Cord of wood- average price? (how much, tree, area)

[fisheye]

thecoalman,

I was just kidding about the 2X4’s.

How did you make out with you leaning tree? Did you get it straightened up or did that become kindling?

Our hot water, oil fired furnace is approaching twenty years old. The company that made it went out of business and parts, like new gaskets for the access covers, are now non-existent. Some parts can be fabricated. However; you reach a point where it does not pay. Our boiler is cast iron. I am hoping that I do not have to worry about replacement right now. Anyway; thank you for the information.

Years ago we had an old Dynatherm steam boiler. I remember closing off leaking fire tubes with broom handles. You took a short piece of a broom handle and sanded it to snugly fit (when hammered) in both sides of fire tube. The hot water would expand the wood and keep it from burning. Good thing the Dynatherm’s had plenty of fire tubes!

Back on subject: There are some stoves today will burn more than one fuel. If you get tired or firewood gets hard/expensive; you can switch to coal or pellets. It might be a better way to go for new to wood burning public.

[thecoalman]

The tree is coming down, I had all the rigging up and then the **** hit the fan with the flood so I never got to it. I've been going about 10 or 12 hours a day since, I had my own property involved in it on Linden St. in West Pittston but that was small house and unoccupied. That was squared away in about a week. My Brothers house got hit and my friends store Old Mill Pine got hammered too, I've been there ever since really.

There are some stoves today will burn more than one fuel. If you get tired or firewood gets hard/expensive; you can switch to coal or pellets. It might be a better way to go for new to wood burning public

Keystoker and EFM make oil guns that can be installed on the boiler. It's not exactly a switch it on process and the oil is not very efficient. It's good if you expect to be away for weeks at a time in the winter and still need heat from the boiler, the one issue with coal is it has to be tended. It's not a lot of work but it has to be done.

The only coal stoker that will burn biomass (pellets/corn) is the EFM or the Van Wert like I have. This is an underfed pot design that is fed with an auger. The fuel is forced up through the bottom of the pot and because of this unique design they can use either pellets or corn. EFM was even able to offer the $1500 tax credit, AFAIK they don't recommend you burn it with straight pellets or corn. It has to be mixed with the coal. Most of the other stokers cannot burn anything but coal.

With pellet stoves I'm not aware of any that burn anything but pellets, at most I would expect they might have a corn/wood pellet one.

Any hand fired coal stove can burn wood but because of EPA regs they cannot be labeled dual fuel. There are ones that are labeled dual fuel and EFM even has a hand fired coal/wood boiler. They are designed to burn coal though and not the greatest wood burners as far as efficiency goes.

Be very wary of any wood stove labeled as dual fuel, a lot of them are nothing but a headaches with the coal. If you're going to burn coal get a coal stove.

[fisheye]

thecoalman,

Sorry to hear of your problems with the flood and your tree. We are thankful that we are located on high ground.

I was not aware that the multi-fuel stoves had problems. I’ll take your word.

I have a little concern about the future of coal. I have heard some say that coal will be phased out with this new push for fracking and natural gas. If we phase out the coal fired generating facilities some of our mines could shut down? Of course it could drive prices up or down for residential users.
　
Back on subject: Demand has driven the cost of firewood up. It is an awful lot of work to cut, stack and deliver a cord of firewood.

Many people, in the firewood business, simply use dump trucks to drop off the wood. The customers are responsible for moving or stacking the wood. Potential buyers should be aware of their needs and expectations when they buy firewood. If the buyer expects the firewood be stacked by the seller - they better tell the seller when they make the agreement. Otherwise; you end up with an unhappy buyer and a load of firewood where you might not want it. Of course; the seller will probably ask for more money or refuse to sell - if asked to stack.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by fisheye

thecoalman,

Sorry to hear of your problems with the flood and your tree. We are thankful that we are located on high ground.

I am on higher ground, about 500 feet above the river. It was unoccupied house.

I was not aware that the multi-fuel stoves had problems. I’ll take your word.

The problem is designing something that does both well, each type of fuel is going to have it's own unique way that works very well and efficiently....

If we phase out the coal fired generating facilities some of our mines could shut down? Of course it could drive prices up or down for residential users.

Anthracite is almost exclusively used for home heating and other applications, it's a different market than softer coal used in power plants. NG still cost more and unless you have pipe from the street it's still not very cheap because of delivery...

[Ashley_Wilson]

We are in portland new york which is only like 30 mins from erie and we sell seasoned wood for $50 a face cord

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by Ashley_Wilson

We are in portland new york which is only like 30 mins from erie and we sell seasoned wood for $50 a face cord

That's a lot of work for only $50. Is that what it is going for in your area? You should sit down and figure all of your cost and labor. It sounds as if you are cutting yourself short. I know that I could not sell firewood for $35/cord today - that only worked forty years ago.

[thecoalman]

Fisheye, a face cord is not a cord. It's defined as 1/3 a cord, basically a single length of logs stacked 16"*4'*8'. Full cord is 4'*4'*8', what's amazinga about that is you can fit 3 ton of coal in same space and it's probably 4 times the BTU's.

That said ait's still a lot of work, a lot of the people on my forum that burned wood in the past still cut it but now they sell it and use the money to buy coal. Plus they get to stick the savings in their pocket.

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by thecoalman

Fisheye, a face cord is not a cord. It's defined as 1/3 a cord, basically a single length of logs stacked 16"*4'*8'. Full cord is 4'*4'*8', what's amazinga about that is you can fit 3 ton of coal in same space and it's probably 4 times the BTU's.

That said ait's still a lot of work, a lot of the people on my forum that burned wood in the past still cut it but now they sell it and use the money to buy coal. Plus they get to stick the savings in their pocket.

Thanks! I was always told that the 'cord' was the only legal way that firewood could be sold in PA. Back then we could sell a 1/2 cord or 1/3 cord but could not use other terms. I don't know if that still applies to PA? The OP is from NY and they might have other laws?

That 'face cord' of seasoned wood is probably close to the maximum legal weight for most half ton pickup trucks.

Glad to see that you are still pushing coal!

[thecoalman]

I'm aware of that law but I don't know the specifics as to what it can be sold at. Coal is sold by weight and and by law needs to be weighed on a certified scale and comes with a weight slip signed by weightmaster. The only exception to that is small quantities sold in bags that are are labeled with the weight.

It's a double edged sword, while it does offer some protection to the consumer it can also be a hindrance. A perfect example was a breaker that was selling 5 gallon buckets which is a little less than 40 pounds. Bulk sells at about half what bags cost and and that's what they were selling it at becsue there was no expense on their part to let someone come in and pick up a few buckets. The scale wasn't accurate enough to weigh say 200 or 300 pounds and if you're going to start getting into that now you have weight slips and more expense. The Bureau of Weights and Measures stopped the practice, they ended up having to set a half ton limit.

I know the same problem exists with wood. You can't sell a "truckload" of wood. We have a lot of odd laws here, just read a funny one recently. You can't sell a 8 pound bag of potatoes in this state.

Chipping Away at Pa. Potato Sales Restriction | NBC 10 Philadelphia

As far as pushing the coal I do my best. Most people would never even consider coal until they have seen it operation or research it. I've probably created thousands of new coal burners that wouldn't be burning coal otherwise.

[kmason453]

Does anyone know who delivers wood for wood stove serving luzerne county ? Harveyville area?