Got Wood?

[pops6927]

Just got ½ cord of split pecan at Big John's Wood Products south of Benbrook, Tx. for the winter - a little fire in the fireplace is all we need to heat up the house at night and kick off the thermostat so we don't use the electric heat. $120 for ½ a cord saves us $300 in electric bills.

With my small box Ford Ranger I can only bring home ¼ cord at a time, have to make 2 trips (about 15 mi away is all).

half of it stacked in the garage



other half in the truck



½ cord ready for the fireplace and/or smoker!





In NYS, a full cord used to be $75-$90 10 yrs. ago (full, not just face!). Down here in Texas they sell 4 sticks in plastic wrap for $4.00! ½ cord for $120 is bad enough, if I had the room I could get a full face cord for $205 or ¾ cord for $170, but with the wife's therapy on her leg and saving for taxes, we'll have to be frugal and stretch the ½ cord as far as we can!

Oh, don't mind the busted fan, about 20 years old, knocked it over and the blades shattered like glass! In the garbage Thursday if I can't find a project for the parts!

 

[rivet]

Wow....

Good deal for you Pops in that you are saving so much in heating.I understand completely, since we heat with wood 100% as well. Can't beat the savings, and the quality of the radiant heat sure beats forced air.

'Course fuel oil forced-air is so nice and hot!~ tho' not available everywhere.

 

[nate_46]

Half a cord for 120.00? Yes its a hell of a dent in the wallet, but way better than here. I was looking for hardwood for the smoker and the best I found was 340.00 a cord for oak, hickory, apple (190 for a half cord).

I bet it is hard to burn the pecan in the house stove, but the money savings make it all better.

 

[zopi]

Was out all day busting up red oak...got a cord and about a 1/4 in the truck and at least another cord and a half on the ground...and a guy gave us another oak today, in addition to two other places want me to cut for them...We heat only with wood...120 year old house and no furnace...and no A/C...It;s easy to stay warm...just wait 'til summer.

 

[hemi]

I Live in central NC and sometimes I can get a half cord [real half] delivered , oak seasoned for around 60-70 bucks. In winter it goes up a bit. The lumber yard will deliver a tandem dump trailer of hardwood slabs for 125.00 At least 4 cords. It ain't seasoned but if U stack it right and cover it with plastic, it don't take long. I understand that other areas charge more but I had NO idea it was THAT much more.. Hemi..

 

[jlmacc]

We have a pallet factory about 15 miles from here and I get 4 dump truck loads for $300.There are some small pieces mixed in there that aren't worth much,but the majority of it is big blocks.$300 lasts me two years to heat my bi level home.

 

[rickw]

I fill my S10 up with oak and or cherry for $25 a load. Not to sure how much that is but it's a pretty good amount once stacked.

My wood guy sells a face cord for $75 delivered.

 

[hemi]

Just what exactly is a ''face'' cord? I have seen the term used here but NO idea what they are talking about.. Hemi..

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Wood :
One full cord=128cu.ft.--4'X4'X8' or two rows of 2'X4'X8'

1/2 cord=64cu.ft.--2'X4'X8'

1/3cord=42.3cu.ft.--16"X4'X4'

1/4cord=32cu.ft.--12"X4'X4'

 

[DanMcG]

Around here a face cord is one row of stacked fire wood 4' high and 8' long. Usually 18" +/- long, and sells for around $40-$50.

 

[pops6927]

That's 4 foot wide, 4 foot tall and 8 foot long (the size of a 4x8 sheet of plywood 4 foot thick).
A face cord is 16" wide x 4' x8'
There's 3 face cord in a full cord (16"x3=48", or 4 ft.)

What I got was ½ of a face cord, or 1/6th of a full cord.

If you owned a tractor trailer and could toss in 22 pallets of cut wood on it, you could drive it down here in the winter, sell it out of a parking lot and make a bundle for what they charge here! Big John's does basically exactly that, they bring in hardwood from all over the US, saw and split it, bag it and sell it all throughout the South, and at their plant sell it unbagged and stacked on racks each holding ½ face cords. You see it stacked in 50lb. bags ($12.99) on the front porches of most all supermarkets here. Check out their website:

http://www.grillwood.com/

 

[hemi]

I knew what a cord or a half cord and so forth is but the term ''Face '' is
a new one, to me anyhow..Thanx for the info..
I got a buddy that is disabled . We were in the Corps together way
back when. When his health is good he splits and sells wood as a way
of exercise. We been friends since Moby**** was a minnow. I also got
a STRONG homebuilt trailer that is 8'x4' INSIDE. I am a machinist and I am a bit anal about those kind of things. Trailers cannot be found around
here that measure 4x8 INSIDE the side boards. I finally built my own.
Sheet of steel deck plate is 4x8 and sometimes it runs about 1/4 oversize.
Make a long story short, U can take a sheet of 4x8 tongue and groove plywood and drop it inna trailer without removing the side boards or tailgate. But the trailer ain't no bigger than it has to be.
When I take it to buy a half cord of wood I know that if I fill it up slightly
slightly mounded I will have a half cord. Sideboards are 16 inches high.
That is where the ''slightly rounded'' bit comes in.
I tried to buy the wood delivered but folks would sell me a half cord of
wood over the phone and show up with a full size pick up bed about
even with the top of the bed. I just sent them back.. If they sell me a pickup bed full for x amount, fine... I expect a pickup bed full. Half
cord , I am lookin to get a half cord.

Aside from alla that I leave my trailer at my buddy's place for him to use . I only need it a few times a year. About twice a year it will show up in my driveway with a ''slightly rounded'' pile of wood in it. Well seasoned, split apple or cherry ,sometimes oak or hickory. and of course he knows nothing about it. U can tell on this last load that he used his wood splitter to ''pinch'' the ends off to make it 15 inches or less. there will also be a pile of chunks that was pinched off.
My life is full of blessings like that . and finding this forum is one of them..
Hemi..

 

[patriots]

Up here in boston we get oak and maple. I am new at this. I purchased a 1/2 of cord for my outside fire pit. Can I use this in my smoker. Up here smoking is not done often. I know of only one other in my area. We cant get all the other woods you all speak of, unless I go on line.

 

[rickw]

Oak and maple are both real nice for smoking. My main wood is red oak with cherry mixed in.