High Quality Chainsaw Bars Husqvarna Toys

What is the deal with tree service wood, Free?

94BULLITT

Super OPE Member
Local time
4:40 AM
User ID
705
Joined
Jan 27, 2016
Messages
496
Reaction score
1,041
Location
VA
Do you get any tree service wood? Do you pay for it? Are you picky about what you tell them you will take? Do you only take wood under a certain diameter?
 

Homemade

Pinnacle OPE Member
Local time
4:40 AM
User ID
2986
Joined
Apr 8, 2017
Messages
1,106
Reaction score
2,699
Location
Wisconsin
Country flag
Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, and be generous when you can.



If they are dumping wood at your place for free, the least you can do is give them some beer or cash to say thank you.

And don’t get picky. Take anything they offer cause you’re doing them a favor. After a few loads you might suggest them to cut it a certain way or not to send you all the knots and crotches but bottom line is don’t turn into a greedy whiny baby when getting close to free wood.
 

Rob Stafari

Pinnacle OPE Member
Local time
4:40 AM
User ID
860
Joined
Feb 11, 2016
Messages
881
Reaction score
3,849
Location
Cincinnasti
Country flag
I'm lucky, get it free and get the pick of the crop so to speak. Of course I don't mind the big stuff, it just has to be good burning wood. That said, if the are on the road and you flag them down, you're going to get what they have in the truck and there's no turning back. I'd ask to make sure it is not full of cottonwood. They're treeple, the will understand you won't want certain things. A friend of mine has a big stack of big(30" +) sycamore logs in his yard because the failed to ask or care what it was, just if they would dump it lol.
 

Hinerman

Mastermind Approved!
GoldMember
Local time
3:40 AM
User ID
624
Joined
Jan 20, 2016
Messages
6,791
Reaction score
34,809
Location
NE OK
Country flag
To answer your questions: Yes. No, never have and never will. Yes, I am picky; i don't want sycamore, elm, sweet gum, willow, cottonwood, small limbs/brush, etc. No, but I want wood that can at least be split once---say 5" and up to however big, 36+".

I have some friends with a tree service. Ideally, I go to the site where they are working and cut, and load what I want and they haul off the rest....win win for everybody. Like Rob said---pick of the crop. They love when I show up because of my saws :), I help them process, I haul off a trailer load or 2 that they don't have to dump, and I am free. They have a mini-loader and load my trailer as fast as i can cut.

I hate when they just dump a load. I don't take 'em anymore....too much brush and small stuff (that I have to haul off), too many diagonal cuts creating a lot of waste, too much knotty stuff, too many odd lengths creating more waste, too much punky stuff. Call me a whiner if you want but I got better things to do. If a tree service want to dump whole logs I would be glad to oblige.

It all depends on your situation. If you are desperate, which I am not, i could see taking whatever you can get, however you can get it.
 

94BULLITT

Super OPE Member
Local time
4:40 AM
User ID
705
Joined
Jan 27, 2016
Messages
496
Reaction score
1,041
Location
VA
I was starting to get desperate. I have been buying triaxle loads of logs. The guy have been dealing with lately, would not call me back. I called him 4 times. The last load of logs he brought me were dry, off his personal pile. So I thought I was getting in good with him. I called another guy that I had dealt with and he did not call me back. I decided to call him again and he answered and he said he got my call but never called back. He is supposed to have me a load the first part of Febuary.

In the midst of trying to get a logger to return my call, I talked to a tree service guy at a gas station. I see him go by my house all the time. He went by Saturday, and I jumped in a vehicle and went up the road thinking be may stop at the gas station. He told me to get the number off the truck and call his boss. The stuff he had the truck that day was 42-48'' stuff. I really don't have a way to handle it, well if it was 42'' I could get it in my grapple. I would probably have to cut it into quarters to get it on my splitter.

I'm still kicking the idea around of calling this tree service guy. His worker said they also sold logs, but a load on a smaller truck would probably be more than what I pay per cord off a triaxle. If I could get a little free wood here and there, that would help things out. I have thought about calling some tree services before but haven't. I think most sell firewood. Then I am afraid of getting a load like @Hinerman described. If I did get a load I thought I could give them a lunch money. They would also be more likely to remember me, and maybe bring me some decent stuff. Thanks for the advice, you all gave me some food for thought.
 

Lightning Performance

Here For The Long Haul!
Local time
4:40 AM
User ID
677
Joined
Jan 26, 2016
Messages
10,991
Reaction score
28,048
Location
East of Philly
To answer your questions: Yes. No, never have and never will. Yes, I am picky; i don't want sycamore, elm, sweet gum, willow, cottonwood, small limbs/brush, etc. No, but I want wood that can at least be split once---say 5" and up to however big, 36+".

I have some friends with a tree service. Ideally, I go to the site where they are working and cut, and load what I want and they haul off the rest....win win for everybody. Like Rob said---pick of the crop. They love when I show up because of my saws :), I help them process, I haul off a trailer load or 2 that they don't have to dump, and I am free. They have a mini-loader and load my trailer as fast as i can cut.

I hate when they just dump a load. I don't take 'em anymore....too much brush and small stuff (that I have to haul off), too many diagonal cuts creating a lot of waste, too much knotty stuff, too many odd lengths creating more waste, too much punky stuff. Call me a whiner if you want but I got better things to do. If a tree service want to dump whole logs I would be glad to oblige.

It all depends on your situation. If you are desperate, which I am not, i could see taking whatever you can get, however you can get it.
I agree. They like people who show up with saws and common sense. In fact....I see all sides of this and have been on so many angles of the dangle.
Giving and receiving wood with and from a tree service. Cutting your own on the clock is sweet. Even sweeter if it's slow and I get to stack the logs on my trailer and go home or where ever.
 
Last edited:

Lightning Performance

Here For The Long Haul!
Local time
4:40 AM
User ID
677
Joined
Jan 26, 2016
Messages
10,991
Reaction score
28,048
Location
East of Philly
I was starting to get desperate. I have been buying triaxle loads of logs. The guy have been dealing with lately, would not call me back. I called him 4 times. The last load of logs he brought me were dry, off his personal pile. So I thought I was getting in good with him. I called another guy that I had dealt with and he did not call me back. I decided to call him again and he answered and he said he got my call but never called back. He is supposed to have me a load the first part of Febuary.

In the midst of trying to get a logger to return my call, I talked to a tree service guy at a gas station. I see him go by my house all the time. He went by Saturday, and I jumped in a vehicle and went up the road thinking be may stop at the gas station. He told me to get the number off the truck and call his boss. The stuff he had the truck that day was 42-48'' stuff. I really don't have a way to handle it, well if it was 42'' I could get it in my grapple. I would probably have to cut it into quarters to get it on my splitter.

I'm still kicking the idea around of calling this tree service guy. His worker said they also sold logs, but a load on a smaller truck would probably be more than what I pay per cord off a triaxle. If I could get a little free wood here and there, that would help things out. I have thought about calling some tree services before but haven't. I think most sell firewood. Then I am afraid of getting a load like @Hinerman described. If I did get a load I thought I could give them a lunch money. They would also be more likely to remember me, and maybe bring me some decent stuff. Thanks for the advice, you all gave me some food for thought.
Do you have time to get paid to cut dead hardwood?
Plenty of trees out there to bid or just go get the dead gravy from small tree services or have them deliver it. They text pics and you approve the load. Be honest and tell them no hidden bs.
 

94BULLITT

Super OPE Member
Local time
4:40 AM
User ID
705
Joined
Jan 27, 2016
Messages
496
Reaction score
1,041
Location
VA
I don't really have the time to go anywhere and cut. If I have a load here and have a couple hours of free time I can go cut it, versus going somewhere to cut, a couple hours of going somewhere to cut would not be worth while. Also people here charge to cut firewood off their land. My neighbor charges $45 a pick up load when a cord of firewood brings $180, or a cord off a triaxle works out to $70-80. A guy stopped in one day wanting to know if I sold wood. He said he had trees on his land that needed cut, he got $25 a load.

I made a guy on craigslist mad last week. He had an ad for logs. I called him. The ad said 2 cords. Then he asked me how big of a load did I want. I said as big as you can haul. He said he had a 18' and 20' dump trailer. I asked how long he bucked the logs. He said these aren't saw logs this is firewood. I said firewood? I thought this was logs. Then he said yeah logs. I was asking how long they were being bucked because is they are 12' he could put one row in his 18' or 20' trailer because two 12' is 24.' He then said he would put some logs on the trailer then some rounds too. I had googled his number and he was a tree service. I think his trying to sell a bunch of random length rounds. He got mad when I asked him to text me a picture.
 

Lightning Performance

Here For The Long Haul!
Local time
4:40 AM
User ID
677
Joined
Jan 26, 2016
Messages
10,991
Reaction score
28,048
Location
East of Philly
Avoid the people who won't do it your way, problem solved.

I can cut a hell of a lot of wood in two hours. More than two men just loading can handle. Two guys can knock out a cut cord and load it in an hour. Hire a helper to get wood off a jobsite or just pay them 50 to load you. Load first. Pay second, happy days. Getting free wood delivered is not always your best bet. Find a place to advertise for tree services wood or just call the locals. Around here they give me wood all the time. Just show up and be reliable. Hell....the smart guys ask where can we dump a load or two when we are in your area. I never take wood like that. Could never keep up.
 

jed1124

Well-Known OPE Member
Local time
4:40 AM
User ID
554
Joined
Jan 16, 2016
Messages
71
Reaction score
182
Location
NWCT
Country flag
Most tree services will not let you cut wood on their property because of liability issues. I know we won't. That being said we are happy to dump wood at someone's property if we are working in the area.
Most folks who are heating with firewood don't want softwood unless they are using an outdoor furnace, and that's understandable. If the truck is getting loaded we are generally not going to sort out what is "to big". Everything 15" and under goes through the chipper unless we are trying to save space in the chip box, so too small is generally not an issue.
Bottom line, be flexible with wood size, but not with species. Nobody wants a bunch of Willow or Cottonwood dumped at their house. Look at it this way, with all the money you save on heating oil/gas you can go out and buy a big saw. And big saws are fun :D
 

Hinerman

Mastermind Approved!
GoldMember
Local time
3:40 AM
User ID
624
Joined
Jan 20, 2016
Messages
6,791
Reaction score
34,809
Location
NE OK
Country flag
I don't really have the time to go anywhere and cut. If I have a load here and have a couple hours of free time I can go cut it, versus going somewhere to cut, a couple hours of going somewhere to cut would not be worth while. Also people here charge to cut firewood off their land. My neighbor charges $45 a pick up load when a cord of firewood brings $180, or a cord off a triaxle works out to $70-80. A guy stopped in one day wanting to know if I sold wood. He said he had trees on his land that needed cut, he got $25 a load.

I made a guy on craigslist mad last week. He had an ad for logs. I called him. The ad said 2 cords. Then he asked me how big of a load did I want. I said as big as you can haul. He said he had a 18' and 20' dump trailer. I asked how long he bucked the logs. He said these aren't saw logs this is firewood. I said firewood? I thought this was logs. Then he said yeah logs. I was asking how long they were being bucked because is they are 12' he could put one row in his 18' or 20' trailer because two 12' is 24.' He then said he would put some logs on the trailer then some rounds too. I had googled his number and he was a tree service. I think his trying to sell a bunch of random length rounds. He got mad when I asked him to text me a picture.

it is hard for me to believe that people will charge you to clean up their blowdowns and remove trees for them. It seems you should be charging them.

Here is my thought on tree services. If you want their wood you are going to have to take whatever they give you and how ever they give it to you. Tree services don't have time to make straight cuts, measure cuts, cull out knots, cull out the small stuff, cull out the big stuff, etc. I understand that, so I don't expect them to.
 

Skeans1

Here For The Long Haul!
Local time
1:40 AM
User ID
6510
Joined
Jun 24, 2018
Messages
1,711
Reaction score
9,310
Location
Oregon
Country flag
it is hard for me to believe that people will charge you to clean up their blowdowns and remove trees for them. It seems you should be charging them.

Here is my thought on tree services. If you want their wood you are going to have to take whatever they give you and how ever they give it to you. Tree services don't have time to make straight cuts, measure cuts, cull out knots, cull out the small stuff, cull out the big stuff, etc. I understand that, so I don't expect them to.

It’s not that uncommon out on the west coast, heck even to enter most places could cost upwards of $300.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

JamesH71

Well-Known OPE Member
Local time
3:40 AM
User ID
10458
Joined
Sep 15, 2019
Messages
5
Reaction score
27
Location
Idiots Out With Ammo
Yes I get quite a bit of tree service wood. No I don't pay for it. It saves them a lot of money not having to pay to get rid of it. Even if they tub ground the whole tree they'd still have to make the mulch go away. They city is actually really rude to the local tree services.

Obviously these days it's mostly ash. There is some elm and cedar. There's also quite a bit of oak and the occasional cottonwood. I'd burn pine too but we just don't see a lot of that being taken down by the tree services.
Occasionally a chain gets bit by an eye bolt or cable they left in. < no I don't go over it with a metal detector first> I ask them to try and avoid that. Other than that I don't specify size they can dump. If it didn't go in their chipper than it's perfect for the outdoor wood boiler.

I have bigger saws and meaner chains than they do; so if they can cut it down, I can buck it up.

Their new schtick last year, so they could put an extra crew out on the weekends they needed to, was if I would buck it up quick for them on site, they brought it to the boiler in their dump trailer.
So they basically get an extra groundie for free in town on the weekends by hauling my free firewood home for me. Since the extra crew doesn't get the bucket truck or crane, it's either a shorter rental boom like a JLG or an SRT climber. Sometimes they'll drop the tree on Thursday or Friday and ask me to take care of it on Saturday. I almost prefer it this way now. I hope we do some more trees this way this year.
I really only got hosed once this way. I was figuring 6 hours on a Saturday to buck up an oak tree, take the last 20 feet down, and load it.<yeah sometimes I'll drop part of the tree for them> It was full of minerals and sand. So it was 9 hours. They offered to buy chains. It was easier to just keep cutting and filing. They brought the wood and beer. It was definately one of those days you piss and moan about how you're gonna switch to square chisel chain or carbide chain. And yet my *pretty boy still hasn't tried square chisel chain yet, so it could still suck just ar bad.

I usually love bucking the stuff up on site. The chunks always come down on ropes or straps, so there's nothing to hit with the saw. The logs aren't pushed around in the dirt, so they're clean. And the 461 and 660 go through it like a lightsaber. <unless it was growing out of a damn sandbox>

If I was less of a *pretty boy I should also probabably learn everything I could about climbing from the real arborist while they are still around. It's not that I'm against SRT climbing per se. I'm just not keen on the idea of falling out of a tree.
Yeah tree service wood is great. But, there's no such thing as a free lunch, a free beer, or totally free firewood.
 

94BULLITT

Super OPE Member
Local time
4:40 AM
User ID
705
Joined
Jan 27, 2016
Messages
496
Reaction score
1,041
Location
VA
it is hard for me to believe that people will charge you to clean up their blowdowns and remove trees for them. It seems you should be charging them.

Here is my thought on tree services. If you want their wood you are going to have to take whatever they give you and how ever they give it to you. Tree services don't have time to make straight cuts, measure cuts, cull out knots, cull out the small stuff, cull out the big stuff, etc. I understand that, so I don't expect them to.

I can give you the $45 a pick up load guy's phone number.
 

94BULLITT

Super OPE Member
Local time
4:40 AM
User ID
705
Joined
Jan 27, 2016
Messages
496
Reaction score
1,041
Location
VA
Most tree services will not let you cut wood on their property because of liability issues. I know we won't. That being said we are happy to dump wood at someone's property if we are working in the area.
Most folks who are heating with firewood don't want softwood unless they are using an outdoor furnace, and that's understandable. If the truck is getting loaded we are generally not going to sort out what is "to big". Everything 15" and under goes through the chipper unless we are trying to save space in the chip box, so too small is generally not an issue.
Bottom line, be flexible with wood size, but not with species. Nobody wants a bunch of Willow or Cottonwood dumped at their house. Look at it this way, with all the money you save on heating oil/gas you can go out and buy a big saw. And big saws are fun :D

I was wondering about the liability of someone cutting at a job a tree service was doing. If I was the land owner I would not be happy about it.
 

94BULLITT

Super OPE Member
Local time
4:40 AM
User ID
705
Joined
Jan 27, 2016
Messages
496
Reaction score
1,041
Location
VA
Avoid the people who won't do it your way, problem solved.

I can cut a hell of a lot of wood in two hours. More than two men just loading can handle. Two guys can knock out a cut cord and load it in an hour. Hire a helper to get wood off a jobsite or just pay them 50 to load you. Load first. Pay second, happy days. Getting free wood delivered is not always your best bet. Find a place to advertise for tree services wood or just call the locals. Around here they give me wood all the time. Just show up and be reliable. Hell....the smart guys ask where can we dump a load or two when we are in your area. I never take wood like that. Could never keep up.

If I have to go pick up the wood, and then pay them to help me load it I would be just as well off paying for logs.
 

94BULLITT

Super OPE Member
Local time
4:40 AM
User ID
705
Joined
Jan 27, 2016
Messages
496
Reaction score
1,041
Location
VA
Yes I get quite a bit of tree service wood. No I don't pay for it. It saves them a lot of money not having to pay to get rid of it. Even if they tub ground the whole tree they'd still have to make the mulch go away. They city is actually really rude to the local tree services.

Obviously these days it's mostly ash. There is some elm and cedar. There's also quite a bit of oak and the occasional cottonwood. I'd burn pine too but we just don't see a lot of that being taken down by the tree services.
Occasionally a chain gets bit by an eye bolt or cable they left in. < no I don't go over it with a metal detector first> I ask them to try and avoid that. Other than that I don't specify size they can dump. If it didn't go in their chipper than it's perfect for the outdoor wood boiler.

I have bigger saws and meaner chains than they do; so if they can cut it down, I can buck it up.

Their new schtick last year, so they could put an extra crew out on the weekends they needed to, was if I would buck it up quick for them on site, they brought it to the boiler in their dump trailer.
So they basically get an extra groundie for free in town on the weekends by hauling my free firewood home for me. Since the extra crew doesn't get the bucket truck or crane, it's either a shorter rental boom like a JLG or an SRT climber. Sometimes they'll drop the tree on Thursday or Friday and ask me to take care of it on Saturday. I almost prefer it this way now. I hope we do some more trees this way this year.
I really only got hosed once this way. I was figuring 6 hours on a Saturday to buck up an oak tree, take the last 20 feet down, and load it.<yeah sometimes I'll drop part of the tree for them> It was full of minerals and sand. So it was 9 hours. They offered to buy chains. It was easier to just keep cutting and filing. They brought the wood and beer. It was definately one of those days you piss and moan about how you're gonna switch to square chisel chain or carbide chain. And yet my *pretty boy still hasn't tried square chisel chain yet, so it could still suck just ar bad.

I usually love bucking the stuff up on site. The chunks always come down on ropes or straps, so there's nothing to hit with the saw. The logs aren't pushed around in the dirt, so they're clean. And the 461 and 660 go through it like a lightsaber. <unless it was growing out of a damn sandbox>

If I was less of a *pretty boy I should also probabably learn everything I could about climbing from the real arborist while they are still around. It's not that I'm against SRT climbing per se. I'm just not keen on the idea of falling out of a tree.
Yeah tree service wood is great. But, there's no such thing as a free lunch, a free beer, or totally free firewood.

It sounds like you have a really good deal worked out with a tree service.
 

Dub11

Saw R skeery
GoldMember
Local time
3:40 AM
User ID
2014
Joined
Oct 21, 2016
Messages
34,438
Reaction score
146,038
Location
Kansas
Country flag
it is hard for me to believe that people will charge you to clean up their blowdowns and remove trees for them. It seems you should be charging them.

Here is my thought on tree services. If you want their wood you are going to have to take whatever they give you and how ever they give it to you. Tree services don't have time to make straight cuts, measure cuts, cull out knots, cull out the small stuff, cull out the big stuff, etc. I understand that, so I don't expect them to.

We don't have any mills in our area. We get a lot of paper at work from Virginia.
 

Hinerman

Mastermind Approved!
GoldMember
Local time
3:40 AM
User ID
624
Joined
Jan 20, 2016
Messages
6,791
Reaction score
34,809
Location
NE OK
Country flag
It sounds like you have a really good deal worked out with a tree service.

Yes, he does. Sounds very similar to my relationship with a tree service. In the past, I have dropped off a trailer in the morning, go back and pick it up after work and it is loaded with rounds cut to 16"!!!!!! I also, if the customer agrees, will go process the wood on the ground after the tree service is gone (sometimes that day or on the next weekend). The tree service chips the brush and leaves the firewood. It saves the customer money and it saves the tree service time.

Also, I have loaned them saws. They have rented my saws. I have loaned them a trailer. I have let them park their equipment at my wood lot. They have stored stuff in my shed. I have fixed a saw for them. I have "tried" to teach them how to sharpen chains...LOL
 
Last edited:
Top