Firewood Score!

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The word is out in my area that I am always on the look-out for free trees for firewood. You would be surprised how many people come looking for you when you are known as a wood-monger.
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All the wood I burn is free to me. I refuse to pay money for any wood...this commitment was all part of my "return on investment" for purchasing the Hardy H2 and I wrote about this in an earlier post titled "The Wood Game." I sometimes have to go out and knock on doors for possible leads for trees...I sometimes ask my friends, or friends of friends for trees. And sometimes the trees fall right into my lap...or my yard...as in this case below.
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I was watching TV on a recent Sunday evening when my phone rang and it was a local farmer who had just tore down two big locust trees and he asked if I wanted them. The only stipulation was I had to be at his field in 15 minutes with my "big saw" to cut off the stumps, he would load them and dump them in my yard. His field bordered a cranky neighbor who would not tolerate the downed trees being burned next to his house nor would he appreciate the buzz of a chainsaw disturbing his peace. So...I jumped from the couch, grabbed by Dolmar 7900 and drove out to his field. The picture above shows the farmer's job site and one of the big stumps I had to cut off. He held the tree with his machine while I cut off the stump and then he loaded it onto his stake truck.

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Night time was falling hard as he dumped the locust into my yard, conveniently close to my wood shed. How nice is that? I didn't have to bust my back at all for this!


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Here is what my free firewood score looked like. Hey, just think...I can run my saws in the comfort of my own yard! All I have to do is cut these logs into rounds and split them up. Locust is a blast to split!

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Finally, I pulled out my Fiskars Super Splitter and quickly sliced the locust rounds into beautiful firewood. I think I will save this wood to burn for next season. It was a score and I can't wait to stack it.


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I don't think just being known as someone who will take free wood is good enough to fill up your woodshed. You have to have a strong reputation as being responsive and efficient. Had I not been able to immediately load up and jump on this score...and have a saw big enough to handle these stumps...the farmer would have never called me. I know he was pleased with my service and I can expect more calls from him in the future. Even us wood-mongers have reputations. Now, I think I will just lay around until my phone rings again.
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OWB