Buying ERC . What's a simple way to do it ?

[Sedgehammer]

I've been offered some nice trees about 2 hours from me . Few limbs below 15' . The landowner wood load us with his tractor

What's a reasonable tonnage price or tree price ? He doesn't want a complicated way to figure , well neither do i , but

Can one measure across the small end and then so much a ft per inch width ? Well , I know one can , but is that a reasonable way ? I want to be fair , but of course I don't want to over pay either

I'm not a logger , nor a sawyer , so .......

[Percy]

I use an app called Log scaling on my Iphone. It has doyle  scribner international among others and of course BC's cubic meter system...heh..Regardless, for your current application, all you would need besides the app is a tape measure.

[WV Sawmiller]

   What are you going to use it for? Are you hauling it or having to pay transport? If you are hauling it, what kind of equipment do you have available? Can you make him an offer by the truck or trailer load? How much are you talking about getting? How much is it going to cost you to transport, handle/store and process it? 

    When you know that then I'd feel comfortable making him and offer and tell him "This is what it is worth to me ..." If he doesn't want to sell for that or he finds someone else who wants it worse there is no harm, no foul and you still remain friends. 

   

[Sedgehammer]

Thanks Percy , I'll check it out , but still need a bft price

WV . I'm using for the eaves (2×4 & 2x6) of my barn , the nailers (1×4) for the board n batten and the 1×8" nailer trim around all the openings

I'm cutting it and hauling it

He's asking me to make an offer , but it needs to be per tree or ton or bft . Not a price for all of the trees

[jpassardi]

I would also take into account cleanup of the brush and non-log firewood. Will you be responsible for that?

[stavebuyer]

2/3 Eastern Red Cedar Rule 

Logs Taper 1" per 8' of length so 16/24 foot logs are double or triple scaled 

All you need is a ruler and a clipboard. Write diameters down the left column and record each log with a "l" to tally how many 5"/6"/7" logs of each diameter are loaded.


Cedar log and tree scales onepage WEB.pdf (unl.edu)

[stavebuyer]

Price is regional but smaller fence post sized cedars too small to saw go for slightly less than treated pine of the same diameter here and 8"& up good sawlogs will bring .$75 to a $1 b bd ft on the ERC scale here. Thats delivered. For standing trees 1/4 to 1/3 of delivered value.

[taylorsmissbeehaven]

In my experience, larger cedar logs tend to have heart rot. These logs will also tend to be full of big black ants :. Just what I have seen and something to be aware of, Brian

[Patrick NC]

I've bought cedar like that a few times. Paid $0.25 per bf international scale and deducted a percentage for heart rot.

[beenthere]

Any deduction for the flutes? 

[stavebuyer]

Good cedar doesn't have flutes.

[stavebuyer]

 

 
Scan of an old polaroid snapshot of my Meadows circle mill set up on site in the woods sawing ERC before cellphones were around. Around 250K bd ft of ERC lumber cut off about 40 acres of this old ridgetop farm abandoned circa WWI.

[Walnut Beast]

Maybe you could buy it cut already. A friend bought a semi load down south of 1x material for 1.75 ft. The guy didn't even have a loader to load it but had a couple guys do it

[doc henderson]

In Kansas the farmers pay people to come in and clear pasture.  If you get the feeling he wants it gone, then a price per truckload may be the simple easy way.  and yes, see if that means taking care of the left over trash branches and tops.  he may be fine if you pile them and he can burn them in the winter with snow on the ground.  I do not know what the price is.  I get truck loads of 12 to 18 inch cedar 20 feet long for free, but we agree I will cut some up for his wife to have raised bed gardens.  he is a work friend so it is hand shakes and favors.

[kantuckid]

Using stavebuyers info., is there a nearby commercial buyer that you can ask what the regional price is per whichever unit the seller likes? 
Most of the sawed ERC is small mill owners trying to tap into the craft/woodworker market at a slight to ridiculous premium price point, vs. hauling it to a buyer.  
More often the logs you'll see for sale on FB Marketplace in my area are a yard tree or two, already down & not always properly bucked, that can tend be a logistics negative to fetch & load. I bought a walnut yard tree cheap once, then worked for way too long to load it and come out logically even using an electric winch. 

[LeeB]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't cedar like a weed where you're at? I wouldn't think prices would be too high but then again the cedar market has blossomed in the last few years.

[doc henderson]

correct Lee.  Most burn it or give it away.  Most would pay you to cut and remove it, including burning or mulching.  really nice logs are worth it, but what looks like a big ERC, may be a 4 inch stem.  you get some decent stuff at a farm that has been left to nature.  A new young owner comes along and wants to clear the land for cattle or habitat.  ERC is good for some.  It blocks a lot of sun, and consumes a lot of water.  I think K state has studies allowing more cattle per acre on cleared grass vs that with so much cover from ERC per acre.  i do not know the numbers, I am a KU guy.  rock chock Jayhawk.  many pasture clearing businesses in the area.  birds set on the fence, and poop out the seeds, so common along fence lines, and why we saw so much wire in trees from what used to be a fence line.

[doc henderson]

In our most recent fire, crews could not get into rural properties, and families could not get out, due to their cedar lined long driveways.  lost 1 human, 40+ houses, many pets and livestock. many vehicles.

[LeeB]

Actually, I meant OK where Sedgehammer is from.  :D :D

[doc henderson]

 :D :D :D

[stavebuyer]

We have the cedar "bushes" here too; the kind you have to cut your way in through the limbs to fell. If someone gives you those you paid too much.

 The ones suppressed by a mature hardwood canopy with no limbs and no taper are the ones you want to saw. Some real fine specimen trees of many species including ERC can be found in pockets around the base of limestone outcrops. Eastern OK has some of that ground.

[Sedgehammer]

Stave , those are usually the ones that grow where they're no mature trees . They're a mess


Lee , yes they are , but these are pretty straight and no lower limbs


Doc , we had a front yard 400' long of'm I cut down last year . Burnt down buildings waitin to happen . As to gettin it cut for free to take . If they were like the trees Stave mentioned , yeah , but like I said these are pretty nice . On the truck load . I think he'll want too much for a truck load , but if we come to a bft price like Stave mentioned , it'll be less money as he only gets a 1/4-1/3 of it

[LeeB]

Are there any mills locally buying cedar logs? See what they are paying. Around here the stumpage is 1/3 to land owner and 2/3 to cutter. Use the price the mills are paying for logs and pay the owner 1/3 of that. Facebook market place may be a start to find what the mills are paying. Not completely simple though. You still have to figure how many saleable logs in each tree.

[Sedgehammer]

Lee , I've been checking around . Good idea tho . Thanks