cedar logs

[anthony010373]

I had someone want me to log their farm. We will only be taking the cedar logs. He said, he would pay .14 cents a board ft. He has all the stuff to load and get the logs out. So i would just be cutting them. Is this price good? how many board ft could i cut in a day? thank you

 

[spencerhenry]

$140/mbf ? sounds like not much money. what does he want you to do, cut skid, and mill? not sure how to charge other than hourly for skidding using someone elses machine, but as far as milling goes, the price to mill would be at least $.20 /bf but maybe as much as $.32. what kind of cedar is it?

 

[anthony010373]

I guess what i am saying. Is i will cut the logs and he will take them and sell them. So if he takes a load of logs and has 3000 bf then i would get $420 dollars. He is paying me .14 cents a bf. How many Bf could i cut in a day? I live in kentucky. So they are ky cedars.

 

[woodfarmer]

thats kind of like asking how much wood could a woodchuck chuck...

 

[anthony010373]

I guess i am just looking for some ideal on how much i could make a day. If it is worth it or not. I work hard, so work does not bother me. Any help

 

[spencerhenry]

if i understand this right, he is wanting to pay you to fell and limb? if that is all you are doing then $140/mbf is very good for you. in good timber i have cut AND skid 6 mbf in a day, in big timber a good feller should be able to make huge money at $140/mbf. the quality of the timber will greatly affect your income.

 

[Urbicide]

So they are ky cedars.

Just curious but are KY cedars the same as eastern red cedar? Are going to have to limb them too? opcorn:

 

[anthony010373]

If you are from cinn. then you know what type of cedars they are. thanks everyone for their help.

 

[Urbicide]

I have some cedars on my woodlot. They are considered a "volunteer" species because they are among the first trees to appear on fallowed farm land. Eastern red cedar is pretty slow in its growth rate. They are easily damaged by ice and wet snow accumulations. Eventually, other faster growing trees will overgrow a lot of the cedars. The lower cedar limbs will die but they will not fall off. There will be a lot of limbing required as opposed to hardwood timber like tulip poplar, black walnut, etc. Cedar sure does smell nice and the red heart is very attractive. It has a natural insecticide effect so that is why you see cedar shavings sold in pet stores for small animal bedding. Throw a fresh cut cedar on a fire and stand back! Good luck to you.

 

[Ianab]

Suggestion... a weeks trial run.

After a week you will know if you have earned $2000, $1000 ... or $500, and you both know if it's worth carrying on with the deal.

Also you can estimate how many bd/ft in an average tree, and how long will it take to fell and buck? If there is 100bd ft in a tree, and it takes 15 min to process, then you can probably do pretty good over a day.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Rick Alger]

In NH, on commercial jobs, you get around $30 per mbf to drop and limb spruce and fir. You get around $90 to drop, limb and skid with your own machine. If the wood is any good you can do around 4mbf a day once you get used to it. That would be 60 - 80 trees. $140 sounds like terrific money.

I second Ianab's advice. Buy or borrow a scale stick to help make accurate volume measurements and then time yourself. Get all the safety equipment too.

 

[sILlogger]

$.13 is great money to be making just for cutting!! around here it usually pays between $.015-.04. And it only pays $.09-$.12 if you are running your own log skidder & loader to get the logs out.. I'd be able to make a killin' if i got $.13 to just drop&top....man o man that would be a good time. (10,000 bdft a day X $.13=$1300) i think i could live with that. what will you be using to drag the logs out? the cedar that we have around here isn't very big, so i don't know what sort of footage that you are looking at

 

[IndyIan]

Your Eastern Redcedar sounds about the same as the White Cedar up here, in terms of size and having alot of branches. Make sure you know what scale will be used as it can make a big difference on what a smaller log scales out to.
Also, I only use my 141 as even it will pull a 16" bar buried and a lighter saw is much nicer to limb with all those branches...
Sounds like a fun job!
Ian

 

[anthony010373]

thanks for all the help everyone. I might be starting on it monday, i will let you know how it goes.

 

[joesawer]

If it is eastern aromatic ceder, it has its own scale wich is much better than the Doyle rule, especially for small diameter. Make sure you are getting paid by the ceder scale as it will be a lot of small diameter, short lengths and a lot of limbs.

 

[anthony010373]

where can i find a scale on measuring logs. the bf in logs.

 

[joesawer]

Google log scales.
International, Scribner, and Doyle are the three big ones.
What you will be looking for is Eastern Aromatic Ceder Scale.

 

[Rick Alger]

Labonvilles or Baileys, both on this board. Get the type with the Biltmore scale on the backside so you can scale standing trees as well as logs.

 

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