red oak prices

[turningfool]

does anyone have a clue as to red oak is going for these days? furby and i have a chance to get at least several large red oaks just for the cutting of them an i wondered whether its worth the effort involved

[Radar67]

At the box stores locally, it is $6 bdft, some of the small mills around here are selling for $3 bdft.

Stew

[turningfool]

thanks for the input radar

[Furby]

Problem is turningfool, our location.
We don't have a very good market.
Actually, I don't have a market at all!
Still sitting on some ERC from last November. :

[Fla._Deadheader]

Ever try EBAY, Furby ???  Creative wording gets local customers, and traffic to your WEBSITE  : : :

  I would sure try to get a few table slabs from those big trees. Leave the edge, just take off the bark. Anchorseal them too.

[Furby]

Well we have to quarter the trees to get them out of there and mill them.
We have no choice as we don't have a swinger or a slabber.

Don't have a website.
You just don't understand the economy around here, there is NONE!
Folks really aren't buying much of anything of this sort right now.

[Fla._Deadheader]

  YOU don't understand MARKETING, Furby. 

 

You just don't understand the economy around here, there is NONE

MY POINT  : : : :

  And, just how wide is it across the corners of those quarters ???  You have a long bar, RIGHT ???  Throw together an Alaskan Clone. Stumpjumper should be able to do that in a day er two ???

  Slabs only need to be 30" or so across ???

  C'mon down here, and I'll teach ya how to do stuff  : :  ;)

  WHY don't you have a website ???  Your talent could put a simple one together in a couple days. They can be cheap to get hosted. Join up with a couple buddies in the lumber game. MAKE IT WORK  : : : ??? ??? ??? ;D

[Furby]

We do plan to pull some bigger boards off, as big as the WM can cut.

You can build a business where one doesn't exist as long as there are folks willing to buy.
You just can't build a business where no one is buying, it don't work.
Yes, marketing is key, I totally agree, but you can't sell if there is no one there!
You have no clue to how many business are folding every single day around here.
The homeowners are RUNNING from their homes, just leaving them behind.
Banks are overwhelmed with forecloures.
You can't sell to folks that aren't here and don't have any cash.

We aren't talking about specialty stuff here, we are talking about plain jane lumber.

[Daren]

  YOU don't understand MARKETING, Furby. 

  Your talent could put a simple one together in a couple days. They can be cheap to get hosted.

$25 a year, and very little brain power (speaking from personal experience) and you are in the website business. http://www.doteasy.com/ . I live in the middle of Amish country, they sell oak every day for $2 or less. I cannot compete with that locally, I would have already starved to death without a website, guaranteed. I sell stuff I have to ship sometimes, or some are willing to drive 100-200 miles  believe it or not for just plain stock. I sold every stick of walnut I had over 12" wide this week to one guy who had followed a link to my website after visiting a woodworking forum. He is all the way across the state. I get 10 (?) calls a week from strangers looking for wood, sometimes I have it sometimes not.
Take a look at my site (there are even a couple "Furbyish" pictures of me there) http://nelsonwoodworks.biz/ , I don't know squat about website building I just took some pictures and typed stuff in my own words...seems to strike a cord with some.
That is my leg up on the local competition...the Amish don't have a website  :D. The people driving so far to see me don't know about the Amish mills, and those mills are not making internet lumber sales either. Therefor I can get a little more than $2 bft for something as plain as oak.

[Fla._Deadheader]

Exactly  8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

  We had to find a market. Ask Tom how many times I asked HIM how to sell the Sinker Stuff ???  I KNOW he got tired of my questions.

  There is a whole nother world out there, outside of Po-dunk Michigan, Furby ???

  If I may ask, If there's NO MARKET, WHY are y'all gonna cut them trees ??? ???  ??? ???

  Just because they are there  ??? ??? ??? ??? ???   NUFF said  ;D ;D

[Furby]

Yup, just because they are there!
Exactly why!

[Tom]

It's not always a situation of finding the market as it is "creating a market".   Marketing requires ingenuity, creativeness, timeing, a sense of humor, a positive attitude, luck and a lot guts.

Which $100 bill is the most important when you start a company, the one hanging on the end of a 10,000 dollar bank account, or the last 50 dollar one that you have in your wallet?  Entrepreneur's aren't looking for the quick buck, the big company or a cozy feeling from their friends.  They are looking at promoting an idea that they are the only ones who can see.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, "The fastest way around a track is in the groove. If you ride the groove, you will either win, or be one of the rest of the field following in single file. "  Get out of the groove and be innovative!

"You can't sell to people who have no money", isn't a plan, it's an excuse.   Find the money!!  Sell harder!!
Go to their door, don't wait for them to come to yours.

It's easier to recover from a failure when you have nothing to begin with.  What do you want for a head start, a million dollar bank account?  Is investing a $100 bill from that the security you are after?  

What's the problem really, that you can't sell the wood or that somebody won't buy it?  You never know if .there isn't a customer untill you've knocked on the last door. and even then, with a fresh outlook and a different plan, you can start all over again.

So they don't want to buy your board, sell them a table, or a pen, or the sawdust, or chips for their garden.  Here's an idea, buy some hardware (screws, brackets and a half pint of poly) and sell them a coffee table kit.  You can include a board for free, or, you can offer them a special board for lots of money.

So, your neighbor doesn't want one.  So what!  How about that apartment dweller in NYC who is looking for something different to put in their $2000 a month flat.

There is a big difference in Marketing and Selling the same as there is in Fishing and Catching.

One thing to remember about business, it isn't the customers fault that businesses fail.

[TexasTimbers]

Furby,

A guy out west buys my Bois D' Arc sawdust for $4 a pound. He only buys about 20-30 pounds a month.  A lady in India and one in Canada pay $10 and $12 respectively a pound for it and they both buy it more often than the guy in California. They each buy 100 pounds at a time and it's usually every 6 - 8 weeks. This means they are selling/using  more of it but paying, and probably charging 2 to 3 times more than the dude. They are doing something smarter than he is whatever that may be.

It should be noted that I developed these clients by doing google searches and making phone calls.

Get to tinkering young man. You can sell that red oak if you keep at it.

[Daren]

I get 10 (?) calls a week from strangers looking for wood, sometimes I have it sometimes not.

Since Kevin jumped in here I can use having a website to help each other out too. A dude from California contacted me wanting figured stock this week, some stranger that happened upon my site. I did not have enough (he wanted everything 2" thick) to fill his needs. I sold him some spalted stock and he is on a waiting list for some I am going to saw in a few weeks...excellent have your logs sold before you even saw them  8). I happened to think about Kevin's site and linked it in my reply, the customer thanked me and said he loved kevjay's red box elder. I don't know if he made a sale to him, but that is not really the point. Customers can go window shopping while you are asleep even, not digging in the hot shed and walk away empty handed after wasting an hour or better of your time. Brothers can help each other out, and really in case like I mentioned it helps you out too. Even though I could not fill his immediate order since I gave him a lead customers appreciate that kinda service and are most often your repeat customers.

[Fla._Deadheader]

You would not BELIEVE how many guys have stopped by our shop, because they recognized the sawmill sitting outside. Most wanted to buy Black Walnut and Butternut.  : : :

  Their reasoning was, "I can get it up north". Why don't YOU have it here ???

  Wanna buy some Sinker Cypress ???  Bet you can't buy THAT up North ???

  Never heard of Sinker Cypress. ??? : : : :  AND,  ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???

  That's why we don't have Northern Wood down here.  ;D ;D

[Ron Wenrich]

FWIW, wholesale green 4/4 FAS red oak is down to 82¢/bf.  Veneer quality oak is $1.25-1.50/bf.  Red oak prices are well below white oak in the present market as demand is more towards the diffuse porous woods.  Even that isn't too strong.

I don't expect to see red oak demand come back for quite some time.  That doesn't mean that you can't sell any, just that those high prices that it commanded in the past are probably history. 

[TexasTimbers]

I don't know if he made a sale to him, but that is not really the point.

Yes, he did. Thanks by the way. HAve you seen his "Artwork" ? Don't ya just love these websites! 8) 8)

[TexasTimbers]

Red oak prices are not down. Prices are down on some red oak in some places, but here in fannin county, air dried crappy old rotten red oak like this is going for $2.50BF in the 4/4 flitch. I whacked this pice last month as a bigger sample so I wet it when pokers come around a poking. "Ya got anything unusual?" So I isially show 'em some box elder. Everyone likes it but it's too rich for some folks blood so then I show 'em stuf like this red oak that has been moved around here and there. It's getting easier to move all the time though he bought 220BF of it.

Red oak shmed oak. Yep it's down to $2.50BF around here.  I hate to give away all my secrets but I have a few more n the bag - my problem is getting enough wood cut to keep people happy not getting enough customers to keep the sawmill happy.

I am not intending for this to sound like a brag I am simply making the point: I don't even know what I am doing and I am selling stuff without hardly trying. You fellas that actually know what you are doing ought to be tearing it up. Maybe that is my problem - I don't know enough to know that I am supposed to see nothing but a depressed economy. Well don't enlighten me because all I see is unlimited opportunity.

[MikeH]

    Go get'em Furby!

[Jeff]

Red Oak Prices ARE down. One cant just look past your own limited personal markets and apply it to the rest of the market as a whole. Furby and this Tree live in a very depressed area. Not only is it depressed, it is the epicenter of the wholesale lumber industry in Michigan. Grand Rapids Michigan and the surrounding area has many many lumber buyers and wholesalers and still many furniture factories. All of which are paying way less for red oak then during the boom years only 3 or 4 years ago.  The other problem is that Furby and the Tree, and I included, live in some of the best Northern red oak areas in the country. Red Oak is plentiful here, and readily available to buy most anywhere.

"I got some red oak lumber for sale!"   Yea?  So what. Thats what Furby is dealing with here.

[thecfarm]

Red oak log prices are down around here too.Been looking to see it come back up the way it was.Red oak is very common around here.I have a bunch that I'm just letting grow.

[Norm]

I might suggest you q-saw the logs to get the best prices for them. I have trouble selling it flat sawn but have better luck moving it if it's q-sawn. We have lots of red oak in our area and I've been surprised at how little it brings. I can sell qs white oak 3 to 1 over it and for a much better price. I used to run ads on the internet and got tons of interest but got too busy with the day job to do much justice with it. If a guy could get 8/4 wo qs without much degrade you can name your price.

I always hesitate to tell someone what prices are because it's so area specific. We have tons of black walnut on our place and hardly ever sell it. I do better to leave it in logs and sell to the bigger mills.

[Ron Wenrich]

I've been in this business long enough to remember when there was hardly a market for red oak.  When I first started to buy timber, I was told not to buy red oak, if at all possible.  Red oak had no veneer value at the time.  That was in the early '70s.  White oak, tulip poplar and maple had high demand.

We had a recession in the mid-70s, and after that, the market turned to the ring porous woods like red oak and ash.  Boomers started to build/buy homes.  Maple and tulip poplar prices remained the same for all long time while red oak surpassed them.  There were times when you couldn't move maple at any price. 

During the recent building craze, boomers started buying second homes or moved up.  This time they used maple instead of oak.  That's what fueled the recent maple boom.  The walnut, white oak and cherry expansion is more on the export end.  Red oak demand has dropped hard in the past few years.  It doesn't mean you can't sell it, it just means that it doesn't command as high of a price as in the past.

We don't sell trophy wood.  Trophy wood can command high prices, but the market is very limited.  Its the old supply and demand curve.  Price your wood at $2+/bd ft and your market size shrinks.  If you can survive in that market condition, then that's OK.  We can't.

We have one client that takes 4/4 red oak clears.  When we cut red oak, we'll give him a couple of Mbf in a couple of days.  We don't saw many butt logs.  So, how long would it take for me to fill my shed with $2+ red oak?  The bigger question is how long would it take for me to sell it at that price.

[Ed]

A friend of mine is currently having some of his land logged. Hard Maple, Cherry and Walnut, thats it. The buyer won't even touch Red Oak and the price on White Oak was so low they are being left for a wildlife food supply.

The only market for Red Oak here is firewood.

Ed

[TexasTimbers]

I choose not to dwell on the negative. My opinion is as relevant as anyone's even though it may not be popular or "right" or whatever. If I chose to, there is plenty of negative stuff going on around me that i could say rules my time but I try to not to focus on it. I don't always succeed but I usually do and it seems positive things happen to me. Like selling red oak when red oak is "down"

My opionion, which is relevant to my poerspective is that red oak prices are up. If you don't like my opinion that's okay because you not liking my opinion does not affect my red oak prices.

My might add here that my point is not to simply be contrary or disagreeable. I am simply stating that in todays big wide world or is that World Wide Web there is more to the red oak market than Michingan. Jeff you of all people should know that your livelihood is being supported almost entierly by it. Why can't Furby do it also?

Furby you will sell the red oak if you don't give up. Prices be DanGed.

[farmerdoug]

Kevjay,  I agree with you.  Everyone is complaining about plants sales this year.  We changed our offering of plants and we have sold almost twice as much as last year with less expense.  Find a niche or different market and make it work.

Farmerdoug

[Jeff]

Kevin, if you would have followed up Ron's post with "Red oak prices are not down for me".  I would have never said a thing however you didnt. You said "Red oak prices are not down"

My opionion, which is relevant to my poerspective is that red oak prices are up. If you don't like my opinion that's okay because you not liking my opinion does not affect my red oak prices.

Thats absolutely right and I agree whole heartedly with you on that, however coming in and making a direct contradiction directly to Ron Wenrich's experienced and very knowledgeable answer about a Market as a whole is not alright.  Furby may find a niche market, I hope he does, however his time is money too and a little bit of low market value lumber might not be worth the effort. He's a wise young fellow and will certainly make the choices right for him

I have no issue with you voicing your opinion, just don't be doing it at the expense of someone elses. You seem to be getting into that pattern again. I chalk it up to that Texas bigger and better mentality. ;)

[Sunfield Hardwood]

I have about a dozen logging jobs waiting to cut if red oak makes even a small comeback. I also have some jobs where we're leaving the red oak with hopes of coming back later when prices recover. I had a very hard time selling my red oak last winter and then, my markets only wanted the better grades. selling a few feet to people at any price will not help me. I need to sell semi truckloads at a time, and you can't set on it very long without stickering it. and then theres the low grade which wont even sell for pallet stock right now, and even if you could it would be for less then I have invested in buying, cutting, skidding, trucking, sawing and grading it. I'm not looking for sympathy just saying in Michigan where I;m at ,I'm better off concentrating on other species.

[Skip]

I just got back from hauling a load (5273 bdf ) of mixed hardwoods from Northern WV to PA ,Indiana area - grade 1 red oak $300/M  grade 2 $500/M  veneer $600/m Now tell it's not DOWN. Sycamore $600/M , go figure   ???

[TexasTimbers]

Now Jeff again youmake a personal attack where none was made by me. i disagreed with Rons opinion but i think Ron is enough of a man that has does not have to resort to personal attacks to make his points. No where in my opinion did I make such an attack and you are not going to drag me into another one. I gave my honest opinion. One you didn't like. You have a right to attack me personally because this is your forum, but that still does not make it right.

I have said all I am going to say on the mater it can only get worse.  Ron I am not going to aplogize to you because I don't think i owe you one and I seriously doubt that you believe I do. Like you said in your PM recently you were not offended then and I doubt you could possibly be now just for me offering my differeing view.

Re-read this before you launch another attack Jeff, I have not said one belittling thing toward you as you have to me.


admin note: This post reinstated. I deleted it as I thought it was better suited as an instant message but I guess not

[TexasTimbers]

Wow. That was the fastest deletion in history. that is not moderation that is outright censorship. I will try this again knowing it will be deleted. Jeff you made a personal attack on me where none was made or even thought to be made by me.

Like I said in my response which seems to have mysteriously disappeared - you have the right to delete my posts and make personal attacks against me but that does not make it right.

[Jeff]

Thats it.  I dont take this in my house or anywhere else for that matter.

[beenthere]

does anyone have a clue as to red oak is going for these days? furby and i have a chance to get at least several large red oaks just for the cutting of them an i wondered whether its worth the effort involved

So, is the answer to this question..."worth the effort involved?" relate to the effort of cutting down the tree, or to the effort in marketing the product (whatever that product is in the end) that is coming from the tree?  

The product might be red oak logs, oak firewood, oak table slabs, oak turning blocks, oak furniture, green oak lumber, dry oak lumber...to name but a few.

Turningwood:  What product do you want to try to market?

[turningfool]

sorry guys..looks like i opened up the proverbial can of worms with this post

[beenthere]

What product do you want to market (or make out of the red oak trees) ??

[Bibbyman]

We're seeing prices for red oak at the big flooring buyer's lot much inline with what Ron quoted.  We're only sawing it because we're making beams out of the middle.  However,  our local logger still thinks red oak is made of gold I guess as he still won't bring us grade logs for a price we can afford. But we've noticed we're starting to get a few butt cut and better red oak logs in for "saw log" prices.

Around here, the big stave mill sets the price for white oak and they set it high enough to freeze us out of the market for good logs.  Our loggers have been bringing us "off brand" white oak, burr oak, post oak and such, and their top cut logs that won't sell for stave logs.  But I think we're seeing some improvement in that area too.  We've noticed a lot of white oak logs coming in with blue paint marks on them.  I asked one logger if that meant that they were culls from the stave market and he confirmed that they were.  Some were pretty nice logs so I suspect that the dry year we're having plus red oak being down has finally filled that big void to some extent where they're getting pickier.



Here are some 16 ' white oak logs that were stave mill culls.  They look good to us! 

Walnut is the big sought after log around here.  The Chinese are buying all they can in log form – maybe in lumber too.  'Corse,  I ain't got any and can't afford any.

[WH_Conley]

Situation in Kentucky is pretty much as Bibby describes.

[Cedarman]

My job as mill owner is to create the widest margin possible between what I pay for logs and what I receive for the lumber, rails, sawdust, mulch etc.  I work to keep overhead and operating expense low. I have the most control over that.  I can make instant changes that affect these things.
I have a marketing plan.  I adjust that marketing plan as the calls I get change what customers want.  Last week I sold way more logs, rails and peeled poles than lumber. Thats what my customers wanted.  I am flooded with cedar because hardwood markets are down and loggers are making more money in cedar.  Therefore my ruler pulls tighter and my grading gets harder and I shut off those loggers that were selling the best to my competitors who are over stuffed too.

Most of my sales are over 100 miles from me in all directions.  Some go by UPS, some by common carrier and some trailer load.  My website is the most important marketing tool by far.

Now to red oak.
If I were a land owner, I would not sell any hardwood that is down in price at this time unless it just had to be sold.  Wood prices cycle and that cycle is unpredictable. Maple was hot in the mid 70's around here, then dived to junk status, then went to unbelieveable heights.  Red oad will rebound.  When?  If I knew that I could pick horses.

The question I must know in my business is what can I move my cedar for.  That is the same question you are asking on the red oak.  What will it sell for locally if at any price and what will it sell in other areas of the country and what will it cost to get it there?  Phones are the answer to those questions.  Can you make money with a free bunch of trees? 

Guys, we are used to hearing no.  That doesn't mean we give up.  We  keep asking, maybe we will get lucky.  If you have unused time, use it to hustle the wood.

There is one thing I do know.  A positive attitude with a can do spirit may lead to success.  A negative attitude  cannot lead to success.  There are no guarantees.  The down economy in Mi means that you must really sharpen your marketing and sales skills to come out on top.  If you believe that at some point in the future that things will improve, position yourself to take advantage.  If you think they will never improve, personally I would move.  Look what opportunties this may open up.

Keep at it Furby, check out all the angles.  Get the wood sold before cutting if you can.

[crtreedude]

Furby,

Your question is the classic - I have this free resource - can I sell it? Well, usually if someone is giving it to you for free there is a reason.  ;) Now we enter into a new realm. If you are merely a technical person (i.e. a person who knows how to get it done) - run, don't walk away, from this. Since you still have stock on the shelf, I tend to think that is you.

Some people are advising you to go out and become a marketer. Fine - sure, if that is what you like to do. But, understand this - it is a skill. Knowing how to sell things and make a market is a skill. I aways find it interesting that people will say "You need to know how to cut up a log" (which is true) and then assume a person won't have a steep learning curve learning how to market. Don't underestimate this. And, you better enjoy selling things too. The reason that sales people make such large commissions is very simple - IT IS HARD!

There are things that if you build it, they will come, because there is a demand. There is very little work necessary on your part to sell. But, to process wood in a depressed market? I can't see it.

The eBay suggest is interesting - go out to ebay and search and see if someone else is selling wood this way and what they are selling for. The further away your customers - the more you will have to charge for shipping. And since wood isn't exactly weightless - this could make your price MORE than they could buy at a Big Box store - depending on various factors of course.

Just random thoughts Furby - but I wouldn't touch it unless you had a customer in hand. 

[SwampDonkey]

That's much of what was churning around in my mind. Then there seems to be brush to be rid of, which costs time and money as well.  : Seems like the proverbial carrot, but you have to do this, and this and this besides.

[Cedarman]

Furby, cr is right on about the marketing and selling. Personally I love the marketing and selling and read a lot about those 2 things.  Identify what your strengths are and focus on those, compensate for the weak areas by improving or better yet using other people who are strong in those areas.  Oakiemac is looking at teaming up with a retailer whose strength seems to be retailing and Okiemac doing the sawing.  I do the marketing and sales and let my crew do most of the sawing, planing and other mill work.  This weekend I get to work in a quiet environment piddling with the millyard and sawmill as I do those little jobs that take longer to explain how to do then just up and doing them.

A logger came in yesterday and told me about a subdivision being put in Ky where they are pushing up huge cedars and you know the rest.  Being buddies with the developer, the logger gets to take all the trees for free where they are putting the road in.  The owner says they are worthless and the logger agreed.  Lucky logger.
Each free tree may be free for many reasons.  Usually means the owner does not want to fool with it.  The entrepreneurs job is to decide if there is money to be made with out being emotionally involved in the free deal because it is free.

[turningfool]

the point here is that there are several very large red and white oak trees that this guy wants outta his yard ,plain and simple..i only wondered whether they could fetch a price as either lumber or logs rather then firewood..my guess is that they are all about the same age class,and around 3 feet thick at dbh..all are straight as an arrow for what seems to me like 25-30 feet..they must be removed ..no ifs ands or buts,it just seemed a waste to me to see all of it cut up for firewood

[TexasTimbers]

. . . The entrepreneurs job is to decide if there is money to be made with out being emotionally involved in the free deal because it is free.

This is the nexus of the post i think and the hardest thing that I have had to avoid in the past as well. I am alot better at it than I used to be but it is still hard to pass up "free trees".

I made a post somewhere in the past about how I never had to pay for trees. Someone then replied that "they are never free". Well I have come full circle to know this. Now that the mill end of it stays as busy as I can handle it makes no sense for me to log trees when I can buy them for $65 - $70 ton.

Free is hardly ever free. I agree with what cedarman and cr are saying. I am still quite weak on the technical end of it. I still need to go spend a week with Arky and this time next year will still need to if I haven't by then. But I have been doing like cedarman says and concentrating on what I *am* good at and that is finding people who want what I have. Don't try to sell the stuff to the market. The market knows what it is worth or not. The people who buy my lumber have no idea what red oak or white oak are going for and don't care. They are almost all craftsman. You should be courting those guys maybe.

You cut the stuff down you might as well try to sell it. But as has been mentioned, it makes good firewood if nothing else and winter is right around the corner. In my mind that beats sitting around watching Orpah and it will keep your bones warm for a while anyway.

[turningfool]

thanks kev,i will no doubt salvage some of the more interesting stuff for turning,but the rest kinda sounds like firewood..speaking of turning..i posted some new pics of the starburst box elder urn if you're interested

[Ed_K]

 I don't believe in free. It takes my time. If you have time cut them down and into firewood save a few clear logs, it will keep you warm while you figure out what to do with all that r/o in Mi. My market is down on all hard wood except w/birch so i tell the landowner sit on it as its interest growing,but I'll cut your low value for pallet and firewood and help grow them $$$ trees  ;D .I'm not rich but I'm happier than working in a machine shop.

[SwampDonkey]

But, the machine shop is dry and warm. 

[crtreedude]

I tend to take the long view on things. I also tend to go contrary to conventional wisdom because if you do what everyone else is doing - you don't make much.

Anyway - we entered into growing tropical hardwoods immediately after many plantations got in trouble from planting about 8 years earlier. Most of the plantations failed, which means most people wanted nothing to do with plantations at that time.

Which is why I started ours. Seems odd doesn't it? Not really. The situation here in Costa Rica now is that we have to import - yes, I said import, 50% of our wood to meet the LOCAL needs. Can you imagine what this is doing to wood prices?  8)

So, we are no more than 2 years away from our first harvest and prices are skyrocketing. Life is good.

About 5 years ago, everyone was telling me - "Don't plant trees - there is no money in that - plant pineapple!" Everyone and his brother planted pineapple. Guess what the price for pineapple is now? It actually dropped 70% - there is so much pineapple they are feeding it to cattle or just leaving it to go to waste.

Don't follow the crowd folks - unless you want to be poor.

[SwampDonkey]

 :D :D

Sounds like potato farming. Oh the price is going to be good this year because this state or that province has reduced their acreage. Then after the crop is in you here North Dakota and Manitoba have increased their acreage by 25 % that year. Then the Potato Agencies through the states and Canada tell everyone it's a bumper crop and potatoes are doing very good this year, no major problems from disease. When everyone harvests their crop and starts selling the market is swamped and the price falls below production. There are also other market forces that can affect price as well.

My point is don't get to excited about the crop of trees coming up for harvest, there just may be others in the market and the prices may not be so sweet as you predict. Growing trees is just like farming.  ;)

That being said, I hope you have a good crop and a big price. 

[crtreedude]

Actually, I cover both ends. If the price drops on wood - well my furniture factory will be happy. If the price goes up one wood, the lumber side is happy.

Almost no one is starting plantations in Costa Rica for tropical hardwoods - so I don't think I am in much danger of a price drop. Unlike potatoes, you can't plant this year and harvest next.  ;) I am very aware of how many plantations are being started and the reports regarding that.

And, unlike up North, Latin America isn't known for taking the long view.

[johncinquo]

I built another firewood shed, with nice red oak.   My sister in law put in a new round pen for her horses.  They are happy to run round and round inside the nice red oak 1x8 s.  Hey it gets used for something if nobody wants it.  Cutting it up keeps me out of the tavern.... sometimes! 

Firewood is bringing $190 a cord again here in the pricey part of town, get a dump trailer and you can make your moneys worth.  Yes, its a shame to see it go to the fireplace, but the other option is what?  Spend the time milling it and have it sit.  Sell it cheap and sleep knowing you didnt let good wood go to waste.  You can' sell something without a buyer.

I do think the ideas of finding alternative markets is a great idea though.  Jason loves a good road trip!  Find a buyer out west and pay for the gas and truck use.

[flip]

I vote for let it stand and not mess with it or firewood.  That is considering all of the above comments recomendations and restrictive circumstances.   

Or if that all else fails bring it down for me and I can put it in a stack with the rest of the red oak that's been sitting there for a year and a half : ;) not sold.

[SwampDonkey]

Diversity and value added is certainly a saving grace at times, gives you another direction to move in.  8)

I promise I won't say a word if things don't go as expected though. 

[crtreedude]

Well, if any one tree isn't popular - we have 30 types growing - diversify, diversify...

But, there is nothing sure but death and taxes...

[SwampDonkey]

yeah, up here they tax ya both coming and going.  :

[Brad_bb]

I recently paid $1.10 per BF for knee brace stock in mix of red and white oak (mostly red) and a mix of grade 1 and grade 2.  They weren't officially graded though, just an eyeball estimation.  I'd like to have it graded before I start working it next year.  This was just from a hobby sawer with an 80 year old circular saw mill.  Some of the pieces I'm not thrilled with, but I'll sort it later when I go to planing all of it square and to size.  I'll see how much I lose to checking too.  It's all end grain sealed and air drying in my barn.

[Kastenjp93]

Where can I consistently purchase red oak logs? Does anyone have a contact I could have? Preferably near or in Louisiana?