Sawyers

[Ron Wenrich]

Tie or not?  I always do a few numbers before I start to saw.  My guarantee is $18/tie + delivery.  Ends up being $19/tie.  

If I don't saw a tie, I will saw down to 1 3 1/2 x 6.  We are getting about $4 for that piece.  To break that tie down, I will need 4 more lines, and produce about 32 bd ft of lumber, counting the blocking.  I will have about 16 bd ft of grade lumber.

That means I must get $15 of lumber out of 16 bf of lumber.  Comes out close to $1/bf.  If just one board is 2 Com, then I need $1.08 to break even.  If 2 boards are 2 Com, then I need $1.22.  So, depending on the log, yes, you can leave on a select face.

I've sawn bridge timbers that could have all sides in FAS red oak, and make more money than sawing into boards.

Same idea goes with whether blocking should be split into 2 3  1/2 x 6 or to saw boards.  

Other factors are to consider the extra cost of sawing.  You have to know your numbers.  Those extra 4 cuts can add an extra $1 to the cost of sawing.

[smwwoody]

good price on the blocking we only get 250 / mbf up here

[Ron Wenrich]

I think our low was around $260/Mbf.  Things recovered when some of the guys went out of business.  Also, with the drop in oak prices, ties became more attractive, and that helped dry up the blocking.

I used to sell soft maple to Baillie up in NY.  We don't get into much maple, and most isn't too good.  We sell what little we get to Catawissa.

You may find a few down around Brookville or DuBois.

I even tried to chase 2 Com cherry by cutting a 4x6 down to a 4x4.  It was mainly a money loser.

Word from the lumber buyers is that things are getting pretty quiet.

[smwwoody]

we have nice hard maple but our soft maple isnt too nice
If it isnt cherry or hard maple we stop at a tie  with a band mill it is hard to make any money at the low grade stuff unless you can make a tie out of it then you can speed your production way up.  14 passes on the saw for 250 to 450 dollar / mbf lumber just don't make any $ cents $ when you look at 6 passes to get 2 good boards and a tie

[Bro. Noble]

If I've sawed three sides of a tie and still have three clear faces, I'll change my set for a 6X8 tie and hope the grade lumber holds.  We get about the same for a 6X8 as we would if we cut it into pallet boards so if the fourth side holds, I'll sometimes cut grade down to a 4X4.  Our prices went up recently on the lower grades so we sell some 3A now.  They buy one face here rather than select so that makes taking a board off of a 7X9 more of a gamble.  Seems like all of our prices are lower here than anywhere else.

Noble