stave market

[dustyhat]

Just wondering what you guys are seeing in the east on average? For logs?

[nativewolf]

Sorry I missed this.  So stave log pricing?  I haven't sold much in the last year.  @Stavebuyer said over $2 for good logs but that was over a year ago I guess and that was KY.  

Here in VA the stave market is ...constrained.  We can go up to PA and sell wine barrel wood or go over to Ohio and get much better pricing.  Some local loggers ship fairly junky WO off to Ohio to Independent stave and do about $1.40 (very rough logs in my opinion)  Some buddies doing harvest in MO sell by the ton there and I think $200/ton was what I heard.

Stavebuyer is the guy to ask though and is in KY.

Here we've done better by selling veneer and quartersaw products.  We don't harvest small diameter WO unless absolutely needed to accomplish a post harvest need (spacing, sun, etc).  If we have a smallish WO with a small butt log and nothing much else we send it out for bridge timbers and get over $1/bdft international scale for the tree, rough wood and all.  For us long logs have trumped cutting a stave log and having shorter rough logs.

[mike_belben]

Theres probably 3 grades or so for WO staves. I think independant and american stave are in KY.  Brown foreman may have a buyer there too.  Call around.