short logs

[Good Feller]

I'm confused about the minimum length a log can be.  I have always been under the impression that 8 ft is the minimum.  BUT I have seen shorter logs at sawmills before,,, like cherry.  I also know that Menards sells walnut boards shorter than 8 ft.  If I have a walnut tree with 6 foot of butt log that comes to a fork or a large limb,,, is that 6 foot section harvestable/merchantable? 

[Dodgy Loner]

I know a lot of folks around here mill logs shorter than 8'.  I've sawed them as short as 4'.  I also know that most sawmills handle logs more efficiently if they are 8' or longer.  I suppose it would depend on who you are selling the logs to.  If your hypothetical walnut tree has a fork at 6' it may be a candidate for crotchwood if it doesn't have ingrown bark, in which case the tree would absolutely me merchantable to the right person.

[Gary_C]

The only minimums I know of are set by the individual mills and of course you have to allow for trim allowance, usually 8 inches.

The standard lengths for boards from the NHLA are 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 thru 16 and anything between those numbers is always rounded down.

So again, you need to know your local markets. And if you are scaling too many logs below 8 feet, the loggers will probably either not look at your future sales or bid accordingly.

[Bro. Noble]

While the NHLA does include lumber as short as 4',  the buyers in our area don't want anything shorter than 6'  because they fall through the grading chain.  We almost never saw anything shorter than 6',  but occasionally will cut an oak or walnut log 6' if it looks like there will be quite a lot of grade lumber in it.  The oak is automatically disqualified for the FAS or one face grade,  however.

[Ron Wenrich]

For circle mills, we have a rough time getting them on the headblocks and bringing them in on the log decks it they're shorter than 8'.  You will find guys bringing in the logs shorter than 8' if they are in a high value wood, and they happen to own the mill.  Most mills that buy logs won't buy them shorter than 8'.

Many of our buyers won't buy the lumber shorter than 6'.  It isn't so much the grading chain, but they say they have problems with automatic stackers.  They're even getting tight on the length of boards in a bundle.  We have some buyers that will take only 5 length separation.

There is a select grade in some of the northern hardwoods that will take a 4"x6' minimum.  It pays a little less than FAS.  FAS walnut can be 7'. 

Are you doing this in logging or in scaling trees?  Gary brings up a good point about scaling trees.  If you scale your trees too hard, the loggers won't make scale, and you can get a bad reputation.  That's a bad thing, especially out of the starting blocks.  Loggers talk to each other.

If you have a tree that goes up 6' and branches, I wouldn't count that as volume.  If it forks, I might be inclined to look at it as 2 trees instead of 1, and not count the butt.  Never, ever count limb wood in volume.  You can count part of the bole after a fork, if it meets sawlog specs.  But, that stuff will often bust up when they cut the tree.  Besides, you're not going to get that much volume out of tree tops to make it worthwhile.