My mom and dad are at there cabin in Vermont and used all the firewood my brother took up there last spring when he opened up the cabin. So we told them call someone and get a cord. What makes wood worth more up there than here in N.J.or anyplace else for that matter?. 200.00 a cord for seasoned or 150.00 for green wood :o. At that price they might as well fill the fuel oil tank and run the furnace. I know fuel is high I'm in the wood business too but holy smoke.
We're getting $120/cd for green, split wood. This goes to a wholesaler in Philly by the trailerload. He buys year 'round. He then resells it in smaller lots and delivers. I think he is at least $200/cd.
1 cord of wood = 100 gal oil. With oil at $1.75, wood can be a little pricey. The best buy is probably coal. 1 ton = 1 cord of wood.
You have a firewood processer don't you Ron?. I raised my price of wood to 120 thats seasoned. I've talked to others around and that seems to be the going rate localy. I know I can get more towards the city but I don't want to be in the trucking bussiness to. But in Vermont where every third person is a logger I didn't expect to hear those kind of prices.
If the cabin is located in a weekend get away type area, that will inflate the price. I am in a area 2 hours west of Chicago, with lots of resorty subdivisions and it is used as a play ground-get away for city people. There are wholesale firewood buyers like the one Ron sells to, pay the same 120 a cord, and resell delivered facecords at 100 bucks each in the suburbs.Makes 185 a full cord delivered seem like us ignorant country folk are just given the stuff away. ;D We sold 2500 3/4 cubic foot bundles to 2 campgrounds this year, at 450 bucks a cord.I wont even sell my split wood this winter, its too profitable to hold it over for the camping season.
Horselogger
Right off hand, I don't know the conversion, but at that campwood value per cord, it will be tough to not split a lot of grade 2 and grade 3 saw logs (maybe even top grade logs) into firewood. I'd think those prices (I realize they're limited by demand) would swallow up many a sawlog. How do you decide? :) Maybe based on the labor hours that go into bundling firewood.
Funny you should mention that....We ( wife and I ) just bundled what is most likely our last little order for the season on monday. We use alot of lumber cut offs in our bundles, as well as flooring shop scrap, and we were commenting that at the price we get for bundles, its more profitable to split the low grade logs instead of saw em up. I wish I could market as many bundles as the large quanity of low grade logs would make! The really good thing about the camp wood market is they have no problem taking soft stuff like basswood, cottonwood and pine, as well as bundles made up of edgings and lumber scraps. We get about 150-160 bundles per full cord, and sell for 2.35to 3.50 per bundle.Delivered.There is a really big convenience store market for bundles, and most of the ones I see come from Indiana and Wisconsin.I have not pursued these as they are chain store type gas stations, with headquarters somewhere else, and they want to take 30 days to pay.All our accounts are COD ;)
The biggest problem with local, rural markets is that it is very limited. Most people have a source of wood, or they burn something else - like kerosene.
When you get into the larger local markets like small towns and cities, then you have to deal with all those independent guys. The ones that have a pickup and do it for beer money. They put an ad in the paper and have a ridiculously low price. That drags down everyone else, including the legitimate producers.
We have a processor, and trucks. It is basically something to do when a trucker is sitting idle. Good income though.
The bundling is done by a few people. They sell to the local convenience store, but I don't think they are gettting the same prices as you guys are. Store wood is going for about $3.50/bundle. And they don' t sell that much.
The only people who buy that type of wood only want a fire for the night.
Hey Fellas ,
In my area of NH cordwood is going for up to $250 a cord seasond and $140-$160 green . Mills are paying close to $90 a cord around here for pulpwood and people are buying the cordwood at $250 like no tomorrow around here fuel prices just keep rising fuel is already over $2.00 a gallon here and going up an up till someone gets the brains to stop it and lwer before to long we'll be paying 2.25 a gallon ..it's getting way out of hand as far as Im concerened.
Rob
We are in the least affluent part of Vermont.
Been too wet to get in the woods until a month ago. Hard to get cause pulp is up too.
Have seen one local selling for $125 green.
We are getting 150 cd for 3 month "dried" (wettest summer I remember)
Log length is $95. cd delivered, $65. on the landing if you can find it.
KD Bundles go for $3-4 retail, $2.- 2.40 wholesale
Prob'ly be a lot of out of staters having to leave one snowmobile home to have room enough to haul cheap wood up here to their cabins this winter. ;)
$50.00 per 16" face cord for seasoned, split and delivered but not stacked hardwood. $35.00 if you pick it up. That's what I saw in this weeks classifieds.
Greg, thats about the going rate here also.
Anyone ever hear of "Ossipee Mountain Firewood" ? I worked there for a season bundling firewood. Our crew of 8 people bundled 26 cords of kiln dried hardwood a day for two and a half months straight. It went through an oven and got shrink-wrapped. Takes 3 days to dry 24 cords in the kilns! (In winter, it comes out piping hot! Great for the cold hands!) The co. is owned by HG Woodlands, Harold Geneen, former CEO of ITT founded it. They own some 50,000 acres in NH and maine.
Also, a local firewood producer is getting $165 per cord green, $205 dry, delivered. Holy Smokes! I buy my HWP for 10 bucks a cord. I need a processor.
There is a guy selling designer firewood out of londonderry NH for outragous prices. He has an ad in the local market bulletin. 1/4 cord bug treated delivered and stacked for $310.
I have about 30 cords of firewood - some slabwood, some pine, mostly good hardwood, all cut to stove length but mixed up. Most of it is seasoned 6 months or more. I offered two different people pickup truck loads of it for $25. They have to come get it in their own truck, no help from me. I think that's a good deal, works out to about $80 a cord or so. Haven't had any takers yet. I'm not in the business to sell it, just have way too much from clearing land for my house and I'd rather sell it cheap than have it rot. I'll only use 6 or 8 cords this winter,and my dad another 5 or 6. So I have a lot to spare.
I don't doubt that firewood is up in the stratosphere pricewise, even here in VT. I have seen cord prices ranging from $120 at the low end to $220 at the high end, depending on what has been done to the wood. If you want it split, seasoned, delivered and stacked, expect to pay $200 a cord or more. If you're buying log length and have your own chainsaw and splitting maul, it's probably more cost effective, but it'll still cost you $80-100 a cord.
Sawyer40ish - if your parents (depending on where they are) want some wood, I'll make them the same offer. $25 a pickup load, somebody's gotta come get it, but I'll help load the truck. I'm in the southwest corner of the state. E-mail me for a phone # and they can call me.
Thanks Engineer there in the northeast near St Johnsbury and are leaving for home after the weekend.
If hardwood pulp is 95.00 a cord that alone tells me why wood is so much. I'm in the wrong area not close enough to a big city for wood to be worth big money and not far enough out in the country for pulp to be worth anything.
Oldtimer tell me more about that kiln I already went through about 100 cord and only have about 150 left but have a lot of green wood to run through the processer.
Gentlemen,
I have been bundling firewood for about 4 years (small time) about 1200 bags a year. The wood comes from the thinning of my lot. I have been using plastic mesh (tube) made into bags by using hog rings. My 8 year old daughter helps me by putting the mesh bag on the plastic bucket and the label in the bag fot this she makes 20 cents per bag, 10 cents for her labor and ten for keeping me company. Plastic prices have risen and my cheap supplier of mesh no longer makes it.So my question to you is how do you package your firewood and or do you know of any plastic extruded mesh suppliers. thanks glenn.
A lot of the "camp" firwood bundles I've seen are six or eight sticks of split hardwood, no rounds, bundled with plastic stretch wrap. Some of them actually wrap a length of rope somehow around the bundle and stretchwrap most of it so that you have a handle. The plastic wrap should be easy to get online or though a place like Graingers.
GAV, the Engineer is on the right track, a lot of the small 'bundle' producers up here have changed over to cling wrap, the industrial stuff they wrap pallets of stuff with.
I have even seen one who has a wrapping machine. It's intended to wrap boxes but will wrap anything you put in it. You can select either a one direction wrap or two.
In any sort of quantity that heavy cling wrap is only a couple of dollars a roll, and theres a lot in a roll, it's pretty thin stuff, but incredibly strong.
The machines that heat melt those plastic straps around cardboard boxes work good too, but wood is irregular in shape and doesn't bind well.
In the area around Toronto dry wood is averaging $100 (Canadian, US$130) a face cord, delivered and dumped.
There is one company here that has a big truck with one of those piggy-back lift trucks on it. Seasoned hardwood, cut, split and stacked neatly on a skid then cling-wraped is US$130/face cord, but each skid is 1.5 face cords so it's US$195 per skid, set anywhere the lift truck can reach. If you buy 15 skids they drop the price by US$35 a skid.
To you guys who sell firewood bundles, where do you market your supplies to? Someone mentioned convenience stores--do you just do some cold calls and see who's interested? I've seen them at gas stations too...for as much as $5 a bundle, and they seem to still sell.
Down here in Grand Rapids, I saw prices for $70 for "a third of a cord."
I ordered some "seasoned" firewood last year from a guy--he dropped it off, and most of the stuff was green. There's a bunch of charlatans in every line of work. >:( Next time I call a company, I'll tell 'em that I'll have my moisture meter there to confirm that it's seasoned, and don't bother coming to drop it off if you're trying to pull the wool over my eyes. ;D
The kiln at Ossipee Mountain Firewood dries 24 cords (or more) in 3 days using steam heat. They buy HWP delivered in (They have truck scales) and separate the Poplar and rough bony stuff out for chips to fuel the kilns. They chip it on site. There are two processors that work in tandem filling a cord sized metal container. (They have 50-60 of them!) With good operators, the set up can do a cord in 10 minutes.
We bundled 20-24 cord a day there for 3 months straight. They have two 75'x100' cement floor buildings to store dried wood in in preparation for the season too.
In the bundling shack, we'd have a plastic person placing plastic shrink wrap sheets in a rack on the line, 4 guys would place the wood in just so, a sticker man would wrap the sheet over itself and hold it TIGHT with an OMFW sticker, it would go through the 500* oven and come out really tightly bound in the plastic. Then, a man would use an air stapler and 5/8ths staples to put on a nylon strap for use as a handle, then a man would remove the new bundle, place it on the pallet wrapper, and wrap the boogers out of it with the stretchy pallet wrap, 50 or 75 bundles per pallet. Then he'd take the full pallets out by electric forklift and load the semi trailers that sat two at a time at the loading dock. Two pallets = one cord of wood at 50 bundles per pallet. We used to get "incentives" to bundle over a certain amount. .05 cents per bundle after 16 cords.
I was the sticker man standing beside the oven, and I was cold every day in winter. COLD work. But the kiln fresh wood was toasty warm when there was some to be had.
I use stretch wrap- 5" #80. Get it from Papermart- they have a website.
Made a .75 cu' cradle and wrap by hand- I don't sell lots or we would have a wrapper.
Not a real hot item- pun intended.
Paschale what % of moisture would you consider to be dry enough to burn? I have a meter we use for lumber but if you season wood in log form I imagine the reading would be quit high even for honest seasoned wood.
I store my lumber in a 100 yr old barn the lumber stacked in the barn gets down to 12-15%in about a year.I once stuck the meter in an interior wall of the barn and much to my supprise it read 28% for wood that had been inside for 100+ yrs. I figure it drew moisture from the wood I was drying I don't know. I don't think a meter will work for firewood. Fresh cut seasoned wood will give a false reading. In oak you will always have that tell tale season ring that can be seen by looking at the end grain of a piece. Or checking in the wood is a good indication of it's age. A lot of times the bark will come off when splitting true seasoned wood but not always.
At OMFW, they checked the moisture content with a meter only to get a baseline of how long was long enough in the kilns. 3 days at 180* was good.
Firewood has a distinct "tinkling" sound when its dry. I think the sound of it rolling over itself is the best way to tell besides the weight. As for the bark comming off as a sign of "seasoned" wood, that can happen to oak and the center of the wood will be green as an apple.
Wow... First day here and already pickin fights ::) Where did woodmills say "ripped off"?
A price can be outrageous, IMO, and still be as legitimate (not ripping someone off) as can be. The words are not synonymous.
Welcome to the forum, firewoodguy. You don't have to have a guilty conscience here :) Buyers of firewood in some places just want wood, and paying to have someone get it for them, is not a problem and economics not an issue.
Willing buyers (look at the designer clothes market for a good example) are not getting ripped off if they are sold the goods they pay for. If the 1/4 cord kit of firewood for $525 ends up being 1/8 cord, then the buyer is getting 'ripped off', IMO. But I take your apology as well meaning and sincere. Glad to have you aboard. We have fun here.
I think this is what is called "developing a market." I'm more than impressed, I'm in awe! If you don't mind sharing a few trade secrets firewood guy, could you explain a little bit about your operation? ??? I'm sure there are some interesting details of how you got into this particular niche of the wood business.
Seven months ago when I started this thread I thought 200.00 a cord was robery without a gun. I have to say in keeping up with the times I sold wood this winter for that :o. With fuel going up wood will probably pass the 200.00 mark this comming year. I guess you should get what the market will bear in your area. I was forced to raise my prices in passing along expences and I had gotten so busy I couldn't keep up so I raised the price in hopes of some business going elsewhere. I still couldn't keep up and sold out.
Makes sense to me, what one charges for fuelwood. Not any different, IMO, than the oil companies and their 'price' for fuel. As long as we keep buying it at that price, it will continue to be 'available' at that price. I say let the market determine the price (doesn't mean I like it :) ).
Much the same as what was in the 'beam' thread and the 'pet rock' comment. :)
I sold every stick I had last fall for $210/cord (seasoned, cut, split, and delivered). I was out by mid-November. Maybe I should have asked for more? ??? I keep close track of what other people in my area are selling for and there was one big operation that went to $250 in their newspaper ad in December and January. I occasionally see someone in my area advertising for way below market price and I always wonder if they just don't know the market price or if they are some sort of backward socialist that thinks that wood shouldn't ever cost that much. I work hard for the wood I produce, so I wouldn't apologize for getting every penny the market will bear for it. I guess I still haven't figured out how to do this as well as firewood guy though. ;)
barkman, that brings to mind some experience with guiding my grandfather went through. He was used to getting $50 or $60 a day as a guide back in the 70's and when the new outfitters came on in the 80's they started charging $250/day. He thought that was outrageous and kept old prices for the next 25 years at 70's rates. He had all kinds of business, but he never got rich off it by a long shot. He was retired then anyway and had a pension, so it didn't really dawn on him as he was getting a cheque every month anyway. He always had money when he needed it, but he didn't stash a whole lot away.
Quote from: Barkman on April 10, 2006, 12:39:05 PM
I think this is what is called "developing a market." I'm more than impressed, I'm in awe! If you don't mind sharing a few trade secrets firewood guy, could you explain a little bit about your operation? ??? I'm sure there are some interesting details of how you got into this particular niche of the wood business.
Hi Barkman, I guess it boils down to offering quality, quanity and service and be compensated for what you do. I guess I owe all of my sucess in my firewood business to Commissioner Taylor and his staff. Because, if it wasn't for them, I'll still be selling firewood for $175.00 per cord. I was told by some state official, that there is money in firewood if you do it right, and they are right. I have read that any violations pertaining to selling firewood in NH is a (criminal act)up to $3,000.00 fines and community service for first time offender. Maybe, thats why all the firewood dealers closed their doors back in the mid 90's. Furthermore, for third time offenses is a criminal charge. So, it makes you wonder if its really worth it and or getting out of it. I know even if you do it right, like this happen to me back in 10/22/98. I sold a stacked 1/4 cord to a person in Nashua,NH. I believe for $175.00.I got a call a few days later from the customer and he stated that he called Nashua W&M to verify the measurement was correct or not. Take in mind that the firewood was stacked in the back of the delivery truck at the time of sale/delivery (16"x92" x 38"). Anyway, The Nashua Inspector Mr Marguis claims there was 5 cu ft short. So me as being a good fellow, I delivered another 10-13 cu ft. And wouldn't you know it, I was charged with a violation of $250.00, even when I correct the consumer complaint, I still had to pay a fine. But thats all history, But when you read publications from the NHDeptW&M claiming that consumers should contact the firewood dealer if they felt they have been short changed........ and if the dealer won't correct the problem, ... file a complaint with the NH/DW&M dept and they will follow and correct the problem. That maybe so, but bare in mind, there is still a heafty fine at the end for the firewood dealers. So, In all, I have been doing this method of sale since 1996 and I haven't had any comsumer complaints that I didn't correct. So, I guess my best advice is there is no trade secrets, Just comply with regulations and offer good quality,quanity and service and of course, be compensated for what you do. Lets face it, who wants to be charged with criminal activities whether you correct a consumer complaint of not. So, thats why my hat is off to the Commissioner Taylor and staff. If it wasn't for them, I may not be in this"niche of business" or maybe I'd still be selling (170 cu ft)loose thrown cord measurements for $150.00 cord in this region. Don't take no chances, its not worth it, not in this state anyway.
PS. I failed to mention, that $3,000 violation fine a firewood dealer recieved in NH few years back, The interesting point is that, I heard that the consumer made a check out for the full amount at the time of delivery for one cord and then called the bank and stopped payment on the check, shortly thereafter. Technically speaking or legally,there was no sale or no monies transfered for the cord of firewood, but the state DW&M still proceeded to prosecuted the case and the consumer got a free load of firewood out of it. Only in New Hampshire !! Live free of die !!
Firewoodguy
It seems you just can't please the consumer all the time. I got short changed & one customer never did pay for one load of log length. I stoped the split & deliever last winter, and was up to $175. when the wood was gone. When I first started doing cordwood I was getting $75. per cord. Now I get that on the landing and only handle it once 8). Cides theres are lot of wanabes getting into firewood for a quick $ right now.
Quote from: SwampDonkey on April 10, 2006, 04:04:04 PM
barkman, that brings to mind some experience with guiding my grandfather went through. He was used to getting $50 or $60 a day as a guide back in the 70's and when the new outfitters came on in the 80's they started charging $250/day. He thought that was outrageous and kept old prices for the next 25 years at 70's rates. He had all kinds of business, but he never got rich off it by a long shot. He was retired then anyway and had a pension, so it didn't really dawn on him as he was getting a cheque every month anyway. He always had money when he needed it, but he didn't stash a whole lot away.
SD,
I hear what you're saying. I know a lot of those who remember the good old days, when fuel and everything else was a lot cheaper, don't see a reason why things should change. I guess I just missed out on the good old days. :) Figures, I always seem to be late to the party. :(
Let me tell ya a little bit about the Northeast Kingdom.
As long as the out-of-staters continue to flock to our little corner of the world and are willing to pay exorbitant prices for just about anything they desire then the price will remain inflated. Let me also tell ya that the pulp market isn't a preferred market up here. In other words, many local cutters would rather send their wood to the firewood processor than truck it as pulp to Ticonderoga, NY, Rumford, ME, or the soon to be closed Berlin, NH mill. Roadside prices aren't very good for pulp because of the long hauls.
A former classmate of mine just bought a processor and plans on doing a good business. He studied the market and was able to jump in when oil prices and the cost of hauling pulp to the mill are high. Firewood is a way of life in the Kingdom and most of the suppliers are savvy businessmen. They might not have a high school diploma, but they know how to count money and they know what they can charge and still sell their product.
I'd say willingness-to-pay trumps supply and demand here. Tourism is a leading industry in VT, especially in the northeast, and most businessmen take advantage of that. It's no different than paying $14 for a reuben sandwich in NYC or $7 for a chintzy hamburger at Roy Rogers on the NJ Turnpike. Willingness to pay.
I sold 300 16" face cords from Dec 20 05 till March 15 06 at 60 bucks a cord 8) 8). I was lucky to be able to find that much seasoned wood. It worked for me. I'd rather sell 180 cubic foot thrown cords and dump them at the customers and tell them if it does stack up short to call and I'll make up the difference, no one has ever called. That way I can get back and process another load and I don't spend a bunch of time stacking wood in the trailer wearing out my back and arms. My time is better spent processing wood. The whole idea is to minimize the work involved which means handling it as little as possible and when handling is necessary it's done with a machine.
Lodgepole goes for about $250/cord out here,oak about $300,Almond about $200, Propane $2.29/Gal. .I go through 5-7 cords a year at my place and still run the propane a bit. I'm glad I don't have to buy my wood. ;)
black_bear. Here the preferred market is pulpwood because we are so handy to alot of markets. You can't hardly even get a logger to bring you treelength firwood because they are getting away from self loader trucks. I prefer 100 " if I'm going to be bucking it. Last year the going price in my area was $180-220 per cord for firewood all processed. Now down near the capital I've heard of folks getting $360/cord. Cheaper to burn oil when ya factor the handling.
SwampDonkey, the Maine/New Brunswick pulp markets are definitely different than the Vermont/NH market. This has become more evident as Groveton Paperboard and now Berlin are either out of business or will shortly be out of business. The problem is, and it was mentioned earlier, is that many short-timers are getting into the game and flooding the firewood market. Most people up home are loyal to their long time supplier though.
Vermont does not really have the laws (actually the laws are hard to enforce) to protect the consumer that NH and Maine have.
A logger friend is currently selling one cord of green hardwood (harvested the same week it is delivered) for $150, blocked and split. He pays the landowner $22.50/cord and the trucker gets $40/cord to deliver the wood tree-length to his processing yard. He then blocks and splits and delivers with his F-350 ton truck that has a dump body. Basically, he is grossing $87.50/cord, but then he has to factor in harvest costs and truck costs, plus pay himself a wage for blocking and splitting, which he does with a chainsaw and mechanical woodsplitter. It takes him about 1.5-2 hours to block and split and load one cord. He is putting up as much firewood as he can this summer with the hopes that he can get $250-$300/cord for that seasoned wood next year.
Anyone know what Firewood is going for in Cape Cod? Are they buying a "face" cord or cord. I know here near Buffalo people are buying "face cords".
It's worth remembering that up here in Maine, northern New Hampshire, Vermont, and rural upstate New York, a far greater percentage of homeowners heat mostly or exclusively with wood than in, say New Jersey or Pennsylvania. More than half the houses in our town heat at least partly with wood, and for a good many that's all the the heat they have. Market forces being what they are: more demand equals higher prices. Even at $225 a cord (16-inch dryish split), firewood is still cheaper than oil. Coal doesn't enter into the home-heating equation up here, as near as I can tell. Pelleted wood is very popular, though, especially for folks who work out--by which I mean have jobs outside their homes and who can't feed the stove when its snowin' and blowin'.
Right now, the same tree sold for hardwood pulp brings less than the same tree fitted and dried six months for the firewood market, and with mills shutting down left and right and trucking costs accelerating, the retail firewood market is increasingly attractive, especially to small operators (there are some pinheads doing this, but they don't last long). There's an auxiliary market supplying "camp" wood--shrink-wrapped bundles of edgings and softwood slabs that people who heat their homes with wood would reject out of hand--but I don't think it's more than a sideline, a way to make a bit of money out of what might otherwise be disposed of as trash, or chipped for livestock bedding or pulp.
We have an Invasive species to South Florida we call Australian Pine. I don't know what the scientific name is. It is a very dense hardwood that is almost impossible to split with a Big axe. It grows everywhere down here. Most woodlots, sides of roadways, especially the Florida Turnpike and on home lots. It has a very shallow root system that will not hold a 50-60 tree during high winds. You could probably get at least a cord of wood per tree with all the branches on it. Luckily during the past couple years the 2 we have in our yard didn't blow over. (We kinda like them) I cut a few of the lower branches as they were sweeping too low to the ground and use for recreation fires we have in an old truck rim out back. I heard the building depts. will not issue any new permits for building lots until these trees are removed from the property, not sure if this is true. My thoughts were, send some rail cars down for this free wood. It burns hot, don't smoke when dry and lasts all night. I guess freight costs probably wouldn't make it worth while. Although we see hundreds of rails cars full of sand heading north everyday.
Was just in Ellicottville NY....saw bundles at Quality Market going for $5.99(1.3cu/ft). They were shrinked wrapped and made local. Just saw this and thought I "wood" throw it out there for your discussions...for those of you that don't know "e-ville"...it's a great little ski town with a HUGE canadian following...so the market is there...
Greg you arent going to have time to cut up any cedar this summer, you better be busy all the time just cutting firewood for next year!
I got money saying prices are going to JUMP next fall. Everywhere I look I see people looking for wood, stacking up wood, and jumping in the wood business. Ive asked a few, and nobody plans on coming down in price because so many are going to start selling.
I wish I had more time, I'd cut and sell more than the few loads I do. I cut more for the fun of it, and have been selling it "in town" at a premium price . I have to drive into town to work anyway, so theres really no delivery cost for me. $235 a full cord, dumped. Last year I did it for $190 and thought I was doing great. If I didnt have my real job, I'd stay out in the woods all day.
Talked to a guy out cutting apple trees down near me. They cut out the old, large trees and plant dwarfs to get more bushels per acre. Yakked him up a bit and he tells me what he is getting.... $250 a FACE cord! I said he must be happy with that and he just pointed at the brand new, F350, turbo diesel, with a dump bed and said "could be worse".
Here firewood is around 50-60 a facecord so that isn't bad compared to some of the prices posted. At this rate we will be paying/gettin $4-500 a cord before too long, gotta keep up with the cost of doing business ya know ???
In the mean time I'm goin to check on splitter prices and firewood log prices, If I order now it will be well seasoned by the time it hits 350/cd :)
I'll bet some folks in Va will burn more wood. I couldn't figure out why so many woodlot owners down there couldn't do some timber improvement ona small scale and obtain some firewood. Everyone was using those dang heat pumps. Maybe there is regulations against the wood smoke in some of those towns. I have no idea. If so, I think I'de be moving. ;)
Lots of standing burnt pine available around here from a fire three years ago but the firewood market is not strong. Wood burning appliances are not allowed due to particulate concerns although the older ones are grandfathered. Camp bundles are popular with tourists because of convenience and transportation of firewwod in or out of the area is not allowed due to beetle infestation. I won't pay the gas station prices though.
Quote from: sawguy21 on April 26, 2006, 09:31:00 AM
Wood burning appliances are not allowed due to particulate concerns although the older ones are grandfathered.
What is the population of British Columbia? Do you really have a pollution problem in your area?
I believe about 5 million and most of it is centred in the southwest corner around Vancouver where pollution is a serious issue. The rest of us live in narrow valleys with little wind so the smoke tends to hang. Beehive burners have been banned for years and that has definately helped.
Part of it though is the looney left in politics that this province is noted for. Whatever California does must also be good for B.C. except we must go one better. ::)
All the pictures you guys show are of Mountains, streams, and great big trees. And cutting roads through primitive mountain passes 8) 8)
And now you tell me you are hiding 5 million people in just one corner of your Province ::)
Ontario is just about the same, it has about 12.5 million people, almost 40% of the population of the whole country, but the southern part of the Province has generally less than 10 people per square mile, in the northern part, it's probably less than 1 person per square mile.
The population of the greater Toronto area alone is about 5 million presently, so that's 40% of Ontario's population, and 16% of the whole country in just one city. ::)
...and probably 98% of the lawmakers and politicians.
That's what always gets me, is the fact that one small region of the country controls what the rest of us can do. If constituents along the St Lawrence vote in majority in favor of something or a party, the rest of us in the country are pretty much muted. ::)
No Tom, they're "up the river" in Ottawa, but the 'deep pockets' that keep them there are all here. :D
Donk, it's interesting that you look at it that way, we were talking about that at one of our 'coffee breaks' at Timmies during the election campaign, the consensus was the opposite, it's not what we want, it's what the maritimes and the prairies want that gets done. ::)
Curious the way everybody thinks the opposite is true. ???
Maybe it's 'cause none of us actually get what we want. :D
Well the praries will have their way now, with Harper. I seem to remember that was part of his election platform. ::)
Last season we set the price at $230 a cord to the Burlington VT area, and the rest of the sellers followed, though there are always people who sell a few cords for WAY less. This results in our customers complaining that they had called 4 other ads and getting nothing or ordered wood and they never came. Other complaints have been about people selling "cords" for slightly less than our price and it'll end up being a FACE CORD, so they got ripped big time.
The processor people sell like mad too and run out but from the looks of the pulp wood piles they are WAY ahead of normal. I am afraid that our absorbant pricing last year has sent everybody into a whirlwind of wood production.
Normally when they run out, that's where we take over and get 2-3 orders a day but it's always one cord to people who knows where, but usually VERY affluent people and we're glad to take their money!
We pull our logs to the header, chunk them, stack the chunks until we can take wagonfulls to the shed and pto splitter and commence splitting, come time to deliver we stack the wood in our 1ton and throw it out once we get to the customer. It's incredibly time consuming and we can get tops 4 cords delivered in a day, but the customers like to help or chat and have their day of being a woodsman, others love watching us toil ::)
We have sold about 110+ cords a year for the last few years and have probably had 10 repeat customers tops, probably not the best thing in the world to have, but there's plenty of customers out there that get a cord that will last them for 2-3 years for their fireplace.