Help with log definitions

[kamcbrayer]

I am just now starting to sell my wood, rather than discard of it or call someone to pick it up. I got some questions about what some things mean. Pulpwood, chip-n-saw, ply logs, hardwood pulpwood and hardwood saw logs, umm, what other terms may I encounter?

Thanks in advance,
Kevin

 

[371groundie]

pulpwood - low grade wood that is ground or otherwise turned into wood pulp to make paper. if its made of wood it qualifies. some places have limits on dead wood and rotted wood. ask local mills for specifications.

chip-n-saw - usually used to describe a machine used to make dimensional lumber. rather than sawing off a slab, then a board, there is a chipper disc that chips what would be a slab, then there is a band saw that takes a board off in the same pass. this usually happens to both sides of the log at the same time. the resulting 'cant' can then be run through a gang saw or resaw.

saw log - a log that is to be turned into boards.

ply log - a log that will be 'peeled' and made into plywood, must be straight!

veneer log - a log that will be peeled to make veneered wood products. may be a plywood or a solid low grade board with a veneer on what will be the exposed side. must be straight sound and have few or no defects.

biomass - if its made of wood it qualifies. dead, brush, rotted, whatever. some places will buy biomass to burn and make electricity. other places will buy round wood to grind and make into barkmulch.

just start calling local mills and find out if they will buy in the small quantities you are producing. some places will only buy a truck load, other places will buy one or two logs so long as you deliver them. you may also find a logger or log broker who will buy you small quantities and then re-sell them with larger quantites. ask for specification and price sheets. keep up to date ones with you so you can cut the most valuable product. as you get familiar with your local markets you will start to memorize them.

in general all roundwood products should be free of metal and have as little dirt as possible. knots should be trimmed even with the log, not on the branch collar like when pruning trees. the log should look like a pipe.

in general the wood is going to need to be atleast 8ft long to sell commercially. pulpwood can be 8ft to tree length (kind of a misnomer tree length wood is basically the length of the truck body, 12-14ft). pulpwood can be as small as 3 inches in general. many pulp and paper mills have max diameters on their specs because pulpwood generally comes from the tops of trees that have logs in the bottom, so pulpwood usually has a small average diameter.


common veneer log lengths are 8,9,and 10 ft plus 6 inches of trim. common saw log lengths are 8,10,12,14,and 16 ft plus 3-6 inches of trim. some places will pay premiums for longer lengths when they have special orders. generally the longest log you can cut that is still straight is worth the most money. some logs can be as small as 6inches diameter inside bark on the small end.

 

[kamcbrayer]

Thanks so much 371groundie. Broke it down to layman's terms.

 

[371groundie]

mt dad drove a log truck the whole time i was growing up, then i became a forester, then i became a logger. i got in depth knowledge for my area, and a general understanding for the rest of the country.

it will take some practice to be able to look at a tree and see what products are in it. and of course there are always suprises.

i cut a half acre of prime white pines this winter that the butts were clean. beautiful wood. when i cut my log at 16'6" they were rotten. i cut them back to 12s and then 8s and they were still rotten. and then i had to cut another 8 feet up the tree to get back into clean wood. i dont know what caused it but it made me pretty grumpy!

have fun with the learning process and feel free to ask questions.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

ply log - a log that will be 'peeled' and made into plywood, must be straight!

veneer log - a log that will be peeled to make veneered wood products. may be a plywood or a solid low grade board with a veneer on what will be the exposed side. must be straight sound and have few or no defects.

The big difference is that the ply logs are the inside and back payers of plywood, and the veneer are usually the finish side. Most veneer logs around here are bought by the ply factories. Both are the highest grade timber. A big problems with tree companies is that different species will have different requirements. I've sold walnut (cherry these days) that was almost any dimension, while ash had to be 14 ft min length and 18 in dia.

 

[CentaurG2]

pulpwood - low grade wood that is ground or otherwise turned into wood pulp to make paper. if its made of wood it qualifies. some places have limits on dead wood and rotted wood. ask local mills for specifications.

chip-n-saw - usually used to describe a machine used to make dimensional lumber. rather than sawing off a slab, then a board, there is a chipper disc that chips what would be a slab, then there is a band saw that takes a board off in the same pass. this usually happens to both sides of the log at the same time. the resulting 'cant' can then be run through a gang saw or resaw.

saw log - a log that is to be turned into boards.

ply log - a log that will be 'peeled' and made into plywood, must be straight!

veneer log - a log that will be peeled to make veneered wood products. may be a plywood or a solid low grade board with a veneer on what will be the exposed side. must be straight sound and have few or no defects.

biomass - if its made of wood it qualifies. dead, brush, rotted, whatever. some places will buy biomass to burn and make electricity. other places will buy round wood to grind and make into barkmulch.

just start calling local mills and find out if they will buy in the small quantities you are producing. some places will only buy a truck load, other places will buy one or two logs so long as you deliver them. you may also find a logger or log broker who will buy you small quantities and then re-sell them with larger quantites. ask for specification and price sheets. keep up to date ones with you so you can cut the most valuable product. as you get familiar with your local markets you will start to memorize them.

in general all roundwood products should be free of metal and have as little dirt as possible. knots should be trimmed even with the log, not on the branch collar like when pruning trees. the log should look like a pipe.

in general the wood is going to need to be atleast 8ft long to sell commercially. pulpwood can be 8ft to tree length (kind of a misnomer tree length wood is basically the length of the truck body, 12-14ft). pulpwood can be as small as 3 inches in general. many pulp and paper mills have max diameters on their specs because pulpwood generally comes from the tops of trees that have logs in the bottom, so pulpwood usually has a small average diameter.


common veneer log lengths are 8,9,and 10 ft plus 6 inches of trim. common saw log lengths are 8,10,12,14,and 16 ft plus 3-6 inches of trim. some places will pay premiums for longer lengths when they have special orders. generally the longest log you can cut that is still straight is worth the most money. some logs can be as small as 6inches diameter inside bark on the small end.

Great post! The only thing I will ad is about log storage. If you “stockpile” sellable logs till you get enough to make a trip to the yard worthwhile, I have found that graders will deduct 2” off the diameter of the log (yea the big end) because it is dry. Can really ad up on better grade logs.

 

[kamcbrayer]

Thanks for the posts gentlemen.

 

[BC WetCoast]

Log names and dimensions can be very regional and even vary by company, you need to check with your local mills and brokers.

For example, (this is for coniferous wood)
Chip'n'saw here is usually 4" -10" top and the saw produces 2x dimension stock like spaghetti (hence the term spaghetti mills)

Gang logs are smaller sawlogs, usually up to a 12" top.

Standard sawlogs are larger size >12" top

Most logs were 40' long.

One mill I worked for would peel just about anything for their core veneers as long as it was solid and a minimum diameter, but they were producing structural plywood, not finish.

Another mill I worked for would sort all their logs into 2 cm diameter classes and standard lengths. They had about 60 different log sorts. Depending on the order, they would then set the saw and run a whole batch. There was one operator from the time the loader placed logs on the infeed table to the sorting/grading table.