# Getting some pine for free...



## TraditionalTool (Aug 8, 2010)

Free logs are always good, right?

You bet...this stack is fairly deceiving, it's actually a decent pile. The larger logs are 36", there are only a couple of those...most of the others are 15"-26"...









Load me up!


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## mtngun (Aug 8, 2010)

TraditionalTool said:


> Free logs are always good, right?


:agree2:

Some of them are pretty knotty, but you'll find a use for them. Free lumber seems to invent applications.

I don't recognize the species. Native, or urban ?


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## TraditionalTool (Aug 9, 2010)

mtngun said:


> :agree2:
> 
> Some of them are pretty knotty, but you'll find a use for them. Free lumber seems to invent applications.
> 
> I don't recognize the species. Native, or urban ?


I'm not exactly sure, I think they might be Ponderosa Pine, or Sugar Pines...not sure. They were taken out by a contractor that demo'd a small house and building a McMansion for some rich folks...the new house is only 7000 sq.ft...


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## BobL (Aug 9, 2010)

TraditionalTool said:


> ...the new house is only 7000 sq.ft...



Oh the tragedy! 

I've been hanging out with Brmorgan this weekend and I think I have seen enough softwood to last me a lifetime.

This is the straw that broke the camels back.





I'll post more pics about my visit in another thread.


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## mtngun (Aug 9, 2010)

Doesn't look anything like Pondy. I'm not familiar with Sugar pine.





BobL, almost every small town in N. Idaho used to have a lumber mill with a yard full of logs like in your picture. Logging was big business. Most of those mills are closed down now, only a few have survived. Anyway, glad you are getting to see how things are done on this side of the pond.


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## BobL (Aug 9, 2010)

mtngun said:


> BobL, almost every small town in N. Idaho used to have a lumber mill with a yard full of logs like in your picture. Logging was big business. Most of those mills are closed down now, only a few have survived. Anyway, glad you are getting to see how things are done on this side of the pond.



I really did enjoy seeing how things are and were done. The mill Brad works in still had a lot of milling gear that was not being used, eg bandsaw, finger jointer etc so seeing the history as well as current operations of a working mill.
I was also surprised to see how small some of the trees were that were being milled. 

Cheers


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## Brmorgan (Aug 10, 2010)

Bob, as you can see, those logyards are at a quarter of capacity, if that. 

I also forgot to explain to you the two rows of logs all spread out on the ground over in the plywood mill's yard, just above dead center in your photo. Those logs are laid out so the timber scaler can come and figure out the measure and grade of the logs. One in every so many truckloads (don't know the number) must be scaled like this; the cubic meter measure and log grade are calculated against the scale weight of the logs to determine the stumpage rate paid. Gone are they days when you might have 10-12 logs in a truckload and each could be scaled individually! This is one reason the logyards are emptier now too - with everyone milling the lower-grade beetle-killed pine, the logs are often left to dry in rows in the bush before being brought over the scales at the mill, at which point stumpage must be paid (it isn't paid on cut logs). The profit margins are so low that it isn't always worth it to mill the logs as green as possible to minimize grade loss due to drying cracks (especially since Stud grade is so forgiving on shake and splits).

There was a huge snafu back 40-50 odd years ago up here on the Interior stumpage rates and log scale - see, on the coast, pretty much every straight log will have a fairly standard taper as determined by species and length because of the more ideal, uniform growing conditions. In the Interior, you could have a tree of equal DBH but half the height. Before they developed different rules for Interior timber, guys were getting scaled based on the Coastal system, some were getting screwed and some were making out like bandits, depending on the timber they were working with.


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## RPM (Aug 11, 2010)

BobL said:


>



Spaghetti mill ... where production is measured in how many linear ft/sec you can run through it. All of our wood is boomed in a lake for storage - no dryland. Unfortunately everything gets scaled before it goes into the lake and stumapge is paid. Not good when your mill has been shut down for almost 3 years and you haven't made any lumber out of it. 

Glad someone is making boards Brad!


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## Brmorgan (Aug 11, 2010)

RPM said:


> Spaghetti mill ... where production is measured in how many linear ft/sec you can run through it. All of our wood is boomed in a lake for storage - no dryland. Unfortunately everything gets scaled before it goes into the lake and stumapge is paid. Not good when your mill has been shut down for almost 3 years and you haven't made any lumber out of it.
> 
> Glad someone is making boards Brad!



Actually we're milling a lot of 4X4, 4X6, and soon 6X6 posts right now. It's... interesting. There's a bit more money in it though apparently.

The logs there belong to the competition across the road from us. We don't have nearly that many in the yard right now; the forest fires have really inhibited our ability to haul. Your assessment is correct though; it is a ribbon-feed Chip-N-Saw stud mill much like ours. Higher production and more modern than us though.


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## TraditionalTool (Aug 11, 2010)

Brmorgan said:


> Actually we're milling a lot of 4X4, 4X6, and soon 6X6 posts right now. It's... interesting. There's a bit more money in it though apparently.


Here in Cali it's quite a bit cheaper for beams, than it is for 1x12s for instance, so it would seem siding or similar yields more money.

The shame is that most all the yards here in Cali are vanishing...the loggers are having a very tough time, but the few that are working seem busy...my guess is we have more tough times to go through until it gets better.

I wish I could find some hardwood...but I'll take softwood when I can. Just found a trucker that will haul this pile to my yard. We're in the middle of logging season here, which is fairly short, but redwood is at the top of the list for folks harvesting, from what I have heard.


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## BC WetCoast (Aug 11, 2010)

RPM said:


> Spaghetti mill ... where production is measured in how many linear ft/sec you can run through it. All of our wood is boomed in a lake for storage - no dryland. Unfortunately everything gets scaled before it goes into the lake and stumapge is paid. Not good when your mill has been shut down for almost 3 years and you haven't made any lumber out of it.
> 
> Glad someone is making boards Brad!



Is that the Tolko (old Riverside) mill?


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## Brmorgan (Aug 11, 2010)

BC WetCoast said:


> Is that the Tolko (old Riverside) mill?



The logyard in the foreground belongs to the Soda Creek division, yes. On the other side of the road is the West Fraser (formerly Weldwood) veneer/plywood plant.


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## Brmorgan (Aug 13, 2010)

Here's a pic I took at the same time with my wide-angle lens showing all the mills on the west end of town:


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## RPM (Aug 16, 2010)

BC WetCoast said:


> Is that the Tolko (old Riverside) mill?



My operation is the Canoe Division - Federated Co-Operatives Limited just east of Salmon Arm,BC.


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## Brmorgan (Aug 19, 2010)

RPM said:


> My operation is the Canoe Division - Federated Co-Operatives Limited just east of Salmon Arm,BC.



OK, I've driven by that one a few times on the way to Alberta and see Canoe wraps on the trains now and then too. I had no idea FCL owned them though. Is that recent?

Something I found interesting to learn is that the mill across the bay from you guys at Tappen is the descendant of the original mill built there by the CPR during construction of the rail line over 120 years ago. Still milling lumber on the same piece of property!


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## BlueRidgeMark (Aug 19, 2010)

TraditionalTool said:


> I'm not exactly sure, I think they might be Ponderosa Pine, or Sugar Pines...not sure.





Since you're in California, those might be Vanilla Pines. Try sticking your nose into one of the bark crevices and taking a deep sniff. That will tell you if it's Vanilla Pine. Interesting stuff.


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## mtngun (Aug 19, 2010)

BlueRidgeMark said:


> those might be Vanilla Pines.


I had to look up "Vanilla Pine."  Jeffrey Pine ? ? ?

Some people say Pondersoa smells like vanilla. It doesn't smell like vanilla to me, but it does smell good.


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## TraditionalTool (Aug 19, 2010)

BlueRidgeMark said:


> Since you're in California, those might be Vanilla Pines. Try sticking your nose into one of the bark crevices and taking a deep sniff. That will tell you if it's Vanilla Pine. Interesting stuff.


Hmmm...never heard of that...but will give a smell when I'm at the yard.


mtngun said:


> I had to look up "Vanilla Pine."  Jeffrey Pine ? ? ?
> 
> Some people say Pondersoa smells like vanilla. It doesn't smell like vanilla to me, but it does smell good.


For the most part Ponderosa Pine is not of much use, but it will make flooring. I'm still not sure what these are, but there are some needles and I forgot to look and see how they are bunched. That could tell what type of pines they are.

I did get them to the yard this week, and have a small pile of them, which should keep me busy for quite a while. If nothing else these will be 2x6 sub-floor and decking for the porches.

Here's the start of the pile, after one trailer was unloaded. There's my CAT RC60 forklift in the background, that's the truck driver in it though...






After the last truck load this is what I ended up with...That pine on the top of the stack is about 40" diameter. There's a few Eucalyptus in there also...






And of course the day wouldn't be complete without a bit of excitement...I tossed this log off the back of the trailer and played a bit of timber bowling with my roof cants and wall logs...


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