$ How much for a cord of Monterey Cypre$$

analytical_one · November 21, 2002, 06:11:00 AM

I recently pruned this Montery Cypress and I've generated a cord or two wood. I believe a cord is 4X4X8 or 128 ft cubed and that does include the air between the logs. Most logs are 3-9" wide and about 16" long. How much can I get rid of this for? I'm on the central coast of CA in the San Luis Obispo area. Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Frank_Pender · November 21, 2002, 07:26:47 AM

Frist of all, I would suggest that you check with your local newpaper ads for fuel or firewood. It could be worth only the sweat you put into it or up to as much as the $160 cord for Oregon Oak that I get around here. Here being the Salem, Oregon area. May the coin jingle in your pockets, soon. 8)

Noble_Ma · November 21, 2002, 07:53:37 AM

Out my way, green cordwood goes for $70 - $80 cut, split, and delivered. Seasoned goes for $120 - $140. Apple wood goes for more but it's usually just the pruning stuff between 3-4 inches. Is Montery Cypress a special wood to burn?

woodmills1 · November 21, 2002, 03:16:05 PM

noble you must be outa the city area. green is 100-140 here and dry gets over 200 around cold time here. Just for grins check out http://www.firewoodguy.com/

Brian_Bailey · November 21, 2002, 05:51:05 PM

Woodmills1,

That is quite an informative site. Thanks for sharing.

Noble_Ma · November 21, 2002, 06:58:48 PM

They jack the price for seasoned here too but not that much. There's lots of firewood people in my area. Some are so busy they don't even advertise. I never pay over $120. Usually there's a minimum of 3 cords but that's about what I burn a year anyway. Maybe I should start trucking firewood up to Hudson?

ohsoloco · November 21, 2002, 07:29:24 PM

I'd like to be selling firewood where all you other people live! Just sold some seasoned oak for $85/cord cut, split, delivered, and stacked ???

Noble_Ma · November 21, 2002, 07:37:15 PM

Stacked? Wow that is cheap!!

RMay · November 21, 2002, 08:12:30 PM

I would like my wood custerms to see this. They rased cane when we went to $90.00 a cord cut,90% spit, delivered & stacked. ;)

woodmills1 · November 22, 2002, 02:24:12 AM

from what I understand, real city deliveries, like in Boston involve carting small loads up to apartment fireplaces, but will get over $500/cord rates. delivery to urban ares is the way to make more if the trucking doesn't ruin the profit. Also here in NH we have a law that says I must guarenty(sp) that the customer can stack the wood back into a cord equal to 128 cubic foot. I sell only wood that has been stacked on my truck that is set up with sides to hold 128 cu ft. many others sell loads that are loaded by machine but heaped over the 1 cord volume. thrown piles like that are sensitive to the length of the pieces. at above 16 inches a thrown cord volume is below 128, but at 12 inches it is over. by the way half cord deliveries will get near $150 after christmas, but we mostly sell good red oak, black birch, maple and hickory.

Noble_Ma · November 22, 2002, 05:54:00 AM

I believe it's called supply and demand. The cordwood prices go up and down with the price of home heating oil too. I have a guy that I've bought wood from for years now. He treats me real good and knows I'll pay him cash the day he drops it off. Most people here stack the end of the truck nice and pretty. Then they back fill the truck with the loader. I guess that's what you mean Woodmills. I built my wood shed with the inside demensions equal to four cord. I can tell if I'm getting shorted.

Ron Wenrich · November 22, 2002, 08:37:21 AM

I think the rule-of-thumb is that a cord of wood heats as much as a ton of coal or 100 gallons of heating oil. I'm not sure on the pellet heat rate.

Using that as a guide line, if oil is going for $1.10 (delivered and stacked :D) then the trade off is at $110/cd. You will never touch the coal price with wood. The labor alone costs more than the coal price.

You also have to take into consideration furnace efficiency. On the older stoves, a lot of heat goes up the pipe.

In the cities and the burbs, firewood is usually burnt for pretty. Most of the local convenience stores sell bundled firewood. That usually runs in the $300-400 range. In the more rural areas, the firewood sits there all winter. These are the guys paying the high price for firewood. They can get some real savings.

The problem in our area is the guy who goes out and cuts for beer money. Since he isn't going to report it as income, he can sell pretty cheap. Then he slaps an ad in a local newspaper that he has firewood for $80/cd. Usually the cord isn't measured right, and he only has a few cords to sell. Then everyone who sees the ad thinks that's the going rate.

Brian_Bailey · November 22, 2002, 09:55:28 AM

I heat my house with anthracite coal, delivered it's $150/ton. I can get about 35 to 40 days on a ton.
Last year I heated the house and a 36x60 insulated pole barn ( my shop & lumber storage area) for under a thousand.
This year I'm heating the shop with slabwood & edgings.
I like the coal better as its a constant heat and no creosote.
Our heating season runs from the middle of sept. to about the middle of may.
Firewood cut,split,& delv. but not stacked is going for $35-65/ face cord in my area. Cherry brings the highest $.

Noble_Ma · November 22, 2002, 10:05:17 AM

Brian,

How's your stove for regulating the heat? My brother used to heat with coal but it was so darn hot. The new wood stoves with the catalytic elements in them are really efficient. ( for a woodstove that is ) I get less that a five gallon bucket of ash when I sweep my chimney each year.

ohsoloco · November 22, 2002, 02:28:34 PM

Brian, I guess it's safe to assume you live in (or very close to) Pennsylvania since you heat with anthracite?

Brian_Bailey · November 22, 2002, 03:19:39 PM

ohsoloco,

I'm in WNY. The coal is trucked up from Reading Pa area. I've been using it for close to 20yrs and very satisfied with its performance. When I get older and can't lug the coal bucket anymore than I'll have to get the wife to do it :D.

Noble_Ma,

I've got two coal/wood stoves. The one in my house is hooked up to a thermostat just like an oil or gas furnace. The thermostat controls a butterfly baffle on the air intake. It works really great. My system is forced air, so when the stove comes up to temp. the blower kicks on until the thermostat tells it to cool down. It then cycles back an forth and keeps the house at what ever temp. I've set the thermostat to.

The other stove is out in my shop and it works on the same principle except it has small blower, instead of a butterfly, on the air intake.

One thing you must have when burning coal is a barometric damper in the flue or you'll have a hard time controlling the rate of burn. Maybe that was your brothers problem.

Frank_Pender · November 22, 2002, 06:57:03 PM

Brian, out here a face cord is a rick or 1.3 of a cord. So your wood is going for 105 to 195 a cord?

Brian_Bailey · November 23, 2002, 06:11:38 AM

Frank,

In NY when someone says a face cord it is generally meant to be 16"x4'x8'. So there are three face to a full cord. NYS law only recognizes a full cord at 4'x4'x8'. Some folks want their firewood cut @ 18", others want 20". So when you adv. face cords, you have to state the length so everyone is on the same page.

Noble_Ma · November 23, 2002, 06:35:06 AM

In Mass it's the same, 4X4X8. Some try to sell you a"farm" cord. They say that's 100 cu/ft but charge the same as a full cord.

Brain,

My brother's stove was a wood/coal stove too but I think it was primarily meant to be a wood stove.

Brian_Bailey · November 23, 2002, 03:30:56 PM

Noble_Ma,

I've got a Riteway Mod. 37 wood/coal stove that I don't use anymore. It's an excellent wood burner but terrible with coal. To burn coal properly, you need the air to come up thru the coal from the bottom. Wood stoves tend to bring the air into the firebox.