Traveling for firewood?

[Whitespider]

I’ve never driven anywhere to cut wood… never. I’ve always lived in a place with a woodlot around it, where I could cut all I could use within garden tractor distance of the house. Not saying I haven’t used the pickup to pull a leaner down, or yank the garden tractor and trailer out of a mud hole… But I’ve never driven down the road with a load of firewood.

Now I know a lot of you guys do; hauling your firewood in pickups and trailers. I’m not talking about the guys that make a business of it, using dump trucks and heavy equipment… I’m talking about the guy cutting just to heat their house, using a pickup and a couple saws. I understand that if you live in town, or don’t have a woodlot there isn’t any other choice, other than paying to have logs delivered. But, then-again, I’ve never paid for firewood either.

Ya’ know something? I believe if I had to drive and haul firewood, or pay for it, or search for places to cut… Well, I’d just quit burning wood for heat. Now don’t get me wrong… I’m not looking down my nose at anyone. I just don’t believe spending the extra time, effort and expense would be the thing for me personally. I burn wood for heat because I can do it relatively easy, inexpensively and with minimal equipment investment. Ya’ know, I’ve been here on this board for near a year now, and despite all the warnings, the CAD bug hasn’t tickled me even a tiny bit… I’m perfectly happy to get-along with my single 50cc saw and two different length bars. Yeah, when I get into the big 30, 40 and even 50-inch oak trunks a larger saw would make faster work of it… but, I’ve got plenty of time cause I didn’t spend any of it driving to get where I’m at, which is at home. And if I don’t get it finished today… well there’s always tomorrow.

Really, just think about this… If I spend 5 or 6 hours every Saturday morning before lunch working on the wood supply… Well, it’s 5 or 6 solid hours of cutting and splitting and I still have all afternoon for other things. No loading up the equipment time, no driving and hauling time, no wear and tear on the pickup or trailer… At 5:00 or 6:00 AM I just jump on the garden tractor that’s sitting in the shed, that already has the little trailer hooked to it, that already has my needed tools and equipment in it… a less than two-minute bounce into the woodlot and I’m making firewood, and I’m normally done long before lunch time. If it was more complicated, or time consuming than that I just don’t think I’d do it.

 

[Iron man]

I have to go out and get my wood.The one tree I have is a huge maple that provides shade when its hot and keeps me dry depending on how hard its raining when I'm splitting.So it has to stay.

 

[hanniedog]

You are lucky that you have wood that close. I have to go a couple miles or less to get to any spots I can cut at. As for saws I have from 30 cc's upto 94 cc's.

 

[Somesawguy]

You're one of the lucky few that have wood in their backyard. The closest I have is my parents property, but it's almost easier to scrounge wood since they like to only cut standing dead. We cleaned out quite a bit last fall, and I haven't seen much that was easy to get to. I have to wand around to see if Irene took out anything they wouldn't mine me taking.

It is quite a bit more work if you have to go out and get the wood from somewhere, and then process it. I'll keep an eye out for locally downed trees, or something that is on the way to work, but that's about it. Gas is to expensive to drive too far out of my way for the small amount that my Toyota will haul without a trailer. Kudos to those that are the true scroungers.

 

[GeeVee]

Yer Spoilt.

Therefore your thougthts slant in that direction.

I have seen a trend lately, or maybe just recognized it more defined, therr are many that don't mind the Hobby in it.

Maybe others would coach more soccer games, or find another Hobby, if it wasn't rewarding in a way that comes isn't for you, or has a different value for them than to you.

What do I know? Good thread.

 

[atvdave]

I believe if I had to drive and haul firewood, or pay for it, or search for places to cut… Well, I’d just quit burning wood for heat.

Not me... not only do I enjoy tending the fire, and watching it, I also enjoy getting out into the wood's and cutting it. I go to my Mom's land to cut so I get to visit with her. Also my brother heats with wood so we also getogetherer some times.

IMO there nothing like wood heat.

 

[Steve2910]

For me, it's the thrill of the hunt.I enjoy cutting wood & like having a giant stack of a commodity that everyone wants. Every cord I bring home is $600 or so less oil I have to buy. Any surplus I sell & spend the $$ on something I wouldn't buy otherwise. Last year I took my wife on a cruise & didn't worry about the bar bill. This year I'll be upgrading the woodstove.

 

[Somesawguy]

Not me... not only do I enjoy tending the fire, and watching it, I also enjoy getting out into the wood's and cutting it. I go to my Mom's land to cut so I get to visit with her. Also my brother heats with wood so we also getogetherer some times.

IMO there nothing like wood heat.

That is certainly true. I love the heat from wood.

 

[Big_Al]

I'm the opposite, I would get bored if I only cut on my property or close by. We have an 80 acre parcel of woods with a permanent camp set up year around. I still enjoy driving up to the woods/mountains and finding new territory. There are hundreds of miles of forest service/govt back roads to explore and cut on. While we are out we scout for hunting spots, good berry picking, edible mushrooms, camp spots etc.

 

[zogger]

Time and equipment

Pickup truck-proly the most common vehicle owned here..so that's a wash

chainsaw or saws-again, common, we all got 'em

time to go cut..way more fun and healthier for you on a saturday than being a couch potato and watching a buncha 400 lb guys in skin tight designer colors leotards get all sweaty and beat on each other...so the hours spent proly wash as well

Gas money to go cut...*most likely* less for a whole seasons' worth of driving to go get your wood than the cost of one ticket for one of the above "games" if you go see it in person

just sayin'--that's just one ferinstance there, the gist of it is what i was driving at

I've gotten wood for a six pack delivered (tree trimmer guys glad to get rid of it), free at some shops I worked at as "woodscrap"(kiln dried white birch and rock maple and some oak...most excellent stuff), cut onsite a few places I have lived including where I am now, grabbed it at random from branches on the side of the road as I was driving by anyway, and one time I bought a bundled cord of hemlock slabwood and used some of it to line the exterior of my tar paper shack I lived in a long time ago (came out spiffy looking) and burnt all the odd pieces left over.

But the BEST is the two way score, getting PAID to cut and trim, then haul it away. Done that some, too. Like to do it again actually, and working towards that goal as we speak, getting more saws, bought a larger diesel truck, will be getting a trailer and etc. I just need an oddball little extra part time job for some more loot, and I burn wood anyway, so I figgered I might as well get paid to gather it up. On my farm job that occurs already, but....farm work don't pay that good, there surely is not ever going to be any raises in this economy, and well..I like cutting. Always have. I cut for *sport* as much as for necessity. Some guys reallyt really like that skintight leotard action..I like going out into the woods or whatnot, ever chance I can get.

Back in the 90s I was facing being crippled up for life and I am wicked grateful that I can go out and cut wood, that I got better enough that I can manhandle (flop over and roll) two to three hundred lb rounds once in awhile, and lesser stuff all the time.... you have no idea how thankful I am I can go do menial labor like that, especially being a little guy....it's not all the strict economics of the situation.

The other deal with wood is...it's green. I consider most other forms of energy to be rather nasty, yes, including natgas because of the fracking and destroying gtroundwater that ishappening with it. Wood is environmentally sound stuff. It is a local economy energy source and helps you and your local neighbors. No giant transnational cartel or corporation can control it, it is one of the freest market item things we have out there. To me it is stored solar power, it is nuclear power, the best there is, clean nuclear fusion power, not dirty and dangerous fission power. And my wood stack accrues interest, it is like money in the bank, cut green, deposit, let it season, it is now worth a lot more. I don't have to give care one qabout any embargo, pipeline rupture, economic enron like price fixing, nuthin.

So being able to get it right here or reasonably close by..meh, no biggee, it's doable and not a hassle. there's just absolutely no way I would go to something else, the pluses outweigh the minuses, even if I had to go travel to go get wood.

I have lived some places in the past without being able to burn wood and wasn't a day went by that I wasn't bogued out about that.

Had a single room apartment once down in Beantown, had a fireplace. I burned old crates and some pallets I scrounged from behind stores etc. Free. Didn't even have an axe or saw then, my tools of wood carnage were my boots and hands, I stomped and broke that stuff into usable pieces that fit the fireplace. Ha!

 

[Encore]

I get almost all my wood from elsewhere. With the appropriate tools it's really not a big deal

Don't really mind the work and if I didn't heat with wood I'd be spending over $2000/yr in heating costs. So it's a win win for me. But honestly I'd probably still burn wood even if I could get natural gas at our house.

 

[avason]

I have a little over 16 acres and don't need to go anywhere else. That being said, I do go other places to get wood just to change things up a bit so things don't get old for me. I have gotten wood from father in law and other people just to change it up.

 

[Whitespider]

Yes, I agree that I’m “spoilt.” But I don’t believe I’m “one of the lucky few that have wood in their backyard”, because I planned it that way, or made sure it was that way. I haven’t lived inside city limits since I was in my teens, and every place I’ve lived since had to meet certain criteria…

1. It had to be outside city limits.
2. It had to have safe room for a least a 100-yard shooting range.
3. It had to be private; no other home visible from the yard.
4. It had to be wooded, or semi-wooded.
5. It had to have water (creek, river, pond or lake).
6. It had to be where I felt comfortable letting my dogs run loose.
7. It had to be surrounded by good hunting ground (which, if the first 6 are met will be automatic).

…so being “lucky” has nothing to do with it, I’ve spent many hours searching for the right place. I’m on my third place since I left “town living” behind… third place because some changes in life require moving (wife, kids, job, etc.), and I spend the time to find one that better conforms to the above criteria than the previous.

I agree that “there’s nothing like wood heat”… But, I don’t “enjoy tending the fire, and watching it”, at least not the heating fire. My stove doesn’t have a glass door, and it’s in the basement next to the (unused) furnace, and piped into the heating ducts. I do enjoy sitting around the fire pit and we spend near every night around it from mid-April through October, but looking through a glass door just doesn’t have any appeal to me. I get all the fire watchin’ I need Spring through Autumn.

I like being outdoors, being in the woods or field… You’ll find me there year-round. But cutting wood isn’t enough to keep me from getting “bored”, I need more. I fish and hunt, shoot, wander the river bank and whatnot. I’d rather spend my time doing those things than hauling wood down the road, or hunting up places to cut wood… But I do enjoy a good football game on Sunday afternoon.

And Del_Corbin, you just flat over-rate those so-called “high efficiency” stoves. Guys using so-called “high efficiency” OWB’s are using a ton more wood to heat than I do, so it’s all relative. My dad has a “high efficiency” stove, with a glass door, sitting in his living room… his living room is too hot, but the rest of his house is cold. My stove is smaller and lighter than his and heats my complete home uniformly (although it’s not a huge home)… my fire-box will only take about 8 or 9 average size splits, and heats (the whole house) for 6-8 hours with good seasoned hard wood if there’s a bed of coals to start with. Is a so-called “high efficiency” stove gonna’ gain me that much more? Really? I doubt it. But you see, I burn wood year-round… the fire pit gets lit every night, and it burns all weekend long… I burn just as much wood during the spring, summer and fall as I do during the winter. Heck, during certain times of the year I’ve got both going. Naw, I ain’t gonna’ fork-out the cash for one of those as long as what I’ve got works just fine… “smokehauser” or not. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

 

[AIM]

I do read many posts that sound like guys have to really work at finding wood. Then they have to travel a fair bit to get there. I'm not sure how well I would like doing that. I like heating with wood and I hate buying propane so maybe I'd just suck it up and do it.

I don't have it quite as good as some but I do have it pretty good.
2-3 miles to my main cutting woods. No big deal. A few minutes drive and I'm cutting.
Another woods 1 mile away but I have to cross a cow pasture. The gates are a pain.
Creek beside my house loaded with dead ash.
3 miles away is the town dump where all the trees get dumped that the city workers remove.
Plus I have several people wanting fence rows removed or such that are all within a 5-10 minute drive.

My point is that many of us don't really drive that far or look very hard to cut. Plus I'd use my truck if I was cutting 50 yards from my house.
I think using my lawnmower is a pain. I've done it many times when I thought it was to wet along the creek and was afraid of leaving deep ruts with my truck but it's to small. To slow. To many trips etc.

 

[mayhem100]

Ya’ know something? I believe if I had to drive and haul firewood, or pay for it, or search for places to cut… Well, I’d just quit burning wood for heat.

One winter of paying for your heat AND having your house colder than you really want it and you'll be back out there in your truck with your saw scrounging firewood.

I scrounge most of my wood and take some trees down in my yard too. Cutting at home is really nice I agree, sounds like you have a great setup...and the idea of having 5-6 hours of time before lunch on a Saturday to work on your woodpile is like heaven for me. I'm lucky if I have half that amount of time every other week to work on my firewood.

Busy job, young-ish family and enough honey-do projects that have to get done or the Mrs. will put me in a sling. But thats life and I still enjoy it.

 

[Whitespider]

I think using my lawnmower is a pain... but it's to small. To slow. To many trips etc.

Well, I don't use my lawn mowing machine... Mine is a dedicated set up. Six forward gears, calcium chloride fluid in the tires, wheel weights, tire chains, 12 volt winch on the front, fabricated tow bar that helps keeps the front end down and an 850 CCA battery. And I'm not so sure my 1/2 ton pickup can (safely) haul more (weight) than that bantam trailer does... maybe a bit more, but not much.

 

[GM_DaddyMac]

I do not heat with wood, I am just an avid fireplace / fire pit burner that enjoys to go out and cut and harvest firewood. I am VERY fortunate that my current cutting place is less than 5 minutes from home with an abundance of dead fallen ash and red elm -- more than what I would use in the next 5 years or more.

I have just shy of a full cord put up now, and will start my deliveries to friends and family (weekend and holiday burners) which will leave gaps in my wood stacks -- that is just not acceptable -- which means I can go and cut and harvest more .

The furthest I have driven is a little more than an hour one-way to yield a truck bed load of red oak -- I made this trip 3 times. As a desk jockey and not relying on the wood for heat -- I would much rather spend the time on the road and in the woods with a cutting buddy than ticking away on a keyboard and yapping on the phone with my "day" job.

I think it is all a matter of perspectives and priorities. There are other members here that heat with wood and have their firewood delivered as in their eyes their time is more valuable in other pursuits -- be it work or leisure.

In my case I go out a half dozen times in a year to run my saws, replenish my stacks and get away from my desk job and get some much needed exercise. All worth it for me.

 

[Kingsley]

I only cut 2 1/2 miles from home. Having the luxury of owning my own land to cut and live on isn't in the cards just yet.

That being said.

After I have heated with wood now, I don't think that will ever change.
I would never pay for wood, but with all the woods and farmers around me we'll never run out of places to cut.
I, like others have mentioned, enjoy being out in the woods with the "crew".
I like an extra excuse to own larger equipment (F250, gooseneck, larger garden tractor, etc.).
Owning mutiple saws is a hobby, just the same as hunting or fishing, but I just have 2 work saws and the rest are interesting in their own right.

When I actually do get to cut "at home" someday, that will make it easier for my wife to find me. So I'll enjoy the 2 1/2 mile buffer zone for now.


To each there own,
M

 

[kodiak]

Half of my wood comes from our woods and the rest comes from a buddy's land which is about 1.5 miles away via township roads. The ATV and trailer get loaded with the same equipment regardless of where I'm cutting. So the only difference between the two locations is an additional 10 minutes of travel time.

 

[Whitespider]

...running a whole house air distrubition system just to move a little heat around in noisy, uses too much energy and puts a lot of un-needed wear on the fan motor...

Are you kidding me Del?

I use the furnace blower and it's controlled thermostatically by temperature of the wood stove. The whole darn furnace, including all the damper doors, gas valves, igniter and blower are wired to a single 110-volt 10-amp fuse... and the furnace is called a "Whisper Quiet" high efficiency model, you can't hear the blower if you're standing right next to the furnace. Crap man, a couple of computer fans would make more noise in the living area than that furnace blower ever would. The blower runs on low speed for the wood stove, just enough to pull air down the cold air return vents, over the stove fire box and circulate heat evenly throughout the whole house... never any cold feet in my house. I'd be surprised if that blower, at low speed, pulls 2-amps max while it's running, maybe 5-amps at start-up for just a millisecond. A small circulating fan pulls more amps than that... and would be a whole lot noisier. And un-needed wear on the (furnace/AC) fan motor? Del, c'mon man... it designed to run 24/7/365... the furnace will rust away before I ever wear that motor out. And besides, I get the added benefit of pulling air through the filter system this way, that alone is worth running the blower.

And I ain't missing crap by having my stove in the basement and not having a glass door. Well... I take that back... I am missing the opportunity of listening to my wife complain about the mess from me hauling wood and ash buckets across her floors... NO THANK YOU, I like the mess in the basement just fine... Where I can just toss the wood down the old coal shoot instead of carrying (what a pain) it in the house. You can keep your glass doors friend.