what does a load of hardwood cost?

rambo · June 09, 2011, 11:41:11 PM

What is the going rate for a log truck of white oak and cherry in PA? And about how many board foot can one expect to get off a log truck?

smwwoody · June 10, 2011, 07:29:27 AM

Where at in PA and what size truck

paul case · June 10, 2011, 10:00:30 AM

there are way too many variables in the question.
i bought a load of sycamore and oak yesterday. small stuff. none of it scaled over 50 bdft per log. all will probably be pallet material. the load was all he could pile on a 20' gooseneck flatbed and only scaled 744 bdft. paid $.25bdft. $186.
if it had been a load of 2' x 10' logs they would have scaled more than twice the bdft.
the other thing is type. butt cutts on nice trees are generally worth more at some mills.
i will pay $.25 for any good logs that come in. the end product dictates how much you can pay. i make ties and grade lumber some and do custom orders. all those things require good logs with few knots. however i also make pallet cutstock and it is all short(40'') boards and can be salvaged out of almost anything. these boards will double my log money. all the other things pay more. if i buy a log and saw it up i want to at least double my money and at $.25 i can do that.
neighbor mills are paying $.22 for pallet logs, $.30 for tie logs, and $44 for grade logs, all doyle scale.
my neck of the woods is quite a ways from yours though. pc

rambo · June 10, 2011, 02:37:39 PM

SMWWOODY,
I live in Sarver, southern butler county. As far as the truck size goes I'm think large. I don't really know how to refer to the different size trucks. :

PC,
So all the pallet stock you cut is just to salvage what is left of the log. What do you get for pallet stock? Thanks for the feedback.

paul case · June 10, 2011, 05:57:36 PM

i cut pallet stock out of logs too small crooked or otherwise unfit for ties as well. it pays $.32 for a 5/8''x4''x40''. thats delivered to a mill 20 miles away for me.they wont take any bark. anything that i make that dont make #1 pallet stock i sell as #2 to a pallet recycler for $.16 each.
grade lumber pays much better but it can pay less than the pallet boards if it drops below 2 common i think. the other draw back is on grade you are at the mercy of the grader and how far behind they are. they have to grade it and settlement gets made in a week or 2. the place i sell pallet stock to pays on delivery and buys all i can make.
on the ties they are pretty picky and they take all you bundle up they just dont pay you for ones that are culled. they will pay before they pick up the ties though.
the grade deal has always paid well but it makes me nervous. a lot can happen in a week.
truckloads can vary a lot here. my truck may haul 800 to 1000 ft and some trucks may haul as much as 2000 ft. pc

smwwoody · June 10, 2011, 07:05:23 PM

Rambo,

This is just a guess but I would say the truck load you are talking about would be a tri axle truck in that area. I am originally from Elk county. a load of logs on that type of truck should be around 3200 to 3500 bf Doyle scale. If the log prices in that area are still as high as they were in the spring it will cost you about $2000+ for a mixed load of oak and cherry saw logs.

Woody

rambo · June 10, 2011, 07:21:14 PM

Woody,
Thanks for the info.

PC,
I checked out your log truck. I like it. Is that a PC CUSTOM? Or did you buy it like that? Also, what is that rear loading mechanism????

paul case · June 10, 2011, 07:53:02 PM

this one? it was a log hauling truck when i bought it. it had a log bed made ot haul 2 bunks full of 8'ers. the mills here are working mostly on 10' sawlogs and their loaders had a hard time unloading them from my truck due to the extra bunk in the way. i pulled that bed off and put on a 10' flatbed and cut 2 bunks off the old bed and boltedthem down to the top of the new bed. the back one comes off easily and the truck will pull a gooseneck. the old bed turned into a log hauling trailer that i sold a few years back. flatbed has a flat on it in this picture. as for the loader....

it may not look like much but it works real good. a farmall 460 gas with a dual loader. wide front axle is a 2 ton truck front axle flipped over and modified accordingly. those 20'' tires on the front is a real asset in the woods. they will roll over almost anything in the woods. it wont break the spindles either! pc

rambo · June 10, 2011, 09:12:09 PM

Thanks for the scoop on both of those pieces of equipment.

What is the that thing you used to load the 16 footer from the rear of the truck?

paul case · June 10, 2011, 10:46:06 PM

this?

that is a hay bed made to haul and unroll(feed) round bales of hay to cows. it has short spikes on the ends of the arms that ''grab'' or clamp in the ends of the bales or in a 3'' pipe for picking up stuff. in case you havent figured out, there arent many things around my ranch that only does one job. pc

rambo · June 10, 2011, 11:50:54 PM

yes that thing!!! That is so cool. Where can a pilgrim like me buy one of those????

paul case · June 11, 2011, 01:14:36 AM

that one came from krogmann mfg in sabetha, ks. kinda pricey though at about $7k installed . that one is about 10 years old now. the warranty may not cover hauling 16' logs with it! pc

smwwoody · June 11, 2011, 08:44:31 AM

Rambo
You can build a pivoting A frame on the back with a winch that can help you load logs on the same principal. I know there are a few members here that have done that. maybe they will chime in

Woody

smwwoody · June 11, 2011, 08:54:03 AM

Rambo take a look at this thread

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,17613.60.html

Woody

Tom · June 11, 2011, 12:31:15 PM

Or, this one.
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,2299.0.html

Fla._Deadheader is the one who started all this interest in loading logs this way. It goes way back, and there are other threads that have the pictures and descriptions interspersed in conversations that might be hard to find, but they are there.

rambo · June 13, 2011, 04:53:21 PM

Thanks guys that was very helpful. ;D

CX3 · June 14, 2011, 09:16:59 PM

Paul Case did you happen to buy any logs from the damage around joplin? I just picked up 2 ten wheeler loads of very nice red oak. Some were huge

paul case · June 15, 2011, 12:27:01 AM

i bought 1 load of firewood logs(all showed signs of metal) and about 1500 ft of post oak of marginal quality. the post oak came from a yard that was like a park. the mormon chainsaw crew had been there and cut and stacked the logs firewood and brush. the log pile was 1/2 blackjack which wont make lumber. i guess the mormon chainsaw crew didnt know this.
there are a lot of nice trees in joplin to be cleaned up still. the ones from the middle of the storm arent as good as the outskirts. the trash gets drove down in the bark.
are you selling those logs local to joplin? pc

CX3 · June 17, 2011, 12:34:57 AM

Its a little far for me. I just helped a guy out and went and picked up two loads of logs for him that he cut from the blowdown. man they were some good sticks

Jemclimber · June 22, 2011, 07:59:16 AM

I've never removed or been up in a blackjack oak. I don't recall ever seeing one around here. Can you elaborate on why it won't make lumber? Thanks.

ely · June 22, 2011, 10:06:17 AM

wont make lumber means there is not any market for blackjack lumber. blackjack around here typically has a hollow that runs from 8 inches to 8 feet up from the root ball.

personally if the blackjack is large enough i will saw lumber from it for my own use. it usually has a great deal of streaks and mineral stain in the wood.

as a saw log they are hell on the bands. worse than sawing dried hickory IMO.