do you own woods or scrounge

[sledge&wedge]

I'm 62 years old, no point in saving my wood supply now. Although I may buy a load of logs just to stay ahead this spring.

You make a good point, sir. However, I'd still try to do at least a little of both if the scrounge is still easy. Might be nice to sit back with a hot cup of coffee and enjoy the view of your woodlot instead of your stump lot. Don't get me wrong, I love layin' them down, but I'd still rather see trees than stumps any day of the week.

 

[jack_90125]

I have a few acres and I just let the local tree services to dump all the hard wood they want to.got about 1/4 acre full now for this springs cutting and splitting and few years down the road burning. once I get 20 years worth which should not be long it will end. all stacked on pallets and covered or in pole barns.
scrounge nope I believe in work smarter not harder

 

[Marklambert61]

I own 40 in northern Michigan about 100 miles from my primary residence. I have to consider the cost of hauling wood that far vs getting locally. I do both even with the cost of hauling because I would rather burn wood then letting it rot on the ground in my woods.

 

[Thomas Venditto]

Well, I've been in the wood game since I was a boy. My dad had 2 acres with about 10 behind him which the owner allowed us to take whatever was down or dead. We used a wheel barrel and later a garden tractor and trailer to haul it out. There was always more than we could handle. Our favorite was dead red oak. The stuff looked like a rotted mess, but was solid as a rock inside. Ditto locust.
I'll never forget the time this huge oak came down! It was so big, the two of us could just reach around the trunk. Took us a couple of months to process it. Burned like coal.

In those days, we split by hand. I used a combination of wedges and mauls. We had a splitting maul and medium length maul which were my favorite combination. I still have the 20# maul that was given to us by an 90yo italian acquaintance. When I joined the fire service, I took my swinging skills with me. Today I have a 37ton Northern Tools unit. Even so, I taught my sons and they prefer the old-school methods.

But I digress . . . I have an acre of property which has yeilded a surprising amount of wood over the last 10 years. Behind me is about 90 acres of state land which I cull blowdown etc. I also "scrounge", I guess. I listen keenly for wood chippers and simply ask the jefe to dump it in my driveway. They usually are happy to do so, because they'd otherwise have to drive to the dump and pay a fee. I also had a friend in the business who'd bring me wood in exchange for firefighter tee-shirts. Perfect sybiotic relationship LOL.
TomJV

 

[lindnova]

Both.

I have about 50 acres of woods, but it has hills and hard to get to spots. I have made trails and enjoy cutting dead elms, dead oaks and blowdowns. Only live trees I cut are box elders and Siberian elms. Almost have the Siberians eradicated and the box elders are field edge trimming(only reason I keep them for firwood is I am cutting them down anyway). It appears I will have a supply of dead American elms for a long time as there are a lot of 12"+ trees still alive right now and usually a half dozen or so die every year. The bur oaks are crowded and feeling the pressure from other trees and brush, so there are a few dead ones around also.

I get a good subdivision clearing site every now and then to pick out some nice premo wood. Last year I pulled about 10 cords of big oak off a site. Easy wood. Most times it is felled by an excavator and lined up for the taking. Just drive up, cut and load. Only trouble is it will only be there for a week or so and then burned in a pile. Usually 90° out then! I always take the big stuff no one else wants.

 

[sunfish]

400 acres here, mostly hardwoods. I haven't hauled firewood on the road in over 25 years.

 

[SteveSS]

Both. I live on ten acres that a little over half is wooded, and have free access to another 40 acres with lots of dead standing. I also try to scrounge as much as possible. I feed a boiler in the winter so I use a lot of wood.

 

[macattack_ga]

Scrounging on the VA side of the DC suburbs... and rarely need to use my saw.

 

[Oldman47]

I live in town so no woods near me. I also own 40 acres of mostly woods with lots of blown down trees, so wood is available if I can get up the desire and the tools to retrieve it. In my in-town house I had to hire an arborist to remove a huge ash for insurance reasons, it was too close to my house. I kept much of the tree trunk and larger branches against the day when I would own a wood burner. That day is rapidly approaching since my new home is almost complete and I am installing a nice wood burner in it. As far as scrounging, I have maintained good relations with that arborist and would bet that if I offered to take anything from 3 inches on up I would have an inexhaustible supply of wood. He pays to have someone take the wood he cuts so a free place to dump it would suit him just fine. Why would I take the effort to equip myself with expensive tools to haul my own wood when I could get an occasional load dropped right in my front yard at no charge?

 

[ppkgmsy]

I own 3.5 acres of pretty good hardwoods. I like to let the forest mature as much as possible. I built two small truck paths into the land, so I have decent access to most of it. In a typical year, I'll have about 2 cords from blowdown and trees that need to be culled. I get another 2 cords from scrounging around. Neighbors who don't burn wood will have downed trees that need to be removed, and they feel that by removing them I am doing them a favor. Also, if I ever see a tree service, power company, etc. taking down trees, I try and get whatever I can from them.

 

[Big_Al]

We have 80 acres of woods that borders on national forest. Cut the blowdowns on our property and buy permits for national forest at $5 cord.

 

[Davej_07]

I scrounge whenever possible. EAB has been an unfortunate ally for me in the last few years. Friends of mine contact me when they know of someone cutting trees or looking to get rid of standing dead trees. I don't do alot of felling but occasionally when the situation is right.

 

[Tjcole50]

Sounds like even though people own 50+ acres of woods still scrounge. I think it is better to scrounge because if not it gets burnt or rots out. Wasting thay easy to get wood is such a bummer to see. I will probably continue to save the woods behind me. I have permission for all downed/dead but only in roughly 8 acres of the 20 behind me. Neighbors to the sides each get access to what's behind their houses. I only have 2 acres with all 60-70+ hickory and oak all around me. Also one monster huge elm that I want down. The wide loves it , problem is its the maim reason cleaning my pond is such a bitch every year every leaf goes right in it. Keep my pond clean because we swim/ fish arounds it's right out front.

 

[Tjcole50]

Sounds like even though people own 50+ acres of woods still scrounge. I think it is better to scrounge because if not it gets burnt or rots out. Wasting thay easy to get wood is such a bummer to see. I will probably continue to save the woods behind me. I have permission for all downed/dead but only in roughly 8 acres of the 20 behind me. Neighbors to the sides each get access to what's behind their houses. I only have 2 acres with all 60-70+ hickory and oak all around me. Also one monster huge elm that I want down. The wide loves it , problem is its the maim reason cleaning my pond is such a ***** every year every leaf goes right in it. Keep my pond clean because we swim/ fish arounds it's right out front.

As you can see every leaf ends up in the pond........

 

[midwest_170]

ive been burning,,for over 35 years. people know me. I get calls,,on a regular basis..to get their tree. I refuse all softwoods...............IF......I had all the wood I have collected, split and stacked,,it would cover,,1/2 acre,, 8 foot high...

That's roughly 1360 cords, I bet you've worn a few chains out in your time.

 

[Erik B]

We own around 9 acres with 6-7 acres of that being woods. I find it is near impossible to keep up with what dies or is taken down by storms. We burn around 4-5 cords per year.
Sometime in the past someone mentioned you can get a half cord per acre of woods on a consistent basis. I guess a lot of that would depend on what kind of wood is growing on your property.

 

[midwest_170]

I own 120 ac, my family owns 800 more. It's all within 10 mins of my house, but I mostly cut out of a neighbors 160 ac pasture filled with locust and hedge.

 

[Raganr]

I scrounge. There are a lot of ranch owners that have large dead/down trees but no time/proper saw/desire to do anything about it so they are happy to have it cut up. Usually, whatever I don't take gets pushed into a burn pile so I can be picky. My wood gathering is only limited by my time and trailer capacity.

 

[maine]

As you can see every leaf ends up in the pond........

what a beautiful property.
can i get some more info and pics of that wagon wheel bench in the lower right foreground of the pic? did you build it?


anyways back to topic.

i have 7 acres here that borders my fathers 188 acres.
my land is 90% wooded, been clearing a lot out for a new house i plan to start building this coming spring/summer (at least want to get a full foundation in and capped over)

most recently been taking down a lot of red oak to mill out for flooring and counter tops. use the rest of it for firewood. it's a bitch to burn wet but one of my stoves does it very nicely once a decent sized fire is started, however inefficiently.

since i cannot drive i am not able to scrounge other properties, but have been given numerous offers to do so.
my mother owns 40something acres in the next town over and i keep having to refuse her offers of taking away multiple cords of downed trees.

anyone in the midcoast maine area looking for downed trees?
you'd have free help getting them out/bucked/loaded.

 

[olyman]

That's roughly 1360 cords, I bet you've worn a few chains out in your time.

MANY chains,,and more than a few bars!! the first few years..of living in this house, it had near no insulation!!!! burnt thru many a cord!!! and only had a bit of cash. to keep improving the house. 40 years later,,,its MUCH tighter!!! just need to replace two more windows!!!