Who sells firewood
in South Jersey

“What does it meter, and when did you check?”

Not “is it seasoned.” Seasoned is a word anybody can say and nobody has to prove. A number with a date behind it is a different kind of answer, and how a seller handles the question tells you more than the number does.

A good answer sounds like: “Last I checked that row it was running 17 to 19, that was a couple weeks ago.” A bad answer sounds like: “It's all seasoned.” Neither one is a lie. Only one of them is checkable.

“Is that a full cord — 128 cubic feet, stacked?”

Loose firewood has to be sold by the cord or a fraction of one — “face cord,” “rack” and “truckload” are prohibited terms in New Jersey, in the advertisement as much as at the sale. Packaged bundles are the exception and are sold by the bundle. The measuring rules →

“Do I get a delivery ticket with your name on it?”

New Jersey already requires one on every non-packaged firewood sale: the seller's name and address, the quantity in cords, the price, the date, and any quality claim they made — including the word seasoned. Plenty of sellers around here don't provide one, and asking is the fastest way to tell a real operation from a guy with a truck.

“What if it reads wetter than you said, or the load is short?”

Two things you can actually check with a meter and a tape — which is why these are the ones to ask about. Ask before you pay, while you still have leverage, and listen for whether they've thought about it. A seller who says “call me and I'll come look at it” has told you something real. The ones who've put that promise in writing carry the Guarantee.

We copied down their phone number

They advertise firewood publicly, we found them, and we wrote down what they publish. No agreement, no fee, nothing on file about their wood. They didn't ask to be here, and if they've stopped selling firewood we want to know so the row comes off.

They put a moisture reading in writing

The seller meters their own stacks the published way, sends the reading with the date, and signs the South Jersey Firewood Guarantee: if a load reads wetter than the standard they published, they make it right within seven days. Top it up, swap it or refund it — their choice which, not their choice whether.

It's their reading, not our test, and the row says so. The Guarantee, in full →

What the seller committed to

A Guaranteed seller meters their own stacks the published way and sends us the number with the date. We publish it in their name, because they signed it — and because a seller willing to put a number in writing is already ahead of most of this trade.

It's a claim, not a measurement we took. What makes it worth reading is the remedy attached to it and the fact that it is dated, specific and public. The Guarantee →

What the buyer's meter said

A pin meter is about $38. Split a piece off the load that turned up in your driveway, read the fresh inside face, and put the number in a review. It publishes next to the seller's claim, in its own column, labeled every time.

This is the check, and it is the only number here that nobody selling anything had a hand in. Add yours →