Where to Find Free Firewood?
If you do not have an adequate supply of wood on your own property, and you do not want to pay for it by the cord, there are a number of other ways to find it 
1. Neighbours and Friends
Ask neighbours and friends if you may clear out any dead trees they have on their property. During one year, I had three such opportunities. A friend had a huge oak in his back yard topple over during a heavy windstorm. This tree produced nearly a cord of the best firewood. A neighbour allowed woodcutters to cut out a lot of hardwood on his farm and said I could have all the branches and treetops they had left. He was happy to have his woods and pasture cleaned up, and I was thrilled to get more excellent firewood. This wood dried out fairly quickly because it was a month or so before I could saw the limbs into firewood; by that time, the leaves had had a chance to die and help dry out the branches. If you fell trees in the late spring or summer, it is always good to wait until the leaves die before cutting the tree into logs. Another neighbour had trees felled by the telephone company when they ran a new set of wires along his property. Again, I could take what I wanted, and it was mostly choice firewood.
2. Forestry Commissions
Many national and state forestry commissions will allow you to cut several cords of wood for a nominal permit fee. If there are orchards in your area, ask an owner for permission to clean up his prunings and trimmings, which will provide you with some of the best and sweetest-smelling firewood. Sawmills will usually let you have slabs, bark, and outer strips of wood for a small fee, if you load such wood and haul it away.
3. Furniture Makers
Even cabinetmakers may have Firewood scraps for you. Call some local building contractors and ask them if they are about finished with any jobs from which you could pick up the trash wood. Many times, they merely dump such wood into the country landfill. Most of the wood will be pine, but it is kiln-dried and makes the best kindling.
4. City Utility Companies
City utility companies can also be a good source of potential firewood. They are always trimming trees along the streets to clear away traffic obstructions and make room for power lines. The sources can be endless, if you use your imagination and a little elbow grease.
5. Your Own Woodlot
The best source of firewood is your own lot. If you do not own land, but you are a dedicated wood-burner, you should look into buying a few acres or even a whole farm. Most frequently, land which is primarily woods is worth less than tillable fields and pastures. Scrub woods (that is, woods that have been culled of all the big, valuable hardwood and pulp trees) are quite common in many regions of the country, and this land is the least valuable.
Fifteen or so acres of scrub woods will make an excellent start for a woodlot, and there will be enough small trees to thin out over the first few years to keep you in firewood. Unless you know or have read quite a lot about culling, you should call your county agricultural agent and ask him to look over your woods to determine the types of trees to allow to stand, the amount of space required between trees, and other aspects.
If you intend to do some farming, you will want to have fence posts. Ash, locust, and eastern red cedar (juniper) make the best posts. Even if you do not need them, you can cut and sell them for as much as two dollars apiece.
Certain hardwoods are very much in demand for furniture. Find out from the county agent which ones are in demand in your area, and then see if you have any on your lot.
There are several good books and government bulletins on managing your own woodlot available, and numerous articles on the subject appear in books such as Organic Gardening and Mother Earth News.
The joy of owning your own woods for walks, privacy, and provision for all your heating needs is still possible in this age of the megalopolis.
Tags: bait, firewood for free, free firewood, wood burning stoves
[...] are a number of sources for free firewood and inexpensive firewood. Check these out in your [...]
Dear Sir/Madam
I am seriously thinking of re-opening a fireplace, converting from gas to open fire. I have started collecting wood from the roadside and from neighbours, but these are not logs, just scrap wood, fence posts etc. I have had it cut and stored in my wheelie big (large refuse plastic container). I do have a garage but space is limited. Would it be better if I did not keep the wood in my wheelie bin and placed said wood in card board boxes in garage so at least some air will circulate and dry it out. All the wood I have collected has been laid around outside in all elements of weather. Many thanks. Bernadette Clarey
Dear Sir/Madam
I am seriously thinking of re-opening a fireplace, converting from gas to open fire. I have started collecting wood but these are not logs, just scrap wood, fence posts etc. I have had it cut and stored in my wheelie big (large refuse plastic container). I do have a garage but space is limited. Would it be better if I did not keep the wood in my wheelie bin and placed said wood in card board boxes in garage so at least some air will circulate and dry it out. All the wood I have collected has been laid around outside in all elements of weather. Many thanks. Bernadette Clarey