Buying firewood in the Dandenong Ranges
A load of firewood can be sold by weight, by volume or as a lot, and each has its own rule. Knowing which one you're buying tells you what you can check.
We connect you with a local firewood supplier who works in the hills.
Ask for a quoteSherbrooke Forest. Photo: Patche99z, Public domain
Three ways a load can be sold
- By weight
- In kilograms or tonnes, and only the wood counts. The trailer, the bags and the ropes are not part of the weight a seller can advertise.
- By volume
- By the cubic metre, stacked neatly with as few gaps as possible. Width times height times length, in metres, gives the volume.
- By the lot
- A stack, a trailer load or a truck load, sold as it is. A seller who sells this way can't also put a weight or a volume on it.
A seller also can't turn one into the other. Wood varies in density and moisture, and a stack has gaps, so "a cubic metre weighs about so much" is not a claim the rules allow.
Checked 25 October 2026 against National Measurement Institute: selling firewood.
When you aren't there to watch
If you can't see the load measured, the seller has to give you an accurate invoice or note when they deliver it. Keep it until the wood is stacked and you're happy with it.
Checked 25 October 2026 against National Measurement Institute: selling firewood.
Where it came from
Commercial native timber harvesting in Victoria stopped on 1 January 2024. Firewood sold legally now comes from a wholesale supplier, a commercial wood lot, or private land cut with the owner's permission. Native wood such as red gum cut on private land generally needs a permit from that council.
The state reported in July 2024 that firewood thieves damaged or destroyed more than 9,200 native trees in 2023, and that much of the wood was sold on. The state's advice is to ask where the wood came from, ask for a receipt with a business name and ABN, and ask why it's cheap if it is.
Checked 25 October 2026 against Conservation Regulator: regulatory priorities 2024–2025, Conservation Regulator: buying firewood and Victorian Government: escalating firewood theft (17 July 2024).
If a load looks short
Short measure is a matter for the National Measurement Institute, on 1300 686 664. A complaint has to be about the seller and detailed enough to investigate, so keep the invoice. NMI says a seller who short-measures can be fined up to $222,000 an offence, but it can't get you a refund.
Checked 25 October 2026 against National Measurement Institute: selling firewood and National Measurement Institute: make a measurement law complaint.
Asking for a quote
Say how much you want and how it should be sold, whether it needs to be split small for a heater's firebox, and how far a truck can get from the road. Many hills drives are steep or narrow, and that decides whether a load is tipped at the gate or carried in. If you're buying for next winter, the seasoning guide says how long wood takes to dry.
Ask for a quote
Tell us where you are and what needs doing, and we'll contact you as soon as possible.