CEDAR LOG PRICES

POSTON WIDEHEAD · August 01, 2012, 04:58:36 PM

I now have a chance at some nice CEDAR saw logs. I have requested they be 8' - 6" in length.

What's should I expect to pay?

tyb525 · August 01, 2012, 05:14:26 PM

From our own Cedarman on the woodweb site.

QuoteThe top price a person can bid on cedar is determined by what a logger can get for his cedar at the mill minus the costs of logging and hauling and the profit he needs to make to pay his wages, taxes, pension, etc. The bottom price is determined by how much cedar is for sale in the area and how much competition there is from other loggers.

QuoteWe pay $450/1000 for any sound log 10" and larger delivered to the mill. For 5" through 9" $400/1000. This is on the cedar scale. 900 feet of logs for two hours work and delivery is good money in anybody's book.

Somewhere around 400 per mbf or less from what I'm reading.

POSTON WIDEHEAD · August 01, 2012, 05:35:50 PM

Never heard of a CEDAR SCALE.

tyb525 · August 01, 2012, 05:44:06 PM

http://www.henryscedarchest.com/cedar_scale.htm

http://www.nfs.unl.edu/documents/ruralforestry/Cedar%20log%20and%20tree%20scales%20onepage%20WEB.pdf

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=41332.0

Hey POSTON, are you going deaf?? You keep yelling at me! :D

Buck · August 01, 2012, 06:08:49 PM

Quick! somebody share some prices on cypress, walnut, sweet gum, hickory, pecan, mesquite, oak, elm, ...I think ya'll get the picture ;D

POSTON WIDEHEAD · August 01, 2012, 06:20:17 PM

Quote from: tyb525 on August 01, 2012, 05:44:06 PM
http://www.henryscedarchest.com/cedar_scale.htm

http://www.nfs.unl.edu/documents/ruralforestry/Cedar%20log%20and%20tree%20scales%20onepage%20WEB.pdf

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=41332.0

Hey POSTON, are you going deaf?? You keep yelling at me! :D

shhhhhhhh.........sorry.

Mark Wentzell · August 02, 2012, 07:27:43 PM

A mill here pays 75$ a metric tonne for tree length cedar.

Clean Image · August 03, 2012, 11:13:50 AM

I talked to a log buyer last week about getting a full truck of WRC delivered to my property outside of Seattle so I can get started on my garage...I tried not to sound like a total newbie talking to him.

We discussed needing to limit the diam. to about 28" and could handle any lengths...he said the price of WRC is high at the moment and to expect to pay around $5k for the load and should get about 7000bf out of it when I'm done.

Hope this adds to this discussion, if anyone in the area sees any issues with this or may have a reliable source for my logs I would really appreciate the input / help...I would prefer to work with someone from here on the board.

Duane

kderby · August 04, 2012, 02:00:56 AM

7mbf per truckload sounds correct and the price for decent cedar....I do not have a clue. That is more than double the price for a load of Douglas Fir. Cedar is not typically structural so do you need all that for re-sale or siding?

For western juniper (similar to Eastern Red Cedar) I pay $400/mbf. That is about $50/ton. For eight foot logs with trim I pay about ten dollars a stick. Don't compromise much...junk logs are usually junk lumber.

Kderby

Clean Image · August 05, 2012, 07:48:24 PM

Thanks for the confirmation kderby...

I checked online pricing at a couple of mills and it seems the cedar is about 2x the price of DF. When we cleared the spot on the property for the house and garage I sent two loads of DF out and got a check for about what it's going to cost for the cedar too, so it all seems to be inline (unfortunately).

Most of the house and garage are going to be board-and-batten along with the fascia, barge, elevations and a lot of trellis beams running from one building to the other. I should be using a good portion of the 7mb...anything left over I figure I can sell off and maybe recoup some costs.

Thanks again...Duane

Okrafarmer · August 05, 2012, 11:54:03 PM

People don't pay too well for the logs down here, David, but they sure charge for them! To buy them from most people, seems like the $400 figure sticks in most people's mind.

You guys out west and up north, don't forget you are dealing with different cedars than we are here. Ours is Eastern Red Cedar, known also by other names such as aromatic cedar, and even pencil cedar, and it is in the juniper group.

shelbycharger400 · August 08, 2012, 10:02:34 PM

early this spring we sent about 7 sticks to the mill, they were 8 to 12 ft long.
12 in to 20 in dia. Solid through and through, old growth, over 90 percent purple , delivered it was about $250
I chew'd out him out big time.. it was 15 cents a board foot, and WAYYY under scaled even by cedar scale. He said on the phone, thats what he told me prior to delivery... i said. Dumb ### ! I sell it at $2 a board foot rough sawn, to top it off, the 20 in one i told him that that one was mine too, i could have made a solid purple beam 15x15 the full 9 ft .. $$$ grr...!

Magicman · August 09, 2012, 10:18:02 PM

Quote from: POSTONLT40HD on August 01, 2012, 05:35:50 PM
Never heard of a CEDAR SCALE.

CEDAR SCALE

Solomon · August 10, 2012, 09:41:12 AM

My expierence is limited on log prices. I saw on line (I don't remember where), and it seemed excessive to me. However, what I read was Red Ceder Grade A logs ' 24 inches or larger , 10' 6" or longer, clean scaled, for BF and Droped in the sawyer's mill pond, The "Pond Value" is $745.00 per 1000 bf. Again it seemed excessive to me. I think it was a west coast price. And again bare in mind the my expierence is limited and I simply saw this on line . Pete Chesapeake, Va.

Okrafarmer · August 10, 2012, 10:01:32 AM

A 24" eastern red cedar is a rare log indeed, and might be worth $745 / bf if it could be had-- especially straight, sound, and in quantity. Most of them around here are a lot scrawnier than that. I'm thinking what you saw was western red cedar.

shelbycharger400 · August 10, 2012, 04:57:52 PM

anything that is solid above 12-14 in dia is rare around here. most have the fungus rot inside on the larger ones.. I HAD one at 20 on the big end solid . this is what i do have left that the mill didnt want. the one up front with the starburst rot is 28 in dia and 6 ft long if i remember right , and yes its getting made into tables. some good lumber in these logs

... key word USTO have one.

These are comming home on monday.

Okrafarmer · August 10, 2012, 11:36:46 PM

Shelby, I gots a pile kinda like that. ;D

Larry · August 11, 2012, 07:34:49 AM

In my neighborhood some of the cedar loggers :D have minimal equipment...read none. There more than happy to bring a load of minimum size logs in a pickup. To encourage them to bring bigger logs and leave the little ones alone, a sliding pay scale makes sense. Something like 30 – 50 cents. Overall cost might remain around 40 cents but you will end up with bigger logs.

I found an easy way to unload those logs out of a pickup that might help. Put a small chain loop around the log end. Slip the end of the fork in the loop and lift it out long ways.

shelbycharger400 · August 11, 2012, 09:53:59 AM

larry, easy way for loading...
take off tailgate
farmer loads with bobcat.
when home, slip a chain around the log, and a big tree.
then simply drive away :D
It works REAL well!

Magicman · August 11, 2012, 02:06:25 PM

I gots some too.

I call um "empty logs".

Cedarman · August 11, 2012, 02:54:20 PM

We have the pick up guys put 2 chains in the bed, then put forks under a top log and pick whole load up. Driver moves forward slowly and we carry load to pile, then pull chains out with loader. We have them put the small ends to the back so they can be measured while on the truck.
We buy down to 2" and sometimes 1".
Have to come up with 1200 3" x 8' for a load.
700 peeledd to 3" later. So we can use the small logs.
Cull logs are processed to gross us from about 70 cents to $1.10 per board foot. Takes one person to process them. Send out 35,000# at a time. Can't keep up. We can make about 400# per hour.
Our success is based on being able to market all the cedar that is available at a good price. Buying tree length by weight helps.