Dry firewood supply in the NE - prices?

[stihly dan]

Yes you are correct ,no letter R back east ,lol,i have been out here too long now lost muh accident

Is it no letter R here, or an over exaggerated R everywhere else? Or in Spanish Carrrrrrrrrrrrr.

 

[Trx250r180]

Pissahhh

 

[olympyk_999]

Pissahhh

 

[olympyk_999]

,any good millable trees mid mass

oh yeah...not really any big mills around here anymore though, lots of small ones though...most of the pine/hemlock saw logs are sent to Canada, then its either pulp, firewood, or chipped for biomass....not much gets left behind anymore

a wicked cool chitbox

at least you're using wicked right...(a lot/very)
when someone just says "wicked", I'm always like "wicked what?"

 

[Lander]

Pissahhh

Wicked pissah, kid.

 

[olympyk_999]

Wicked pissah, kid.

let me guess... you're probably Irish and your name is Sully...just like everyone else?

 

[Lander]

let me guess... you're probably Irish and your name is Sully...just like everyone else?

Nope, just some wierdo black sheep. No Irish or Italian in me.

 

[olympyk_999]

Nope, just some wierdo black sheep. No Irish or Italian in me.

ahh I see...you're from Brockton

 

[Lander]

ahh I see...you're from Brockton

Nope. north of Boston. I only take out the Boston accent as a joke or when I leave the state. But, I say "wicked" wicked often.

 

[Trx250r180]

Nope. north of Boston. I only take out the Boston accent as a joke or when I leave the state. But, I say "wicked" wicked often.

Took me almost 10 years to lose that word in every other sentence ,no one says wicked here unless they are an immigrant like me out here ,bought a suburban off a guy couple weeks ago ,i commented on his accent ,started talking ,he knew right where i used to live ,and said we should go to the packie and get a beahh.

 

[olympyk_999]

Nope. north of Boston. I only take out the Boston accent as a joke or when I leave the state. But, I say "wicked" wicked often.

well that good, would probably have to get you banned if you were from Brockton...
how about Salem then? ...likely to get you banned too

 

[olympyk_999]

But, I say "wicked" wicked often

Took me almost 10 years to lose that word in every other sentence

yup...pretty much every other sentence

 

[Wood Doctor]

Wood Doctor, it is simply impossible to discuss pricing of firewood in Boston and ignore the impact of population density and land use. You asked why it is so expensive, and I in large part answered the question.

Yeah, there are other factors at work that create a higher price even in the rural areas. I'm guessing there aren't many wood-fired electric power plants or campus heating systems to compete for cull logs in Nebraska (which is a big factor in local wood markets around here now...the wood burner in Plainfield is permitted for 1,360 tons per day, some of it waste, some of it stuff that used to get left in the woods or sold to firewooders). Folks, in general, have higher incomes and are willing to pay more (and likewise there are better paying opportunities for someone who thinks firewood is too low.) Higher income doesn't necessarily mean higher quality of life, since you're also paying more for housing, etc. But what drives prices up dramatically near Boston is congestion.

I got a propane flyer this summer for 99 cents a gallon, though that is a one-time introductory rate and we usually pay substantially more for propane than in the midwest.

The terrain isn't a problem for natural gas as much as it is a land use and patterns of development issue. It's not as economical to serve individual residences spread out on minimum 2 acre lots as it is to serve villages -- and in Northeastern Connecticut you can get natural gas in, among others, Putnam, Killingly, Plainfield, Willimantic...and UConn in Storrs runs on natural gas now. Even with those land use patterns, the current ten-year plan approved by the regulators is to expand add another 280,000 customers and 900 miles of gas mains statewide by expanding to neighborhoods nearby existing installations, as well as running new service to unserved small cities like Stafford Springs.

The largest problem with natural gas is NIMBYism opposing the construction of new and expanded transmission pipelines to bring in the gas from Pennsylvania, and those pipelines have already been pushed to the limits by the changes in our electrical production over the last 15 years -- we now rely on Natural Gas for about 55% of our power, nuclear from Millstone for 50%, and everything else from coal to wind and oil for 5%. Much of that 5% is cold winter days when the gas fired plants switch over to oil for the day, so the gas supply can be diverted to home heating.

I like anyone who writes as well as you do. The number who can and/or are willing to do so are shrinking.

Thank you for the update on NG heating saturation in CT. In the mid-70's less than 10% of the CT population heated with natural gas. Almost all households used fuel oil or electricity. Your analysis of the population spread and layout of many neighborhoods is also on target. I recall, however, that many of the newer neighborhoods near Storrs/Ashland/Stafford/Willimantic, etc. were set up rather well for NG pipeline installation, but nothing was done to install them because there as no central pipeline within 50 miles for them to reach. The government convinced the people that CT glacial till was too tough to lay pipelines. Times change.

Propane hit $7 a gallon in the midwest two years ago when Obama promised millions of gallons to China right in the middle of the heating season, thus starving out the supply. What a great move that was. Rationing was all over Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa with people being delivered a month's supply. It reminded me of the Arab oil embargo of the '70s and gasoline rationing during Carter's administration.

Firewood burning for me as a backup heat source to NG saves me about $500 a year, only because my major source of supply is rather nearby. Elm and ash are the two principal species that I burn (and oak if I can ever find it). Cottonwood is plentiful but not a long-burning variety and even tougher than elm to season and split. Locust is spectacular but getting harder to find. The emerald ash borer is now wiping out the ash supply and has denuded almost all of the ash in some nearby states, such as Michigan. Iowa is now having trouble with it.

When I lived in CT, I looked to the midwest and midlands for a change of pace and for alternative energy sources. Politics and life style was almost being controlled in New England by energy or the lack of it. I still consider the destruction of the railroads in New England as a major blunder, but that's water over the dam. It appears moves are being made in the right direction.

 

[mga]

just met a guy who said he bought a face cord for $90 bucks. told me it was the cheapest price he could find. lol

I should start selling wood.....all I've been cutting lately is ash, so much of it I'm getting sick of it

 

[farmer steve]

just met a guy who said he bought a face cord for $90 bucks. told me it was the cheapest price he could find. lol

I should start selling wood.....all I've been cutting lately is ash, so much of it I'm getting sick of it

advertise it for $85 and you'll soon have enough for a new saw. i get $75 for that much here in PA. I looked at C/L this morning. 128 ads for firewood. most in the $200 a cord range.

 

[Wood Doctor]

advertise it for $85 and you'll soon have enough for a new saw. i get $75 for that much here in PA. I looked at C/L this morning. 128 ads for firewood. most in the $200 a cord range.

Looks like it's time for folks in New England to move to Pennsylvania. However, they refused to do that when Benjamin Franklin lived there. I doubt they will do it now. That's the way it is and that's why they continue to pay through the nose.

 

[farmer steve]

Looks like it's time for folks in New England to move to Pennsylvania. However, they refused to do that when Benjamin Franklin lived there. I doubt they will do it now. That's the way it is and that's why they continue to pay through the nose.

we've got wood!!!!!

 

[Deleted member 116684]

holy crap you people pay a lot for firewood. down here a cord of seasoned oak goes for 150. I cut my own and I have about 10 cords outside that I scrounged or had dumped on my property, almost all oak with some hickory and pecan thrown in. I've got 200 bucks or less in that pile. Might be worth a trip down south, just saying....

 

[Dalmatian90]

Best case, you'd be looking at least $130 per cord to ship it up to New England...i.e. you can buy it locally cheaper.

You'll also have to deal with various state quarantine areas and laws -- foremost you can't import (including transporting through) New York unless it's treated, which pretty much means kiln dried since there is no way to avoid New York if you're driving here.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Let's consider shipping firewood a long distance in bundled format. The $5 a bundle typical retail price equates to about $3 a bundle wholesale to the retailer. At 1 cu ft per bundle, you can only pack about 125 bundles on board a large 1-ton pickup truck, racked up. So, your wholesale revenue is $375 per truckload. Three truckloads a week brings in about a grand a week. Now start deducting costs.

Not much money in that business. Shucks.