Sawyers in OR, WA, and B.C. Canada ...do you have any difficulty getting logs?

islandlogger · January 18, 2010, 08:44:36 AM

Log Dog

Been busy a few days and in checking this thread looks like you all have been busy too lol

Sawmill listings for WA State at: (hope I copied this correct)

http://www.manta.com/mb_44_E01A5_48/sawmills_and_planing_mills_general/washington

The Puget Sound is in my mind a great area, lot's of nice spots up North and around Bellingham with plenty of mills big and small within reach...

Luck with your searches

-Islandlogger

LOGDOG · January 18, 2010, 10:04:24 AM

Thanks Island Logger for the link. I had actually discovered that link the other night when I googled "Washington Sawmills". As they say, "Google is your friend" right?

Yesterday I was reading the magazine "Unique Homes". They had a listing of the 25 real estate markets by city they expect to snap back the quickest. Seattle was one of them. Not sure if any of you guys have looked at Trulia.com for real estate up there, but one thing that is unique about that site is that it shows you what the homes for sale sold for the last couple times they changed hands. Some of those places can literally be bought for 50 cents on the dollar -or less right now from where they were bought in 2006/2007. An economist that spoke at one of my Sales Conventions and makes regular appearances on CNBC was telling us that it's normally 10 years between "tops" or "peaks" in the real estate market. 2006 is when they consider the last peak to have occured. This would lead one to think that 2016 +/- is when we could see the next one. So on some of these homes that can be bought at steep discounts it would seem that there could be some excellent appreciation over the next 6 years or so.

Did I understand that you're over in the UK right now working out some visa stuff right now? I bet that's a pain huh? Hope you can get that worked out speedily and get back to the States.

LOGDOG

islandlogger · January 18, 2010, 10:12:30 AM

Hey Log Dog

Yes indeed Google can be our friend and can also suck us into hours of searching lol

And yes I am in the UK right now. Since my wife has so much family here we go back and forth alot (makes business interesting but so far so good) and in order to make it easy to travel I try and keep a current Visa status. Well, upon my most recent renewal the good folks at the UK Home Office seem to have "misplaced" my application which includeds my current passport, I was supposed to be flying to the states for a logging and milling job on the 20th, doesnt look I will be going anywhere soon till I get things figured out and yes its bloody frusterating!!

I wish I could get my hands on more real estate, got my hands full for now keeping a place over here and back in the states lol one day when I am a multi billion dollar timber corperation eh?

Best

Islandlogger

LOGDOG · January 18, 2010, 07:39:47 PM

Wow that's a bummer Island Logger. Hopefully you can get that worked out soon.

And you're right ... Google can eat up a bunch of your time. Kind of addictive like the Forum. ;D

LOGDOG

sgschwend · January 18, 2010, 09:36:09 PM

The best salmon fishing is the river, otherwise an outfitter tends to be a good deal, since they keep track of the current location down-rigger style fishing. In the river you can catch kings, silvers, and chums that you can catch on a spinner or fly. I do a lot of boating so I tend to bottom fish out of my dingy, just catch and release. Crabbing is one thing I like to do, haven't done shrimping yet but that is popular here too.

You might be happy looking in the Bellingham area, high quality city, directly inline with the islands.

I would also recommend you use the Western Regional Climate center web page and run historic weather reports so you can see what kind of weather each location has. Whidbey is in the weather shadow of the Olympic mountains so we don't get much rain (about 20 inches/year). If you haven't lived in 100 inches of rain a year, you better make sure where you land has the weather you can live with.

I make one style flooring and try to provide it on order, but it is more of a way to bring in some different kind of business. I make it all using good hobby quality equipment, hence why I try to keep the volume low.

Local loggers are the best resource for special logs, as long as they exist in the area. Around here I would guess that Sedro Wooley area would be prime for good logs, as you get close to the sound the trees have wind stress in them. The islands were logged heavily in the mid 1800s. Not that there aren't good logs here, just not slow growing tall logs that you can find in draws and canyons.

Let me know what you decide to do. I got an itch to build a mill, so I might be looking for a buyer for mine.

LOGDOG · January 18, 2010, 10:08:51 PM

Steve,

You make an excellent point on the weather. One side of a mountain range may get dumped on, while the other gets substantially less. Definitely want to know those details before you close on a piece of property. Interesting that you mention Sedro Wooley. I actually looked at some listings there today. There's a book called "Builders of the Pacific Coast" written by Lloyd Kahn. One of the builders featured in his book lives there. Interesting character. Wouldn't mind having coffee with him if I end up close by.

Sell your mill? The Mark IV??? There was a time when I used to druel over the Mark IV. Mighty Mite was really progressive in their time. The first bandmill that I recall coming out with a chain turner and two of them at that. Seems like most of the guys who have built their own mills don't get quite the same performance out of them to say the least. You may have seen that there are some threads going currently on that very topic. Although there is a mill I've wondered about. It's over at Urban Hardwoods. Have you ever visited their shop and seen their large horizontal bandmill - or maybe seen it on their website gallery? Nice setup. I've never seen another mill like it.

Crabbing is on our list too. As is shrimping. Do you get the typical fall run of salmon coming in from the sound up the feeder streams and rivers to spawn. We used to catch lots of big Kings that way when I lived in WI.

I'm off to check some weather history on some of those towns. Good tip.

Thanks much.

LOGDOG

Coalsmoke · January 18, 2010, 10:54:57 PM

Quote from: sgschwend on January 18, 2010, 09:36:09 PM
The best salmon fishing is the river, otherwise an outfitter tends to be a good deal, since they keep track of the current location down-rigger style fishing. In the river you can catch kings, silvers, and chums that you can catch on a spinner or fly. I do a lot of boating so I tend to bottom fish out of my dingy, just catch and release. Crabbing is one thing I like to do, haven't done shrimping yet but that is popular here too.

You might be happy looking in the Bellingham area, high quality city, directly inline with the islands.

I would also recommend you use the Western Regional Climate center web page and run historic weather reports so you can see what kind of weather each location has. Whidbey is in the weather shadow of the Olympic mountains so we don't get much rain (about 20 inches/year). If you haven't lived in 100 inches of rain a year, you better make sure where you land has the weather you can live with.

I make one style flooring and try to provide it on order, but it is more of a way to bring in some different kind of business. I make it all using good hobby quality equipment, hence why I try to keep the volume low.

Local loggers are the best resource for special logs, as long as they exist in the area. Around here I would guess that Sedro Wooley area would be prime for good logs, as you get close to the sound the trees have wind stress in them. The islands were logged heavily in the mid 1800s. Not that there aren't good logs here, just not slow growing tall logs that you can find in draws and canyons.

Let me know what you decide to do. I got an itch to build a mill, so I might be looking for a buyer for mine.

How much do you figure your mill will sell for?

islandlogger · January 19, 2010, 05:07:11 AM

Hey Log Dog

Yeah I hope it works out to, thankfully my client is understanding (for now) so see how it goes. The real bummer is I sent this app recorded delivery and it was recorded to have been delivered, they have a hot line to phone and then they tell me all I can do is write the home office and wait. Great system eh?

Sedro Wooley is a ok town, my Grandpa lives there and in the day it was a booming logging town, it's slowed down alot but still has the best saw shop (Woods Logging Supply) and alot of logging connections...

The timber in the islands indeed has some wind stress however I find that to be more common directly on the waters edge. It isn't uncommon for me to knock down a 175 year old Doug Fir that is tight as can be, sound in all aspects, and downright prime timber. Cedar is good when you find the pockets without heart rot, and of course Grand Fir and Hemlock are abundent. No shortage of good Alder and Maple as well...so in my head the Islands still hold valuable timber and, well it keeps me goin 8)

Wish you guys hadnt started talking Salmon, Crab and Shrimp, nothing better then all that eh? I have a buddy runs a small supply/foot passenger boat, he knows all the local crabbers and shrimpers and is always bringing in loads of it for us to buy off...

At any rate, sounds like you have alot of avenues to check out. In my mind the Bellingham area is good for all this. Fishing close by, Canada not to far if you have a hankering to head that way, lots of logging/timber connections, town not to big, not to small. Lots of potentiel. Have you thought about buying a large chunk/s of wood land and do a bit of tree farming?

Luck

Islandlogger

LOGDOG · January 19, 2010, 08:58:41 AM

Island Logger,

Yeah that's quite the system they got over there. Governments aren't exactly known for their efficiency in handling things. In my opinion the private sector can always do it better.

Your friend with the connections to the shrinpers and crabbers sounds like a good friend to have. I have a guy here locally that owns a shrimp boat down on the South Louisiana shore in a town called Houma. He comes home every friday bringing coolers of fresh shrimp. I buy the head on jumbos from him for $4.00 - $5.00 a pound. They're so good! What does your guy charge for shrimp and crab off the boat? Are they the dungeness crab? Love those. digin_2

Believe it or not, we get more rain here than most of the islands in your region get. I took Steve's advise last night and went to the regional weather center's site. That was enlightening. I don't mind rain so much as long as I don't have mud. Here in Louisiana we have a ton of red clay that turns to this wet pottery clay consistency when it rains. It's a mess. Give me a cool rainy day, with some shelter overhead and a good stone, concrete, or blacktop base to walk/ work on and I'll take that over these hot, humid days in Louisiana anytime.

Tree Farm? Actually yes, it did occur to me. The way you guys grow trees out there it seems like it could be a stable way to invest part of your money - short of wildfire risk and the eco-wacko factor. All I would need is for someone to spot an owl in my woods that I've been growing for 30 years and them to tell me I can't cut it because it's "habitat" and down the drain goes any profits. Not sure what the answer is for that risk.

Have a great day today.

LOGDOG

islandlogger · January 19, 2010, 09:36:38 AM

Log Dog

Yep, quite the system. The UK has SO much immigration you would think they would have a bit better system, but who am I to say? I am just a loggin fool lol

As for what do I pay for Shrimp and Crab? I pay the buddy rate lol he gets some lumber and bit of cord wood and a favor here and there and I get all I can eat, not bad eh? And yes mostly Dungeness Crab, getting hungary just writing about it!!

Yeah I can beleive you get more rain there, and I've heard stories of that clay being no fun. I guess I've been working out side long enough none of it bothers me anymore, well, maybe the wind at times when it's really puffing and I need to lay some wood on the ground...

A tree farm would be a ace investment, one of my long term goals for sure. Look at some land and then check out the habitat and then the chances of some tree hugger shutting down, it would take a spec critter for that to happen. In all my years of loggin the only hitch I ever came up against was when I was removing hazard trees around a water front house with a Bald Eagle nest 100 yards away, I had to wait till nesting season was over. Other then that I never had any trouble in our area, and I even helped my Forester buddy on a Gary Oak Restoration project on the Nature Conservency! You will find more restrictions etc. with clear cutting ops, selective logging on a DFL property with a well written harvest plan by a good Forester will be a bit less hectic...

Dang, wish I had me a good bunch o crab now!! (and a pass port!)

Islandlogger

LOGDOG · January 19, 2010, 06:33:24 PM

Quote from: islandlogger on January 19, 2010, 09:36:38 AM

Dang, wish I had me a good bunch o crab now!! (and a pass port!)

Islandlogger

....and a passport. I know it's a real pain for you but I had to chuckle at that one. Don't forget the drawn garlic butter, and corn on the cob and red potatoes boiled in some crab boil or crawfish boil. They go well together. ;D Add to it a couple

and it doesn't get much better.

LOGDOG

islandlogger · January 20, 2010, 07:42:05 AM

Log Dog

Guess I gotta chuckle to now and then to keep sane, I should have been flying out today...I suppose I should be gratefull, I could be in Haiti and so will count the blessings I have. I'm just one of those thats lucky to love his job and I'm not quite myself unless I'm out in the timber or running the mill blade through said timber. Some where on this forum I think some one quoted "if you love your job then you havn't worked a day in your life" something along those lines, it suits me. I'm not the smartest of guys in lot's of ways but I am ambitious and I dare to dream big and don't normally give up on things I make up my mind on such as keeping a business running while hopping the pond back and forth! Wish the UK had a better forestry program I could get involved in while I was here, I have researched it and there are plenty of programs out there but it's alot of travel to be at the active areas and the pay is like working at McDonalds.
At any rate, things will pull together and I have my little girl to keep me busy and it's good to have time with her.
Sounds to me like you have a ambitious streak as well, wish you the best of luck in what your after and who nows maybe we will be boiling some crabs some time down the line eh?

Islandlogger

LOGDOG · January 20, 2010, 08:50:22 AM

IslandLogger,

You'll be alright. I think it was Tom Petty's song that said, "The wait is the hardest part". I wondered if your family was with you. You're right very cool that you get this time with your little girl. Call it "life making you take a family vacation". ;) You're right too about Haiti. Wouldn't want to be there right now. I had just made a comment to my wife along those lines about 5 minutes before signing on here.

I'll take an ambitious dreamer any day over a someone who's lazy and book smart - and you're right, I've definitely got a streak of the ambitious dreamer in me. Somehow life has let me get away with it this far. You and I are about the same age and I've come to the point where I see how the last 10 years just flew by like the blink of an eye. I didn't do near enough of the things I really enjoy - like fishing and traveling. But I did enough of the "work stuff" that it will let me do it going forward - if I'll let myself do it. There are things about each one of my businesses that I really like and really dislike. Money aside though, nothing makes me feel as good as filleting boards off of a nice log. Just something about it.

I'll take you up on that crab boil when we get out that way. That would actually be a fun outing for some Forum members. Crab/fish boil on the beach out there .... bonfire.... I can see it now. ;D

LOGDOG

islandlogger · January 20, 2010, 09:35:30 AM

Log Dog

Yeah it was Petty that sang that and yeah I will be all right once I get this "stuff" sorted out, some how I always land on my feet, maybe a few bruises along the way but that goes with the game. The biggest frusteration is I am trying real hard to expand the business in several ways and was just starting to get going on some things and this hold back came at a bad time. I have a guy that I hire quite a bit, a 55 year old Rasta from Dominica, he is great and even at 55 he has the energy of a teen ager, I was just getting him trained up on the mill so he could keep things going when I make these trips and he was counting on some employ so I am feeling bad for letting him down but I think he found a few things to tide him over.
Book smart folk ha ha, I come from a line of loggers but it skipped my dad who is by all means book smart and very good at what he does and I am proud of him no end on all the things he over came. I had alot of preassure growing up to follow his dreams for me which for sure didn't involve skid roads, chain saws, skidders, log trucks and saw mills BUT he supports me none the less and only drops the hint now and then of what I "might have done" but I knew by the time I was 8 what I was going to do and by gawd did it and havn't got any regrets. Like you say, there is some thing about it and it pulls me and calls me like nothing else. I reckon alot of folks on this here forum feel the same way....and I bet alot of them would indeed enjoy a good ol beach Salmon Bake and Crab Boil, and I bet alot of them enjoy having a passport to 8)

Catch ya on the back forty!

Islandlogger

sgschwend · January 20, 2010, 10:06:06 PM

There is a spring run too, and a late summer run of silvers (those peak every four years, I think).

If you hunt and fish you will not have time to change your shirt.

Yes I can make the Island crab feed, just let me know when (I think BackW would come up, but that would be about a 10 hour drive for him).

LOGDOG · January 21, 2010, 08:58:05 AM

Quote from: sgschwend on January 20, 2010, 10:06:06 PM
There is a spring run too, and a late summer run of silvers (those peak every four years, I think).

If you hunt and fish you will not have time to change your shirt.

Yes I can make the Island crab feed, just let me know when (I think BackW would come up, but that would be about a 10 hour drive for him).

Sounds good to me Steve. The hunting and fishing component alone is enough to seal the deal for me. I think that outing has some potential. You know who else lives nearby is Logwalker. I think he's in the San Juans? There's a few more in close proximity too. That'd be a good time.

Quote from: islandlogger on January 20, 2010, 09:35:30 AM
Log Dog

Yeah it was Petty that sang that and yeah I will be all right once I get this "stuff" sorted out, some how I always land on my feet, maybe a few bruises along the way but that goes with the game. The biggest frusteration is I am trying real hard to expand the business in several ways and was just starting to get going on some things and this hold back came at a bad time. I have a guy that I hire quite a bit, a 55 year old Rasta from Dominica, he is great and even at 55 he has the energy of a teen ager, I was just getting him trained up on the mill so he could keep things going when I make these trips and he was counting on some employ so I am feeling bad for letting him down but I think he found a few things to tide him over.
Book smart folk ha ha, I come from a line of loggers but it skipped my dad who is by all means book smart and very good at what he does and I am proud of him no end on all the things he over came. I had alot of preassure growing up to follow his dreams for me which for sure didn't involve skid roads, chain saws, skidders, log trucks and saw mills BUT he supports me none the less and only drops the hint now and then of what I "might have done" but I knew by the time I was 8 what I was going to do and by gawd did it and havn't got any regrets. Like you say, there is some thing about it and it pulls me and calls me like nothing else. I reckon alot of folks on this here forum feel the same way....and I bet alot of them would indeed enjoy a good ol beach Salmon Bake and Crab Boil, and I bet alot of them enjoy having a passport to 8)

Catch ya on the back forty!

Islandlogger

I know what you mean there IslandLogger. Sometimes it's almost like our vocation chooses us instead of us choosing it. A lot of people try to fight it and end up being unhappy. I liken it to being "mis-aligned" with your life. It's a conversation I sometimes have with my financial planning clients. Even a machine that's misaligned won't perform at its best potential. Not only that, the misalignment will usually start to break the machine down if not corrected and forced to operate under those terms. I think the human mind and body is much the same. There are tons of people sitting in cubicles that are anything but happy and wish they could be following their dreams. I always enjoy seeing Ironwood's quote here on the Forum. You may have noticed it. It says:
"There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love to do, there is only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.- Wayne Dyer " It's a great reminder.

LOGDOG

1GUNRUNNER · January 21, 2010, 08:38:06 PM

I am buying Dungies off the boat for $4 ea. I have a crab feed next weekend and need to go pickup about 200 next week.

LOGDOG · January 22, 2010, 05:37:45 PM

Gunrunner ...

I pay about 4 times that for Dungies here - cooked though. I'll take $4.00 apiece anyday! How many people are you going to be feeding with those 200 crabs? Tell me you're going to take some pictures and post for those of us who won't be there.

Sounds like a good time.

LOGDOG

1GUNRUNNER · January 22, 2010, 08:57:12 PM

You will pay $7.99 - $12.99(cooked) a pound here in the stores as well and I am only 50 miles off the beach. Generally a 2 pound average. I can dig up some cooking pics from years past. I host a shooting event 4 times a year and the winter one is always the crab shoot. I also pick up some for friends and family as well.

You can do fairly well off the docks with a pot or a ring yourself this time of year. A great beer drinking sport as long as you don't fall in.

I will trade mudbugs for Dungies anyday, bring a mess on up and we will boil 'em together!

LOGDOG · January 22, 2010, 09:09:36 PM

If you know about mudbugs you've been around. They're Louisiana's pride and joy. ;D We even have a hockey team named after them here. They just came into season. They're about $5.99 /lb right now. Trouble with that is it takes about 7 lbs of crawfish to yield 1 lb of crawfish meat. So that comes to just shy of $42.00/ lb

Yikes! The price goes down the later you get into the season. They get bigger later on too. You can buy them live buy the potatoe sack full for about a $1.00 / lb later on. If I could find a way to keep them fresh on the trip out I'd throw some in. I'll see what I can figure out. ;)

Where'd you get turned on to mudbugs?

LOGDOG

1GUNRUNNER · January 23, 2010, 01:29:33 PM

I have been in LA a few times for Festival and conventions, also have friends in Texas I used to go visit a couple times a year.

I live on a river here in WA with crawfish in it but, they will not be trapped. I have talked to several people up and down this river that have tried over the years with no success. I have put a raw chicken leg in the water and watched for 36hrs and nothing touched it. You can catch them by hand but, they have no interest in hotdogs, chicken, or tunafish.