questions on wood value

[mcb]

two scenarios:

#1

ive been taking my pines down.. cut up the first group, what is still standing has been delimbed and has to be dropped this spring. im thinking about bringing the logs to a mill myself and wonder what i can expect. how are they graded, what lengths should i cut them in and so forth? you can assume my ignorance on this topic.

here are the 3 i have left.

#2

i'm in a 4wd club, we are always looking for private property to wheel. i tend to collect firewood while im scouting old roads (public rights of way only, legal to clear trees from within road boundaries in MA. i would never steal a tree.)
recently i was coming home empty handed and stopped to ask about a big maple that came down in a field after an ice storm. the owner is a 91 year old farmer on a pacemaker with nearly 300 acres, and a LOAD of trees down. he's a good guy, was thrilled that i would take it and wants me to pull others which i gladly will. he mentioned having to hire someone for his ancient hard maples (white) and i said i climb, that id pull them for the wood just to help him out. im not looking to charge him, i would rather he pays me in 4x4 access to his acreage eventually, but if not thats okay too, i wont be bitter. this one guy guarantees my heating for the next 5 years and its a joy for me to run saw up on the mountain out there. i think his children have all passed and i get a good feeling out of helping old folks.. i was raised by grandparents.

so anyway. the first tree was about 30 inches at the base and went to my friend for firewood.. we cut it in pretty big slabs and i couldnt help but think it had some furniture or carving value, and it would be nice to recoup some fuel/bar oil/chain costs. the maple was very twisty and impossible to split by hand.. way too hard. worth anything?

the next two i have yet to see, but he tells me hes got a big old apple and a cherry in the back field. the only price ive seen on apple wood was chips on craigslist at a dollar a pound for smoking. to me thats crazy, what would you say they are worth as twigs for cooking, and as cordwood?

does cherry have any real value to a specific user group? gunstocks, musical instruments, ornaments? if so, how best to cut the tree up? logs? chunks?


any advice would be appreciated.

 

[avalancher]

The first thing that I would do is make a trip to the local mill to ask them these questions. Every mill is different as far as what they saw.
One mill here is not taking any pine or walnut, demand to low. Only Oak and Poplar.

The mill in the other town is taking only pine, they have a contract that they are filling, and are only sawing pine right now.

Be aware of one thing, many mills are leery about taking yard trees, too much problem with orphaned metal in the wood.
No mill in our area will take logs under 10 ft in length, they prefer the 16 to 20ft pieces.

Another thing to consider, many mills wont take logs that have began to check in the end grain, so if you have logs on the ground find a buyer for em pronto,preferably before the log hits the ground.


Like I said,check around and ask. I have found it works best to stop by in person where you can have a quite chat with the guy behind the measuring stick.

 

[Ductape]

My neighbor runs our last local farm and I've worked for him on occaision off and on. During the winter months he logs off his property. From what I've seen working for him....... i suspect you may be very disappointed with what you think the value is on your wood. For anything headed to the mill, he had a former sawyer come in and mark everything. The average wood cutter wouldn't know the mill back-charges if you log is more than 6" beyond spec (such as a 10'7" log for 10' lumber). Also, butt flares not trimmed were charged back, and so on. Also, you got paid after your logs were cut..... which can be a fair wait. The demand for lumber has been pretty low, so this also drives the price down. There have been plenty of times where the mills were flat out refusing to let logs be dropped (as there was waaaay more logs than demand for lumber). If you are talking about having the logs milled for your own use..... i'd probably look for a local guy with a band mill.

I guess in short.... my experience is, you'd be better off making firewood out of it all.

 

[Jon E]

Here's my take, as a portable sawmill owner -

If I was in your area, I would be willing to saw your trees for you, but you would be responsible for the cost of blades if I hit metal (VERY likely in a yard tree) and we would come to some kind of agreement over cost - either you pay me by the hour or I cut on shares. For pine, I would only be willing to cut on shares if I were getting some really nice, wide, clear stock. I place a high value on 12"+ wide quartersawn clear white pine, personally. I think that a local bandsaw mill would cut your pine for you - it's up to you whatyou want for boards so it's up to you how long to cut them. Usually, the longest straight section, with an absolute minimum of sweep or curve, is what to cut. The nice thing about a bandmill is if you have a really perfect log that is only 6' long, a commercial mill will reject it outright, but a bandsaw will be able to turn it into many board feet of clear, short lumber. I love cutting boards out of short logs - high yield and fast output.

Most commercial mills will not even look at your pine logs. I am having 11 acres logged and the mills around here said that they are not accepting pine right now, and the logger is going to wait until next fall. It's not a good outlook.

As for the maple, cherry and apple. Cherry is always marketable, you can get some really nice boards out of some really junky cherry logs. Again, a portable mill owner would be your best bet. If you don't want the lumber, it might be hard to find a mill owner who would buy the logs. I have sawed thousands of board feet and timbers and not ever had to pay for a log. Maple has a good market if it's nice, straight, clean logs with a small heart and not too big. I have a 32" maple log on my mill right now that is clear on one side and pure knots on the other, I'm hoping to drag a couple hundred board feet of 12" to 16" wide 8/4 maple off that log. I have also sawn apple lumber if the tree is big enough, otherwise cutting it into chunks for a BBQ is a good way to deal with it. I don't know the market as my woods is full of old choked out and dying apple trees and I toss most of it in my wood boiler.

I know you're in Central MA, there's quite a few mill owners near you, call Wood-Mizer and get some names. Of course, if you're driving down the road and see someone has a mill parked in their yard, it won't hurt to stop and ask. I keep my mill parked right at the end of my driveway and its gotten me a couple sawing jobs because people see it. I don't saw for a living, it's just a hobby.

 

[valekbrothers]

MCB,

Here is a list of some of the sawyers in Mass. I don't know if any are close, but it is a start.
Hope this helps.

http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/directories/sdd.cgi?location=MA&KEYWORD=&submit.x=12&submit.y=10

 

[woodbooga]

I don't know what the local market is like down your way, but a logger friend of mine was recently in a bind. He was set to deliver several logs to a nearby mill. But the :censored: didn't show up til a day later. That one day was a huge difference as the bottom fell out pricewise. He spent three hours on the phone calling all his contacts. Wound up getting the best price from a mill in Maine an hour away.

Time is money. Have a plan, the right equimpent lined up, and good reliable help.

 

[MJR]

I have a little band mill. Try asking the milling question over in the milling forum. You might get a bite from someone in your area. A chain saw mill may be a good option for you. Good luck.

 

[mcb]

thanks for all the great replies fellas. it looks like the pine is a waste of my effort to get it anywhere in log length, and i dont know the business well enough to not get shafted. i really dont care what happens with the stuff, its just that my yard is loaded with pine chunks and i havent got a splitter.. way too soft to split with a maul and im running out of room to store those trees.

i was able to split the smaller stuff during a deep freeze and will let it season 2 years for the sap to dry, then ill just use it to get the hardwoods started,, maybe mix in a few pieces of pine when the fire is dying out and i need to toss in an oak or maple all-nighter.

if anyone wants the pines, they are free where they stand, though in a difficult spot to pull out in long lengths. located in springfield Mass, south western third of the state, 45 minutes north of hartford ct. ill cut them and help rig but dont have the means to transport.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Outdoor Fire Pit...

When dry, pine works great in an outdoor fire pit where creosote is not an issue.

Cut it, dry it, and burn it there. If you don't have a fire pit, maybe someone else does.

 

[myzamboni]

When dry, pine works great in an outdoor fire pit where creosote is not an issue.

Cut it, dry it, and burn it there. If you don't have a fire pit, maybe someone else does.

If it is dry(seasoned), creosote is not an issue for ANY wood.

 

[coppermouse]

If it is dry(seasoned), creosote is not an issue for ANY wood.

What he said, there is no problem burning seasoned pine in your wood stove, it just burns fast

 

[mcb]

my fathers been doing it about 20 years in the same chimney without ever an issue. granted, 600 degree stack temps can happen pretty quick if you dont watch it, but never a chimney fire.