Cord Wood and Price Gouging

[mapleman3]

Well here we are with Gas up and Oil up.. well dont cha know Cord would follows, I got a call the other day from a freind asking where I bought my wood for the house, I told him I bought it in the summer at 120.00 a cord, Now the same guy I got it from is at $200.00 ... HOLY COW!!! thats highway robbery, I understand gas went up and you use it for a lot of wood cutting,splitting hauling ... but Geeze

[WF MASON]

One cord of seasoned hardwood has the same btu's as 180 gallons of #2 fuel oil.
$260.per gallons X 180 gallons =$468.

$200. a cord , what a deal.

[latewood]

Holy smokes!!! Cordwood in western New York is selling for about $75.00 a cord delivered and I thought that was high! Good thing my sugar bush has plenty of beech and hickory in the far southern end or I don't think I could afford to sell syrup at a competitive price.

[Parker]

I Have stopped doing cordwood for the season BUT If I were still doing it I would be getting around $200 a cord,,,I get close to $90 a cord deliverd into the pulp mill (factor #1),my harvester burns about 90 gallons of deisel a day, my skidders each burn around 35 gallons a day and my slasher burns about 40 gallons a day,,the cost to move an 8 cord load to my processor has gone up from 100 a load to 200 a load,,my wood processor burns 5 gallons per 2 cord load and my international harvester gas powerd wood trucks get 8 or so miles to the gallon,,last months fuel bill was $3800......Thank god firewood is not my only business,,I would not be able to make a living......have you ever tried to make your living doing wood jim?????

[sweetwoodmaple]

Holy Smokes, I need to move to NY. Is that split and delivered both?

My area is about $50-$75 per truckload of hardwood delivered. You're lucky if you get 1/2 cord with that. Plus, my cost of living in NW PA is less than N.H.

On the flip side, the Amish sawmill close to me (10 miles) does slabs cut to 18" length for $10 per truckload. That is by fare the best deal for both parties involved because the Amish guy doesn't do firewood for a living, he does board lumber and makes most of his money there.
You are still trading some sweat for $$ since you have to load and deliver yourself.

[Iver]

Firewood could be worth it this winter. We cut our own from the woodlot, but even buying it could be a good idea. My other favorite website, The Oil Drum has a lot about how heating oil could be a problem this winter, and natural gas will be a problem for sure. There was a lot of damage to oil and gas rigs in the Gulf, so we'll be in for price hikes and maybe shortages unless everything gets put back in order soon. We'll see. Meanwhile we burn the good hardwood in the house and save popple and basswood for the evaporator.

[brookledge]

Has the increase in oil and cordwood affected the price on wood pellets? I don't have a pellet stove but I have heard that they are selling like hot cakes. Which in turn will cause a high demand for the pellets causing the price to increase. When it comes down to it it seems like the increase in oil has effected everything in our lives.
Keith

[sweetwoodmaple]

I added a pellet stove 2 years ago when the initial price of natural gas went up. They have stayed steady at the place where I buy them up until a few weeks ago. They were going up every week. I got mine for $165 per ton, which was $6 more than the week before. The guy warned me that they would be going up more as a result of fuel prices.

Pellets are easy and fairly clean, but not the cheapest way to go. I just like it cause it saves me from paying the gas company $350 per month for my 1-1/2 story house during the cold months!

Brian

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

The older gentleman who helped me to get into sugaring and produced it commercially for many years invested in a new wood stove a couple of years ago. It is a small stove, but he heats his entire house with it. It is really neat as he only put 2 to 3 blocks of wood in it twice a day and it has a catalytic convertor on it and a thermostat. With the glass door, you can watch it burn and when the temp drops, it fires up. It has 99%++ combustion, so there is almost no ash and uses minimal wood.

Fun to watch and very, very efficient. I had a wood stove in my other house nearly like his, but it didn't have the catalytic convertor on it and it ate wood.

The outdoor wood furnaces are a good thing too but use a lot of wood. The good thing about them is that they also heat your hot water and they can handle as big of a block as you can lift to put in them, so no splitting involved.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Guys,

If you have a truck or trailer, nearly anyone can find a paper company or neighbor or someone that will let you clean out their woods. There are tons of dead trees laying everywhere that are still plenty solid for wood. With a good saw, you can saw a load of wood in 30 minutes and it is a snap to load.

At least, you can with a Stihl! :D :wink: :wink: Just drive around and ask people, the worst thing they can say is no. :D As long as you cut stuff that is already fallen and not cutting anything that could possibly have life, most people are willing. Might even offer to pay them a small fee per load or give them a little syrup! :D :wink:

[oldemaple]

I have a friend in town that does lot clearing and he is getting $300 per cord for dry hardwood and $250 for green. He is having no problem at all selling it for this price.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I doubt I could get $100 a cord for seasoned wood down here. One thing is that if I could get $ 300 a cord, I would be doing it on the side! 8O

[themapleking]

I guess I should have sold all that firewood I made. Instead of giving it away in exchange for help hanging up the lines.
Them S.O.B.'s got their wood and haven't be back to hang one line. That's okay you know what they say about PAYBACKS :evil:

[TR Hardwoods]

Prices in cntrl WI as follows:

dried split hardwood(firewood) delievered = $150-$185/cord
Aspen/popple pulp picked up on landing = $90-$100/cord
Hardwood mix(oak & maple)pulp picked up on landing = $110-$120/cord
Soft maple pulp picked up on landing = $120-$130/cord

I'm sure the pulp prices will push the above firewood prices up in time, not to even mention what the cost of oil is doing to firewood prices. Oct. natural gas rates just published and they have come in at $1.40/therm.....yikes! All info. for next year has gas between $1.25 and $1.50/therm (even in the summer months). I hope everyone braces themselves as its going to be an expensive winter for most!

[hookhill]

$200 may seem like alot but after being in the firewood business for a while I figure even if you got 300/cord you would still be earning your money. Firewood is a tough business especially if you dont have the fancy equipment many processors have. I cut from our woods, drag it out with the tractor, buck and split with a woodsplitter and throw it into the truck and then deliver it. You earn every penny.

[Iver]

I have to agree. After cutting and moving a bunch of cords of wood I am thinking how nice it might be to have some delivered. I would rather put more insulation in the house. I have a friend who has a super insulated 4000 sq. ft. house that only burns a cord. It got me thinking. We only burn a cord in our house, but it's only around 1200 sq. ft. and we use the oil burner half the time. [/i]