Cord of wood- average price? (Philadelphia, Pittston: sales, credit, house)

[cricket70]

To all of you asking about firewood; Raised in Pa. live now in Ms. for 13 yrs And I sell wood from Oct. to March. My price is $120.00 a cord, $70.00 for a half. IT IS A FULL CORD 4/4/8ft. 128 cu. fT. I deliver free within 10 mi. of my home, $15 to $25 up to 50 mi. I sell in the neighberhood of 75 cord a yr. I am 69 now 70 in Jan. and love it. I usually have someone to help with alot of the lifting. It looks like I need to get a semi and haul it to New Englind states where it goes for $360.00 to $480 a cord. If any one wants to come toKosciusko Ms. I will make a deal for 3 cords or better. [email]email--dlaruekeller@hotmail.com[/email] KEEP WARM Dale

[fisheye]

Here is a link that could help you in your quest for firewood: http://mb-soft.com/juca/print/firewood.html It shows the relative weight per cord and what woods produce the most heat. If you notice the weight of even a seasoned cord of some wood is almost two tons - that is four times the legal weight of most half ton pickup trucks. Green wood weights even more weight.

I used to sell firewood back in the early 1970’s. Then a cord went for $35. We have come a long ways since those days.

With all firewood you get some dirt and some insects.

Watch out for especially Maple firewood because of the ants. If you get firewood delivered, when it is cold outside, the ants are dormant. You bring the wood in and let it warm up, before you burn it, and the ants will come out. These are carpenter ants and nobody wants a few hundred of them running around their house. Look for holes in the end of Maple logs. You can still burn them in a woodstove - just don’t let the logs warm inside (bring them in and put them directly in the stove).

[pbakegler]

It is a lot of work to cut, split, deliver a cord of wood. So if you find someone selling an honest cord, its worth every penny of $180 or more. Make sure you buy from a seller that's been in business for more than a week, and you can contact them after you stack the wood. A tree service or other established business is better than a phone # left on a bulletin board. Because a lot of short cords are being sold by sellers that can't be reached again after you've stacked it.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by pbakegler

its worth every penny of $180 or more.

A lot of my forum members and former wood burners still cur and split wood, they sell it and use it buy coal.

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by pbakegler

It is a lot of work to cut, split, deliver a cord of wood. So if you find someone selling an honest cord, its worth every penny of $180 or more. Make sure you buy from a seller that's been in business for more than a week, and you can contact them after you stack the wood. A tree service or other established business is better than a phone # left on a bulletin board. Because a lot of short cords are being sold by sellers that can't be reached again after you've stacked it.

On the subject of an “honest cord” - there were companies that sold firewood in lengths back in the 1970’s when I sold firewood. I always cut and did a tight stacking of the cords I sold. I haven’t sold firewood since 1975 and have never bought firewood - I still cut my own.

I always felt that the companies, that sold firewood in lengths, only gave their customers about half the wood for the money. They would drop off sixteen foot logs and the customers would have to cut, split and stack their own. Some logs are crooked and they don’t fit tightly together. You can say the same for un-split firewood. Ideally, if you have foot diameter logs, that are quarter split, they lock together and form a solid piece of wood - giving the customer the most for their money. You can say the same for the people that do not stack firewood - you just don’t get the same amount of wood.

I don’t even know what the exact laws state today as far as selling “honest cords”. There will always be some grey area with firewood. It is hard to legislate exacting standards on nature. Of course the customers always want the most for their money.

PS Thecoalman strikes again!

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by fisheye

I don’t even know what the exact laws state today as far as selling “honest cords”.

The one law I'm aware of is you can't sell a "truck full" of wood. Even if the customer wants to buy a truck full of wood. Has to be sold by the cord.

PS Thecoalman strikes again!

LOL...I'm not kidding you. They wood is usually cost more than the coal BTU for BTU so for the same work they make a few bucks and don't have to deal with the wood. I have yet to meet someone that has used wood and switched to coal and regretted it.

We just reinstalled our boiler and have been burning wood in the fireplaces for the last few weeks. While I enjoy the fire...... as heating source...... screw that. LOL

Just lit it last night, built in 1980, this is the second house it's in:



Here's the wood I burned:

[fisheye]

We burn a fire in one of our two fireplaces ever other year. I have at least two hundred feet of firewood, five feet high, stacked up outside. We would rather turn up the thermostat; than burn wood - we got lazy over the years.

One thing against wood for coal lovers - burning a lot of firewood hurts your asphalt shingles. When we used to burn 16 cords a year our roof took a beating on the prevailing wind side from the chimney. The shingles looked as if the asphalt actually dissolved and some of the edges turned up - this was adjacent to our chimney. Most people don’t burn anywhere near that much wood each year. Some people have chimneys that are higher than ours. It is just one more consideration. We have a brand new roof (a year old) and we don’t want to damage it.

You also have the other problem of chimney fires and possibly higher insurance rates. We had one chimney fire even though I religiously cleaned the chimney. Fortunately it did very little damage - it still cost a grand to have the upper stone chimney rebuilt. We got rid of our wood burner shortly afterwards.

[lamessino]

make sure you are getting a hardwood, they burn slower, preferably oak. def not anytype of pine.

[fisheye]

I just wanted to say that I found these regulations for selling firewood in Cumberland County: http://www.ccpa.net/index.aspx?NID=3496

Their definition of a cord does not specify split. I don’t know if this is just a county rule or state rule? It is very important that buyers are aware of what they are paying for - it might not fit in your fireplace or wood burner. Some buyers could not or would not split firewood themselves. Buyers should measure their firebox and door opening.

PS thecoalman, what are you doing wasting all of those great 2X4’s? Also, one quick question: How many BTU’s is your new boiler? I might have asked you that before - but it sounded as if you just got another one in your new house. I need about 180,000 BTU furnace if I ever want to replace what I currently have.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by fisheye

PS thecoalman, what are you doing wasting all of those great 2X4’s?

I was trying to make a joke... That was the scraps from new bin, it's what I used to light the coal fire. Guess I should of clarified that, we were burning a mix of maple, oak and hickory in the fireplaces.

Also, one quick question: How many BTU’s is your new boiler?

It's not new, it's from 1980, it was in our old house that burned down. A unit like this can go 50 or 60 years and even then usually only needs some minor work. This particular opne should go much longer since it's been going 24/7/365 with really good maintenance for the last 30 years except the last year and a half. BTU is 320K, it's a monster.

I need about 180,000 BTU furnace if I ever want to replace what I currently have.

Leisure line makes 180K hot air stoker for $3200, an EFM boiler in that range is $9K, that's about the same design as mine. Coal boilers with auger feeds are not cheap. You could of course pick up a classic refurbished EFM for about $2K...