Good Deal?

[Corley5]

I'm not so sure it is.  Every yard tree I've ever sawed had hardware in it but someone might get good use out of it
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2577132147&category=41502

[Buzz-sawyer]

I get 3-4 calls every week ffom someone who is sure they have a gold mine in the back yard...A BLACK WALNUT!!!
So what!...I give them the refrence to my friend the tree trimmer...he will do it for 3-4 hundred then probably give me the log to get ride of it
Don

[Jeff]

Same with our ask the forester on mfra.org and timberbuyer.net. They mostly think they have a gold mine or are going to finance early retirement. Its the most prevelent question we have. People stop just short of calling you a liar at times when you say that chances are its really not worth the time and effort and that it will probably cost them to have it removed

[Buzz-sawyer]

I do my best to guide these folks into the real world...today a guy near my mill had a huge log to show me he had for sale...it was a 10inch d.b.h. red oak he just cut that looked like it had been dead about 2 years from wilt...oh it was crooked and knotty...he said everone told him it was worth something...I want to meet this guy"EVERYONE" I would like him to buy my cooperage and venner logs!

[Stephen_Wiley]

While on a job,the neighbor asked me to look at his tree and give him a quote for removal.

After giving him the quote.........he seemed quite excited and wanted to know if I would  take the wood for the cost of removal.

My response set him back = " Sorry sir,  I did not include removal of wood from the property in that quote. Just add $300 more."

On more than one occasion during 30 years of service. I have re-educated folks to the value of wood in trees for log or firewood purposes. The same is true for trees they wish to sell for transplant. "I heard my Japanese Maple is worth $15 thousand dollars".  Simple reply:  Sure if you wish to ball / burlap it maintain it alive for a minimum of one year, be responsible for its outplanting and for two years afterwards therapeutic care. Provide all equipment necessary to perform the task.  

[Kevin_H.]

I get a lot of logs from tree services, I dont pay for them but I do offer to pick them up to save the service a little time an money.

Seems like almost every time the home owner will comment that the neighbor said "that tree is worth thousands of dollars"

most of them dont beleive you when you tell them that it's barely worth comming to get.

[Frickman]

Alot of these folks just have been misinformed. Back in the 1970's black walnut was moving good, and there were instances of folks selling a few trees out their yard for big bucks. What people don't here is that the logger was next door on another harvest, and the walnut was a veneer or high grade sawlog that had been a deep woods tree. You have the same thing with the cherry today. The reason these stories get retold and embellished along the way is that it is more interesting than telling tales about firewood logs.

Of course after these folks have heard these stories the lottery mindset comes into play and they think they have hit their retirement nest egg. In a way I can't blame them, because the average person on the street has no clue about the production of forest products and the value of timber on the stump. An average person might purchase a dozen or more cars over their lifetime, so they have a frame of reference about a car's value. But an average person will never be involved with a timber sale, so they don't have any background to draw from.

I make it a policy to visit every landowner who calls about timber the have for sale. At least fifty percent are yard trees. I thank the folks for calling me, and try to explain what I'm looking for. You have to go look at every potential job, because you never know what you'll find. I'll refer them to several of my arborist friends if they want, but most of the time they have already given these folks a quote, and they are exploring other options.

[Ron Wenrich]

I remember when that walnut craze hit back in the '70s.  What made matters worse, the local newspaper ran an article about a guy who got $36,000 for a walnut tree.  I asked a local veneer man if that price could be right, and he said for an outstanding tree, he wouldn't hesitate to buy it for that price.

The phone started ringing from everyone who read the article.  I went to one guy's place who wanted to sell all his 12" fence row walnuts.  

I told him they weren't worth much due to metal and size.  But, he had some really nice white oak - 36"+ and veneer quality.  Those, he wouldn't part with.  Go figure.

[SawBilly]

this tree has several items in it, just look at all the knots, plus it has a short trunk, you'd be lucky to burn it in a outside fire pit.

Appears only a good deal for the homeowner. It does however appear to be fairly easy to remove based on the pictures.

[oakiemac]

I couldn't believe the guys comment, "this tree is very valualble".
Only in his mind! The merchantable height looked very small and the  trunk is knotty. This is a classic example of the gold mine in the back yard theory.

[Ron Wenrich]

But, you didn't look at the location.  Location is everything.  Beverly Hills, CA.  How much locally grown black walnut do you think there is in the Hills?  That has to increase the value, right there.

[woodchip]

I won,t argue too much about value,I then will offer to saw it into lumber so he can market it .This usually gets me some business.

[Buzz-sawyer]

I think the last two post are correct...propper marketing can fetch an exceptional price for an un-acceptional log...I.E tree from Thomas Jeffersons estate etc.

From my position as a small time circle mill owner
(I want to be like Ron W when I "grow up!) ;) :D 8)
(Ron you define the word proffesional)

I dont have the means or necissarily the enthusiasm to get the proper add campaign goin..... probably a tree like that, crafted into a mantle, or works of art, would sell well in the neighborhood...movie executives etal.....

but I would definitely be willing to try for something historic, for sure.

[pasbuild]

If you take a closer look at the listing you will see that this tree is in Beverly Hills outside of Detroit Mi., I guess one could always turn it into hockey pucks.

[isawlogs]

  Somebody gottem that there tree for a hole 0,99 $. Yes sir...a big 0,99 cents ....for a hole walnut tree and everything inside of it...

[Frank_Pender]

Yep, I get to see thos kind all the time.  I have 6 to go see that are  40 miles South of me and 1 that is 40 miles North.  :'( I feel like the preverbal Ass betwen the bales of hay.  I am better to stay home and save my time and fuel. :-/

[Jeff]

It was  just some sap that bid on it. If you click on his ratings number, both previous auctions he bid on he recieved negative feedback as he never paid.

[Buzz-sawyer]

Frank,
I am just about out of "enthusiasm" for following up on the "gold mines in the back yard" I used to hold out that , "Well maybe they will have some other trees or put me onto a neighbor"...last week though, I spent two tanks of gas and had nothing to show for it except 8hrs total lost!
Don

[Ed_K]

 Woodchuck55, and I went to look at an OAK job. The home owner wants the trees sawed for his own use. The driveway was at 20% right off the main rd. The logs where cut and draged farther from the driveway, and their black oak  >:(. About 8" to 12" still in log length.
 Whats black oak good for other than wagon bodies? Owner thought furniture  :.
Ed

[Buzz-sawyer]

I am not certain about your part of the country what "black oak " means here it is used and graded right along side the other red oak species...used for every kind of furniture...whatever.....the only difference we run into as far as value and usefulness is in pin oak and water oak both are much inferior and the pin oak is truly almost useless as plank lumber do to its checking large rotten knots and and splitting ...it is still accepted by some tie buyers and that is what I use it for sending the rest to pallet mills....some folk have little use for water oak as well....
Don

[Jeff]

I almost forgot my little lesson in assuming, so dont quit chasing them gold mines...

https://forestryforum.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl?board=Business;action=display;num=1068343189

[Jeff]

Talk about marketing, look at this! :D

I'm going to post the discription of this ebay ad here for when it goes away on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2363958513&category=28138

10 pieces freshly cut Ironwood logs 3" to 4" diameter by 36" long. Packed and shipped in individual tubes. This is the perfect material for making custom knife handles, gun stocks, and many other wooden items. Buyer pays actual shipping from 78016. MO preferred. Buyer may pay by PayPal but must add PayPal fee to cost.

Starting bid:  US $9.95 (Reserve not met)  
    
Time left:  21 hours 35 mins
5-day listing
Ends Dec-07-03 08:01:10 PST
Add to Calendar  
History: 0 bids  
 Buy it now Price: US $900.00  
   Location: Kingwood, TX
United States  
 
  

[Tom]

I'll decimate my wet weather creek of Blue Beech (ironwood) at those prices.  I might even deliver them. :D

[Fla._Deadheader]

Had our first, " you cut it-you can have it" customer stop by the mill Thursday. Got this big Pine that is 110 feet tall., AND another even bigger.
  Being as how we were going right past his home, we follered him. The "Big" Pine was 10" at the ground. The "Other" BIGGER Pine was on the fairway of the golf course. "I think I can get it for you, if you cut mine". : : : :
  I told him I was too old to climb trees, but, the tree trimmers that headquarter at the store right down the road might be interested, for around $300.00 : Thought he was gonna check-out on me, right there. We left rather quickly. Had logs to recover. : :D :D :D :D

[chet]

These stories are all too familiar.    :   Kind of reminds me of chasing rainbows.