What dos everyone pay for wood by the cord?

I'm in Old Town. FWIW I get my cooking wood for free from friends and the maples around the house.

If you are getting cherry and apple for $225 a cord that's a great deal IMHO, both go well with all meats. They are all you need.

I'm having a cut, split cord of red oak delivered in a couple weeks. $200 dropped at my house. I'm happy to get it. Red oak is my favorite wood for the stick burner. I also picked up a pick up load of sugar maple for $100 last week. Apple wood I stumble across for free from friends. I watch Craigslist. Fruit tree trimmings show up there once in awhile when people trim their trees.

I bought a Lang patio back in february. about the end of january i bought 1/2 a cord of wood for it. Red oak cut into 12" logs seasoned a year. and he delivered and stacked it for me for $75. He said i could have hickory if i want for the same price but both are really common down here in NC. i have in 2 months used about 1/3 of the 1/2 cord i bought. (1/6 cord i guess) figure i will buy another load at the end of the summer.

Happy Smoking,

phatbac (Aaron)

I live in southern Maine now, but grew up down the road in Richmond.  I'm looking into getting a stick burner and need some wood.  Where can I get some/contact someone to either pickup or have some delivered?  I do not care if they're logs or its already split, I don't mind doing the work.  Most places I've contacted that have wood just mix it together for firewood.  Thanks.

I bought a cord of seasoned wood today that consisted of equal parts Cherry, Almond, Pecan and Oak for $325. I think it was a pretty good deal. I'm in socal and everyone around here wanted like 450 for a cord of oak. And get this The only place I found that actually had hickory and mesquite wanted $1250 a cord LOL, I was shocked.

cb1314 said:

 
I live in southern Maine now, but grew up down the road in Richmond.  I'm looking into getting a stick burner and need some wood.  Where can I get some/contact someone to either pickup or have some delivered?  I do not care if they're logs or its already split, I don't mind doing the work.  Most places I've contacted that have wood just mix it together for firewood.  Thanks.

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Did you try these guys? Looks like they sell to cooking wood. BTW If you get a load of unseasoned northern red oak it will take 2-3 years to season before you can use it in a stick burner up here in Maine.

Good Luck

http://mainecoastfirewood.com/index.php

P.S. I think you meant up the road in Richmond

Wow. My friend delivers me a face cord and half of blended oak sugar maple cherry and apple for $160.
Maybe just alot of trees in Michigan. But I see ads on Craigslist here in the metro Detroit area for Oak facecord for $120.

Jamesoh79 said:

Wow. My friend delivers me a face cord and half of blended oak sugar maple cherry and apple for $160.
Maybe just alot of trees in Michigan. But I see ads on Craigslist here in the metro Detroit area for Oak facecord for $120.

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A face cord is 1/3 cord of wood cut into 16" lengths, your blend is $480 a cord. the Oak is $360.

Jamesoh79 said:

Wow. My friend delivers me a face cord and half of blended oak sugar maple cherry and apple for $160.
Maybe just alot of trees in Michigan. But I see ads on Craigslist here in the metro Detroit area for Oak facecord for $120.

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The way I'm reading this is that he is getting a face cord and a half from his friend.  That would be half a cord.  The blend is running you $320 a cord.  The craigslist face cord is running $360 a cord.

My mistake, still too expensive IMHO.

smelt240 said:

 
Hickory for $150 a cord would be awesome.  I have a pretty good sized piece of woods, thought about clearing an acre or 2 and planting hickory, just for later use.  We have a few acres that is going to be covered in Christmas trees over the next 7 years, maybe a few dedicated to smoking wood wouldn't be a bad idea.  Im going to do some seedling research now...

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Hickory trees take a bit longer than Christmas Trees. You may be waiting awhile:

The shagbark grows best in a humid climate, but is very hardy and will adapt to a wide variety of climates. It begins producing nuts at around 40 years old and continues for up to 300 years. The nuts ripen between September and October and are considered a sweet nut. Though it is the fastest growing true hickory, after 20 years the average tree is still less than 3 inches in diameter and between 8 and 18 feet tall.

Probably even slower in Maine.

Bear

Two suggestions.

1) make friends with the local tree surgeon.  The guy I used to clear some trees and limb what was left in my yard told me he ends up grinding down 80% of the hardwood they cut for clients.  They do sell some split and dried firewood, but he also likes to give some of the cut trunks away (about 10-12' in length.  Reason is if he has a job close by, he can drop a truck load off and be back on the job site to reload in 15 minutes as opposed to having to drive 45 minutes each way back to his tree yard in a neighboring town.   As infrequently as I need wood, that has worked out for me.  I just cut it to length with my chainsaw and rent a splitter for a 1/2 day from Lowes and I'm good for an entire season of smoking and heat from the fireplace.  I can also ask for certain species of wood that are common in our area such as hickory, white oak, and pecan.

2) make friends with your local apple orchard owner and pecan farm owner (regional of course).  They have limbs and trees that either blow down, are trimmed, or culled every season and often beg people to come haul what is trash to them away.  Not going to get cords and cords of wood this way, but it is probably going to be free as you are doing them a favor.   I have about a 1/2 cord of pecan that came from my bosses house when a tree split in a storm last year.  Again free, and he gets a kick out of when I bring in items that are smoked on sticks from that harvest.

For the average smoker, these will work.  For a volume or competition smoker, it may not produce enough wood for a season, but you could augment it with purchased wood as a back up.

Oh and as to hickory, I had 3 trees that lightning hit a few years back in my parents yard.  The largest of them was nearly 4' in diameter at the base.  The tree surgeon who dropped them was more than happy to cut them to length (due to the diameter) and move them to a pile at the front of their house with his bobcat.  He did not even have to dispatch a log truck on that job as I took 6 trailer loads of huge hickory rounds home to split and stack to dry.  I just rolled those big rounds up on the trailer and strapped them down with a cargo net. Split it with a rental splitter at the place where I stacked it. Used that wood in the fireplace for 5 years and still have a little left (and a bin of fist sized chunks I cut for use in the WSM that have been dried in the basement for years).  That was one of the biggest hickory trees I've ever seen.  The smallest of the 3 was a good 2' in diameter.

I cut most of my own wood. I also got a supplier who will kiln any type of wood I want. Prices vary cause I usually give him some Q :biggrin:
But it is nice to be able to get dry seasoned wood on short notice if I get in a bind.

Smelt240, been busy and just wanted to say thank you for getting back to me. I'll take a look at CL and look for the guy in York.  Thanks again.

Central California I can get almond wood seasoned cut, split to length for $200/cord. Oak is about $250/cord. Red oat is slightly more but have to drive 150 miles one way to get it. Grape wood is pretty cheap but burns too fast. I can get almond wood for about $125/cord but it's in 24" logs seasoned. Orange wood is about $100/cord.