Best time to cut firewood

[tmjohnson]

I am tired of paying for firewood and would like to know when is the best time to cut.
I read on the forest service site that you pay them 20 dollars a cord to cut on public forest.
I only have a 2 wheel drive truck so can anybody tell me where to cut.
Any other information would be helpful. I have enough wood to last this winter, just getting a jump on next year.

[Alpha2]

I don't know if this helps, but the word in Michigan when I was unfortunately living there for 20 years, was "cut it in Winter, and it warms you twice". The other advantage is that when the wood is really cold, it splits a lot easier.
And $20 a cord? That is a LOT of wood! That's a bargain.

[SideShow Bob]

First off get a trailer to make it worth the trip. Cut as early as possible to be able to let it season before winter or go for the older bettle kill trees if you need to use it right away.
As to where and how on the public lands I don't know about. I haven't had a real wood burning fireplace for several years. When I did, I was always scavenging construction sites, chainsaw went to work with me every day and I would stick around after work and cut a truck load when and where possible. Of course these were sites where the company had jobs going on.

[Irving]

Doesn't matter when you cut the wood, so long as you season it for long enough. So the answer is, "cut early and cut often."

[Holger Danske]

Early afternoon is the best time to cut wood. j/k.

As a kid my dad heated primarily by wood. we would lay in six cords or so a year. As mentioned get a trailer that can hold a cord. We pulled wood out of the natl forest in western Colorado on permit. Find a large dead tree that isnt too far from the trailer. Cut the tree down and cut it to lenghts that will fit your stove. Carry to trailer stack and repeat. If you have kids take them along the work builds "character.". When you get it home split it and stack it to season before the winter.

[funkymonkey1111]

pine will season in 30 days here. cut it whenever you want. if you look on craiglist you will often see folks wanting to get rid of beetle kill wood--all you need to do is go get it.

[Dave]

When I had a fireplace I went on craigslist and got free/cheap wood. Found one that the trees were down from wind, I just had to help cut them into pieces and haul away for free. They got the trees removed and I got firewood. Though for $20 a cord, I wish I had a pickup again to go grab some and keep extra around for SHTF stock.

[Sixgun]

Depends on where you get the permit. I can tell you it's a lot of work. I use to go up to Fraser because they would cut the logs into 4ft sections. Saved a ton of time.
When my wife had the cancer I was going through 8-9 cords a year. I'm burned out on splitting wood.. Lol
I got a 6x10 trailer that helped out loading and unloading.

[Mtn.man]

When you run out of wood, you get cold
When you get cold, you panic.
When you panic, you overload your truck.
Don't overload your truck.


Get a trailer

[hatidua]

would like to know when is the best time to cut

When the saw has oil, gas, and a sharp blade.

-not meant as a flippant response, I'd happily fire up the Stihl if you were local.