This is another friend, Mke taking down a nice walnut two weeks ago. I bought the log from the landowner. I am NOT in the picture.
Ironwood
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11262/oIMG_2222.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11262/oIMG_2230.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11262/oIMG_2236.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11262/oIMG_2241.jpg)
Ironwood,
Looks like the log had a lot of sapwood. How long did it take them to get the tree down?
Ron
I LOVE SAPWOOD!. I mill in flitch and kep everything vibrant and fresh.
On takedown, maybe 5 hours. This guy is a little BOLD with his cutting/ climbing. He makes me a little nervous :o sometimes.
I have another guy who is even worse, cuts his wrists w/ the saw, smashed his while hand on my friend's mill about two weeks ago. He has very little business working with heavy objects and sharp things, I like to say " lock him in a room w/ a butter knife and he'll fugure out a way to hurt himself". The guys I network w/ run the gammit of skill and talent. ;)
Ironwood
Reid,
I love the sapwood as well. That is a beautiful butt log. Shows us the lumber when you get it milled.
LOVE SAPWOOD!. I mill in flitch and kep everything vibrant and fresh.
Reid, just curious, what do you mean mill in flitch?
Okiemac,
There are a ton of names for it, Flitch, natural edge, boule, on and on. Basically it means leaving the edges in tact and not cutting off the natural edge, bark or anything else (crooks, swing).
Ironwood
that should give a nice amount of boards out of that monster
Hey Ironwood,
How do you figure what to pay for your logs? Bd ft? I'm constantly trying to figure what is fair. People always tell me "walnut and cherry are worth a LOT!" Yeah, but these are one log at a time, and nobody would take at a real mill. I pickup with crane truck and always on time. I start at $.25 a bd ft for standards and up for cherry and walnut to $1.00 a bd ft. :(
What do you do?
KP
For me, the value of the log is in the wood I will LIKELY get from it. No news flash I know, but I do quite well w/ these biggun's. I want everyone in my region to know if they are taking down a big tree (walnut, cherry, maple) I am the "go to guy". I want ot be the first guy called. I know I occasionally pay too much, like the one my Tim friend took down. I won't say what I paid, but is was VERY fair to the land owner. I invited him to come by and look at my pile of walnut to see the relative cost of each to see how well I treated him, he agreed as he was very informed over the last year as he tried to find a "buyer" for his tree. Very educated and resourceful guy, he "got it". Some property owners don't, and like I said I treated him well. The flip side to this is the tree service guys that call me in get the benefit of "providing" a buyer to their customers (land owners), and in some cases, my talking to the property owners seals/ closes the deal. This situation has occured several times in the last month. I have been in the "buy mode" on big walnut lately.
So, I do not scale the log and DO NOT pay by the board foot, but rather what I think the tree might pay out the other end for me. This may find some people here viewing my approach as making no sense, but trust me, if it didn't work financially for me I would not do it. I do usually have a "range" that I will pay depending on what the heart of the butt looks like, this is explained and the property owner can get a lower price (if I give them a flat rate), or if they are willing to incurr some risk, then they will get more if it looks good once dropped. I typically articulate this well and generally the folks are just glad to have someone interested and some money to offset the removal cost. I am fairly transparent and open about my approach and they appriciate the honesty. I will scale a few just to see what I paid per foot :D
This is always my approach in my business. Supply or demand side, doesn't matter. Everyone gets treated with honesty and respect.
Ironwood
Reid, ok I get it-live edged boards.
Good luck on your sales-looks like you got a dandy log!
Thats a good picture to show the folks who come on to this site wondering how much thier urban walnut is worth. They can see the heavy sapwood, which doesn't bother us too much, but it certainly lowers the value for the big mills.
Nice log!
Isn't most commercial walnut steamed so the sapwood gets color?
Woodmills, Yes, that is my understanding, it also kills any unique coloration. It kind of just, makes it very mundane looking. I air, then dehumify, which keeps things very nice.
Ironwood
The owners who think the walnut in the front yard may be worth a fortune have heard of those high prices payed for veneer logs. My understanding is that you steam cut lumber, not a whole log, and I would imagine that you can't steam veneer to turn the sap dark. That would make these logs less likely to demand high grade veneer prices because walnut sapwood isn't interesting to veneer buyers (not to mention nails and such). Just something to show that guy who thinks he's gonna get big bucks for a yard tree. He may get payed, but not those high veneer prices, and thick sapwood is just one of the reasons.
Hey Ironwood, I too work with tree guys. Used to do it myself 20 years and 75 lbs.ago. Now I do some stump grinding and sawmilling as a side line. Fits well with there business. Also give them referralls. Question ? I like the looks of your crane mounted on the trailer. When I upgrade from my hugo arch, I'd like to go that route. Could you share the make,model,aprox. cost? Thanx Doug
Ironstumper,
The one on the trailer is a bit of a mystery. I never found the brand or any tags on it. It lifts about 5500lb off of the truck wet lines, it used to be 12volt self powered (onboard hydraulic pump) but it was weak with that configuration. I almost sold it due to that, but it is VERY powerful now (will tip the trailer over even w/ outriggers). I paid $3000 for it.
Ironwood