The Price of Wood

Hitherto, because we have lots of trees on our land, we've used locals to harvest it.  €10/hour to cut and split it.  €70 for the tractor driver to move it. 

However this year, for complex reasons, the system went pear shaped.  So we went to our local loggers in the village.  Could they provide chopped and split seasoned wood and, if so, how much would it cost?

Well knock me down with a feather!   Of course they could - and at €12/quintal!  I'm gobsmacked!

What do you pay?

Nothing, as still going through the 50 quintale we bought 10 years ago. Think there are still about 25-30 left

60 euros a ton for olive wood.

modicasa wrote:60 euros a ton for olive wood.

Wow!  A (UK) ton is 1016 kg - so 10 or so quintal.  So you're paying €6/quintal?  Am I being ripped off locally or is there a 'mathematical inexactitude' somewhere? 

Incidentally do we have a view on the plural of 'euro'?  I was led to believe that the official line is:- 'One euro' and '2 or more euro'.  However, since the Brexit vote, I guess we can call them whatever we want! 

Well, olive wood is heavy, dense, so weighs more than other woods.  And to be fair they say a ton, but they mean a camioncino load  Who knows how much it actually weighs.    Its what is used in pizza ovens so as everyone has to prune their trees theres a good supply.   Im in Siciily though, so it bears little comparison wiht Abruzzo.   Depends what the wood is though - in the UK my mum pays what you pay for wood.

In Marche we used to pay €12 a quintale. Sounds about to me. It does depend on what wood you will be getting - oak, beech etc?

Here olive wood is between €17 and €20 a quintale do Modi has a bargain.

Here in Marche, we pay circa €14 per quintale....................good wood !

V

Thank you all for your (as ever) very helpful comments.

I'll let you know, in due course, whether the wood I get burns with a good heat or just splutters and spits!

My Sr. Furbo here in Umbria charges €10/q  mainly oak with quite a few spindles hidden in the load which I take as quid pro quo for the price.. ... I'm buying it now to bake unstacked for a while.  I sometimes go and saw down a tree but it's really hard work. The price has fallen due to Eastern Europeans moving in on the locals

Funnily enough I was looking at this site earlier today and reading this thread, and then I went to do some tidying and sorting and found this poem hanging around. I cant remember where it came from (sorry if it was on this forum) and dont know who it is by but it seems to fit well here.
     Logs to Burn

Beechwood fires burn bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year:
Store your beech for Christmastide,
With new-cut holly laid beside.
Chestnut's only good they say, 
If for years 'tis stored away:
Birch and firwood burn too fast,
Blaze too bright and do not last;
Flames from larch will shoot up high,
Dangerously the sparks will fly.                                                
But ashwood green and ashwood brown
Are fit for a queen with a golden crown.
Oaken logs, if dry and old,
Keep away the winter's cold;
Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke;
Elmwood burns like churchyard mould,
E'en the very flames are cold.
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread-
So it is in Ireland said;
Applewood will scent the room,
Pearwood smells like flowers in bloom,
But ashwood wet and ashwood dry
A king may warm his slippers by.

This probably relates to open fires. No mention of olive wood of course, or even acacia, which my Italian neighbour highly recommends as one of the best types of wood - long lasting.

Ah ha!  The Poet Laureate of the Italy Forum.   Excellent.

Love it!