# Does anyone buy firewood in 8' logs delivered on a semi?



## michiganfarmer (Oct 15, 2005)

How much do you Pay? I get a semi load that is 20 pulp cord, some people might call it a full cord, for $1200. WHat I call a pulp cord is a pile of 8' logs 4' x 4'. 

WIth heating, and maple syrup I go through about 15 pulp cord per year.


----------



## hunter63 (Jan 4, 2005)

That works out to about $60 per cord (full)?
Around here a face cord delivered is $65 on the low end, sounds like a deal to me.


----------



## moonwolf (Sep 20, 2004)

I used to get that in 12 cord loads delivered 2 years ago at $650 a load. It's gone up, but not sure by how much since then.


----------



## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

I did this once a long time ago and will never do it again. The logs I received were skidded through mud, sand and gravel. I had to wash each log so I could cut them with the chainsaw without ruining the chain. The chain still dulled after ever 3 or 4 cuts. There was no way I could wash the logs clean enough to get all the soil out of the bark so my chain would last. Like I said, I will never do this again.


----------



## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

I buy from a straight truck, holds from 8 to 10 cords. Loads with all big logs also have large openings in between. Loads with small stuff doesn't make as much either. A mix of large and small is best. Alot depends on what varieties you get. Oak, maple, ash and yellow birch produce a lot of heat. Soft maple, Red Maple, white birch, Aspen, Poplar, Pople, Basswood, Balsum produce less and are therefore less valuable. 
If you can sell a face cord, 4 feet high, 8 feet long and 16 to 18 inch lengths, split and delivered for $60., you'll only be able to pay $75 to 80 per pulp cord.
The trucks that I see hauling 20 cords are either tandum trailers, 12 cord on the front and 8 on the back (pup) trailer. Sometimes a straight truck can get 10 cords on and pull a big trailer behind. 20 pulp cords would make a stack 8 feet tall, 8 feet long logs and 40 feet wide. There are 40 feet long log trucks, but if you have the self unloader boom, you wouldn't be able to stack it 8 feet tall. You should be able to get about 2.7 face cords per pulp cord. Mathmaticly it is 3 face cords, but cut and split wood stacks tighter than in the round 8 feet lengths.
Sounds like a good deal, but be sure to tape measure the load on the truck to be sure you are geting a full 20 cords.
If it is good hard species, get two semi loads. That'll make you about 100 face cords. Keep 30 for yourself, two years worth, sell 70 cord at $65, collect the $4550 and you'll have enough profit to pay your taxes ($2150). Go for it.


----------



## michiganfarmer (Oct 15, 2005)

Cabin Fever said:


> I did this once a long time ago and will never do it again. The logs I received were skidded through mud, sand and gravel. I had to wash each log so I could cut them with the chainsaw without ruining the chain. The chain still dulled after ever 3 or 4 cuts. There was no way I could wash the logs clean enough to get all the soil out of the bark so my chain would last. Like I said, I will never do this again.


I hear ya. We get a little like that too. The guy we buy from makes a good effort to keep the logs clean. He does a pretty good job.


----------



## moonwolf (Sep 20, 2004)

michiganfarmer said:


> I hear ya. We get a little like that too. The guy we buy from makes a good effort to keep the logs clean. He does a pretty good job.


The logs that were delivered to me were mostly ash with some mixed maple or birch. Seemed the birch sometimes were the dirtiest, and not sure why. Most of the wood my logger delivered were winter cut, which usually meant over snow covered ground and cut with a feller buncher, directly loaded to the hauling truck. That kept almost all the wood quite clean. 
The worst wood I ever got which dulled my chainsaw blades something fierce was the slabs. They were a mess. I'll never bother with those again.


----------



## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

With the Emerald Ash Borer killing ash trees in Michigan (20 million and growing) you might be careful about getting any ash brought out to your property.


----------



## michiganfarmer (Oct 15, 2005)

haypoint said:


> With the Emerald Ash Borer killing ash trees in Michigan (20 million and growing) you might be careful about getting any ash brought out to your property.


I dont have any ash on my place anyway. Maple, elm, iron wood, beech, bass, and a little cherry


----------



## Hoop (Jan 1, 2003)

I purchased this load of wood from a logger friend of mine. 12 long cords @$65/cord.
He screwed me pretty bad as I wound up with 4 face cords of junk wood (aspen and punky soft maple) that were completely unsellable.
There are lots of people around here with outdoor wood burners. One has a better chance of seeing peace between the Jews & Palestinians than they have of getting even $10 a truckload from the tightwads with the outdoor wood burners.
Its more or less understood that species such as aspen (popple) have no place whatsoever in a firewood pile. Aspen is complete junk wood for burning in Northern Wisconsin as is just plains burns too quickly.
Slightly over 1/3 of the truckload was red oak, maybe another 1/3 was soft maple (junk wood, but nowhere near as horrible as aspen) and the remainder was sugar maple, birch and aspen.

The best time to purchase 8' length firewood is in the dead of winter. Sap content is at its lowest and with snow cover on the ground, mud on the logs is never a problem.

I sell a bit of firewood. Have for decades. A person generally will get 22 - 23 face cords (16" length x 48" heighth x 96" length) out of a long cord 4' x 4' x 8'. 
Theoretically, one should get 30 face cords out of 10 full cords, but due to taper of the logs, crooked logs, air gaps, etc......22 - 23 face cords is what you'll wind up with.


----------



## idahodave (Jan 20, 2005)

I've done that a couple of times, around $1400 load. One of the loads had so many good logs that I used it to put an addition on my cabin. The other was not so hot. Rotten, hollow logs mixed with good ones. Gave the bad ones to my friend with a wood burning furnace.


----------



## michiganfarmer (Oct 15, 2005)

idahodave said:


> I've done that a couple of times, around $1400 load. One of the loads had so many good logs that I used it to put an addition on my cabin. .


lol, thats a good idea. I like to see people use what they can get their hands on. I want to build a pole barn this summer. I plan on using iron wood from my woods for the poles, the ridge beam, and rafters.


----------



## Jim S. (Apr 22, 2004)

Just to chime in on prices: a cord of solid hickory or solid oak here, cut, split and delivered to the place, is $100. You know, I can't justify my time in cutting it myself for that price; I can make more money letting someone else do it, helping him with his need for cashflow, and using my time more productively as far as my own cash flow. 

For the first 3 years here, I was cutting all my own wood. Man, it felt good, I was in my 30s then, and man, I was being self-sufficient! Then one time I stopped to calculate the hours spent cutting, splitting, hauling and stacking. Been buying ever since. In the early fall I just put an ad on the local radio swap show, and get 10-20 calls.

Shrug. Being Down South, our heating season is now over. We burned 3 1/2 cords this year total. What's left of my hickory woodpile will go into the smoker later on!

My buddy's got the best deal. He gets the scraps left from a local pallet factory, and burns them in his outdoor furnace. Big ugly chunks of oak. FREE!


----------



## fantasymaker (Aug 28, 2005)

I used to sell firewood for a living here in central IL. There was always some fool from the government going on tv in the fall saying white oak has the best heating value dont buy anything but white oak. So you couldnty hardly sell anything but white oak to most of those city fools.
The truth of the matter is most of the people in the city with a fireplace would be a lot better off with cotton wood .....but you will never convince them of that,


----------



## michiganfarmer (Oct 15, 2005)

Jim S. said:


> You know, I can't justify my time in cutting it myself for that price; I can make more money letting someone else do it, helping him with his need for cashflow, and using my time more productively as far as my own cash flow.


Its great that you can afford to buy it at $100 per face cord. I cant. I guess its a good thing that I enjoy cutting firewood,lol.


----------



## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

We sell wood by the truck load - mostly sugar maple. It's generally $250 for the trucker plus about $250 more. It's about $50/cord.


----------



## WindowOrMirror (Jan 10, 2005)

I just paid $1000 for 13.7 pulp cords, but it was 100% red oak.


----------



## e.alleg (Jan 13, 2006)

At $100 a face cord you would be better off burning coal. No work, more heat, less dollars.


----------



## Simpler1773 (Aug 9, 2005)

Hoop said:


> Its more or less understood that species such as aspen (popple) have no place whatsoever in a firewood pile. Aspen is complete junk wood for burning in Northern Wisconsin as is just plains burns too quickly.


We burned popple all winter and we're pretty much as far north as they get in WI. 

Ricki


----------



## michiganfarmer (Oct 15, 2005)

highlands said:
 

> We sell wood by the truck load - mostly sugar maple. It's generally $250 for the trucker plus about $250 more. It's about $50/cord.


you are cutting sugar maple? oh shame on you,lol


----------



## michiganfarmer (Oct 15, 2005)

Simpler1773 said:


> We burned popple all winter and we're pretty much as far north as they get in WI.
> 
> Ricki


Sure, it makes heat, doesnt it? It takes a lot more, but if its cheap....


----------



## Hoop (Jan 1, 2003)

Ricki

How much did your semi load of popple cost you?


----------



## free-2-b-me (May 9, 2005)

I work down the road PT at the convienence store and the logger fella who comes in daily quoted me $375 for a load of tops . Now I don't think his truck is a semi size . He did say it would equal 20 -22 cord but , I think that is face cord though . I think that is a real bargain around here . A face cord is going for $50.00 . We plan on getting at least 2 loads during the summer so we can get ahead on our stockpile.


----------



## michiganfarmer (Oct 15, 2005)

free-2-b-me said:


> I work down the road PT at the convienence store and the logger fella who comes in daily quoted me $375 for a load of tops . Now I don't think his truck is a semi size . He did say it would equal 20 -22 cord but , I think that is face cord though . I think that is a real bargain around here . A face cord is going for $50.00 . We plan on getting at least 2 loads during the summer so we can get ahead on our stockpile.


Yeah, that'll work


----------



## WisJim (Jan 14, 2004)

We buy a 10 cord load for $600, mostly oak, stuff too small or crooked to take to the sawmill. The outfit that we buy it from has been selling us solid clean logs for 7 or 8 years, I think, and I have decided that I can't afford to spend time out in my woods (which is mostly steep creek banks and ravines) when I can have a load of logs delivered and stacked near the house. My sons will stop by and spend a few hours cutting, splitting or stacking wood, and then help move it into the basement, too, so it is really a good deal for me.

My new furnace (Charmaster) that we installed last summer uses less wood, and provides a better flow of warm air plus hot water, so we might get 2 years out of a load of logs, too.


----------



## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

Jim S. said:


> Just to chime in on prices: a cord of solid hickory or solid oak here, cut, split and delivered to the place, is $100. You know, I can't justify my time in cutting it myself for that price; I can make more money letting someone else do it, helping him with his need for cashflow, and using my time more productively as far as my own cash flow.
> 
> For the first 3 years here, I was cutting all my own wood. Man, it felt good, I was in my 30s then, and man, I was being self-sufficient! Then one time I stopped to calculate the hours spent cutting, splitting, hauling and stacking. Been buying ever since. In the early fall I just put an ad on the local radio swap show, and get 10-20 calls.
> 
> ...


See here in the north we will use about 10 full cords. Thats a full wood shed thats 10 ft X 16ft X 8ft. If I was to buy wood at your cost it's 1000.00 bucks.
I figure it's best to cut, stack, and split myself. It takes about 2 weeks of half days or about 60 hours. So I get about 15 bucks an hour to do it. Not too shabby. Of course I'm still in my early 30's.


----------



## Simpler1773 (Aug 9, 2005)

Sorry Hoop ~ I didn't see your post until just now. We don't buy our wood, we just cut it off of our property. The amount of popple on our property looks never ending...there's ALOT!

Ricki


----------



## moonwolf (Sep 20, 2004)

Simpler1773 said:


> . We don't buy our wood, we just cut it off of our property. The amount of popple on our property looks never ending...there's ALOT!
> 
> Ricki


I've boughten logger truck loads of the denser ash, but mostly I've burned aspen in my outdoor wood furnace that doesn't need to be split, and in about 3 ft. sections. Burning about half and half green/seasoned, and it works out great as a fuel. Might be junk to some, and lots of it is sold in the northland for a source of wood heating fuel that is cheaper than ash based on it's BTU value and it is lighter per cord. Since I manage the woodlot on my place, it's basically only the cost myself to cut and haul it up. Use about 10 to 15 cords/yr. to heat house, all the hot water, greenhouse, and part of a barn shop space. I'd use maybe a couple of cords less if it were ash compared to aspen.
A very 'usable' wood for heating in an outside wood burning funace situation. Works for me. :shrug:


----------



## daycab (Oct 19, 2004)

We paid $475 for 8 cords delivered in 16' lengths on a tandem axle straight truck with a boom. All hardwood with maybe 2 or 3 hollow logs. Most of the logs were clean. We used about 6 cords so far in our poorly insulated house.


----------

