How To Find Free Firewood (12 Best Places)

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There’s nothing quite like cozying up next to a fireplace or wood stove in the winter. It has always been our favorite way to heat our home and I find that wood heat is one of the most economical ways to heat. But buying firewood can still add up to hundreds to thousands of dollars a year depending on how much wood you need.

Luckily, there are many easy ways to find free firewood for your wood stove to either replace or supplement the wood you buy. It doesn’t have to be junk wood either you can find quality firewood for free if you know where to look.

Of course, building your firewood pile of free wood will take more time than if you just order the number of cords you need and have it delivered.

But if you have the extra time it can save you a lot of money each year. Make sure to start gathering firewood in the early spring so that it has enough time to dry before the winter months arrive.

You’ll need the right tools to do the job a good chainsaw, a good set of leather gloves to help protect your hands, and an ax for splitting firewood along with proper safety equipment will be a good start.

1. Wood On Your Property

If you own land that has some bush cutting or gathering your wood on your own property is the fastest and simplest option.

Look for dead trees that are already laying on the ground, they are the easiest to cut up. Just make sure they haven’t rotted as rotten wood doesn’t burn well.

If you need to cut down your own trees make sure you know what you’re doing first. If you’ve never cut down trees before learning on your own isn’t a good idea, as it can be a dangerous job.

Select trees to drop far away from any buildings, power lines, and vehicles so the trees won’t cause damage when they fall.

If you are not comfortable cutting down trees then higher an arborist to do it for you. Of course, this won’t make it free but having a professional do the job is much safer.

Another option if you have lots of mature trees on your property is to have a logger come in and do some selective logging. They will want the tall straight trunks but normally leave the tree tops behind. They still have a lot of firewood value and are easy to clean up.

Remember if you are cutting living trees you will have to let the firewood dry for at least 1 year before you can burn it.

2. Word Of Mouth

If you are looking for free firewood the first thing you should do is start asking others. Unless people know you heat with wood and are looking for it they aren’t likely to ask you if you want it.

So start letting your friends know that you are looking for firewood. You never know when someone has wood they have no use for and need it cleaned up. It could be scrap wood like pallets left over from a building project, or campfire wood they don’t need anymore.

3. Online Ads

The easiest way to find firewood is to look at online ad sites like Craigslist, Kijiji, or Facebook Marketplace. A simple search will often bring up multiple options for finding wood.

People who have pruned or taken down trees but don’t need the wood will often give away the wood for free if you do the cleanup for them.

I don’t recommend following up on ads that ask you to cut down trees in their yard in exchange for firewood. There is just too much liability and risk when cutting trees down for other people.

You can also find ads for split firewood that people bought and don’t need anymore. They could have been using it for camp firewood or used to heat with wood and changed over to another method.

If you don’t see any ads for firewood try placing your own wanted ad or setting an alert so you are notified of new listings in the free section.

4. Barter

If you know how to cut and split wood, talk to local farmers or firewood sellers in your area.

Often they can use extra help cutting up logs, splitting wood, and hauling it out of the bush.

Many times they are happy to pay you in firewood for your help.

5. Storm Clean Up

Storms bring heavy wind, snow, or rain that often take down branches or whole trees. The average homeowner might not have the tools or ability to do the yard cleanup themselves.

If you have a chainsaw, pickup truck, or a trailer and the skills needed the best time is to head out after the storms have passed and see who needs help with yard cleanup in exchange for hauling off the wood for them. Many people especially the elderly will really appreciate your cleanup efforts.

Many cities and towns also have drop-off areas where people can leave branches after storms have taken them down. Call your city services or ask the workers at these places if you can take them for firewood.

6. Tree Services

Professional tree removal companies often look for places to get rid of the trees they cut down.

If they are working in your area they might be willing to dump the wood off at your home or let you come and pick it up.

We’ve often received free firewood from companies that drop off wood chips here for our garden use too. You never know what type of wood you’re going to get.

Sometimes it’s pine logs, maple, or birch but it’s all been usable wood.

If you need wood chips for garden mulch you can try using ChipDrop to connect with arborists in your area and you might be able to get some logs for your firewood pile too.

7. Local Sawmill

If you have local sawmills check with them to see if they have mill ends available. Some give them away for free and others charge for them. We’ve found this to be one of the best sources of cheap firewood.

We used to get long mill ends from a local mill, often they had enough wood on them to still be used for building materials and rustic crafts. Now we buy precept mill ends from a local saw mill for most of our firewood.

The pieces are smaller so it takes longer to stack the wood but it’s much easier for me to carry mill ends with my bad back than the larger body wood.

8. Roadside Logs

When you’re driving through the country you’ll often see trees or logs fallen in the ditch.

Sometimes these are logs that have fallen off trucks and have been rolled to the edge of the road. But often they are trees that suffered storm damage and fell.

Unless the owner of the property wants the wood they are often just left in the ditch area to rot.

It doesn’t hurt to ask the property owner if you can do the cleanup in exchange for the free wood.

9. Hydro-Line Trimming

Hydro (electric) companies spend a lot of time maintaining the trees where the lines go through. Often they trim large parts of the tree down so it doesn’t touch the hydro lines.

But they also will remove entire trees when needed.

Sometimes they grind up the smaller branches into wood chips and haul away the logs when working on city streets, other times they leave the logs behind in piles if it’s in an easement in the country.

If you happen to be in the area and see them pruning and removing trees ask if you can take the logs.

10. Construction Sites

If a new subdivision is being built in your area check with the construction companies to see if you can take any of the trees being removed from the job site.

Before construction starts they often take down all the trees and shrubs and pile them up on the side of the work area to be hauled away. This normally costs them money and many are happy to let you have what you need for free.

11. National Forests

​If you live in a country that has natural forests it’s worth checking if you are allowed to harvest wood from them. These public lands are often open for use and a good place to find firewood. Some areas may allow free use while others may charge a fee for a permit.

Depending on the area you might be allowed to cut only certain types of trees either way it’s worth looking into if this service is available in your area.

12. Free Wood Pallets

Pallets also make good firewood and there are many places you can get them for free.

Talk to managers at local grocery stores, farm stores, hardware stores, office supply stores, etc. Often they will have piles of pallets you can take.

Make sure you do some research first before using pallets as firewood. You don’t want to use any that have been contaminated with chemicals or treated with pesticides.

You never want to use pallets that have “MB” on them these have been treated with methyl bromide a pesticide required in some areas of the world.

We personally only use domestic pallets that are “HT” heat treated.

Pallet wood makes great starter wood because it’s so dry but can also be used as your main firewood in a pinch. The downside is that it burns faster because it’s very dry and the pieces are smaller than body wood that’s sold for firewood.

Pallets also contain a lot of nails or staples. Some people like to remove these before burning but that does take a lot of time.

Personally, we prefer to just burn them as is and then sift the wood ashes before using them in the garden or compost.

Once you’ve gathered your firewood make sure you are seasoning it properly so it will burn well for you. One of the most common problems is people try to burn wet wood and end up with a cold smoky fire that just doesn’t put out much heat. Make sure you use dry wood to make a warm fire that will heat your home well.

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