Replies

1. 
   JeffHeath | Sep 06, 2006 01:21am | #1

   Spots

   You should mill the logs as quickly as possible, and make sure to coat the end grain of the logs HEAVILY with either anchor seal or a thick coating of some old latex paint.  It won't take long for the bugs to get in there and ruin what might be some very nice lumber. 

   Jeff

1. 
   user-194720 | Sep 06, 2006 02:48am | #2

   Thanks for the info. I plan to rack and stack the timber (and paint the raw ends) and keep them out of the rain until I can set up a place to mill them. I don't have a way to transport them to a mill right now, nor do I currently have a drying shed to put the slabs once cut. If milling must be soon after felling, I may be up a creek. Thanks again

2. 
   Floss | Sep 06, 2006 02:58am | #3

   Check out the woodmizer website. They can help you locate a sawyer in your area. The benefit is that they will come to you.

   Also check out the woodweb website for sawyers as well.

   Between those two places you should be able to find someone to come out to your place and cut up the logs.

   If you can get the contractor to put the logs in one place that is accessible, that will also help make it easier on you and the mill operator.

   As posted previously. Saw them as soon as possible.

   J.P.

3. 
   joinerswork | Sep 06, 2006 03:22pm | #4

   Spots,

   Contact the local office of your state's dept of forestry.  The forester there will be able to help you determine the value of your timber.  If your wooded lot is large enough, you may want to have it selectively harvested before you begin building.  The forester can also help you with timber management suggestions for future needs.  He can also give you advice on loggers and maybe sawyers in your area.

   While it is best to get the logs sawed asap after felling, all is not lost if you have to wait.  I've seen poplar logs sawn that were in the log for a year.  The sawyer wasn't happy that the wood was so dry, and there was some degrade on the ends, and some spalting.  The wood was basically usable though.  Poplar and hickory don't weather well, and maple is prone to spalting  if left in the log (some folks don't see that as a bad thing) so if you can get them off the ground onto some skids it will help.  If you are particularly ambitious, you could peel the bark off them as it will harbor beetles and such, but how much wood will a bug eat in a year?

   Ray Pine

4. 
   frenchy | Sep 07, 2006 06:48am | #5

   SpotsC.

    Most have been really correct as to methods and sources.. You asked about value and that gets sticky

    I refer to my sawmills weekly magazine regarding prices and I must say the selling price of wood is dropping faster then a lead ballon.. With it is the stump price..
    Stump price is what trees actually sell for..

     Now here's the really sticky part.

    

   One tree may sell for little more than pulp wood while another may sell for an absolute premium..

       Those are trees that show no sign of limbs or defects of any kind something that will sell for veneer grade.  Only an experianced buyer can determine the actual value.. That plus the market..

    I've seen veneer grade trees sell for pallet prices when there were no buyers around for the higher grades.. Conversely wood that doesn't sell well may suddenly blossom.  A few years ago the Dutch wanted to buy all the hackberry they could and were paying veneer prices for some decidedly unveneer grade  logs.   Now every sawmill around has a super abundance of HACKBERRY LOGS WITH NO BUYERS IN SIGHT..

     If you do a little reverse pricing.. logs sawn into boards typically have a 50 cents per bd.ft. cost added to it..    That's the cost of cutting it down, delimbing it, hauling to a central point, loading it and hauling to the sawmill plus the actual cost of sawing.   Wood that sells for high grade offsets the wood that winds up as scrap or pallet material..

    So if  a wood like white oak sells for .80cents a bd.ft. then it leaves the owner of the land with 20 cents per bd.ft.   after the sawmill makes it's profit..

       Right now cherry is selling around $1.45 with most woods less.

    You will find that unless you are real lucky there will be considerably less value in the 3 foot  tree than smaller ones..

     The reason is most sawmills can't efficently handle more than about a two foot tree.

     Thus there will be a lot of waste and a great deal of special handling..

    

      

1. 
   user-194720 | Sep 08, 2006 01:38am | #6

   Thanks a million for all the advice. I will use all of it. You just paid the price of the ticket.
   Spots