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how much $ for a load of logs?

Started by bigred1951, March 14, 2013, 01:50:53 AM

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bigred1951

well guys i hope nobody minds me asking and i know its none of my business but i cant help it haha..im not sure the going price of logs around here in my area but about how much do you all get for a load of logs at a mill..im not talking about no great big semi load.. just a single axle truck or maybe a gooseneck trailer..i have my old 51 gmc thats my pic on here ive thought about bringing it out of retirement putting some log bunks on it and hauling a few logs..so if nobody minds to give me a rough estimate on how much money a load would probably bring in for pulp and saw logs id really appreciate it..i always see people saying they got this per bdft and stuff like that but im not good with that haha..im looking for answers like i got $100 or $1000 for this load..thanks guys..shew i spend more time on here then i do anything even my girlfriend gets mad because i dont pay attention when im on here haha

g_man

It varies alot by species, log size, location, quality, demand and bf of load so it would help you to learn about those things for your area. But to answer your question I brought this load to the mill and got $141.40.  It is 505 bf balsam fir by Int 1/4 rule, 6" min top, 10 and 12 footers, in North East VT.



 

WH_Conley

If the old Jimmy has the springs under I think it does, 12-15 hundred will be a comfortable load. In tie or fencing logs that would give you in the neighborhood of $300.00-$350.00 per load. When you look at the species and grade there can be a huge difference per load. I have seen people drag a couple of loads out and load the butts and good seconds on one load and brag about getting $1000.00 for the load. The next load they would complain that the mill stole them because they didn't bring much, when all it was cleanup, knotty tip logs. I guess that is just a long way around to say what g_man did.

How did the job at the prison go?
Bill

PAFaller

Yup your log pricing is really based on averages, because your butt log and maybe 2nd cut could bring really good money, but as you go up the tree those values won't hold. Thats where the marketing and knowing who buys what comes in to play. If you've got several outlets close to your area you may be able to boost your numbers by sorting out logs and sending to the best buyer. For instance, we have a mill not too far that takes strictly pallet logs. Stuff that is real bumpy and would normally go for firewood, but there pricing is better than pulp. Thats good to have if you can find one. Also, you have to know how they want logs bucked and do so accordingly. But really the timber makes the biggest difference, as they say you cant make chicken soup from chicken 'badword' so if you dont have great timber its not going to bring great prices. Im also all for utilization. There are a few crews around here that boast how good the prices are they get for the landowner, but they leave more tree in the woods than they take out to keep those high averages. I wouldn't really suggest doing that either.
It ain't easy...

thenorthman

It really depends on how much you can stuff on to it.  And how much the mills are paying,  If (and its a big if) you can load logs as high as the cab, then you stand to make some decent coin with decent prices and decent wood. If you can only get one or two skinny logs on there then it might not even pay for the fuel to get there and back...
well that didn't work

grassfed



This load scaled about 1400 @ $270mbf=$378 The mill is paying $330 now so the same load would be $462. The same amount of aspen pulp would weigh about 8 tones which was $42 per ton last summer or  $336 this winter it was $32 ton so $256 The last time I sold cedar a load that size was 1400@$450=$630
Mike

KBforester

This topic is depressing  :( I don't know how any of us are still in business.
Trees are good.

thecfarm

Don't see many small trucks around like that grassfed here now.
g_man,I met an old dump truck the other day. Have not seen that for a while.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

lumberjack48

Around here single axle trucks faded out 60 years ago. The tandem about 35 years ago. Back in the 70's there were tandem trucks and skidders setting all around, no more its a time long past.
Third generation logger, owner operator, 30 yrs felling experience with pole skidder. I got my neck broke back in 89, left me a quad. The wife kept the job going up to 96.

MEloggah

for a hobby or a living??

for me, doing this for a living, i want 5000 plus ft on a truck each and every time it leaves my landing. this time of year when the roads are soft ill accept 4000 ft if it keeps the road agents happy but i have to cut 2 loads a day or i feel like im falkling backwards. with hardwood, esp red oak i like to see 4200/4500ft on a truck when it leaves. my dad tells me ofthe days before i was born where him and gramp had side winfder trucks and a big load was 2000' lol to show how things have changed, now, if he and i dont have 8000' on the landing of logs a day plaus our pulp its like, why'd we even bother lol. you could cut more but then the doing a good clean low brush job comes into play and you need to think of it as...do i wanna do a good job and get referals OR doi want to thrash out as much wood as i can and make lots of money. we opt for both lol but a good job is primary. when you see a triaxle logging truck on the road loaded with white pine your looking at 1200-1500$$$$ basedonj a 5000'load. ide bring her out of retierment and cut hard wood logs. its more worth your time.

grassfed

I don't log for a hobby but I do only log my own land. I have a farm and my income is mainly from beef and logging. If I did not log I would not be able to eat or pay my mortgage so I would not call it a hobby. I could not work at this scale if I had to pay stumpage. I cut allot of stuff to improve my land, if I hired it done and was paid stumpage it would not amount to much. I can sell hardwood pulp and make a couple hundred a day after fuel costs so it works for me. I don't hire anything out, not mechanical, not labor.  I am good with a wrench and can keep old machinery going reliably. I always buy stuff cheap and try to keep spare parts around. I do work every day and I have not had a full day off in over 14 years so it might not be the life for some people.
Mike

thenorthman

Add three more logs to this (2 loads) and we cleared around $600.  Its alder and at the time they where paying around $700 per 1k scribner, I got hosed pretty bad by the scaler on this load

 
well that didn't work

SwampDonkey

Tandem trucks never left here if the logger is a potato farmer. He has at least 2 tandum potato trucks in his yard. Dad used to haul all he cut with a Chevy tandem until he retired in 2001. We had good prices here for a few years until about 2005 after the slump. We would sometimes have fir pulp hauled by TT to far off mills. They were paying $140.00-160.00 a cord for 4' back then. I remember in 1984 that dad was cutting huge aspen on one of the farms and hauling at night with the chevy to Houltan, Maine. I think the pulp then was $90/cord and he hauled 300 cord that Feb. The reason this stands out in my mind was we took a nice trip and did some improvements to the house that year.  ;D

I have to laugh at what the neighbor calls logging, I've only seen  6 TT loads leave his woods in 6 months. Lots of playing because they don't work a full day. :D

They have hauled some nice balsam fir logs out, some over 20" on the but and all chalk white. I aged some and they were less than 65 years old.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

lumberjack48

In the 80's logging Aspen we put a 1000+ cds a month on the landing. If anybody still had their tandem they were pulling a pup trailer behind it.
Stumpage prices went crazy around here after 1980. Aspen as high as $90. a cord on some sales. The private land owners were getting rich.

That single axle GMC is what they called a bobtail around here. With out a loader on it, you can haul about 1500' or 3 cords.

We had a tandem Mack that was used to load trucks and haul logs and saw bolts. When hauling logs, loads ran 3 to 4000', saw bolts, 6 1/2 to 7 1/2 cds, this was in the 70's.
Third generation logger, owner operator, 30 yrs felling experience with pole skidder. I got my neck broke back in 89, left me a quad. The wife kept the job going up to 96.

SwampDonkey

Dad worked all day and he was the only man falling the trees. Plus he never clear cut on this job. He owned everything he worked with and the land, plus he was a farmer. There was no need for him to do it any other way. Dad never clear cut any land. He in later years sold stumpage and had someone else clearcut to offset land clearing for farms. Dad wasn't set up to move large volumes in a short time. Heck some guys on here sound like a fella I know around here, that it didn't matter how big a tree you cut his trees were always bigger. :D :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

lumberjack48

I know your referring to me SwampDonkey, I'm not that guy next door that no matter what you've done he's done better. I was the guy that no matter what you've done I'd try to do better. Thats the way i was when i started peeling Balsam at 7 yrs old, i  loved computation. My father was the type a guy that got up at 8 am sat around drinking coffee till 9 am, this drove me crazy. I couldn't wait to get my own car. When i was 15 i bought a 51 Pontiac for $60. boy was i a happy camper. Now i could be on the job at day break like the rest of the strip cutters. Another problem i had with my father was getting paid. He aways told me that no kid makes this kind of money. I told him this one does, theres nothing worse then having to ask for your money. So i went to work for my two uncles who were big loggers at the time. They were proud of me when i out cut one of their top strip cutters. On Friday afternoon they came on the strip and did a count on what you cut that week. And if i wanted, they'd write a check right there and pat me on the back saying good job. My two uncles were very competitive, this is what i loved about them.
SwapDonkey if you cut a bigger tree, more trees, more cords I'd be the first one to tell you [good job] But watch out next week ;)
Third generation logger, owner operator, 30 yrs felling experience with pole skidder. I got my neck broke back in 89, left me a quad. The wife kept the job going up to 96.

SwampDonkey

:D My father never slept in past 5 am in all the years I've been here, and still don't. And now after being retired he hasn't got anything to get up for, except in the summer he has garden and golf. ;D My mother never could get into her father's head the amount of work dad did in a day. Grandfather thought it was easy because he never walked behind a horse. You don't look after a 850 acre farm laying in bed for very long or someone comes to take it. We don't get subsidies here to "not grow crops". And rarely any otherwise unless it's insurance. He ran a farm ever since he was 16.

But getting up early don't mean too much to some fellas, because mom's brother was always up by 5 am and most of his life never had a job, except for short stints. But he never was on no welfare or insurance program neither. Never had to, lived at home. Had a hobby farm.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

lumberjack48

I've been in this chair 24 yrs, i'm still wide awake at 5 am, and don't take any naps 8)
Third generation logger, owner operator, 30 yrs felling experience with pole skidder. I got my neck broke back in 89, left me a quad. The wife kept the job going up to 96.

bigred1951

thanks guys i really appreciate the general idea of prices..im not to sure what the springs under the truck is i know itll haul a load like it was empty..uncle used it a couple years ago to haul dry wall he had it stacked on there front to back to the top of the cab..and the job at the prison going just fine working every day friday thru teusday 4-12..i just bought a 79 ford f250 camper special club cab the other day..still not sure what im gonna do with it yet or where im gonna park it  :D

SwampDonkey

Since the mill will scale or weigh the load, it just depends on how much is on the truck and the grade price of the sticks. Get the prices and specs from the mill and do the math. ;)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

scottmphoto

  My local mill (Arkansas) gives $38.00 a ton. It's not much, but better than nothing.

scottmphoto

Forgot to mention, this is for pine. Min. of 12" butt and 7" at the top.

Okrafarmer

For pine saw logs, we get $190/k right now, which means a truck load around your size is in the $200-300 range. That's what Profdan gets if he takes in his dump truck or cable truck filled with pine saw logs. You have to realize he is also paid to remove the trees, usually several times more than the amount he sells the logs for.

Pine pulp, we get around $17/ ton around here. Hardwood, $21. A truck like yours might manage around 5-7 tons of pulp, depending on the springs, and what you have it registered for, etc. Profdan's dump gets around 5-6 tons legally, so a load of pulp is basically around $100-120. Again, not worth logging for, but since he must get rid of it regardless, it's better to be paid a little than to have to pay to get rid of it.

The most a wholesale sawmill in my area pays for hardwoods is $300/k for oak and ash, less for everything else. $250 for poplar, $225 for maple, $175 for everything else. Yes, the everything else includes cherry and walnut. A good load of oak on Profdan's dump truck is around $300-350.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Operating a 2020 Woodmizer LT35 hydraulic for Upcountry Sawmill, Dacusville, SC

Now selling Logrite tools!

Writing fiction and nonfiction! Check my website.

SwampDonkey

We get more for pulp than some of you guys get for logs. If the prices where that low here, the mills would be wood starved. Except they have crown timber and freehold and can shut off private wood. At one time, this was not allowed, using crown timber to drive down price.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Okrafarmer

We have a very low cost of living here, including some of the cheapest fuel prices in the US. Regular gasoline is around $3.27 here right now.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Operating a 2020 Woodmizer LT35 hydraulic for Upcountry Sawmill, Dacusville, SC

Now selling Logrite tools!

Writing fiction and nonfiction! Check my website.

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