We get major snow storms in the winter here in Maine that bring trees down a lot. The local road crews cut up downed trees that fall on the roads and leave them there in 4ft lengths for people to pick up for firewood. This last winter (2025-6) was brutal and we had several major storms of heavy wet snow that dropped a lot of trees (with the commensurate power outages). It was also unusually cold and I use more firewood than anticipated. I usually purchase 2 cords at $350 per cord for green wood - seasoned is more expensive. This year I nearly ran out of firewood. Luckily I was able to cut down some standing dead trees for friends in late February that really helped. Now it's April and the beginning of "mud season" and a good time for me to go get some of the free firewood on the road sides.
I don't own a gas chainsaw - just a cordless one and a corded electric one that I can power from my EcoFlow Delta 2 battery generator. I load the wood into my Chevy Bolt EV - or use my trailer to haul it home.
Once I get home I can cut and split everything to 16" firewood lengths. This recent batch (in back) was poplar that is easy to split by hand with my 8lb splitting maul. But the big logs in the foreground that I picked up using my trailer are heavy maple, so I'll be renting a gas powered splitter to break that lot down. It should all be seasoned after 6-9 months and ready to heat my workshop and home. I'm guessing that I have over a half cord - saving me over $170 and it's all great exercise!
Nice system - the road crews leave wood in manageable lengths and motivated individuals gain future heat btus. Down here in Texas the road tree trimmers cut it down and grind limbs to mulch on the spot. They then haul it away, probably to a landfill. Granted, very few have wood stove heaters but many have fireplaces. I use a fireplace as an emergency backup especially with unprecedented ice storms every year since 2021.
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