Free Wood--what is it worth?

[pennsywoodburnr]

I hear you on speed for tree companies, worked for a couple different ones and speed was the name of the game.
Insurance at least here in Canada is always to the hilt for them especially when they work at light speed LOL

Yep, LOL, that it was. For a year I followed a tree company around scrounging the wood that they dropped. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't what I was expecting either. Say they did a job where they dropped 10 trees or so in a yard. They would let me and another couple guys know about it up front. Now when we arrived they would be cutting the tops off and feeding it into a chipper/shredder, leaving only the main part of the trunk behind for us to scrounge. They'd ask us to help feed the limbs in and while I'm not one to shy away from hard work, I was disappointed they were sending so much wood through that thing. Like big usable pieces! Stuff that was easily in the 7-10" inch range that could've been added to the scrounge, but they were in a hurry to go, so it just got fed in. That thing was powered by a 350 chevy small block engine. The owner told me the next model higher than his would digest entire trees! If a rotted out tree was dropped, we were expected to take it too, which kind of defeats the whole purpose since it can't be used for firewood anymore. So I just kind of got away from that whole system...

A saw license in Canada is just proof you have knowledge and safe usage of chainsaws.

I kinda figured that. I was just taking a cheap shot at you Canadians . It's kinda like "best practices" over here. They just want to make sure you know what the hell you're doing.

 

[Marshy]

pennsywoodburnr,

Accidents happen even when you are very careful.
Chain break, saws skip, wind decides to crush a fell cut in the wrong direction etc.

I hear you on speed for tree companies, worked for a couple different ones and speed was the name of the game.
Insurance at least here in Canada is always to the hilt for them especially when they work at light speed LOL

A saw license in Canada is just proof you have knowledge and safe usage of chainsaws.
Most tree services or people seeking to be a lumberjack will be asked if they have one (yep insurance again)

IMO I think scroungers would be best served following the electric company saw vehicles around.
Knocking on doors for permission to remove wood already chopped to size and no need to saw anything sure is a cheap and safe way to go.
Or call a couple of tree services and ask if they need wood haulers no charge to them.
Chances are they will jump at the chance to have someone reliable remove all the wood and be able to migrate to the next job 50% faster.

That might be more true in the urban areas but where I am it's rural and a lot of people burn wood. My local tree guys make a side business out of firewood. He's a small time operations with only one or two bucket trucks and probably only does private jobs. In contrast, the guys cutting for the power company don't care about the wood and nearly everything gets chipped. Following either of these guys around isn't really an option if you have a normal day job and it's hard to "friend" them to get an inside scoop on free wood when your a passer-by. However, most of the scrounging wood I get are leftovers from utility companies left by the ditch side. I just go ask the property owner if I can have it and go to work. Most of the time the trees left are too big to be chipped which is a good thing in part if they not hollow...

But back to standing trees... I have no problem removing trees in trade for the wood. It's fuel for my stove and wood that I'd otherwise have to purchase in log form. Just need to know the person well enough and make sure they understand the possible outcome if things go wrong. Its a conversation I need to have so I know they accept the risk involved. I say use your judgement and if the tree is just too risky then pass on it. It's not rocket science, people aren't out to sue you, use common sense! Saying that reminds me of my 3yr old daughter at dinner last night turns to me and says, "Daddy, I have brains in my head". My immediate thought after laughing was "lucky you, not everyone does" lol.

 

[blades]

In the words of a comedienne from Laugh In days sitting in her rocking chair " And Thats' The Truthff "

 

[Oldman47]

Edith Anne had plenty of wise sayings.

 

[olyman]

I can get firewood delivered for $200 a cord around here. That is already split and dropped at my house, probably not dry enough to burn. The typical price to drop and clean up a tree that would produce a cord of firewood is probably in the $800-1000 range if it isn't too technical. I would say that 1/3-1/2 of that would be cutting it down and the rest is cleanup. You might get a non pro to drop a tree for a couple hundred bucks with no cleanup.

I will pick up firewood for free that has already been cut down and I will trim and stack brush for the HO to remove. IMO just removing the burn able wood from somebody's yard is worth more in labor than it is in firewood. Keep in mind that wood in someone's yard isn't worth much until it is CS&S which is labor intensive as well. Cutting trees down and helping with cleanup is something I would only do for close friends and family, as a favor.

I get a kick out of the craigslist ads with a picture of a huge tree, up against a house, with power lines running through it. Typically the read "free wood. Just cut my tree down and clean everything up. You can keep the wood. Must be licensed and insured". Good luck with that.

idoits abound,,and hope they can screw you right into the wall..........

 

[KenJax Tree]

I did an estimate last week for a guy that owns a concrete business. $2150 was his quote. He asked "do you give a discount if you guys keep the wood? My response was "absolutely, its the same discount you give if you keep the concrete you bust outta someones driveway".....he just looked at me and said "ok $2150 it is"[emoji23]

 

[olyman]

I did an estimate last week for a guy that owns a concrete business. $2150 was his quote. He asked "do you give a discount if you guys keep the wood? My response was "absolutely, its the same discount you give if you keep the concrete you bust outta someones driveway".....he just looked at me and said "ok $2150 it is"[emoji23]

good one!!! snappy comeback.....

 

[KenJax Tree]

good one!!! snappy comeback.....

Lol he called the next day and said do it.

 

[sawinredneck]

I've had a 30" Oak barberchair on me when the wind shifted. I've had a 12" Poplar turn into a parachute when I blew the top out of it, even tied to a skid steer, went right for the power lines!
Had a limb roll off another right onto a neighboring house as I was dropping an Elm tree between two houses.
Each and EVERY one of these I knew what I was doing and was 100% sure I had everything under control, I was wrong!
Stuff happens, period, it's out of our hands, it happens, just keep that in mind!

 

[blades]

O'Tools Law - Murphy is an optimist.

 

[Erik B]

O'Tools Law - Murphy is an optimist.

I thought that was O'Reilleys law