Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[hardpan]

Shhhhhh! They'll start taxing it!

Classified as an asset? Let's keep it our little secret.

 

[zogger]

Classified as an asset? Let's keep it our little secret.

Or just say @#%^$##@#@# No! when they try.

 

[MountainHigh]

Wait a second Mountain, you spoiled Dog, you got a splitter!!!

Yup, I used axe and maul for many years as well until I cranked shoulder a few years back. Had wood piled high and needed it split fast so I called every EZ Rent-It Machinery outlet in my area to rent a splitter, but all theirs were rented out. So I asked which brands hold up best in their shop and which ones they would look at to buy, they said they wouldn't buy anything other than Wallenstein - their words, "built like a tank, easy to use and last", so I got one myself.
Hey, I should get a commission for this shouldn't I !

But I guess now that Sawyer Rob has filled me in, I'll have to phone back and tell them to get rid of their "obsolete" splitters - everyone's going with a Tractor, PTO and Splitter combo now!

 

[MustangMike]

Mountain, I was a lot younger then and just looked at it like it was part of my exercise routine, that also provided heat for my house! It is like I can not understand how they don't have every one of these exercise machines in the gym set up to generate electricity. Every time you go, you could try to produce more output! Makes sense to me!

 

[MountainHigh]

Mountain, I was a lot younger then and just looked at it like it was part of my exercise routine, that also provided heat for my house! It is like I can not understand how they don't have every one of these exercise machines in the gym set up to generate electricity. Every time you go, you could try to produce more output! Makes sense to me!

That's a darn good idea Mike ... Some years back I thought it would be pretty easy to make a pedal generator for a computer, and now they've done it and sell them in India and some Eastern countries - I'd like to see a really cool PC/Software setup (something like XO) just for kids that they really wanted to use, but they had to generate their own power to make it work - obesity is a plague on kids in developed countries:
http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/pedal-powered-laptops-afghanistan/

 

[MustangMike]

Great link. I have talked to my brother about developing something like that for my cabin (no electricity). In addition to solar, if you have a cloudy day or run low on power you could just jump on the bike (I'm and avid biker [with pedals] anyway). But first, I got to get it built!

We did wire the old cabin for lights, and bring up a deep cycle battery and an inverter so we don't have to hear a generator.

 

[audible fart]

Bought a new 20" chain today for the MS390. On the way back from the stihl dealer i stopped to get a trash can full of mulch & a guy was throwing this wood away for some weird reason. He said it some of the limbs were hickory. I'm not certain, all they were to me was a great reason to use my new chain, and free.
The trash can is half full of wood too.

 

[audible fart]

The resistance my X27 just met tells me some of it is probably sweetgum. No problem, the bigger ones i'll just cut in half before splitting.

 

[MountainHigh]

I guess you guys will be happy to know this pile of Ash is gonna meet the tub grinder in the morning to become mulch.

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That must be some kind of beast the Tub Grinder. I assume they've done a cost/liability analysis on using BIG Tub Grinder (guessing that machinery wasn't cheap) versus bucking up the wood and leaving by the roadside or selling it, so Like Mainewoods said, if the numbers don't add up, can't argue with that.

FWIW ... Hydro and other road crews around here just buck it and leave it for scavengers. Rare to find even private property owners that aren't willing to have the wood left on the side for scavengers in rural areas. Guessing you are working in towns and cities?

 

[mainewoods]

Had a tree co. crew come through my area yesterday trimming the overhead power lines. They trimmed back all overhanging branches and took down any tree within a certain distance of the power lines. Whatever fit into the tow behind chipper got blown into the chipper truck body and hauled away. Everything too big to be chipped was cut up and left where it lay. Probably 3 cord of wood in all, by the time they reached the end of my property line. I would think a scrounger could do pretty well following the trimming crews. Asking the landowner if he would like the wood left behind, cleaned up and hauled off, might just get you some pretty easy firewood.

 

[MountainHigh]

Had a tree co. crew come through my area yesterday trimming the overhead power lines. They trimmed back all overhanging branches and took down any tree within a certain distance of the power lines. Whatever fit into the tow behind chipper got blown into the chipper truck body and hauled away. Everything too big to be chipped was cut up and left where it lay. Probably 3 cord of wood in all, by the time they reached the end of my property line. I would think a scrounger could do pretty well following the trimming crews. Asking the landowner if he would like the wood left behind, cleaned up and hauled off, might just get you some pretty easy firewood.

Yup, they do the same thing here, chip the small stuff, the larger stuff they just buck it and leave it on the side of the road public easement, in front of peoples properties. I follow them around a bit when they're in my area and ask homeowners if they want it - most don't - usually get a cord or 2 every few years. If I don't get it, it's gone in a day or 2 at most.

 

[steved]

Around here they chip anything that will fit the chipper, and haul the rest away. I'm assuming they have an outlet for it around here. Even the PA DOT gets in on the action.

There's a guy around the corner from me that has what looks like tree service wood piled all over...I would love to know where he gets it from. He has a bird farm/construction-type business. I even noticed a few weeks ago that he's bought a firewood processor, so he must be trying to make a go at selling firewood too. He's got to have enough rounds to make 20 to 30 cords laying there...some of it is plain ugly stuff though (huge butt ends).

Speaking of selling firewood, there are a lot of small time outfits trying to make a go at selling firewood around here. There are two different guys I have watched for the past four years that are basically going to cut their entire property to the ground in an effort to make money from firewood. These guys don't have a lot of acreage to start with, but they are clear cutting what they have.

I'm stopping on the way home tonight to scope out/retrieve a Craigslist freebie. Guy has a few pines down that he wants gone. I'm a little apprehensive because the add has been up and down for a while..."easy access", "nice straight trees", "easy". We shall see tonight. Supposedly three pines, 60-80 feet long, 6 to 8 inches in diameter...might all fit on the truck.

I'm going to keep doing the Craigslist thing, get what I can when I can; pull the rest from up north or buy logs.

 

[MountainHigh]

There's a guy around the corner from me that has what looks like tree service wood piled all over...I would love to know where he gets it from.

Here, local loggers will deliver their tandem truck loads of Maple/Birch/Alder (junk wood to them) for about $800 to $900 a load (never done it personally) - you might get 10 to 12 cords of wood from a truck full of logs once bucked and split. If you can season it first, that turns into max $2400 gross at appx. local prices ($200/cord X 12), but if sold green it's less ($150x12=$1800 gross) - prices go higher if you want to deliver it into the city 150 miles away. Factor in saw, truck, fuel, wear and tear, time, and it's not a great profit margin unless you can ramp it up to a large volume business.

There are also several tree service guys here that I've called and suggested they can drop any decent wood in my property, but nothing so far - they're working all over so they likely look for easiest drop off points depending on the location of their jobs. Might be different if I offered to pay them something- I would guess that is what your neighbour is doing.

 

[steved]

Got my pine...looked like someone had been there and taken part of it anyway. Ended up with eight 6 to 8 inch diameter pieces 8 ft long...took less than 30 minutes. Free and right along my daily commute route.

Tried something different today, cut pole lengths instead of cut-to-length rounds. That made for a lot less time handling, and less time scrounging.

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[Philbert]

Came home and the neighbor was having an 80 foot spruce removed. I just watched.

Not a lot of storage space, and spruce is not exactly a gold mine for the wood stove.

Do I have to turn in my scrounged card?

Philbert

 

[steved]

Came home and the neighbor was having an 80 foot spruce removed. I just watched.

Not a lot of storage space, and spruce is not exactly a gold mine for the wood stove.

Do I have to turn in my scrounged card?

Philbert

I guess that's a bonus. I have two acres of storage area, so getting less than prime wood isn't a deal breaker.

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[MountainHigh]

Came home and the neighbor was having an 80 foot spruce removed. I just watched.
Not a lot of storage space, and spruce is not exactly a gold mine for the wood stove.
Do I have to turn in my scrounged card?
Philbert

That's a nice easy scrounge - you still qualify!

 

[mainewoods]

I am not a wood snob, as some like to call it, but if I had limited space, it only makes sense to use that space for the best burning wood you can get. I wish every scrounger out there had more room than they knew what to do with. I say you get an extra scrounger card for using common sense.

 

[Mike-M]

Came home and the neighbor was having an 80 foot spruce removed. I just watched.

Not a lot of storage space, and spruce is not exactly a gold mine for the wood stove.

Do I have to turn in my scrounged card?

Philbert

Hell no. Im dropping a blue spruce in my own yard and wont be burning it.

I will however be grabbing this red oak off craigslist

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Boy, those spruce sure make some GREAT construction lumber, I try to get every one I can.

A guy give me a fair sized one, for taking it down for him. I milled enough beams out of it to build a loft in my barn, Wish I had a better pict. than this, to show the lumber...

SR