Free wood?
 

Me and the mrs purchased house 2 months ago and the renovation is almost complete, just decorating and a few small jobs to complete.
After a lot of preparation to the fireplace and chimney the wood burning stove is getting installed on Monday:)

I was prepared to buy wood for it as its a lot cheaper than gas, I can get over a tonne for around £100 delivered which would fit in my shed nicely and would probably last us more than 12 months.

Just wondering if anyone on here has a wood burner and if so do you manage to get any free wood?

I was thinking of going around and asking local building firms if I could take their scrap wood as I would assume it cost them to get rid of it. I suppose I could just walk around some woodland and pick up any fallen branches or even take an axe and chop up any fallen trees.

Re: Free wood?
 

'Green' wood will need to be dried or it will smoke and spit like a b@st@rd.

Ask at wood yards, joinery firms etc, they will tons a year of kiln dried offcuts they need to dispose of.

Re: Free wood?
 

Yeah I know it has to be dried, I was planning on stocking 1 side of the shed up with fresh/green wood for the year after to give it plenty of time to dry and another side of the shed with timber etc which would be ready to use now.

I will ask around the timber yards but to be honest i didn't expect them to toss any wood away, I just assumed they would collect all the crap and make it into mdf or wood chips

Re: Free wood?
 

Don't be tempted to burn any wood that's been treated

My wifes German uncle has a giant wood burner that they use all year, but they've got a small area of wood that they harvest from time to time.

All the wood is cut up and dried before they burn it, her uncle built a proper wood store outside

Re: Free wood?
 

You could also check with local tree surgeons. Sometimes they don't just chip it all.

Re: Free wood?
 

Yeah find the pikeyest of pikey tree surgeons, it only all gets fly tipped anyway so you might as well make use of it!

Buy a chainsaw and build some sawhorses.
Find a decent sized tree and chop a good slice of it to use as the anvil for splitting logs.


I find that now people know we have a stove and a saw, relatives and friends generally supply enough wood.

Re: Free wood?
 

I now have an excuse to go out and buy a chainsaw:)

Is it legal to chop up a fallen tree in a Forrest?

Re: Free wood?
 

Depends who's land you're on.


And don't get rose tinted about that, you going to yomp it all to your car? Or buy a land rover :)

Re: Free wood?
 

yes but they get paid for it now. or they burn it to heat their workshops..

Best option is to buy unseasoned wood circa 70£ a tonne and season it over a year..

fire wood is expensive these days.. try mixing it with some coal as that burns longer

Re: Free wood?
 

We burned our old roof timbers - scary how quick they went up. We have at last found a cheap local wood supplier near Shrewsbury, £10 to half fill the back of my Discovery. As for foraging - it's a PIA as fallen branches tend to be an awkward shape to carry, and as they're on the ground they're wet, so you have to keep them for ages until they dry out.