My wife and I are moving about 1000 miles to a new home. We are in the early stages of planning. I have a wood pile (maybe 4' x 4' x 8') of nice dried wood. It would be nice to have that pile at the new house so I don't have to go through the process of drying green wood again. But moving that pile seems like a crazy idea. Has anyone moved houses and brought their wood stash along?
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Moving wood pile to new house - crazy?
- Thread starter Ronald Giordano
- Start date
Yes
Not most of my stash, but more than what my wife thought necessary
Yes I did, both rough turned pieces and large wood chunks, as where we went there is basically only Evergreen trees, plus Poplar and Birch as the hardwood species
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Did the moving company just toss it in the van along with the furniture?
We did all the moving ourselves, I bought a low cost used trailer and took our time moving everything .
ahh -- ok. We are going with professional movers.
We went this way, as our house was not selling fast, and if needed we could go with a professional mover with whatever did still have to be moved, as it turned out we did it all ourselves without the hassles that often go with professionals.
Depending on where you’re moving, you may run into laws about taking raw wood across state lines. I understand that it’s dry, but the state police might not.
One of the members in my club recently moved - he took a 'larger portion than most sane people would take' but still gave a bunch away to other club members. Do you have that as an option - cull your stock, retaining the best stuff for you, and giving some to the club members?
Keep in mind, that depending on where you are moving to - some of the wood you have in hand may be either not available or quite expensive at the new place.
Keep in mind, that depending on where you are moving to - some of the wood you have in hand may be either not available or quite expensive at the new place.
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What to take, what to give away, what stays with the house, what to throw away. These decisions apply to furniture, clothes, machines, and wood.
We made decisions based on sentiment, practicality, and expense.
Moving the wood yourself is a 2000 miles round trip with a trailor. Mileage rate of $.65 cents a mile says $1300 to drive.
Spend a night each way - add in 2 nights lodging $200+. + 6 days of your time ( 1 loading, 1 unloading, 4 driving)
6 days may not have a monetary cost but it may not be there in the calendar.
I generally don’t count food since I eat regardless of traveling but traveling is often more expensive.
What I did was invite the club over - they took a bunch. Also got rid of a few tools. Finding a good home is nice.
I took a bunch of small spindle blanks and few nice platter blanks and about 20 drying bowls.
Enjoy you move! It’s so much fun!
We made decisions based on sentiment, practicality, and expense.
Moving the wood yourself is a 2000 miles round trip with a trailor. Mileage rate of $.65 cents a mile says $1300 to drive.
Spend a night each way - add in 2 nights lodging $200+. + 6 days of your time ( 1 loading, 1 unloading, 4 driving)
6 days may not have a monetary cost but it may not be there in the calendar.
I generally don’t count food since I eat regardless of traveling but traveling is often more expensive.
What I did was invite the club over - they took a bunch. Also got rid of a few tools. Finding a good home is nice.
I took a bunch of small spindle blanks and few nice platter blanks and about 20 drying bowls.
Enjoy you move! It’s so much fun!
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Particularly if the wood in question has bark, you may transport pests. That's how emerald ash borer spread.
Dave Landers
Beta Tester
About 30 years ago, we moved (with a professional mover). I had some nice big mesquite logs I didn't want to part with. Mover looked and said "we don't move firewood". I replied: "It's not firewood, it's 'unfinished furniture'". He put it on the dolly and loaded it on the truck.
I only moved my exotic woods. I didn't move a thousand miles though. I had a trailer and did it myself. The rest stayed at the house. I had enough to do regarding moving to worry about moving wood.
Just do it! 
When we moved from Texas to Florida I moved some of my wood. I didn't have as much as you do but I did have a pile. I picked my best pieces, a hundred pounds or so, and got rid of the rest. I packed the wood in plastic storage boxes which was easy for me since most of my turnings are small pieces so most of my wood fit into the boxes nicely.
When we moved from Texas to Florida I moved some of my wood. I didn't have as much as you do but I did have a pile. I picked my best pieces, a hundred pounds or so, and got rid of the rest. I packed the wood in plastic storage boxes which was easy for me since most of my turnings are small pieces so most of my wood fit into the boxes nicely.Well, you might take this chance to thin out your stash. Depends on the wood. Me, I think I took everything, but I only moved about 5 miles away. I do have a cargo van....
robo hippy
robo hippy
Wow --- I did not even think about that!
Good points! Thanks
I'm definitely more inclined, now, to bring maybe 25% or less of what I have and give away the rest.
Yea, I like the idea of significantly culling down the pile and then just boxing it up for the movers.Just do it!
Dave Landers
Beta Tester
In that move 30 years ago, I walked into the garage and the packing ladies were wrapping my scrap wood in paper - treating it like it was china cups or something!
I'll request that they wear white gloves. Can't risk getting fingerprints on the Anchorseal.
Crazy? No absolutely essential. I have just about finished moving my stack of a couple of tons to the new shop in another city.
You might do well to reduce them to blanks (rather than just logs) to remove bark and potential invasive pests, but also to reduce weight. I've only used a moving company once and they said the rate was based on weight of the truck. After we got our estimate, I took a load with my lathe and other stationary woodworking tools, some wood, and a few other heavy items. I cut the bill almost in half.
We moved from Houston to Indianapolis in 2016 (Yep, about a thousand miles). The moving agent looked at my wood shop and asked what was going with me. I told him everything. The move crew leader went into the shop and asked if I planned to have them move ”all of that scrap wood”. I told him I expected every piece to be loaded. Some of it was packed in boxes, some of it bundled together I even found pieces of scrap that had fallen into out of the way places that got packed up.
Everything left in one absolutely full moving semi trailer. Because we did not yet have a house we knew it was going into storage so they moved it to Indy and packed it in what they call “vaults” which were 4’x4’x8’ plywood boxes on pallets. When we got our house, it showed up in the vaults on 2 semis, a 27’ box truck and a single 16’ box truck just to haul the gun safe.
So, yes, we moved it all and I am still using some of it. That move cost the company over $20,000 because I had to pay taxes on the value of the move. If I had to pay for it myself, I would keep my slabs, my exotics and my harder to get board foot lumber, about 40% of what I have. The rest I would sell or donate.
Everything left in one absolutely full moving semi trailer. Because we did not yet have a house we knew it was going into storage so they moved it to Indy and packed it in what they call “vaults” which were 4’x4’x8’ plywood boxes on pallets. When we got our house, it showed up in the vaults on 2 semis, a 27’ box truck and a single 16’ box truck just to haul the gun safe.
So, yes, we moved it all and I am still using some of it. That move cost the company over $20,000 because I had to pay taxes on the value of the move. If I had to pay for it myself, I would keep my slabs, my exotics and my harder to get board foot lumber, about 40% of what I have. The rest I would sell or donate.
If the pieces are all less than 4' long The cheapest way to move that would probably be by freight line. Load it into the wire cages baskets (IBC totes). You could get a quote from trucking lines or contact Freight quote.com Give the dimensions and weight and number of totes and you'll know. If you have a flat bed trailer or can borrow one and deliver the wood baskets to the terminal and pick up from the terminal . That would be quoted "terminal to terminal" and is the cheapest way. I don't know what the freight classification would be but since it's basically unbreakable it should be a less expensive rating.
Also you don't have to worry about having a forklift. They will offload and load onto your trailer. You can find the IBC totes listed on facebook marketplace or craigslist for $30-60 and re-sell them when you are done. If you get ones that are clean for potable water you can simply cut the top off the plastic tub and load the wood. Nothing can fall out and they can hold the weight.
Also you don't have to worry about having a forklift. They will offload and load onto your trailer. You can find the IBC totes listed on facebook marketplace or craigslist for $30-60 and re-sell them when you are done. If you get ones that are clean for potable water you can simply cut the top off the plastic tub and load the wood. Nothing can fall out and they can hold the weight.
OK, so interesting because we are also moving from Texas to Indiana and the mover's estimated cost for the full house and workshop including the wood was $19k. This is a retirement move (not corporate move) so I will be paying for everything. Yesterday I culled out about 20% of the nicer wood and put the other 80% in the alley for club members. After a week, the city will pick it up for making compost. I am keeping all of my dimensioned boards from my old pre-turning 'flat-work' days. I plan to get a new moving estimate for the 'lighter' house.
Great idea, but the garage-workshop is now full of packed moving boxes and excess furniture. I have to inhale just to squeeze around things.
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brain is dead. yes, exhale to move around.Must be tired from packing
I get bigger when I inhale
Moved about 125 miles twenty odd years ago. Rented a Uhaul truck (a big one) moved a one car garage full of wood. Still have a bunch of it. Found a nice Claro Walnut blank the other day that was from 1989.
I left a bunch of firewood though.
Not moving again.
I left a bunch of firewood though.
Not moving again.
Part of my cost was 2 months of storage. 1 month was included, they charged about 3 grand for the additional month.
Hi Ronald, is there any nice wood in the alley that should find its way to a new home before the city turns it into mulch? I'm in Plano. Don't have a lot of room but,.. we always seem to find a small space for something worth keeping.
I've sent you a private message. Please take as much as you want.