Even with my peasant wood, I'm faring pretty well. It's a combination of saving $$ on furnace oil, self reliance, exercise for that lumberjack physique !, and wood heat can't be beat. Even if it costs some gas and time to go the extra distance, I'm sure looking forward to a trip for birch.

Of course I'm cheap, so I'd need a victory load to justify it.:stacke:

 

Yup and its more productive and healthier than spending our time at the pub!

 

You've got the "Schwarzeneggarian" physique going also, hey??!!

 

Truth! Free BTUs is good BTUs!

 

It's really not a bad drive. And hey, maybe you can MRI my head and figure out what's wrong!

 

Magnetic Resonance Imaging will not work on air.

 

Of course some of us have a wood cutter's physique that is strong on the inside but well insulated.

 

Tailgate extenders come in very handy. I use mine to create an area in the bed so small bundles don't fly the full length every time I stop or start. The load limit when you use the extender is that of your tailgate, it should be in the manual. On my pickup the tailgate is rated 250 pounds.

When I scrounge oak I find that I hit the weight limit and my springs are on the stops before I need the bed extender...

KaptJaq

 

I can relate to that.

 

Bed extender, just buy a truck with an 8 foot bed, Duh

 

I used to go pretty far but I'm glad I did since I now am 3 full years ahead. My current cutting spot is 22 miles one way with a mountain in the middle - probably about 10 12 air miles but no real good way to get there. Fortunately, between my truck and trailer I can pull a lot in a trip. Plus I enjoy the ride and large loads of wood..lol..

 

Firewood is therapy for me, both physical and emotional. Way cheaper than a Dr. lol. Plus there is the caveman aspect that "Zog make fire" inside of me when I know I provided the heat to warm the "cave" in the winter.

 

Some states limit the length for non-commercial plates. 8 foot beds require commercial plates and they limit which roads you can use and when... With my crew cab I could only get the 6 foot bed to legally get passenger plates.

KaptJaq

 

So correct me if I am wrong, a simple spreadsheet that outlines the cost using your s10, vs your s10 with a trailer is needed. I am confused at what the civic would contribute, although moving 10 rounds at 35 mpg vs x rounds on your truck.

I look at it this way. The time to cut the material is the time to cut, so that is fixed and meaningless for this analysis. Lets assume a trip at a half hour (30 miles) assuming you value your time at $20 per hr. With your civic the variable component is the fuel mileage and your time. So fuel consumed is 30 mpg (guess) at $2 per gallon by two trips and you gather say 10 rounds and $10 in labor which equates to $14 total dollars for 10 rounds in variable costs. Your s10 gets 25 mpg, holds 40 rounds, with the same travel time which $10 in labor, maybe 15 for the added load time, and a 15% in fuel cost so you are roughly $20 for 50 rounds. Add a trailer to the s10, you get a cost of maybe $30 for 100 rounds.

So civic yields $1.4 per round, s10 $0.40 per round and civic with trailer is $0.30 per round. by no means am I poking fun at anyone, but if you truly want to dig into the costs and make sound economic decisions, a very simple analysis can help. It may conflict with the concept of hoarding, but can help some of you that have many options. Take it the next step further and determine the btu of the load and drive it to the $/btu level. This will make your hoarding cost effective, and will ensure the wood has higher btu content. Sorry to bore many of you and also I just want to say I did all of this math in my head if anyone finds errors. If anyone truly wants an analysis tool and cannot figure it out, I can build one in less than 10 minutes that will not be full of my mental math errors.

 

Its a lot of things for me other than money and heat (I do love the heat of a wood fire!). It gets me outside and I am a nature lover. It gives me a instant sense of accomplishment that I don't get with my job (everything takes forever to get done at my work). It gives me productive exercise. It gives me moments to reflect and think. Its something I grew up around and doing it reminds me of my childhood. It gives me time to spend with my dad, who is now in his late 60s. I want to pass it on to my kid(s) also.

Sure I probably save a few bucks doing it vs having my house run on NG but that def isn't the main reason I do it. I can justify any of my "hobbies" by saying it could be profitable (minus hunting), but that's not really why I do them.

 

I like that. Very well said.