So I'm about to score a cord of Douglas Fir for $263 during the height of the season.

Dry and ready to burn. These guys that work there are somewhat confused and I don't dare ask them what the moisture content is.

 

The important thing is that it's dry. If you have other options like that pellet stove you don't want to be spending your hard earned money on wood that you want to burn right away that isn't seasoned properly. That wood in that picture looks dry and if so will probably burn pretty efficiently if you burn it properly which could make it just as cost effective as the pellet stove.
Of course, the most cost-effective, and satisfying, wood to burn is generally free wood you've gathered and seasoned yourself.

 

100% agree. As mentioned, I've got some free wood in my yard that I didn't have time to split before the rain season hit and I was injured at the time. But it's just sitting in the backyard waiting for my labor.

 

Looks like all heartwood to me...

 

You’re still better off finding wood on CL so often, that one ad will often follow with many during the early fall wind storms to spring rain( lots of my wood was from this last year). Just about everything hits the ads and you’re gonna need a truck or a trailer if you don’t have one....

 

I no longer do. This is where my friend comes in -- he has a nice, big trailer. I've heard those CL ads go fast though. He says you almost have to contact the original poster within the hour or it will be gone and you need to be able to go pick it up quickly. True?

I mean I'm going to need time to line up his truck.

 

With the $'s you have to spend, havev you looked into any of the manufactured compressed wood blocks? There's a separate thread about them. Those could be an option for you to get through the heating season.

Sent from my SM-T280 using Tapatalk

 

Yes, I own them. I own a pallet of Bear Bricks. I plan on using every last one. But I find them a pain to start -- not impossible -- just a pain. My wife and I prefer the flame of natural wood and I love starting my fires with natural wood. I don't think we'll ever get away from manufactured logs. I like to use them after the fire has stabilized. In fact, I think I'm going to pick up a pallet of 8lb North Idaho logs to supplement the wood. I prefer to start with natural wood and finish off with manufactured wood. But as mentioned, I have the free wood in my backyard -- I just need some clear days on my days off and split it up. But it will need to be seasoned so -- I'm in the market to spend this winter. Either that or don't use my wood stove this burn season.

 

Sometimes yes sometimes no. Depends on where you get it, how much and what it is.
I spotted a large oak tree cut down about 15 mins from me. I loaded the limbs. HEAVY. I didn’t want to cut it all there (saw issues) and leave a mess. I grabbed 3 loads if I remember. Nothing super big came with me. Trunk pieces were 3 feet wide in diameter and don’t bother asking how that could have remotely been managed. I just grabbed what I could. Better than nothing at all.

Willow isn’t favoriting around here. Much more work than it is worth, just about everything else is ok. I will not go out of my way for some types of wood but otherwise if it’s situational I will likely take it. Thing is that I have good sources near me that make my collecting happen less often. But when I do...and can. Its on until it is gone and I got some in my yard.

 

This is my situation. I have nearly 70 bags of pellets left before I need to buy more. Assuming a bag a day, that's just over 2 months. My pellet stove heats our 2000 sq. ft house quite satisfactory and I love it. It saves me about $200+ a MONTH during the winter. But I also have a new wood stove -- and about 2 cords of wood in the backyard that I didn't get to split this summer. Hence, I don't have any natural wood really to burn now. So if we want to burn wood, we gotta buy it dry in the heart of the season. Highway robbery. I bought a pallet of Bear Mountain Bricks back in September to 'play' with the new stove and raise the temps on a night per night basis. I figured this would be ample before moving into next season. But a funny thing has happened. We are burning much more wood than we thought. In fact, we love it. I had budgeted for another ton of pellets in mid February but instead we have decided to buy wood and burn it as our sole heat some days-- and prolong our pellet use into the off season. Pellets should be cheaper then and I should be able to split the 2 cords of 'free' wood I have in the back. If it is not dry enough by Fall, I figure I have purchased enough wood to carry over into Fall assuming I balance my wood and pellet burns correctly. The way I see it, is we either burn with pellets or we burn with wood. But not both simultaneously.

My investment for a pallet of quality manufactured energy logs and a half of cord of wood is almost the same price for one ton of pellets -- plus an additional $150 more. That extra $150 buys me a lot of enjoyment. It gets me a 1/2 cord of dry wood to enjoy the heat and flame. It gives me options on my burn strategy and gives me wood burning experience as I move forward into the next year. I bought my wood stove back in August and I'm just now nailing down the process. There's an art to making fires work economically for you -- like knowing what types of fuel to burn and when, and how fast and hot to burn them. When I start burning my free wood, the $150 extra I spend this season can be divided by 2 seasons as I fully expect my manufactured logs and natural wood to last me until then.

I love my auto-sensored pellet stove. It's just like a furnace. No difference but a little more work and a $200+ saving per month. But as much as I love my pellet stove, I may love our wood stove more.

 

Well, what are you waiting for?!

 

Ok so the wife purchased 1/2 cord of dry WH/DF wood and a pallet of North Idaho Energy Logs. If one buys into their specs, a pallet of N.I.E.Ls are equivalent to 1 and a half cords. If true, I just got 2 dry cords for $400.

 

I’m never going to laugh at you for this dotman17 but holy smokes that just looks weird. Being in rounds like that and on a pallet so there’s no gaps or very few of them, its just not a normal sight as far as splits go. Western Hemlock here is not gonna break any temp records. If anything its a step or two below alder.
But you’re gonna like it if you fill your stove with it for days you are home, packing it tight will be best.

 

I agree with WH. But the price was right FatBoy. And when you buy in the height of the season, you get what you can. Not a lot of options out there.

 

I agree totally. I’m not in the wood selling business but I want you to know that if you’re needing some hardwood next year, I’m willing to help you out with that. Having some black locust is great. It’s just not quite ready for this year burning and I will likely have close to two cord of it when I finish splitting it all. Anyways extending the helping hand to you sir. Stay warm!

 

That's very nice of you, good sir!

 

Black Locust Firewood - Is It Any Good?

 

Yep. I’ve had two sources of this wood. One was my neighbor across the street. they had a tree rot and fell on their fence in the back yard. Came over in January, warm day and asked me about cutting a tree. I was surprised by this. Grabbed a brand new chain and got it done.

I had no idea what the wood was until I asked the fellas here. Got a thorn in my finger. That was what I searched for at first then confirmed it. I was able to find that the top part had been dead awhile. Split it small and then racked it up this Summer.

Then just before Summer, a neighbor at my parents had Logs of the stuff. I asked him if he wanted to have a cut and splitting party. My jaw dropped at his response “take it away bud its yours” I didn’t get it all but I didn’t hesitate and we had to be at a baseball game in about an hour.
This isn’t even half. I had about 5 loads looking like this in a day. It was a huge tree. Half of it was standing dead tops.

Full load, doesn’t get much heavier than that. V

Slightly more than this is present but if I fill it, it’s almost 2 cords. It’s great wood to burn. I just put some in when I go to bed. Sometimes I have to shut my bedroom door to make it comfy cool.


Anyways can’t go wrong with it, it lasts forever (used as fence posts across America, 80+years old bottom is out but top will burn like you never seen, a few here have some...) it’s up there with oak for sure.

 

Awesome firewood booty pictures!