Buying Wood by the Pound

[Ted Jenkins]

Ryan is right when you have a market jump on it and buy except this year because nobody is selling wood period. Thanks

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Common in northern Maine.

My brother was buying log truck loads, it was sold by the lb.

Same at the mills, they pay based on weight. It's in the area of 2.5- 3 tons a cord, depending on the wood and time of year.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Common in northern Maine.

My brother was buying log truck loads, it was sold by the lb.

Same at the mills, they pay based on weight. It's in the area of 2.5- 3 tons a cord, depending on the wood and time of year.

Several loggers here have told me that they would rather sell flat bed bunk trailer loads by the pound rather than the estimated bd ft. Seems like they are at the mercy of whoever is measuring the logs on the trailer and that varies from one day to the next by upwards of $200 a load. However, somebody has to have a scale than can measure up to 30 tons and those ain't cheap. And, then the more you clean up the log, the kess it weighs.

 

[muddstopper]

I dont sell wood by any measure. I do think I like the ideal of buying and selling by weight. Pretty much every species of wood has the same BTU's by the lb. Of course green weighs more than dry, but at least as a buyer, you know your not getting shorted. You just need to be able to tell if your buying green or dry and dont buy on days its raining

 

[sb47]

I agree with most that by the pound is not consistent. But it may still be a good deal, though I'd want to see each load before I reach into my pocket.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Several loggers here have told me that they would rather sell flat bad bunk trailer loads by the pound rather than the estimated bd ft. Seems like they are at the mercy of whoever is measuring the logs on the trailer and that varies from one day to the next by upwards of $200 a load. However, somebody has to have a scale than can measure up to 30 tons and those ain't cheap. And, then the more you clean up the log, the kess it weighs.

Most mills have scales that are way over 30 tons. Non highway loads are in the 100 ton area. Fairly common to pull doubles or sometimes even triple trailers.

The mill my Dad works at, they go through about 600 cords of wood a day.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

Apparently extremes are in order. Last year was given a 60 tree removal job with only one mid size Cedar on the place and the rest prime Oak. Now I was just given or got dumped on me 1,280,000 lbs of Pine delivered to me until I had to stay "STOP". Thankfully I have a friend with a mill that can use the saw logs. Thanks

 

[Wood Doctor]

Most mills have scales that are way over 30 tons. Non highway loads are in the 100 ton area. Fairly common to pull doubles or sometimes even triple trailers.

The mill my Dad works at, they go through about 600 cords of wood a day.

Double or triple trailer flat beds (50' beds or so) are not allowed in this state. I guess that would be considered a truck train. I estimate the saw mill here might processes 400 cords a day now and then. Several logging companies supply it. The logs are not measured in cords. Instead they use bd ft using the Doyle scale. That's the standard in this neck of the woods. When it comes to big logs, the cord is nebulous unit of measure.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

The mill my Dad works at makes OSB so it's measured in cords.

They haul doubles/triples on private roads. The trailers are 14ft wide I believe.

If you ever watched "American Loggers" that's the area i grew up in.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

Double or triple trailer flat beds (50' beds or so) are not allowed in this state. I guess that would be considered a truck train. I estimate the saw mill here might processes 400 cords a day now and then. Several logging companies supply it. The logs are not measured in cords. Instead they use bd ft using the Doyle scale. That's the standard in this neck of the woods. When it comes to big logs, the cord is nebulous unit of measure.

The logs here are NOT measured in cords or lbs, but bd ft. I have been working with a demo contractor that has to weigh his containers before going across CHP scales then drops them off at my place. I am going to try to pick up the logs and take them to a friends mill where as I can cut the logs and process them for firewood. To process logs at my place is illegal unless I get a permit that will be very costly. It seemed funny to me because it is not often that I know the weight of the wood. The only mill around here makes jointed wood for molding and trim, but they will send trucks to pick up whatever I want to sell them. Thanks Thanks

 

[lknchoppers]

If I was going to buy logs I would just assume it's green and holding 40%+ moisture content. I cut a couple pieces off some red oak about 24" diameter in the wood yard yesterday that I know was cut at least two years ago if not 3 or 4. The bark was off in spots and the wood was gray on the outside. I split it up and measured the moisture content, it was still 30% on all the pieces, still too wet to sell as good seasoned firewood. Most of the guys around here claim they sell seasoned firewood and they all let it sit in the round, then split it into the truck for delivery. It's not seasoned or dry and doesn't burn very well at all. Most have no idea of how to use a moisture meter or why they would need one.

 

[Wood Doctor]

If I was going to buy logs I would just assume it's green and holding 40%+ moisture content. I cut a couple pieces off some red oak about 24" diameter in the wood yard yesterday that I know was cut at least two years ago if not 3 or 4. The bark was off in spots and the wood was gray on the outside. I split it up and measured the moisture content, it was still 30% on all the pieces, still too wet to sell as good seasoned firewood. Most of the guys around here claim they sell seasoned firewood and they all let it sit in the round, then split it into the truck for delivery. It's not seasoned or dry and doesn't burn very well at all. Most have no idea of how to use a moisture meter or why they would need one.

I usually dry it in the round, split it, and then let rt dry several more months before delivering. This year demand was so high that all the splits disappeared, and some were stolen. So, I always tell the buyers this before delivery and they say, "If the rounds were seasoned, bring what you have and I'll wrestle with the splits. It's cold out there."

I have checked samples and found that my wood stove takes a little longer to get hot with these splits, but when it does and I have a bed of hot coals, it gobbles them right up.

 

[muddstopper]

I agree with most that by the pound is not consistent. But it may still be a good deal, though I'd want to see each load before I reach into my pocket.

Maybe I am looking at it all wrong but btu per lb is pretty much the same whether its oak or popular. 5000lbs of either species is still 5000lbs as long as the moisture content is the same. Of course a 5000lb load of popular will look much bigger than the same 5000lbs of Oak. As a consumer, moisture content would play a big part in what I am willing to pay for any species of wood. I wouldnt want to pay top dollar for a 40%mc load of oak or popular, but if the moisture content was equal, there should be about the same btu's in either species. My next question would be how often I would have to feed the stove. Even tho the popular has the same btu's as the oak, it will burn much quicker and require more filling of the stove. Oak would just be less work, but the end heat output would be the same as the popular. Then it would boil down to price, if I can buy the same amount of lbs of popular as the oak, with similar MC, but the popular was half the price, I would go with the popular. I would probably buy a load of oak also for overnite fires. My current wood pile is a hodgepodge of different species and its all in the same stack. I dont even think about what it is when I am carrying it inside, I just grab the first stick I can reach. That is just me as a consumer. But I didnt buy any of the wood so what I cut is what I have.

As a seller, buying to resell, I would still want the driest wood I could buy or at least have a pretty good ideal what the wood will weigh once it does dry out. That way, I could buy and resell (by weight),without loseing my butt because my heavy green wood I bought is now seasoned wood and weighs less. Logs left in log length for 2 or 3 years doesnt dry out and will usually rot before it does. Its not really all that hard to tell if the logs your buying are dry or green. If its in log lengths, it green. Standing dead timber maybe a little dryer than green logs left in a pile, unless it was cut and left laying on the ground for a few weeks before hauling. Then it acts like a sponge and soaks up more moisture than green wood. I guess if I was buying and selling by weight, I would have some sort of scale I paid for the wood taking into consideration the MC of the wood I am buying or selling. A dollar is a dollar and a lb is a lb, it just matters whether your selling wood or water.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Logs dry out. Depending on species, some wood better than others.

I can certainly tell a difference in logs we cut Sept 2016 vs logs cut Nov 2017.

But yes, not seasoned.

 

[Marine5068]

Every once in a blue moon, I get a free load of wood. Certainly not enough to make money trying to sell it. Every tree service around me, at least the few I know anything about, sell firewood. Its what they do during times between tree jobs. Timber companies are now chipping and selling the brush on logging jobs. No more tree tops just laying around after a timber sale. If you go to a logging site, you might get some big junk wood for free, and they might even load it on your truck for you. Free trees around here are usually blow downs around houses, some you can drive to and a lot that aint worth the trouble or risk taking, to scrounge. Still, there is plenty of wood for the taking if you are willing to look for it. And with winters like this one, there is also a very good market to sell to.

Same here

 

[sam-tip]

May I ask which buy sell group or Tree Company? Looking for more processor size wood. 8 to 16" sticks.

Edit I just turned down a free 7' wide silver maple trunk delivered to my house from another a tree company. Said it was solid. They used a crane to put it into the dump trailer. Little big to mill too.

 

[jrider]

May I ask which buy sell group or Tree Company? Looking for more processor size wood. 8 to 16" sticks.

Edit I just turned down a free 7' wide silver maple trunk delivered to my house from another a tree company. Said it was solid. They used a crane to put it into the dump trailer. Little big to mill too.

Don't think you're going to find much 8"-16" sticks from a tree company - unless you mean logging company? I would have turned down that 7' wide trunk as well. Just isn't worth the time to try and make a profit from stuff that big.

 

[Dogsout]

May I ask which buy sell group or Tree Company? Looking for more processor size wood. 8 to 16" sticks.

Edit I just turned down a free 7' wide silver maple trunk delivered to my house from another a tree company. Said it was solid. They used a crane to put it into the dump trailer. Little big to mill too.

Sent you a message with the guys name and contact information.

 

[muddstopper]

Don't think you're going to find much 8"-16" sticks from a tree company - unless you mean logging company? I would have turned down that 7' wide trunk as well. Just isn't worth the time to try and make a profit from stuff that big.

If I had a chainsaw mill, I would rip it down the middle and wedge it in half. Then rip each half again and rip in quarters. then it should be small enough for the chainsaw mill. I bet that size log, if it is indeed sound, would have some very pretty lumber.