Will Work For Firewood: Good Idea Or AM I A Dumbass?

[the Aerialist]

Will work for Beer ...

Wood has been something in the past that I have had to haul and mostly give away. I know enough "woodchuckers" who will show up with a truck just to get the wood. Sometimes they will even load it. Now I'm starting to stockpile the premium firewood types and plan to get a splitter to keep busy over the Winter months. I still give away a lot of wood.

Of choice jobs we've had: I was hired by the concessioner at a local outdoor amphitheater to set up a liquor control squad to control underage drinking. We were undercover, and would dress the part, at Jimmy Buffet we became "Parrot Heads" Grateful Dead we became "deadheads" and so on ... It was a blast just getting incognito for the nights concert. It was a great time to be my friend, I even hired my wife.

I designed our credentials to give the impression we were LCB (Liquor Control Board) officers who are Pennsylvania State Troopers. Of course we were not, but we did have the full cooperation of the on site Police if we needed backup. The job was basically busting underage drinkers and confiscating their beer. What we did with it after we chased the perps away was up to us.

Our IDs were all access and we could go anywhere we wanted. I could take people and seat them in any vacant seat, right down in front was popular. We commandeered Cameron Coca~Cola's box seats, ideally located 20 rows back centered on an elevated landing. It became my Command Post and I saw a lot of great concerts.

 

[thepheniox]

The biggest problem with your plan is when you buy wood your paying primarily for the labor used to process the wood and space used for drying. If you worked for "free" wood and got a cord for the day you would still have to cut it to length, split it and dry it. You would be working for $50 worth of wood not $300. Like everyone else said you could scrounge wood and spend the day processing the wood instead of helping at the job site.

 

[Tree Pig]

go for it. Here is a sign to help

 

[treeclimber101]

I’m paying $300 a cord for firewood. I’m constantly getting ripped off and the #### is so green I can’t keep it lit in my wood stove!!

I’m not an arborist and I’ve only felled two trees in my entire lifetime (under perfect conditions with minimum liability – i.e. edge of a corn field). But I’m young, healthy, and have one hell of a strong back. I can put in a good 6/8 hours; I was a brick laborer for 4 years.

Do you think a tree service company would let me work as a general laborer on the weekends for free? Yes, for free... I’ll work my ass off and not collect a dime. If I could scrounge up a cord each weekend I’m saving $300 off the rip.

I would take the bucked rounds as payment. So, am I off my rocker?? Scrounging firewood off Craigslist is also manual labor...

I would let ya do it in a heartbeat as a matter of fact i would even load it for ya in your truck all the wood ya want , for a tree service wood is like the " Crabs" easy to get hard as hell to get rid of ... But I think after a month of saturdays you would have your fill ...

 

[046]

a better way is to do it in person. when you see a tree crew taking down say a large Oak. Stop and ask to talk to the foreman. tell him that you would be glad to show up with a big honking trailer for the wood he's taking down. A sharp foreman will see $$$ saved by you hauling wood away. if he says yes, then shag ass for your trailer.

if timing is wrong or wood is not desired hardwood. then take his number and follow up.
what ever you do... be sure to do exactly as you say... if you tell the foreman that you will be back in 45 minutes... do so... get his phone just in case. He's got no time for deadbeats.

green wood is HEAVY!!!! it's easy to stack 15k+ load on a trailer. be sure trailer's brakes are working properly. best to have at least a 3/4 ton pickup.... all the better if it's a Cummins.

You better believe I'll be calling around come Monday. Not sure how to break the ice over the phone though.

I've been looking around for a good used tandem axle trailer.

Thanks for the input, I'll think this is best method and seems to be the most popular idea amongst all the posts I've read today.

 

[Zale]

Bad Karma

Wood has been something in the past that I have had to haul and mostly give away. I know enough "woodchuckers" who will show up with a truck just to get the wood. Sometimes they will even load it. Now I'm starting to stockpile the premium firewood types and plan to get a splitter to keep busy over the Winter months. I still give away a lot of wood.

Of choice jobs we've had: I was hired by the concessioner at a local outdoor amphitheater to set up a liquor control squad to control underage drinking. We were undercover, and would dress the part, at Jimmy Buffet we became "Parrot Heads" Grateful Dead we became "deadheads" and so on ... It was a blast just getting incognito for the nights concert. It was a great time to be my friend, I even hired my wife.

I designed our credentials to give the impression we were LCB (Liquor Control Board) officers who are Pennsylvania State Troopers. Of course we were not, but we did have the full cooperation of the on site Police if we needed backup. The job was basically busting underage drinkers and confiscating their beer. What we did with it after we chased the perps away was up to us.

Our IDs were all access and we could go anywhere we wanted. I could take people and seat them in any vacant seat, right down in front was popular. We commandeered Cameron Coca~Cola's box seats, ideally located 20 rows back centered on an elevated landing. It became my Command Post and I saw a lot of great concerts.

Aerial Mason- I now have zero respect for you. Busting underage drinking at a concert? Drinking what you confiscated? Very bad karma is going to come your way.

 

[Blakesmaster]

Aerial Mason- I now have zero respect for you. Busting underage drinking at a concert? Drinking what you confiscated? Very bad karma is going to come your way.

Aerial Arborist and his tree service has lost the respect of many qualified, and certified arborists in Pittsburgh, PA and the surrounding areas. Aerial Arborist has shown the community of qualified professionals in the tree care industry that he is far behind on his practices, overcharges for simple jobs and lacks the skill to safely perform tree work.

 

[gtsawyer]

The biggest problem with your plan is when you buy wood your paying primarily for the labor used to process the wood and space used for drying. If you worked for "free" wood and got a cord for the day you would still have to cut it to length, split it and dry it. You would be working for $50 worth of wood not $300. Like everyone else said you could scrounge wood and spend the day processing the wood instead of helping at the job site.

I agree - the value of firewood is almost entirely the labor, equipment and other considerations, not the original wood. The 'Craigslist Laughs' thread is full of examples of folks that haven't figured that out.

 

[sgreanbeans]

way over complicating things here. Wood, I'm getting paid to get rid off it, you want it, come get it, not one foot inside the work zone that is clearly marked. First come first serve, we may or may not help you, have a spot to dump? give me ur address, if it is close to where I am working, ull get it, if not, you wont. Any wood I bring home gets split, then its 85 per truck, 250 for f-350 dump, 400 for dump trailer, its mixed and different sizes, don't like, cool, next guy will. I don't mess with cords, takes to long and I am not going to sit and cut to length. I could sell out every year if I had more time, but stay pretty busy with oaks skips, so its more of a side show than anything.I put free wood on Craigslist, has saved me thousands, tell the homeowners that I am just going to take it to the dump, so if I can help a family heat there house, then I am cool with that. They love that and respect it. Have had little problems, but nothing that out weighs some one else hauling off the wood.
Have one guy, we call Larry the wood guy, actually bought a green dump truck to match my stuff, then he shows up and loads everything, takes everything, stay out the way and sometimes brings us cold sodas! I heat with wood only, i have a furnace, but gets shut off in the winter. I will burn whatever, my pipe is easy to clean, once a week and ur good. You want my wood to sell, go for it, I could care less what ya do with it, as long as u take it with u. To big, leave it, we will take it, it is what I was paid to do, so even if you only take small stuff, still is less than what I bid for, so go for it. Just stay out my work zone and watch your mouth. I have one guy that I call when we are doing hackberrys, he takes the 4-5" branches and makes period correct Indian bows, really cool. Got another one who wants hard maple for making bowls, cool.
Again, don't over complicate it, it is just wood, and we all have more than we want. So anyway u can get rid of it, with out putting some one in danger is cool, no matter how ya do it. Just get it gone!
Crabs, lol, good one Danno! Makes perfect sense to me!

 

[the Aerialist]

Eat feces and continue to bark at the moon without me jackwagons ...

Aerial Arborist and his tree service has lost the respect of many qualified, and certified arborists in Pittsburgh, PA and the surrounding areas. Aerial Arborist has shown the community of qualified professionals in the tree care industry that he is far behind on his practices, overcharges for simple jobs and lacks the skill to safely perform tree work.

On the other hand I have gained the respect of all the customers I serve and my business succeeds on the rave reviews from the people who I have done work for.

Given a choice between making the bunch of rummies, drunks, and drug addicts that seem to populate this site respect me and my practices, I'll take the respect of the people who pay for this work any day.

I'd like to point out that I have operated my business for four years without damage to property or injury to individuals so I must me doing something right.

 

[treeclimber101]

Wood has been something in the past that I have had to haul and mostly give away. I know enough "woodchuckers" who will show up with a truck just to get the wood. Sometimes they will even load it. Now I'm starting to stockpile the premium firewood types and plan to get a splitter to keep busy over the Winter months. I still give away a lot of wood.

Of choice jobs we've had: I was hired by the concessioner at a local outdoor amphitheater to set up a liquor control squad to control underage drinking. We were undercover, and would dress the part, at Jimmy Buffet we became "Parrot Heads" Grateful Dead we became "deadheads" and so on ... It was a blast just getting incognito for the nights concert. It was a great time to be my friend, I even hired my wife.

I designed our credentials to give the impression we were LCB (Liquor Control Board) officers who are Pennsylvania State Troopers. Of course we were not, but we did have the full cooperation of the on site Police if we needed backup. The job was basically busting underage drinkers and confiscating their beer. What we did with it after we chased the perps away was up to us.

Our IDs were all access and we could go anywhere we wanted. I could take people and seat them in any vacant seat, right down in front was popular. We commandeered Cameron Coca~Cola's box seats, ideally located 20 rows back centered on an elevated landing. It became my Command Post and I saw a lot of great concerts.

Wow so your one of those Dbags thats awesome .... And I am thinking that your customers are as uneducated as you , and for a lack of a better option they hire you because your cheap ... I don't believe for one minute that your out there overcharging' I think that people hire you because there cheap as well , I wouldn't dare ask a customer to borrow a machine because I am a a tree service and when I leave in the morning for work I bring all the necessary tools that I will need to complete my work ..... I mean I am thinking that PEEBURG must be a undiscovered gold mine because if a dolt like you can make what you claim then I can be a friggin millionaire in less than a month ... Your right were all just a bunch of rummy, drug addicts ...BUT yet you come back hoping for some acceptance ... Thats pathetic ...

 

[tree md]

If ya lived close to me I would load your wagon. Hell, I'd even have my guys load you out.

Back 10 or 12 years ago I had two guys follow me around with a large stake bed truck and a few nice Stihl saws. They showed up after I finished my job, cut any of the hardwood I had for them to length and hauled it to their woodlot to sell. Loved those guys. They were just a couple of country boys trying to eek out a living and I had much respect for them.

In turn, I would also call the pulpwooders in to haul my live pines back in the day... LOL, really anyone who can't see the dollars and sense in that is blind.

I give away all the wood I can. I have even loaded one of the posters in this thread's wagon a few times... And I mean loaded. He took 20K pounds of wood or better on two separate occasions.

 

[BC WetCoast]

Just come on by our office. All the wood is dumped out in front and left for anybody to pick it up. Bring a saw if you want it cut to specific sizes. Bring an axe if you want it split. We send the young guys out occasionally to buck up the bigger pieces, but it is more of a training exercise for them to use a saw.

It's all oak, even the stuff that looks like cottonwood is oak, you can trust me.