Sources

With one acre and still new to the hoarding end of firewood, I'm still developing my plan. For now the plan consists of purchasing loads of logs from my buddy. This yields around 2.5-3.5 cord depending on the drop. Last year I processed 1 load of logs and it yielded just shy of 3 cords. Another load is on the ground waiting for me. At $250 per load, this is not too bad for a beginner. Eventually I'd like to be able to augment and maybe even get away from purchasing loads. This will require some hoarding skills beyond my 1 acre.

Current Sources:

• Load of logs 2.5 to 3.5 cord at $250.
• 1 acre of land with a mix of cherry and oak.
• I've started to watch CL for any free wood that might come up. (problem I have with this is available schedule. First come first serve. I can't always go at the drop of a dime.)
• ???? Looking for other suggestions.

This is where your experience is needed. When starting out, what other sources did you use or are currently using that I might be able to use locally.


Thanks in advance.

 

Talk to your local tree removal companies, farmers with downed trees, friends and family can help hook you up as well. Good Luck!

 

Ask friends and relatives who have land if they have any trees that need to be cut. My sister has 60 acres and I used to cut on her land and give her some of what I cut. I now have plenty of my own land to cut on.

 

Some states will issue cutting permits so you can cut on state land. Ours is $20 for up to 5 cords last time I checked. There's a time limit too.
Check with your local DNR office.

 

Get on Facebook Garage sale sites in your area and put an ad saying you will clean up downed trees for the wood. I've done it and got many loads for free. Never had to drag brush. I got so many messages that i had to take my post down.

 

Put out the word you are willing to work for hardwood. FB, CL, and good ole' word of mouth. Also, don't be shy about accumulating some pine in your stacks. It saves the good stuff for Jan/Feb and pads your stacks.

We have enough advertisement with the wood wall(s) that I have a steady lineup of trees to attack. Then keep an eye out on CL. Many folks are still decent and will wait for you to show up if you are the first to respond. I've gotten several scores that way, most recent was last weekend and it turned out to be someone 2 streets over. Can't beat that. I've heard of some folks getting RSS feeds for free wood on CL so they are the first to respond.

Good luck hunting.

 

word of mouth will get wood just be patient ,and if there is tree work going on near your house go and talk to the tree crew more often than not they are happy to get rid of it ,at least around here they are, there money is made with the removal not with the wood and offering lunch does not hurt either ,in the past month or so iv'e done well in my neighborhood 14 hickory logs and the big oak not to mention the drop offs from my friend who is an arborist ,if you go pick up wood ,be there when you say you will and clean up before you leave,you will get wood ,then your problem will be where to put it all,these pictures are from the last month

 

There is an army base in the area and it is opened for wood cutters by permit.

 

Nice amount there

 

Tree services have worked for me for a long time. It all depends on supply and demand in your area though. They'll deliver here. It doesn't work that way everywhere.

 

the tree services i talk to do sell grapple loads ,but not that many so they save some fairly strait medium diam. logs to sell if they get a call ,most of it they want gone ,the log truck driver who brought me the oak told me he would have brought it to a place that grinds it ,thats a waste but it's easy for them ,in this case he was happy to take two trips two blocks away ,but it always pays to ask ,you never know ,this big honkin thing could not have been sold to the average person as a grapple load ,it take's a special kind of nut with big saws to want to deal with this

 

Start with your neighbors. They are the closest. You might find some stuff close to home.
Put a "firewood wanted" sign along the street. Maybe someone will stop by or call.

 

I have a desk job, and would keep the "Free" section of CL open, as well as a search for "firewood", and just kept hitting refresh about once an hour throughout the day for my first year. Once something popped up, I'd respond and tell them I could get a load of wood that afternoon on the way home from work; I kept a change of clothes in my truck just for that reason. I probably had a 20% success rate with that and probably yielded 2 cords or so total, as most finds were only enough to fill up the bed of my Frontier. I also only focused on finds that were on my way home and didn't need a chainsaw (I didn't own one yet), I could have found more had I wanted to drive out of my way.

My best find that year actually came from a local motorcycle forum I was on when somebody posted that they needed to get rid of some wood from trees that were being dropped that day. Even though he only had about 1/4 cord of wood I told him I'd get it. But it ended up being the MOTHERLOAD! As parked in his driveway I noticed that the same tree company was working on 4 nearby houses. They told me I could take all of it, which probably totaled 3 cords. Actually the homeowners literally begged me to keep coming back until it was all gone. THEN, a neighbor (who looked, talked, and acted exactly like a 65 year old Bob Newhart) mentioned he probably had 5 cords of seasoned oak and maple stacked in his back yard that he wanted gone. And he wasn't kidding, I helped supply my dad and brother in law with all of their wood for that winter as well with that one score!