The cost's of woodburning

Spring is here in the Northwest!  
Above freezing most nights and over 50 -60F during the day!
We even get some sun shine thru the rain clouds from time to time!

I started having long loads of firewood delivered to my field about 5 years ago.
I should have done this 40 years ago!  
Yes a trip up in the mountains is a wonderful way to spend a day....
Even filling the truck with firewood (WORK) it was still a good day...
After doing that 10 times a season you start to wonder if buying wood is Such a  Bad idea after all...
Adding up your time, the fuel in your 8mpg pickup truck, the wear and tear on said truck, the wear and tear on equipment including yourself...
The worry of your spouse while your up on the mountain all day, with a chainsaw, an old truck and no cell service...(of course cell phones were not invented yet)

When I was 25 I thought spending $500 to buy a years worth of firewood was a silly idea...
Now that I'm over 60, I see how much work I still do to process those logs into split and stacked firewood!
It is still work but its work at home!
As I said earlier... I should have started doing this 40 years ago, $1000 for 12 - 15 cords is cheap.
Long loads were only $500 then... of course property was $500 an acre  and gas was less than a dollar...

Yes sir! My dad has gotten his firewood delivered since about 60 or so. Logs and now that he's 75, split. At a certain point you do have to take all the factors into account, especially your body.

Me though, I am a young man.  I got 2 loads last night, cutting with my two boys in a really late snow. It was glorious!

Fully support this.

We have been fortunate enough to have had sufficient large trees down "at home" to not need to go to the woods for the past few years. It makes a big difference. The last big tree was taken down for us by professionals, because it was overhanging buildings. They used their machinery to move the huge trunk sections right next to our woodshed.

Borrowing a splitter capped it off nicely. The hydraulic splitter is seriously impressive, tackling logs that would be impossible to split by hand due to knots and twisty grain.

Hi Thomas,

For this same reason I bought myself a wood splitter I swore I would never own.   And yes, at 72 I had to ask myself the “what if”  my wife and I got really ill at the same time. ... I now have a back up LP heater.  I haven’t used it to heat our home, but it is there with a 30 day supply of LP if needed.

This is not a cop-out, it is a wise approach. At a certain point, we all discover that there is only so much of us to go around. And so, we need to focus our energy on the high-value work rather than trying to do every last thing ourselves.

In our case, the splitter we use is borrowed. A friend bought it and loans it out, so it is doing a good service through the whole community. I haven't calculated it, but I can tell that I work faster with it, can split the "unsplittables", and can go for longer because it is not as tiring. I'm always short on time, so all of those factors are really important.

We're sort of going in both directions.
Going to the woods and cutting down trees is not necessarily an option in the UK. You can go gleaning the previously cut forest areas, but you need a license, and using a chainsaw is a whole other ball game of paperwork. The norm therefore for this area is getting the large loads of logs delivered.  By the time you have arranged the transport it is not particularly cheap, and you still have to split and stack it away. The wood is normally at least mostly seasoned, so once away it is ready to burn. We bought a splitter to save wear and tear on the husband and that as previously said makes that job a whole lot easier. However there is still time involved in cutting and splitting and stacking, so we've gone for delivered loose cut logs that just need stacking away now. It provides an income for someone locally and gives a few days back to my husband who is unable to say "no" to helping people out and so has little time for his own projects.
However, we have created work for ourselves by growing our own coppice trees. These are on our own land so only a short haul up the hill to get away for storage. They are cut at thinner diameter, so no need for splitting. They regenerate from their own roots, so no clear felling, They are hardwood, so hotter burning, needing less volume. I can cut them myself with a reciprocating saw, so no need for chainsaw (or husband's time). With the price of fuel going up the coppice is an investment for the future, and if I/we get too feeble to cut it ourselves, I hope that we will find someone more able bodied to do it for us.

Almost finished with my spring chore!
This year I broke down and paid my grandson $20 hr to help split.
I only got about 7 hrs  work from him over a weekend but its amazing how much faster a 21 year old can split than a 63 year old can or wants too!
Money well spent!  
Yes, I could have used that money to purchase a gas splitter like John finally did.
One day (like John) I will have no choice .
Then this chore will take twice as long and I will have to listen to a gas motor screaming and belching noxious clouds.
But until that day  comes.
I think I will continue to use my 36" Fiskars X-27  splitting axe!

With the help of a visiting Permies staff member, my years worth of firewood is almost finished!
Thank You Gerry!

Getting to swing the X27 was but one of the many enjoyable and experiential things I was able to cross off my bucket list while visiting the Rubino residence.
Helping you to secure a supply of dry split wood also ensures us permies rocket scientists from afar will have a guaranteed supply of new posts to read about your ‘Dragon tales’ through the long winter months.

Good job guys!

Borrowing a splitter makes the work quicker.
But just thought I'd let Thomas know there is a huge difference in woodburning (an art form) and burning wood (producing heat for the house).
Maybe he can do both in the winter!    :-)

I'm one of those people that is lucky enough to have downed trees all over my property.  I don't have to go far to get wood.  Splitting is definitely work, but in my late 50's, it's still work I enjoy, I just do it more slowly and for shorter amounts of time than when I was young.  When I was 15, I split wood all day as my job and thought nothing of it.  Now I cut for a while, split for a while, stack for a while,...  No one thing is done for too long.  

I'm glad for all of you that find a splitter worthwhile.  For me personally, it seems like more work.  I can split a cord of wood with my maul much faster than I can split it with a splitter.  Loading the wood on the splitter is harder on my back than splitting is and it still needs to be stacked either way, so I haven't gone that route yet.  

I did do some quick math on it.  A face cord of wood is worth $235 at LP prices for my area.  That was a few months ago, so I'm sure LP has gone up.  There is a cost associated with burning wood, but that cost is looking better and better.

I love pictures of firewood for some weird reason. So, thanks! Also, that's a rad truck.

So the X-27 is getting some good reviews here. I think I am going to get one. I have been searching for a splitting axe for a few weeks and to be honest I was looking for something with more "soul" but the only splitters that aren't the X-27 are $250+ which is a price I can't bring myself to pay for a single purpose tool.

Borrowing a splitter capped it off nicely. The hydraulic splitter is seriously impressive, tackling logs that would be impossible to split by hand due to knots and twisty grain
...Michael, you are soo right. I remember the first time I used a wood splitter, (we used to do Osage Orange by hand...I was 40 years younger) A good splitter is worth its' weight in gold IMO;  Unless you're young and full of P& V, work smarter, not harder...Your back and joints will thank you when you're in your 60's...I hung up the ole Superman cape about 20 years ago...damned Kryptonite!

Coppicing and/or Pollarding! Right diameter of firewood, on your own property, no splitting, short transport, your choice of wood. Requires some planning, and a year by year pattern, but works and has for a few thousand years.

Thomas Rubino - That isn't a very user friendly site! I went there and couldn't find any way to contact you, went to facebook but there are several dragon technology links. I'm hoping to build before too awful long and RMH is my preference but I can't find anyone to do it near here. Please post contact info. An email address is preferable but a phone number would work too. Thanks

Hi Carmen;
Thanks for the feedback
My email address is  dragontech@blackfoot.net  
That can be found on line,   on the Welcome to dragontech page and on the Ordering from page.

I will edit my site and add an email on every page to make it easier to find.

EDIT)    Sorry but you won't find me on facebook ..  Permies is about it for social media.

I absolutely hate cutting fire wood .but I keep telling myself it keeps me in shape. People pay good money to go to the gym. After six or eight hours of cutting, splitting and throwing wood my body is sore. That is why I  built the rmhf. I  pay  650.00 a load of logs 14-16 face cords 20" long wood per load in good old ny.better than exercise I save around 20,000.00 in fuel oil. That's what keeps me going. Have a great day all of you.

Well Eric;
You could do like I did and pay a grandson to come split  for you!
Even better was my visitor who did a lions share of work this year.
I work maybe an hour or two each morning.  Some cutting ,some splitting and some loading.
Then I walk away and go do something slightly less physical.
Saves wear and tear on the body.

So your paying $650 for apx 5 full cord.  Sounds like a short load of logs.
That's pretty comparable to what I pay.
What species of  wood are you getting?  Hard wood?

Has anybody thought when the last tree is cut or falls down, what will you use then?
I see waste beyond belief in Australia with wood fires, and I guess it happens in many places.
Rocket heaters or masonary stoves from Russia evolved to save wood, but I see many people who want large fires, such one has to remove clothes.

But is there a balance, are there alternatives.
- I built a small house, well insulated.
- I dont have snow, I get to about minus 5 degrees.
- I only light up if the house drops to 14 deg. C
- I wear 3 layers of warm clothes first.

What is available;
- old engine oil
- mass masonary inside
- passive solar heating of interior where possible
- heat pumps

Is there a solution at all.
Will the richest person have the last wood stove in the end?

Hello. I can vary from year to year depending on where the location of the state the loggers are logging. But it  can be. Black cherry, red and white oak, hickory, hard and  soft maple, beech,birch, and some ash is most commonly what I burn. Happy fourth

2023's firewood arrived today!
15 cords of Douglas fir and western larch were just unloaded!
I'll go down and trim the ends back and clean up the bottom edge of the deck.
Then long about October or so I'll put the big tarp on for the winter.

Just wanted to share that I finally got my logs. Do to rain and logging equipment break downs couple months later than normal. I guess better later than never. Mainly cherry and hard maple this year.