Good lumber going to firewood.

Modat22 · December 07, 2006, 11:05:09 AM

I'm sure there are more stories like this out there but this one really knotts up my stomach.

The brother of a friend of mine harvested trees marked by a logger, drug them out got them stacked and ready. The logger in question told him that the amount to deliver the trees was almost as high as the fee to be paid to him. Meaning the brother would only get around 100 for all the logs he cut, stacked, end coated etc. Well the brother got quite mad about this, so basically he's block cutting all of it into firewood. I drove by his house to have a look and I see ten 30 inch black walnut, several 20 plus inch sugar maple, 10 or so white oak and a couple loads of pulp logs.

He wouldn't even talk about selling them to me saying he was making a point. Beside his house I can see cords and cords of hickory, walnut, oak already split.

This makes me very depressed :( :'(

I'm trying to find out who the logger was and the name of his company.

brdmkr · December 07, 2006, 11:23:55 AM

The old saying "cutting his nose off to spite his face" come to mind!

leweee · December 07, 2006, 11:44:26 AM

or "the only point he is making is the one on his head". smiley_dunce smiley_dunce smiley_dunce :D
& some folks just have to learn the hard way. :

beenthere · December 07, 2006, 12:03:38 PM

or "cutting a fat hog in the ar$$".

Seems he would have better, and more profitable, ways to make his point, by selling the logs so carefully logged to a different buyer (or to someone that had a portable mill to turn them into lumber that could be dried and stored for sale). If the logger marked the trees to be cut, seems the logger would want to be paid for that work. ??? Maybe the logger will load up firewood :

But, if this guy also needed firewood, maybe for what he had invested in logging labor and money, this was the best return on that investment. :

Apparently, he could afford to do what he was doing, and it's a free country (we like to think anyway

).

Dan_Shade · December 07, 2006, 12:12:56 PM

hauling is expensive.

Do a quick check of ALL of your expenses on your daily driver vehicle, and you'll be amazed at how much it actually costs you to drive it. for me, it's roughly $0.45 per mile, depending on gas costs.

toss in a more expensive truck, paying a driver, additional insurance (especially when you mention "log"), and it gets expensive in a hurry.

it's tough for the little guy. but I agree, the only point he is making is the one in his head.

Modat22 · December 07, 2006, 12:47:16 PM

I'm trying to go thru his brother for an introduction and recommendation on some of those logs. I'd love to have the walnut, I'd be willing to cut down some of my own trees, cut them, split them and pay him some cash for some of his logs.

Corley5 · December 07, 2006, 06:53:43 PM

It is his wood

Buzz-sawyer · December 07, 2006, 07:01:49 PM

Point made??............he is costing himself a LOT of money to burn wood....... ;) and make a point...... :D :D

Coon · December 07, 2006, 11:24:49 PM

He definately needs his head examined. But whatever.... Guess he's just as stuborn as that ole mule that wouldn't move when you want him to. Guess he's got a strong back and a weak mind to say the least. :D :D

woodmills1 · December 08, 2006, 06:42:23 AM

Have delivered lots of logs since getting the blue ox, and will say right now that except for the high grade hardwood logs my profit margin is higher for firewood.

Now if I have cutting customers, say for red oak horse fence or trailer decking, I save the straighter logs to cut. I took 3 cherry logs to the concentration yard and they graded them a hardwood pallet..... a little more than firewood.....but a much longer drive.

example: 12' 14" red oak log at 100 bd ft

about 13 cu ft of firewood gives about 10 bucks at $100 per cord

as pallet at $200/thousand it would pay 20 bucks

sawlog at $345 $34.50

prime sawlog at $650 $65

cut into 1x6 horse fence by me $108

sometimes I make almost as much as half of the check for a load of logs out a couple of the better ones in the load, sort of like I just took the others for a little ride. :D :D

Don_Papenburg · December 08, 2006, 08:16:22 AM

I don't have a lot of good timber around me . But a friend of mine asked me if I would like a fairly old walnut log. The deal was that an old lady had it in her basement. Told my friend that she played on it when she was a kid. He told me that it would be easy enough to extract from the basement. I told him that I would be happy to get it . So a month later he told her we would take it . She said that her son might want it . Later that year he was talking to her son , He said that walnut sure did smell good when he was burning it.

Cedarman · December 08, 2006, 08:30:10 AM

I looked at a small patch of cedar a few years ago. One of those big farms that had been divided up and this guy had 10 acres with maybe a few hundred trees. He asked what an individual tree was worth standing there. Just a few dollars. He said "If that is all it's worth I'll just leave it". I said "That's all its worth so why leave it". "Cut it and let some hardwood grow that will make you some money". He couldn't be bothered.

Some people begrudge others their profit. Some are just ignorant and don't do their homework. Either way, ignore them and move on.

There is an awful lot of trees growing out there.

DR Buck · December 08, 2006, 09:24:14 AM

I see the tree trimmers and removers almost everyday driving home from my day job. This week I passed two trucks from the same company, both were completly filled with 24" to 30" diameter cherry and walnut

. All cut into nice 18" fire place sizes! :( :'( :( :'(

inspectorwoody · December 08, 2006, 06:10:28 PM

What if those there Walnut logs (ten of them now...) graded out veneer :D I'd say he took the chance of burning the wood at probably on the low side $3-5 buckaroos a foot! :

Say the log(s) are 30" by 10' Doyle scale is 423 bf.

At $3/ft that comes out to $1269!

In my opinion he isn't proving any kind of point and the other guy will probably end up laughing in his face. Might as well stand in front of the wood burner and throw dollars in. :D

Of course that is looking at the bright side of things but even on the lower end a guy is probably looking at around $1.50/ft for upper grade sawlogs.

Had a load of Walnut veneer come in the yard the other day and rumor has it the load was bought for $40,000 and on the turn around it was said the load will probably be resold at a tune of a bout 3Xs that. ;D

smiley_chop

Gadget

Modat22 · December 11, 2006, 09:35:22 AM

I visited him Sunday and took my friend with me (his brother). The man is impossible and frankly I'm wondering if the logger gave him such a bad deal after all. Basically he offered me some white oak logs for trade if I sawed the other logs on a 4 to 1 trade. He gets 4 to my 1.

I told him no gave him a card, went home and took a nerve pill. I don't want to deal with this guy, he's half nuts.

Burlkraft · December 11, 2006, 09:44:43 AM

If that's an example of half nuts.......Look out when he finally goes all the way... ;) ;) :D :D

DR Buck · December 13, 2006, 11:46:24 AM

Saw another load of 24" diameter 18" long walnut logs going down the road again lyesterday. :(

Are these tree service guys really that dumb?

leweee · December 13, 2006, 01:03:30 PM

Probable 10 pounds of hardware in that walnut.

You would be surprized how many tree services have metal detectors. :

Dan_Shade · December 13, 2006, 01:38:24 PM

run away.

i have a cheap co-worker who wanted me to remove a bunch of trees "and i'd have to take the stumps too". I politely declined. He came in this morning wanting to know how his neighbor sold 2.2 acres of trees. I told him it was probably a hard up logger, I also mentioned they probably left him a mess of the tops and the stumps....