So, about Craigslist and a problem with a seller?

[The Heretic]

Buying & selling cord wood has been a problem forever. Going all the way back to the '70s when my family used to buy and sell some, and before. One man's pickup load is another man's "cord" and rarely do the two measure up. The dispute usually starts with the length of the pieces.
Ideally they should be 16", and most cutters/sellers want to peddle 18-20" wood. They then claim their trailer/pickup etc holds 128 CuFt. And the debate ensues.
This problem existed long before Craigslist, and even before the days of The Nickel ads.

We finally put T-Posts in the ground 8' apart and strung a wire between them, up 4' from the ground, which when full, is a "Rick." 3 Ricks of 16" wood makes a cord.
We'd tell the sellers to "fill-er-up," and when their load wouldn't fill all 3 Ricks, we'd renegotiate the price or tell them to put it back in their pickup/trailer etc.

The bum sellers quit bringing short loads or stopped trying to sell to us altogether.
But it was the only way to be truly compliant with the state's definition of a "cord" of wood.

Yup, back when I was trying to earn a little cash while unemployed - about 40 years ago - that was pretty much the case. One reseller made use stack it and then we would get paid for how much there was in those ricks. Opened my eyes - we didn't intentionally short sell - after all we were selling it for $40 a 'cord' when others were selling for twice that. But most of the time we were selling out of a long bed pickup, which was filled well over the top of the bed, and still was not a cord.

Today I have a flatbed that is 8x12' with an 18" stake sides. When I throw wood in it looks like more than it is until I go to stack it. I hate stacking wood - it is bad enough having to cut it and put it in the truck.

 

[Lilhigbee]

Believe it or not, a cord is a legal unit of measure. In Washington it falls under the jurisdiction of the Dept of Weights & Measures (Dept of Ag?). Short changing a customer is unlawful. You may have noticed that most bubblegums do not advertise "pints" as most are served in 14 oz glasses rather than the 16 oz pint glass.

This!!
In Washington, if you can find the guy again, you have legal recourse. There was a always a note in the Firewood section of the Nickel Ads telling who to contact if shorted on firewood. Must have been a common occurrence for them to point it out.

 

[DirectDrive]

I sent a CL firewood crew packing when they showed up with a short cord.
We've since found a guy that delivers loose and guarantees over one cord.
And he is correct.

 

[Certaindeaf]

struck a cord with me anyway

 

[DirectDrive]

struck a cord with me anyway.
Those firewood hillbillies said I had a pretty mouth.

Fixed it for you.

 

[Mark W.]

Wilco delievered 2 tons of Bear Mountain Wood Pellets to our Carport today. Two nice young guys stacked one of the Tons in an area I had laid out for it in the carport. Nice tight stack. The other one I have to hump into the laundry room (my choice I don't want strangers even nice farmers kids in my house) this cost us a whopping $435.00

I heat my house with a nearly 20 year old Kozi Wood stove we bought from Home Depot and I installed myself (then had the local fire chief sign off on it for insurance) in an average year we will burn 2.25 tons of pellets last year we only used 2 tons and a few bags. Our house is about 1720 square ft and 2 story. We keep a pretty cool bedroom. The only other heat is about 6 weeks out of the year the wife will run one of those Oil filled electric radiator style heaters in the bedroom.

I was so glad to leave wood behind. I have never regretted it.

 

[Lilhigbee]

My firewood comes into the house through a pipe and is controlled by buttons on the wall. One button brings in more firewood and the other brings in less firewood.

 

[Certaindeaf]

My firewood comes into the house through a pipe and is controlled by buttons on the wall. One button brings in more firewood and the other brings in less firewood.

Sounds like a lot a work, bro. nobody got time fo dat
I moved to Hawaii.














not really

 

[Mikej]

It's been one month since I got the wood dropped on the front lawn and 26 days since I called the first time. I called last Saturday and he promised "This week", last week. Now I've got to call him again and I'm a little POed! I've still got wood stacked on the front lawn, and in three other neat stacks, (in case he wants to measure), AND my left over wood in a fifth stack. I want to get this stuff put away and covered. Never know, in this hood, when someone might pull a truck up and make of with your things!

The man I've been speaking to is partners in the Pearson's Art Gallery down between Oregon City and Canby. It's the place with the chainsaw art out in front.

Dammit!

 

[The Heretic]

Wilco delievered 2 tons of Bear Mountain Wood Pellets to our Carport today. Two nice young guys stacked one of the Tons in an area I had laid out for it in the carport. Nice tight stack. The other one I have to hump into the laundry room (my choice I don't want strangers even nice farmers kids in my house) this cost us a whopping $435.00

I heat my house with a nearly 20 year old Kozi Wood stove we bought from Home Depot and I installed myself (then had the local fire chief sign off on it for insurance) in an average year we will burn 2.25 tons of pellets last year we only used 2 tons and a few bags. Our house is about 1720 square ft and 2 story. We keep a pretty cool bedroom. The only other heat is about 6 weeks out of the year the wife will run one of those Oil filled electric radiator style heaters in the bedroom.

I was so glad to leave wood behind. I have never regretted it.

You need power for your pellet stove though - right?

During the winter I use the electric furnace during work days because one hour after I am up I am out the door leaving for work, then when I get home I am usually in bed one hour after I get home (my commute is one hour each way so I am away from home 10 hours and I sleep longer in the winter). During the weekends, if I am home (usually I am) then I start a fire in the woodstove - although sometimes I use the furnace to take the edge off before starting the fire.

When I retire and build, I will try to build with geothermal radiant floor heat and solar.

 

[Lazyfaire]

My experience with craigslist and things I have for sale is simple. Always armed and meet them in a public location. If the item is to big to meet I will meet them in said location and then have them follow me to the house that way I can get a feel for what kind of people they are. Not fool proof by any means but it hasn't lead me astray yet.

I ask them if they'll meet me in the Tigard police station parking lot by the front door. If they say no, no sale.

 

[11Charlie]

I ask them if they'll meet me in the Tigard police station parking lot by the front door. If they say no, no sale.

HAHAHA thats awesome!! You find out quick if they are up to no good that way

 

[Lazyfaire]

If you guys ever get anything stolen or ripped off my local pawn guy said that CL or Ebay are passed to thieves. Now they use OFFERUP as the go-to site. I got car prowled about 18 months ago. Went on there and found my 2 pc Makita drill set (no receipt or manual or batt charger, go figure) and the guy lived within a couple hundred yards of me! I had to call the police about 4 times and finally told them id go get it myself! (yeah I know). They called back in about ten minutes. The police set up a sting and got them back. Check offer up, click on the sellers 'name' and it will show you a vague circle of how close you are.

 

[Mark W.]

You need power for your pellet stove though - right?

.

This is true. At full bore the stove uses approx. 360 watts to run the auger and both fans. under normal operating conditions it takes less then 200 watts. I have a small inverter and a large 12V battery back up. We have never been without power here in the 29 years we have been in the house for more then 24 hours. And I would only have to run the stove about 1/3 that time to keep the house warm enough to get by with a vest or sweater. My house is very well insulated with very good small windows. And easily compartmentalized.

One of the things I am building into my Willys jeep I am building is a HD inverter that can run the fridge freezer and pellet stove. The little 4 banger in the Jeep makes a lot less noise then a 4000 watt generator.

 

[The Heretic]

One of the things I am building into my Willys jeep I am building is a HD inverter that can run the fridge freezer and pellet stove. The little 4 banger in the Jeep makes a lot less noise then a 4000 watt generator.

But it will consume much more fuel and be much less efficient. The generator (probably a generator and not an alternator - right?) or even an alternator on an automobile is not very efficient compared to a genset when trying to create household current - that isn't what it was made for and isn't geared for either.

You would be better off (fuel and noise wise) buying a small 2-3KW "suitcase" inverter genset - although it would be more expensive than an inverter for an automobile.

 

[DirectDrive]

But it will consume much more fuel and be much less efficient. The generator (probably a generator and not an alternator - right?) or even an alternator on an automobile is not very efficient compared to a genset when trying to create household current - that isn't what it was made for and isn't geared for either.

You would be better off (fuel and noise wise) buying a small 2-3KW "suitcase" inverter genset - although it would be more expensive than an inverter for an automobile.

I'm thinkin he's more advanced than an inverter on a vehicle.
Maybe he's putting power to a generator via the Jeep's PTO.
If so, that might be a very nice set-up.

Those Jeep 4 bangers are great motors.
I'm partial to the F-Head motor.

 

[The Heretic]

The amount of power even an older Jeep (about 75 HP) could drive a genset of about 50 KW - enough to power 5 houses. In a power outage most people do not need that kind of power.

 

[Mark W.]

Yes I know an actual Generator would be a better option the thing is we have power outages so rarely here and they tend to last less then 8 hours. Buying and maintaining a Generator that will wake the dead when running is just not cost effective. I had a nice Craftsman 4000 Watt generator that sat around here for almost 8 years. I used it once and it was like having a lawn mower running at 11:00pm. LOUD. The old neighborhood our house is in has very close houses the lots are only 60' x 105'. We sold it and have been without for close to 7 years now and haven't lost a pound of meat in the freezer yet.

 

[DirectDrive]

The amount of power even an older Jeep (about 75 HP) could drive a genset of about 50 KW - enough to power 5 houses. In a power outage most people do not need that kind of power.

Most people don't need 4 wheel drive, but they have it anyway.
Just in case.



I have a friend up on Parrot Mt. that has a 5.9 Cummins powering a monster generator all in a concrete bomb shelter.
He's probably going to have his own Power Company up there if SHTF.

 

[The Heretic]

Most people don't need 4 wheel drive, but they have it anyway.
Just in case.



I have a friend up on Parrot Mt. that has a 5.9 Cummins powering a monster generator all in a concrete bomb shelter.
He's probably going to have his own Power Company up there if SHTF.

My point was that a smaller genset will use significantly less fuel for the amount of power output.

In a SHTF situation, fuel is often a limited resource, and not something you want to waste running a much larger engine and power unit than you need. Unless the genset uses an inverter on its output then you cannot run it at a lower RPM. A car with a generator/alternator - even today's high output alternators - generally does not output enough power at cruising RPM to keep a battery charged when pulling 4 KW from it - especially with the overhead of the inverter itself (an inverter will consume more power than it outputs). Eventually the battery will get drained, and then you are sitting there with a dead battery and less fuel in the tank.

Automobile generators/alternators are not made for that kind of usage.

Now yes, if you run a large power unit from the engine (not a small 30 to 100 amp generator/alternator) you can output quite a bit more power, but you do not need that power to run a single house. A small 10 to 20 HP genset is more than adequate and will use much less fuel than a much larger engine.

Bear in mind, that unless you have an inverter on the genset, you must run the engine at a set RPM - usually 3600 RPM. You cannot (without an inverter) run it at a lower RPM unless the power unit is wired to run at a lower RPM (many diesel gensets run at 1800 RPM). Just sitting there at 3600 RPM, whether there is a load or not, will consume fuel.