There are several who that do buy wood too... Just a different way to achieve the end result. But my suggestion is to try to look ahead and for next years to come. Buy as much as possible good green wood especially in the spring. Split it small if not already, and single stack for the most wind and sun available. Then let that season. But now you might have to pay premium to look at kiln wood for this year. Or buy a moisture meter and tell them what you are expecting, before he unloads. Good luck. Remember most of all of us have been in your shoes as a beginner.
Nothing wrong with buying wood, even with buying wood you can still reduce your costs, some people on here, buy all their wood, some only part of it
You are surrounded by sand from beaches and a lot of people who don't burn. Check out Craigslist for free firewood listings. Call some local tree services to see if you can get on their list to drop wood for free as they'd rather do that than pay to dispose of it. When you get some extra cash, get a small saw and a maul/splitting axe and you too can heat your home for "free"..
There are a number of good reasons to buy cord wood. In the future for me it will make more economic sense to buy log loads, but this year the bulk of my wood has been delivered cord wood. I don't have a truck and won't any time in the near future, so I can't scrounge in large quantities. Also, I too have little kids, and want to spend more free time with them frankly doing non-wood related activities (is it heresy to say that on this forum?) Splitting, stacking almost 10 cords of wood ate up a lot of my free time, in addition to our gardens, building a chicken coop, house repairs, etc. It's an individual decision to make that depends on your own circumstances. There are some good wood processors out there. I found the guy who sold us our wood by asking a neighbor who had wood delivered if she liked the guy she bought it from. As it is with many things, word of mouth works pretty well. I did have to question how dry the "seasoned" wood was that had the green leaves still growing on it though. I know, should have known better than try to order seasoned wood - it doesn't exist. Should have paid attention to what I had learned on this forum.
Separate the solid from the crumbling/soft. If whoever sold it won't replace the bottom of the pile punky stuff keep it as dry as you can and you might be able to burn it when it is not too cold or mix it in a little at a time. Wet will likely stink and smolder and be a waste of time and effort..
Someone please explain the 1, 2, or 3 year rotation rule for him? Pay for the kiln dried this year but start his rotation too? (I would but I am not qualified, husband did all the work)
We moved from our long time home last fall, couldnt move most the seasoned wood with us. Bought 3 cords for the spring (payed extra to have it stacked). Turned out it was wet, and the guy showed up at dusk, promised to return the next morning to stack it, we never saw him again.... Meanwhile our old cat stove is now kaput from struggling to heat our home with wet smoldering wood. Sorry for your predicament but you are not the only one.
Bummer that you got a bad load to begin with Hd. Hope you can get it worked out. Unfortunately many people have had similar start up woes. Many guys here will tell you that their first winter was rough. What's your long term plan going to be? You planning on playing the scrounging game? I'm sure you are aware that you really need to get next years wood stacked up now and immediately start on supply for the year after. However it might be very easy for you. There have been several Long Island guys on various forums posting that they have had good luck getting tree services to drop off loads. I think it gets easier the closer you are to the city. That is the way to go if you can find it. All you need is to be willing to do some processing in your yard and then you get to watch wood dry. With a good tree service source the acquisition cost is zero. It is only your sweat and equipment costs and a few gallons of gas for the saw/splitter. At $700/month you could probably pay for a saw and splitter with one winters savings. All that time living in a toasty 75 degree house with a January energy bill a little above your summertime one.
As also pointed out in other forums, it doesn't hurt to tip the guys for dropping off some good hardwood logs in your driveway. $20 or a 30 pack of your favorite beer goes a long way with these guys and is a good way to become a repeat customer!!
Thank you, again. I definitely get it. Everyday you all have given me a wealth of information. I looked up the 123 rule. But was unable to get any info.? If its not to much to ask, would someone summarize.
Have you had a chance to read this? It's in the Resources Primer on Woodburning by Backwoods Savage 2014
Welcome to the club!Sorry to hear you seem to have gotten hosed on the wood delivery.I sure hope that it will be made right.
Hello HD welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear you got some bad firewood.. Unfortunately this can happen.. Like others have stated get as much green wood as you can afford and stack it off off the ground (pallets work great for this and usually are free). I like you buy most of my wood as free wood is rare here and we actually have a wood shortage in the northeast.. Unless you buy kiln dried consider your wood to be green. I'm sure Backwoods Savage will chime in and guide you. He is the wood expert with all the answers. Good Luck! Ray
Are there pine trees in Dakota? Has Pine Beetle been there killed alot of them? We previously lived on the border of a state park and they gave us part of a cord here or there, it cost them less to drop the beetle kill trees in our driveway rather than pay gas to haul it to the mulcher downtown. Another time I stumbled upon the county doing major pruning/ removal of very old trees. I had to enlist help but the wood was free if I could load it in my truck. Good luck. Edit, forgive me, I mixed you up with a different member.
The big lesson here is that "seasoned" means so many things, legally and otherwise, that it means nothing. "Air-dried to X-percent moisture content" would actually say something, but lotsa luck getting any gypsy firewood-seller to tell you that. Start snagging skids; they're dry. What's with this magic 20% MC thing? That sort of wood still has a long ways to go, IMHO. Some of my worst rack came indoors a couple days ago, testing 14-16% MC. So-so quality for fuel. After a few days near the stove, down in the single digits. Lights much more readily, much better burning all-round. (Gotta clear racks of so-so to make space for drying of recent good stuff.) IMO, only folks disposing of wood in an open fireplace would be happy with 20%. "Father forgive them ..."
The picture of my mulch pile what a bummer. I don't think I need a moisture reader for this! It's just wet.
I have not. Spoken to seller yet. I have been separating, what I think is the good and the bad. I plan on speaking with them on Tuesday. I also read the primer on wood burning from backwoods. Really great info.
