Free Firewood Guide - Keep More Money In Your Pocket This Winter

My Story

How I heat my home with cheap firewood now

For the past 5 winters, I’ve been getting a load of hardwood slab firewood late each summer from the local sawmill. The wood comes in 16 foot or 8 foot sections. They are delivered on a logging truck and are stacked in a large pile. The wood is debarked and tends to be fairly dry and free of dirt. The loads cost $400 delivered.

For the first three winters, I had been climbing the pile with my Stihl MS 291 and cutting the wood as best I could, but this was slow going. I’d always end up cutting into the winter, after the snow started to fly. Two winters ago I had to dig through three feet of snow in March to find the remainder of the wood pile.

Growing tired of this, I welded up the prototype BranchBuck Firewood Cutting Rack system, and I’ve used this for the past year to speed up the cutting process. Last year I was able to get my wood cut in about a third of the time of the previous years.

With the BranchBuck, I can take my pile of cheap, easily available and delivered firewood, and stack the slabs up 16” wide, 5 feet high, and 8 to 16 feet long, and make quick work of the wood. Each time I stack the firewood cutting rack up, I’m cutting about 1-2 weeks worth of firewood in 10 minutes. For the cheap slab firewood I get, the BranchBuck system allows me to process the entire wood pile much faster than making individual cuts. I feel safer too as I no longer get small pieces of wood thrown into my shins.

As I cleaned up around the property, I found even more ways to use the BranchBuck. A large maple had been storm damaged in my back yard, and I was able to quickly reduce the larger limbs into firewood. This sequence of pictures can be seen on the main BranchBuck page.

These two reasons inspired me to create this website and market the BranchBuck Firewood Cutting Racks.

Where I’d like to get

My dream is to produce all my own firewood, using higher quality hardwoods such as black locust.

I’d like to set up a system where I can plant enough black locust to harvest it every 5-6 years when the wood is still smaller than needs to be split. I needed a system where I can stack and use the small upper branches as well, without having to make a lot of individual cuts. The beauty of the black locust is that it will re-grow from its stump, and I can harvest the trees again after 5-6 years. After the initial planting, the firewood is free.

The BranchBuck Firewood Rack fits well into this dream. I can set the rack up in the middle of the wood lot, cut the trees down, and stack the limbs and branches in the firewood rack and make quick work of the chore.

I’ve written this guide to assist you in thinking about your own cheap or free firewood cutting system, so you can keep more money in your pocket this winter. This page may contain affiliate links to sites like amazon.com, for which I am paid a small percentage of any item purchased as a small finder’s fee. These links don’t cost you anything, and they help me pay the costs of maintaining the site.

Where to find free firewood

Craigslist

Craigslist is a great place to look for cheap or free firewood. If you really need firewood, just post and see what happens. It doesn’t cost anything, and you may score big. If you’ve posted an ad, or are replying to an ad, make sure the firewood is worth picking up. Be sure to ask the supplier how long the firewood has been outside, if it’s been sitting on the ground or not, and why they are getting rid of it. If the supplier says it’s been sitting for 2 years on the ground in the tree line, it will have soaked up moisture from the ground, it’s probably started to rot, and it will not burn well. It’s better to just let someone else take it.

On the other hand, if you post an ad asking for free firewood and you get a reply from someone who has the wood stacked under cover for a year and just is getting rid of it for one reason or other, take them up on the offer.

Side of the road

Where I live, the town picks up wood from people’s properties in spring and fall and after storms. When I drive to work or church, pretty much every week during the spring, summer, and fall there are piles of limbs and even logs free for the taking.

With a landscape or utility trailer, it would be easy to pick up a load of free firewood and take it home to be easily cut up and stack for your winter needs.

The problem with this type of wood would be the smaller twigs and leaves on the wood that would have to be disposed of.

When doing this sort of thing, make sure you are considerate of the homeowner and the town workers. If you dig through the pile, make sure to neatly stack the branches and limbs you aren’t taking. If possible, leave the pile neater than you found it.

Woodlots

There are a lot of woodlots in my area. Maintaining the woodlots will often not be a high priority for the owners, and this could be your chance to come in and take over maintenance in exchange for rights to the free firewood from tree trimmings.

Obviously you need to ask for permission prior to going on someone’s land and cutting firewood. If the woodlot owner hesitates to give you permission, there are some things you can offer such as a portion of the harvest, or even giving the owners some money for the wood you take.

Respecting the woodlot owner’s property is important to make sure you will be allowed back the next year. When accessing the woodlot, make sure the road you take is firm so you do not leave ruts, and make sure to confirm dates you will be cutting wood and also confirm with the owner where to leave the tops and other waste from your firewood cutting.

Businesses with pallets

Pallets are often an overlooked source of free firewood. Businesses often stack unwanted pallets by the road. It’s important to determine what type of wood is used to make the pallets, and this can often change with the area of the country you are gathering firewood in.

Before you take pallets, make sure that the pallets are indeed free for the taking.

The nice thing about pallets is the wood will be fairly dry as the pallets have been kept out of the weather.

If you will be burning the pallets, make sure you will be able to deal with nails in the wood. Most stoves can handle nails without issue, but you will be left with ash that is full of nails. If you are planning on taking the nails out of the pallets, be prepared for a lot of work.

Even if you are not planning on burning the pallets, they can often be used as a great place to stack firewood to keep it off the ground.

Tree Trimmers

Tree trimmers can often be a good source of free or cheap firewood. Instead of chipping up large limbs, it may be easier for the tree trimmers to drop the logs off at your house, or for you to offer to pick the limbs up at the location they are cutting.

Don’t overlook utility line trimming crews. They will often let the logs lie after cutting them down. You’ll need to get permission of the property owner to gather up the firewood.

Often, your towns or county will trim trees and may need a place to drop off the trimmings. These types of logs will often be great free firewood.

Farmers

Farmers will often farm right next to woodlots, and the trees can overhang or fall into the fields. Constantly keeping up with the trees is a difficult chore, and they will often be more than willing to allow you to go in and trim around the outskirts of the field.

Make sure you understand where the property boundaries are before gathering firewood this way.

Also make sure to respect the farmer’s field when doing this. If the ground is fitted and planted, do not drive over the fields. It is often easiest to go in to the fields to trim after harvest and after the ground has frozen.

What to look for in free firewood

Soundness

When picking up cheap or free firewood, it isn’t worth your time to pick up wood that won’t burn. You can check the soundness of wood by picking up a couple of pieces and hitting them together. If the wood has been sitting around for a while and sound dull or even break when you hit a couple pieces together, the firewood is not worth your time.

Mold and mushrooms growing on the firewood is also a good indication you do not want to pick the wood up. Once decay sets in, it’s best to go elsewhere to source your free firewood.

Insects in the wood is also something to watch out for, especially if you are transporting the wood in your car. You will not want to stack the firewood in or near your house if the wood is full of insects.

Thickness

Thin pieces of wood will tend to burn up very quickly. Think of how fast paper burns versus a thick piece of wood. Thicker pieces of wood will burn for a longer time and create a nicer bed of coals than thin pieces of wood.

When you are picking up your free or cheap firewood, think about how you are going to be using the wood. If you using the firewood for campfires in the back yard, it won’t matter much what size pieces you get, but if you are planning on burning the wood to heat your house, look for thicker pieces that will burn for a while so you are not constantly stocking your stove with wood.

Type of firewood

Firewood is generally broken up into two kinds: Hardwood and Softwood. Examples of hardwood are oak, maple, and locust. Softwood examples are pine and spruce. Generally, if the wood has needles, it will be a softwood.

Softwood will be lighter than hardwood and will tend to burn up faster and not create a good bed of coals in your fireplace. They also have more resins and tars that will create creosote in your chimney. If you are planning on burning softwood, if at all possible, have a supply of hardwood on hand to raise the fire temperatures and burn off the creosote.

Moisture Content

When you are picking up your wood, the moisture content of the wood is an important consideration. There are meters you can purchase, but when picking up free wood, your best bet is to judge moisture by looking at the wood.

Dry wood will have checking or splits in the end of the wood, and will have a sharp sound when two pieces are hit together. The bark will often start separating from the wood as well. This wood is probably ready to burn the way it is.

Wet wood will have a dull thud when two pieces are hit together. The ends of the wood will be white, and the wood will feel heavy. The bark will still be stuck to the wood and the inner bark may still be green. If you are picking up wood from the side of the road in summer, it may still have green leaves on it.

Free firewood to avoid

While free firewood is great, there are some types of wood you are going to want to avoid. These types of wood may be dangerous to burn in your fireplace.

Modern fireplaces may have catalytic inserts to help the wood burn cleaner, and burning wood with chemicals, glues, or paint may cause the catalyst to not function well or may even ruin the catalyst.

Pressed wood (MDF, OSB, plywood, etc.)

Pressed wood, such as Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF), Oriented Strand Board (OSB) and any plywood is not good to burn in your fireplace in large quantities. These woods are manufactured and glued together, so you will be burning a lot of glue, which could cause creosote in your chimney or burn at too high a temperature.

Painted or finished wood

Painted wood is also not good to burn in large quantities. The paint could create dangerous fumes or excessive smoke and cause buildup in your chimney.

Creosoted or Pressure Treated Wood

Landscaping timbers, wood from decks, or other wood that is made to be kept outside will have chemicals in it to prevent rot. These chemicals are not good to burn. Creosoted wood will contain petroleum products, so may burn at excessive temperatures which would be dangerous for your fireplace and chimney.

Rot or mold

Rotted or molding wood is also not good to burn. Rotting or molding wood will normally have more moisture, and will not dry out easily. When you do get them to dry, the resulting wood will be very light and full of decay. Not at all worth your time to gather for your wood stove or fireplace.

Cutting and splitting free firewood

Before you figure out what types of tools to bring to cut your free firewood, think about where you will be cutting the wood. You can cut wood with some electric tools, but you’ll obviously need to be near an outlet to do that, or have battery powered tools.

For your convenience, I've linked the images below to the Amazon pages for those tools. I have an affiliate relationship with Amazon, so buying a tool on Amazon through the links below won't cost you anything additional, but will help keep this site up and running.

Location

The best place to cut your firewood is as close as possible to the place you are going to stack your wood for storage. If you cut your wood all over the place, you will have to gather up wood twice: Once when you are picking up your free firewood, and the second time after you cut it. If you cut right where you are planning on stacking the wood, you’ll handle your wood less and be able to stack it up faster and get back to doing things you want to do.

Tools

Chainsaw

A chainsaw is the tool of choice for cutting firewood. Electric and gas powered models are available. If you are cutting wood which may have nails, wire, etc. choose another tool such as a reciprocating saw.

Chainsaws can be intimidating. One thing to remember is to always stay out of the path of the bar should it kick back. A kick back can occur if you use the upper half of the tip of the bar, so always cut with the straight top and bottom of the bar

Holding the wood well is important when you are using the chain saw. Have a friend hold the wood, or use one of the wood holders below. Having the wood held well will also prevent the temptation to hold the wood in one hand and cut with the other.

Eye and ear protection is important when using a chainsaw.

Chainsaws used to be expensive, but now the smaller electric models that you'd use for cutting free firewood or pallets are only about $100.

Reciprocating Saw

If you are able to bring your free firewood home on a trailer or a pickup truck and have a lot of smaller limbs and branches, and don’t have access to a chainsaw, a reciprocating saw would be a good choice to cut the wood with. The reciprocating saw will cut the wood a lot slower than a chainsaw.

You will want to choose a good demolition blade if you go this route. This will cut wood fast, nails and all. A reciprocating saw may also be a good choice for you if as it can serve double duty around the house as a general purpose electric saw as well as your firewood saw.

Reciprocating saws are going to run you about the same amount of money as a good chainsaw, but will require less maintenance time and be a little cheaper to maintain as you do not need to purchase or sharpen chains, you can just buy a pack of blades.

Circular Saw

Circular saws are good mainly for cutting slab wood or other wood that is flat. I would not try to cut branches or lots of round wood with a circular saw. You are also limited as to the size of wood you will be able to cut. If your wood is over 3-4” thick, you will not be able to cut it with the circular saw safely.

Again, a circular saw costs about the same as an electric chain saw. If you have chores to do around the house, it may be a good starting point as it will perform double duty, just like the reciprocating saw will.

Splitting Tools

Any wood thicker than 3-4” thick should be split for faster drying and easier burning. There are splitting hatchets, mauls, and axes available that can help you split up your firewood.

A splitting hatchet is shown to the right. It will do a good job if you are splitting a lot of smaller pieces of free firewood. If you have a lot of wood splitting to do, try one of the newer Fiskars axes, or get a good old splitting maul.

Stands

When cutting your wood, it’s important to keep your wood off the ground. No cutting or splitting tool, be it circular saw, reciprocating saw, or axe, does well when it is run into the ground.

Firewood Cutting Rack

A firewood cutting rack will hold a lot of branches, limbs, or slabs vertically. If you have gathered up a bunch of free limbs and branches for firewood, this is your best be to cut the firewood up very quickly, as you can cut dozens of limbs at once, safely.

You do not need to re-load the rack after each log, so you can run your chainsaw continuously, and turn it off when it is time to re-load the rack. The T-Post design of the BranchBuck, shown to the right, also securely holds the firewood cutting rack in the ground, so it cannot tip. A rack full of wood can yield an entire face cord of wood in about 10 minutes of cutting. Since the entire rack comes apart, storage is fairly easy and the parts can hang on a wall in your garage or workshop.

If you are cutting pallets for firewood, a firewood cutting rack could help you hold the pallets for cutting one way, and then you could stack up the remaining pieces to cut the pallets the other way.

Pallets

Shipping pallets are a good choice to cut wood on. They will keep the wood off the ground, and are made of wood so if you accidently run your saw into the pallet, it won’t matter too much. The spaces between the boards also are convenient to help you hold round limbs or branches for cutting, as the limbs will not roll. The only problem with pallets is they are close to the ground, so they will require you to bend over a lot while you are cutting.

Sawhorse

Sawhorses are useful for cutting flat pieces of wood such as scrap boards, or slab wood. They will hold wood at waist level so you aren’t doing as much bending over.

A sawhorse is really of limited use when cutting free firewood as it can only really hold slabwood, or you will need to rig up what basically amounts to a sawbuck to cut multiple branches.

While the firewood cutting rack, and multi- and single-log firewood sawbucks are single purpose tools, the saw horse is a multi-use tool that can be used for more than just cutting firewood. You can hold boards to cut, or set up a makeshift table with a pair of sawbucks.

Multi-Log Firewood Sawbuck

A sawbuck is similar to a saw horse, except it is X shaped rather than flat on top. This will help you to hold round pieces of wood, but it will only hold one or two logs a time. There are a few options available, both pre-built and home made.

A Steel X-Type Sawbuck is also great for relatively large, short logs. You will need to be able to lift the log into the sawbuck, and you will need to balance the log as you cut it to prevent the sawbuck from tipping. Most steel X-Type sawbucks fold, allowing you to easily store and transport the sawbuck to your firewood source.

Single Log Firewood Sawbuck

Single Log Firewood Sawbuck provides you with a means of getting a large log off the ground for cutting. The log is held to the sawbuck with a chain, which must be reset with each log. While you are cutting, you will need to walk back and forth to each end of the log so the rack does not tip over. This type of rack folds as well, which makes storage fairly simple.

If you are cutting many small branches or limbs, the Single Log Firewood Sawbuck will probably slow you down. In this case it would be much better to go with a firewood cutting rack like the BranchBuck shown above.

Cleaning Up

After you are done cutting your wood there will be a lot of leaves and small twigs to clean up. One way to get rid of these is to have a small fire going in a burning barrel. This can also help keep you warm if you are cutting firewood in the late fall.

Sawdust

Sawdust from your cutting is a great supplement for your garden soil in small quantities, or larger quantities if you have blueberries. It can also be used as a mulch in your garden.