Cutting off your own land? You’re lucky. Here in Maine, prices are rising with the increased popularity that results from the outrageous costs of home heating oil.
$275 a cord!? Good heavens! It’s still better than burning black, Iranian liquid, though.
The moral of this story? Get your wood EARLY . . . or rip up your hardwood floors and burn that.
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Buy wood directly from lumbermills. The one in Leesburg VA charges ~$120 per cord. The wood is in a massive pile at the lumberyard – one has to load at the mill and unload/stack at home. All the other sources are charging $200+ per cord delivered. One guy wanted $160 for 1/2 cord…
I live out in the country,every year I fine land where timber has been cut,the land owners are usually more than happy to let me cut all the free firewood I want . I usually get together with some friends that burn wood also and we cut together. I have hauled about 10 pickup truck loads home so far this year and I have another spot I’m checking on next week to cut and save for next year.
Living in the bush of northern MN, we have a lot of wood burners and more are converting every day- thank you Iraq.
“Thanks” because it’s creating some work for a few loggers who would otherwise be going out of business.
My primary heat is LP, with wood back-up and that wood has been a blessing many times when the wallet is thin. In a cold year, as this last was, I will go through six to eight cords a year with continual burning. Happily, I have my own equipment for logging it myself for myself, helping neighbors and selling some. A few people with larger homes than I will burn ten cords or so- still, it’s a big saving compared to gas or electric.
However- costs have been rising in wood for years: I stockpile and sell, averaging $80 a pickup load, which is about 1/3 to 1/2 logger cord. Some are selling now for $100+ a pickup load and people are gobbling it up.
Point being: gather more than you think you will need, especially if you don’t always burn wood and don’t really know how much you’ll go through in a season.
Nice blog, BTW- keep it up.
Shy
there’s a bit of sub-suburban developement going on right now. basically trees are being cleared for housing and if you have a truck, axes chains and some friends + time, it’s pretty easy to get free fire wood. not to mention when your part of the un-official clearing crew when a big wind storm takes out a road…
hey rangerman, when do you start lighting the wood stove? here it’s only mid way through september and some of our neighbours have started the first three log burns of the year. we usually don’t start til october.