Black Cherry Lumber

[Corley5]

What's black cherry worth these days?  I've got 1,300 bdf (International scale) of logs.  I cut them last spring off Grandma's place, sold a half dozen veneer logs out of the pile and have these left.  I was going to saw them for myself.  I wanted the lumber but for what I don't know. Just to add it to the other that's stacked here and there in barns, next to buildings etc.  I've got them on the skids now and have someone interested in the lumber and he'll help saw.  These aren't the greatest bunch of logs but I've seen worse.  There are some butts and some good 2nd logs ranging from 8 to twelve feet in length.  I'm just looking for a ball park figure for mill run, not graded or sorted just sawed black cherry.  Getting rid of it this way also means I won't have to sticker it.

[Ron Scott]

Black Cherry Stumpage prices in your area range from $165.00/MBF to $485.00/MBF depending upon quality. The average price is $$325.00/MBF.

Since you have the logs cut and at your mill, you should add your felling, bucking, and hauling costs to the stumpage value.

[Ron Wenrich]

The quality of the lumber would dictate the prices.  Green FAS cherry is going for $2.46/bf by the truckload.  Selects would be about $2.44 and I think 1 common is around $1.75.  Even 2 common should be over $1/bf.  Those are wholesale prices.

If you have some pretty good boards, than I would make sure the price reflects that.  Don't give away your lumber just to avoid stickering.

[woodmills1]

for price info try      www.hmr.com  i subscribe, though it is an expense it is very informative on a weekly basis.

[Tom]

What a great place to put today's experience.  

I was called a couple of days ago to cut a "few" Cherry logs that a developer had taken off of the land where he is building a gated community.  A days work, maybe a day and a half, he said.

I got there this morning and there are no less than 50 cherry trees piled in disarray around the base of a large live oak.  Some are cut to random lengths where he had made an effort to comply with my " logs cut to length" rule, but most had only been cut to lengths short enough to be carried with a front end loader with a root rake.  Lengths of 25 and 30 feet are common in the jumble of pick-up sticks and the bulk of them have 24 inch butts and were 18-20 dbh I would guess.

They were all removed because of the theory that they were unstable in a wind, since the rest of the trees had been removed.  The land is left with only a scattering of Live Oaks in singles and a few small groves.

I sawed a few tops today but spent most of the day trying to withdraw logs from the pile and cutting sawable lengths from them.

"I'm adding an addition to my house and want it for floor.  Do you think I'll have enough?"

"Mister, you'll have enough to build another house",  I said.

I have never seen so many cherry logs in one place here before.  Usually I get a call to cut one.  Sometimes I get a call to cut 4 or 5.  I never dreamed I would be called to cut this much. ;D ;D ;D

This comes on Saturday after I spent Thur and Fri. cutting some of the prettiest 80-100 year old Long Leaf for flooring on the other side of the county.  It's growth rings were so tight that we had difficulty counting them and the butt cuts of the logs were no larger than 14 inches.

I'm on cloud nine, or in seventh heaven  or one of those other places of exuberance. 8)

Now a call from Folkston, Ga. to cut a truckload of Poplar.

"Tom, they are all big, one has a top of 29 inches and the whole truckload has 30 inch or better butts."

Holy Cow, I'll have to get a picture.  I must be living right.  Who else gets the chance to cut  stuff like that?