Keep us posted on the CL results. I still have several logs on the farmer friends burn pile. Just been too lazy to pull them out, Joe.
The highly valuable black walnut tree thread
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on the BURN PILE?
But, But, it's HIGHLY VALUABLE BLACK WALNUT!!!!
It's HIGHLY VALUABLE!!!
Don't You KNOW THAT?, The Whole Universe KNOWS THAT!!!!
It's HIGHLY VALUABLE!!!!!
Doug
A professional logger talked to me today. He intends to pair up with another logger to buy a professional band saw to make rough cut boards from the tress they are contracted to clear. Black walnut is just one of the species they are targeting. He's tired of selling BW logs to the local sawmill for dirt cheap and with no price incentive. Frankly, I do not blame them for taking action.
Keep us posted if you stay in contact with him. We gave up on mills. When ever you called they were either stocked up and weren't buying or the market was down and they weren't paying more than firewood. We talked to big exotic wood brokers, and they wanted you to store up big piles of logs to grade and make offers. We only had 5 acres in the yard and couldn't stack stuff up waiting for a maybe. We whole saled most of our BW out to a farm market that bought all of the junk wood we didn't keep. Not saying the BW was junk wood, but we had so much Oak and Locust, most every thing else went to the farm market.
Davej_07
ArboristSite Operative
I’m in the process of acquiring my grandparents farm. Grandpa always thought he would get rich off BW trees so the place is loaded with them.....messy, dangerous(falling nuts in fall), etc. My plan is to live in th existing farmhouse and build a new house in the next 1-2 years. There are a few large trees I will be removing and having them milled into flooring for when I build. The tops will become firewood but it’s not stellar wood. Doesn’t dry quickly and tons of ash.
Beetlejuice
Addicted to ArboristSite
I was told by a reputable exotic wood store rep that hardwood, as a rule, drys at a rate of 1" a year. Thus the need for storage.. And stored and dried correctly or could possibly end up with a batch of airplane propellers, or boat screws.
Davej_07
ArboristSite Operative
I’ve milled my own with a chainsaw mill. Even painted, stickered, and weighted it was still twisty. A few runs through the planer fixed it but........
$1,463 for these logs. A little under 700 board feet.
Davej_07
ArboristSite Operative
You buying or selling?
Looks like there are two separate loads, one in each Pic, front view on one and rear view on the other. Is that true? So, was that 700 bd ft per load and a total of 1400 bd ft? There is a factor of two involved here. Did you get $1,463 for both loads together or that much for just one of them? Please clarify.
If it's both loads added together, 700 bd ft per load, you received $1.05 per bd ft. That seems most likely but still a very good price -- three times what would have been paid here for the same quantity.
I think it's just one load.
Hard to say. You see the ends of nine logs in the rear view and seven logs in the front view. I suppose not all are the same length, so two log ends must be obscured. If it is nine logs, then the average is just under 80 bd ft per log. The largest one would be about 220 bd ft, which seems reasonable for a 16-ft log that size.
So, if we go with just one load, $1463 / 700 = $2.09 per bd ft. That's five to six times the price that any local sawmill here would pay a logger for walnut logs. I've told the loggers supplying our mill that they are getting their clocks cleaned. They agree but can do nothing about it.
That is one load, picture from two different view points. I hauled it myself and they graded it at the mill. Nothing fancy/verneer, just standard grade logs. They have $750k in walnut logs in their yard and it's all paid for. Exporting it overseas in shipping containers.
No idea where you are getting those log prices. They can't be right. Black Walnut is obviously the best paying. But other species are paying well. For example, soft maple is paying a dollar or so a board foot here. I took in a little under 600 bd ft of cherry and hard maple a few weeks back. It was a storm damage salvage. The cherry was all cracked up and had red rot. The hard maple was nice. That load brought a little under $300.
The sawmill here specializes in pallet making and landscape chips/shreds. They shred the slabs left behind when sawing up the boards for pallets. So, they offer practically no premium price for logs that can be sawed into furniture-grade boards. Most of the sawing is done on eastern cottonwood that they use to make the pallets. So, the sawyers have no incentive for bringing in quality hardwood like black walnut, hard maple, etc.
That may change. In fact, if a logger here were to truck a full flatbed of walnut to Ohio, he might even come out ahead. You can get about 4500 bd ft onto a flatbed bunk trailer. That's nine grand at $2 / bd ft and buys a lot of diesel, time, and trees. I have told them that it's time to branch out to other saw mills (no pun intended).
Well, that makes sense now. You left out a lot of information on how your mills work in your location. Comparing apples to oranges for sure. One price for all is not how most of America does hardwood logging. All based on species and grade. None of the mills take Cottonwood here, but our pallet market is strong though (lots are oak). Pine is the only stuff that brings little money, about 30 cents a board foot.
One other possibility for them is to expand their market by investing in a big band saw and saw up their own rough-cut boards ready for drying. Then offer those to hardwood sellers that offer boards at wholesale or retail. However, the initial equipment investment is pretty high and then you have to find more storage facilities. The payback might take years, so it's not an easy decision to make.
There are some really fine stands of hardwoods around here, and one that caught my eye recently was hedge (Osage orange). Some woodworkers love making furniture out of that ironwood. It's rare but could command a price about the same as walnut or cherry.
Walnut does not make great flooring because it is way too soft, but I know many families that have made 1000 bf on Pine so with urethane maybe it is acceptable .
I hauled Walnut by the 100's of cords and sold it for firewood from the San Joaquin Valley for 20 years. The only lumber that I ever was aware of were the trunks that brought in unusual amounts of money. I milled a few logs for some personal items to make some cabinets and trim, but could not sell the stuff better than firewood. Gun stocks were the only source for revenue. Thanks
What part of the San Joaquin valley if you don’t mind me asking.
Porterville, Strathmore, Exeter, Visalia, Fresno and. Of all the places I have worked there is no place more miserable. A dust layer all summer from 100 feet to 500 feet. Winter has a layer of fog from 100 feet to 500 feet. Ever try to find an address in the winter? You are driving maybe 15 to 20 miles an hour looking for a street sign and wow you find it. Turn around and you are lost most of the time you could see up to 30 feet in front of you. Had to install special compasses to just cross an intersection. Never pull into a truck stop cause they are full of parking lizards although did meet some who were nice so shared some of my coffee and snacks with. Thanks
