Sawing for lumber?

[Magicman]

I finished sawing that load of "free" logs today.   Looks like about 1500 BF.

[fishpharmer]

MM, nice looking stack of lumber.  8)

[red oaks lumber]

i'll trade for sawing  only if its a wood i deal in. when the topic of share sawing comes up i approach this way.
1) the wood has to appeal to me
2)i find out how much wood they want, give them my cost, take that dollar amount in wood
3) i base the value of their wood at pallet price, if im bartering its to my favor. some people may think my way isn't fair but, look around is there anything that is fair? a deal is half bought and half sold..

[sigidi]

I might have found a fella recently who wants some cuttin done but also has a paddock full of Ironbark.

What I propose to do is, do the milling he wants, tally the bill, then he has the option to pay for the milling in either $'s or logs. In logs I give him log royalties in $'s he pays the bill. If the trees are standing then I have to figure into it felling, docking and snigging. If they are already in a pile then I would pay a better price by volume, as it's less work for me.

It's funny you know in all the time I've been swinging the blade (until this thread) I'd never thought of sawing for lumber and getting paid in 'logs' I'd always thought of you both agree on a board size or sizes then as you cut a percentage goes on his pile and a percentage goes on my pile... funny isn't it ;D

[Tom]

it is funny.  I did the same thing.  I chose to not saw on shares or do trading because I needed the money to run the mill.

One thing to remember, as well as the trees being on the stump, is that, when you trade for logs, you must then find the market for the lumber to recoup your expenses and see your profit.  That could be minutes, or years.  Swapping board for board is usually not in your best interest unless you want the lumber for your own use, or already have it sold. 

[Banjo picker]

If you guys won't saw for lumber, will you pay for logs?
Jim

When I was cutting ties..I bought logs.  Now I work for the state and only run the mill part time...and I won't buy logs or saw for lumber....If you are sawing for lumber you will need massive amounts of storage...If you cut 2x12's they want 1x4's ...If you have every thing under the sun in 12 lengths people only want 16' stuff...I just keep a few logs on hand to do a limited amount of custom sawing out of my own logs...Kind of funny how things change..when I bought the mill I would not custom saw ...now thats all I am doing...Tim