# sawlog prices



## fpangie (Jan 11, 2002)

I am trying to get info about sawlog prices, either standing or roadside.

I have found some info, but I'm concerned about the spread in $$, even for what appears to be the same grade of log.

Frank


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## oakdancer (Jan 12, 2002)

Hey Frank, Here in Scotland we have a monthly auction site wher we can buy or sell standing timber, we just send in accurate details and its sold via the electonic auction, I'm sure you must have a similar site out there, I just bought 100 tonnes of clean spruce logs(5mts long averaging 1.5 tonnes) for £26.00 per tonne, I was offered £38.00 delivered to the mill which would have cost me £7.00 p/t delivery which would have gave me £5.00 p/t profit for just a few phone calls however I went on auction and an outside buyer bid £37.00 per tonne roadside so maybe check that out as it also gives a guide to standing timber prices as well Happy Logging


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## oakdancer (Jan 12, 2002)

Hey Frank check out this site and see what you think, bound to be something like it in the U.S www.beaconforestry.co.uk


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## Gypo Logger (Jan 12, 2002)

Hi There, there are at least 10 different grades for hardwood logs.
It is better to put the money in your pocket by knowing the buyers and the grades, instead of giving the $ away to some mill who pays one straight across price.
Proper marketing of roundwood is part of the learning curve, and it's better that you are driving around in the new pickup as opposed to the mill owner that you sold your logs to.
John


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## John Paul Sanborn (Jan 12, 2002)

If you have a modest stand it is best to find a reputable forester to cruise and grade the lot. They get a 20% commission and monitor the harvest to ensure that there is no theft or damage to future stock. They can also recomned culling low grade trees. If you plan to keep the property in the family don't "cream" the stand, leave some old trees with good charicturisics to throw out good seeds.

Re; Shigos balck walnut study in new england where the stock was all geneticly inferior du to repeated high grading harvests.


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## swampwhiteoak (Jan 14, 2002)

Sanborn is correct, get a forester to help you.

The best way to limit your liability and obtain the most $$ for your timber is to have a sealed bid sale. The variation in timber sales is high, sometimes the high bid will be twice the low bid. Consultants will charge different rates depending on many factors, but 20% sounds a little high. Often, simply by marking and grading the stand and putting it out to bid, they will more than pay for their consulting fee. They will also monitor the sale and ensure that all regulations are followed. They can mark the stand based on your objectives, which will most likely differ from what the timber buyer might find most convienent.


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## oakdancer (Jan 14, 2002)

Hey Guys, any brits out there ?? I just tried answering a question about sawlogs .....didnt realise it was hardwoods as sawlogs here means softwood logs....Butts is the reference for hardwood logs in the UK. I think i'll try talking with an american accent maybe then someone will listen or at least answer, anyway better get horizontal got some butts to fell tomorrow....sorry sawlogs fell means, to cut a tree!


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## oakdancer (Jan 14, 2002)

Hi again, I was wondering if in the US do you guys deal with burr elm logs? if so what prices do they command? also do you put any value on fiddle back sycamore? if so let me know. Cheers Graham


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## Gypo Logger (Jan 14, 2002)

Hi Graham, I havent heard of those species before, but we have Burr Oak here that has limited use. We also have Rock Elm, American Elm and Sycamore. Does fiddleback indicate a certain grain as opposed to species?
John


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## oakdancer (Jan 14, 2002)

Hi John, Burr Oak here commands extremely good prices, we get paid by the hoppus foot probably a british measurement but if its a good butt covered in burr we can get between 20 and 50 ££ per cubic foot and if you get a decent sized butt with maybe 100 ft its a payer, but few and far between here, same applies to burr elm. Fiddleback sycamore is also known as Ripple where the grain runs across and when planked it has a sort of 3d effect, have a look at the casings on a violin if you get the chance, its fairly common but commands excellent prices in winter , worth sweet f all in summer, my kitchen is made of ripple from summer felled butts but to be honest i'd have been cheaper getting a factory made kiitchen from a kitchen company, it cost a fortune to saw dry and have made , but looks good, see if any of you guys can put a pic of a burr oak on, and i'll do the same here, difficult to do with the sycamore as it wouldnt show up, anyway thanks for that info Cheers Graham


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## Treeman14 (Jan 14, 2002)

http://www.ecsong.ca/essays/buroak.html


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## oakdancer (Jan 14, 2002)

Hey Treeman thanks for that, but I didnt realise there was such a species as a bur oak, the burrs I'm talking about is probably what you guys call burls, like a growth surrounding the tree, and no one seems to have a logical answer for these, same as ripple sycamore, no explanation as to why the grain runs across, listen my scannners f...ed at the moment but i will scan these as soon as possible and let you have a look, the burrs we get are on english oaks only. Thanks Graham


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## John Paul Sanborn (Jan 14, 2002)

Q. macrocarpa, burr oak, gets alot of burls on it, there are patches of water sprouts all over them. One explaination I've heard for the name. It is actualy cut and sold as white oak frequently. It is in that subgenus.

I've heard that fid's apear in only tight grained oald growth type wood. When found in tone wood (75-100 years of ring per inch) you can get several $USk per log. one of the reasons no one can copy Startavarious.


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## Gypo Logger (Jan 15, 2002)

Hi There. trees are funny pieces of vegetated matter and there appears to be no known rhyme nor reason to figure in the wood grain or why a tree produces burls.
Figure in wood grain is obviously influenced by stress, lean, exposure, weather, age and geographical region, however, figure such as burl, birdseye, etc., can only be speculated upon.
Although all species produce burl, the largest I have seen were Black Spruce along the Alaska Highway near Fort Nelson B.C. that are as large as a Volkswagon. Yellow Birch also produces extremely large burls as well.
There appears to be three types of burls, trunk burls, aerial burls (in the crown) and root burls.
In California we can find huge Redwood root burls that were turned into table tops etc., which was known in the seventies as "Hippy Burl"
Proper forest practice is not to far removed from managing your garden and doesnt require years of univerity education nor volumes of written literature. It requires just a particular sensitivity to the resource and marketing it for maximum dollar.
John Lambert


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