Blocking

[Papa1stuff]

Any suggestions for Board Foot price for 6x6x6 and 8x8x6 oak blocking ?
Thanks in advance ;D :P

[Chuck White]

With the extra handling for small logs, or the heavy lifting of the big cants or beams, I charge by the board foot!

[Bibbyman]

6' lengths would be odd lengths for us.   We would saw them out of 12' and cut in two, if they won't take 12'.

Will the blocking have to be trimmed to length and squared? Bundled and banded? Delivered? Quantities? ( a few just one time or many with repeat orders )

We'd start at 70¢/bf and add from there.

[paul case]

I cut some 8x8-2' and 6x6-2'  cut to length and stacked on a pallet and banded for $.80.
Extra handling = more money.
I don't charge as much as a neighbor of mine and he cuts more blocking than I do. It is all about who ya know. Go figure. PC

[Papa1stuff]

Thanks all for the replies,I have also talked to a local sawyer and he thought in the $.80 to $1.00 range !

[T Welsh]

Papa1stuff, I just did a job for a crane company and the owner brought a piece of blocking to me and asked what it was, I cut it and found out it was Poplar. He then asked how much to produce 4x7 and 6x6 blocking I explained that he needed good quality logs to produce good straight grained blocking and that I could saw junk logs but they would blow apart after use. He agreed that go with quality. I quoted him $1.00 BF. He said cut as much as 3 thousand would get him, He was pleased at pick up time. That price bought him 3000 bf of blocking and the total out come was 3900bf of blocking, he asked how I got more than he paid for, told him it was the thin kerf of the mill, less was = more wood. He smiled and wrote a check. Know what your customer is looking for and try to fit the bill for his needs. Tim

[Kansas]

We have one customer that does stuff for the railroad.We charge .85 cents a board foot, plus additional charges if he needs something technical, such as wedges. After that, its around 1.50 a board foot. But, we have the logs on hand, they call and need it right now, a log goes on the mill and its ready for them. Course, there was that one time a California company called and wanted blocking, and I asked when do you need it? They said, we have a truck on the way already. Turns out they had an excavator or something fall through the floor of a trailer on the highway. We got er done. And charged a little extra. They were happy.

Paul, you are right. And reputation is everything, and people knowing of you. Its been my experience that construction companies and the like care less about price and more about service and timeliness. If a shop foreman knows he can pick up the phone and get what he needs when he needs it, price isn't that big of an issue. Biggest thing is, you have to oftentimes let them charge. Really haven't had much problem getting paid, outside of those guys picking up the stuff keep forgetting to turn the tickets into the office. That is why I have a Casey. She follows up on that stuff real well.

[Bibbyman]

We deal with a couple of lumberyards that call us when they need oak.  Often they don't know what it's going to be used for. 

One time we got an order for 6x6s 3' long (best I can remember).  Sawed and delivered them.  I asked again what they were going to be used for.  Said the railroad had a car off the tracks they had to block up and move.  They were going to take the 6x6s and split them into wedges with a chainsaw.  I told them if I'd known,  we could have fixtured them up on the mill and split them for them.  They replied,  "Let them take care of that.".  I bet I could have charged double and they would have come out with a better product and saved time and money overall.

[Kansas]

The railroad guy orders 4x4, can't remember how long, maybe two foot. We charge 1 dollar a cut to split them into wedges. You can roll through them pretty fast once you are set up, and have a couple of people.

[Bibbyman]

I had some dealings with a guy that moved and set up mobile homes.  He bought oak wedges from some Amish mill. (about 12" long 1x4.)  I can't remember what he paid but it would have been attractive business.  But he wanted the wedges sawn with the sawmarks to the length of the wedge – not across the face.  It makes it much more difficult to drive them into place when dealing with the friction of the sawmarks.   I couldn't figure a good way to productively split the wedges "sideways".   

Wood-Mizer makes a shingle mill attachment that would split them length wise but figured the 4" width wouldn't be enough to run them through sideways.