What are your business hours?

We are now FIREWOOD BY APPOINTMENT ONLY.    The firewood yard will be OPEN this year on an  'IF OUR MACHINE SAYS WE ARE OPEN, THEN WE ARE OPEN' basis.  as long as it is not muddy in our wood yard.  We have established our wood yard on a base of clay, so we dry out fairly fast after a rain, and you don't get a bunch of old grass & weeds in your wood which is pretty nice, but it also means that after a rain, we do have to close until we dry up.  We usually do have a small supply of pine in a dry area for our customers to pick up should you just NEED the wood, and cannot wait, or the rain just simply won't let up.   This also applies to excess snow or cold days.  Our equipment simply does not start in extreme cold, so as long as we have wood in our main yard, or under the shed, you are welcome to call to schedule an appointment. 
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Is your Firewood split & cured, and what length is it?

We strive to have well cured wood, but depending on demand & availability of trees, it’s not always possible.  With our larger processor on site, it is our hope that when you call, we should be able to supply you with cured wood.  All of our wood is cut to a standard 14 inch length*, and split to a size that will usually work for most stove types, however we do have several customers who want different length wood, and we do supply custom orders.  This is accommodated at a 10% surcharge for the order.  
*this is our standard, but slight variations may occur from time to time 

What is your delivery charge?

At the end of September, 2021, we assessed the delivery portion of our business, and found that with rising costs, and the need to be free to be with family members, it is making less and less sense for us to continue to deliver our firewood further than 10km.    I will continue to do these deliveries for 60.00 come summer.   A big part of this decision is in how much time it takes Scott to actually load the wood.  In order to get an HONEST cord, it takes him at least 3 trips into the back of the trailer to pack corners, stomp down the wood, and make sure we are not selling you AIR !.  This loading time cuts down on his actual processing time, and we find ourselves falling behind  trying to keep up to a delivery list that we never get finished.  This in itself is stressful.   We can still load YOUR trailer or truck for 10$.   But in this process, YOU pack your corners and do the load stomping.   We know this will not work for some, but rest assured, there are many wood yards popping up everywhere, with some happy to deliver.  Arm yourself with the information in our size wise section before you purchase wood from someone who has not had a chance to be proven by the public.  We can try to help with names of good wood suppliers in your area,  or alternately you are very welcome to find a truck trailer unit and we will load you for 10.00 for up to 2 cords.

How much Firewood do I have to order for a delivery?

Our trailer holds 2 cords, & we have a divider in it to partition off 1 cord, so you are free to order any amount up to & including 2 cords.  You may order 2 different types of wood as well if we have it in stock.  We can also deliver to 2 different sites at one location for an additional charge.  The example for this is a local RV site where two friends each order a cord of wood, and I drop off a cord at each site, I will charge each person $40.00 instead of the standard $60.00 delivery charge.  

If I bring my own trailer, will you load me?

Yes, we'll be happy to load you at a charge of $10.00 for up to 2 cords.  We'll provide the tractor part only, & you must be prepared to do the physical work of filling in your corners and leveling your load off as well as any tarping & securing of your load that is necessary.  We find it is neither safe or necessary to offer to load a pickup truck, so be prepared to do this one on your own.

What’s the difference between Tamarack and Birch?

The price would be the biggest difference, with Tamarack coming in at about a hundred twenty dollars a cord less than birch.  The heat value of the Tamarack is slightly higher than birch, and we find the burn time to be approximately the same.  For indoor heating, Tamarack can’t be beat as it burns down into powder leaving you with very little to clean out of your stove, thus freeing you to enjoy more frequent fires with less work.  Tamarack is definitely harder to start than most other woods, and we often hear people telling us they use a tiger torch for their fire pit, or kindling made from some other kind of wood.  Once your tamarack fire is going, sit back and enjoy the heat, or cook simply the best campfire  meal over the extreme heat of the coals.  Both are very high end woods for heating your home, but never leave your fire unattended while your damper is wide open; the heat from these woods is extreme also, and will require you to damper your stove down quite low.  The BTU heat values for different types of wood can be found at Hearth.com.

Which wood gives off the least sparks?

I usually answer this question by saying that every fire is a very individual experience.  All wood has the ability to send off sparks – it depends on how well cured it is, and even where the sap was in the tree when it was taken down.  We’ve had customers spend a lot of money on tamarack for their outdoor fire pits saying that it’s worth it not to get sparks, and then someone will tell us that they have never had so many sparks as from tamarack.  As a general rule of thumb, we sell a lot of pine for campfires.  It tends to have less sparks than spruce (which we don’t stock for that reason), and it's a very nice snappy, warm fire, but well cured poplar is also a wonderful campfire alternative. 

Which wood would you recommend for our campfire?

Honestly...pine is your beautiful 'snappy without sparking', crackly happy fire if you will.  Poplar is a great home heating fuel, but not my favorite for a campfire.  Tamarack and birch burn slowly, so you get a long burning hot fire.  It will all be personal opinion, but I always come back to pine for camping.  I do a lot of cooking over a campfire also, and find it works just great for this purpose.

What’s the best wood for home heating?

We’ve heated with wood for 42 years, and I must say we’ve used it all, They each have their place, and it would be dangerous to give a definitive answer to this question.    Poplar that was taken down green & then cured is wonderful home heating fuel, and does not build up a huge amount of creosote.   Green poplar will produce enough creosote to block off your chimney cap in short order.  Spruce is probably the worst offender for chimney buildup, but then so is any wood that is allowed to smolder.  Again, everyone has a different story.  One customer had a buildup of creosote in their chimney from Tamarack; however, their chimney was 40 feet long.  This is not typical.  Usually a hot fire helps to keep your chimney clean.  The best and most important piece of advice is to clean your chimney regularly, have it cleaned by someone reputable, and keep it inspected.  Check  your chimney cap for buildup which can send smoke back into your home.  Birch & Tamarack have longer burn times than Poplar & Pine, making the price difference even out in the long run.  Make sure your stove door gasket seals securely to get the maximum burn time from your wood, and use your damper wisely, otherwise you’ll send your heat up the chimney.  Check out specific heat values at Hearth.com.

Do you sell Black Poplar?

The answer to this would be a resounding “No – not if we can help it!!”  Black poplar, Cottonwood, or ‘Bam’ as it is sometimes referred to is the familiar poplar tree with the large pointed leaf and the rough bark.  It is the poplar tree responsible for all the fuzz flying in the spring and it is also not a desirable wood for burning.  Holding on to moisture, it is possible to cure it, and even burn it, however, it has the tendency to reabsorb moisture after it is cured, thus making it a poor choice for fires.  When burned, it leaves a lot of ashes, and many large chunks.  It’s possible to get heat from it, but we try not to let any get in our supply.  Once in a while a tree gets in the mix, but we endeavor to keep it at 1% or less of all our poplar firewood.  After we have given away as much as we can for dry grads, etc, we honestly set fire to the remainder.  This image is this 2015 bonfire of several loads of black poplar shipped to us with our white poplar.

I want to save money.  Will you sell me chunks of wood that I can split myself?

Yes, I can sell you unsplit chunks of wood but it will not save you money, as the process to block the wood is the same as to split it.  We would sell you the wood for cord wood price, and you would still have to make it into pieces for yourself.  You gain nothing doing this except perhaps some exercise.

Where do you get all your trees?

Wherever we can source them from at a cost that is realistic.  It’s good to note that generally trees taken down for firewood could fall into the ‘rescue’ category.  We rescue them from being destroyed & burned as power lines, etc. clear trees for right-of-ways, or farmers clear land.  We buy them by the logging truck load from wherever we can source them out. Lumber & pulp mills are presently the large consumers of Alberta’s trees, and as the oil industry winds down in Alberta, fewer trees will be taken down for right-of-ways & it will be harder to acquire logs.  Currently Tamarack comes from slough land or wet land – so Winfield & Breton are a good source – possibly even Nordegg or Rocky Country.  We try to source poplar & pine locally to keep the cost down.  Birch is hard to find, & getting harder every day.  We can see a day when we possibly will no longer be able to supply birch affordably.

Will you sell me a load of logs?

No – you are welcome to search the internet for suppliers who do this. 

There are a lot of firewood yards out there...why go with you?

We would advise people to do their homework, and shop around for your wood supply.  If you have a neighbor who burns wood, ask them where they get it, and how happy they are with the quality and service they receive.  If our name comes up, that's wonderful!!  Come to our woodyard, meet us in person, & check out our operation.  We could certainly supply recommendations, as we've been around a while, and have many repeat customers.  Selling close to 700 cords of wood a year, and much of that one pick up truck at a time, we believe we're on the right track to fitting the needs of many central Albertans.

What is a 'Roman Candle', and how do I get it to burn like this?

Roman candles are fun, and we sell a lot of them every year!  You could hope to go into the forest & find a tree that has decayed in only the center, or you could hope that we have a log waiting for you.  Get a good bed of coals, or a small pile of fire in the center of your pit, and center your hollowed out log onto it.  It will create a chimney effect, and you'll have a great central fire.  To get the fun colors, go to a hardware store, dollar store, or gas station, and pick yourself up a packet of magic flames powder.  Either toss it in, or sprinkle it on the log around the chimney.  You'll have a great time watching the flames dance, and the colors change.  Depending on the type of log, and diameter around, these are priced at roughly $10.00, and you can expect them to burn for up to an hour or more.  We burned one birch candle for over two hours. 

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Just Some Final Thoughts . . .

Sometimes, as with many instances in life, the cheapest price isn't necessarily the best deal.  Firewood that is perfect for your firebox in length, thickness, and dryness may be worth a little more to you.  The picture to the right here is a load I delivered to a very happy customer in the dead of winter.  He posted a wonderful review and this photo to our Facebook page.  I feel his great photo does a good job of showing our cut length consistency. 
​ We strongly advise you to start collecting your winter wood supply early in the year & stacking it in your own yard or woodshed so that you have the final control over curing time. ​

 We are a small family company - and we probably get you!!  Maybe we've even gone through some of your same situations!!  We are ready to deal with  your concerns and queries on a very personal level.  If all of your questions aren't answered here, please feel free to give us a call & chat - we'd love to talk to you. 

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