Huge Walnut burl

[oakiemac]

Had a guy call me today wanting to sell a Walnut burl that he says is at least 36" in diameter and takes a forklift to pick up. I havent seen it yet but was wondering what a fair price is to offer. I don't normally deal in a lot of burls so I'm kind of in the dark on this one.
Any help would be appreciated.

[Texas Ranger]

It will depend on the condition of the burl, some are good, some are not.  But I will give good odds that he values it a whole lot more than you will.

[Ironwood]

Boy that is a shot in the dark, it could be marginal grain OR out of this world. Also it could be rotten internally. Completely a crap shoot. I have paid long dollars for (unbenouced to me) hollow or marginal burls. Best to offer it two ways, one you assume the risk, buy it cheap. If they want more return let them assume the risk by you cutting it open to see if you want it, then they would get more return.


Ironwood

[Bibbyman]

I had this walnut burl on my lot for a couple of years.  It's about 4' long and 3' in dia.  It was attached to a chunk of log about 14" dia.   I showed it to a number of people.  One guy on the Forum said it was worth about $3/pound!  When I offered to sale it to him, the price dropped to where it wasn't worth my time and effort. 

Finally, a guy came around and was interested in it.  We struck on a deal where I sawed it up to his directions (4" thick slabs) for $100.00.  When we got it load I told him I don't know I got took or he got took.  He agreed.  I've not seen him since to find out if he made anything out of it or not.

I see another one about this size over on the logger's lot.  I've not had a chance to ask him what he's going to do with it.

[Larry]

First thing to do is scrape off a bit of bark to see if the burl has eyes or is an onion skin.  Onion skins are firewood while an eye burl has potential.

[Ironwood]

What Bibby said, price is high until the rubber meets the road, then they are worth,...not much. All depends on quality, it is anybody's guess until it is cut.

Ironwood

[jim king]

One cut to cut it in half tells all and the burl is still A-OK for turning bowls or whatever.

[Left Coast Chris]

One exception to what Jim said is if the burl is growing uniformly around the base of the tree or under ground.  Those are the really valuable veener burls (in grafted Claro Balck Walnut) .   The rule of thumb is $1 per pound out here.  A 36" diameter would be medium size and maybe around 800 lbs.   That price is in the ground, the buyer removes, and leaves the hole and tree for you to clean up.  The purchase is cash in hand before the tree is removed so the risk is with the buyer.     These burls get really large and higher quality burls go for two or three times the $1 per pound and weigh much more typically. 

[oakiemac]

I meet the owner and looked at the burl on saturday. It had been cut and left in the woods for about 3 years until this guy found out about it. He then put it in his barn where it has been for about 1 year. It had several small bug holes like from PPB's and it had 2 large inclusions about 4" long by a few deep. Other then this, without cutting into it, it looked like a burl. I offered a low amount and he was going to check around some more to see if he can find a higher price. I guess we will wait and see what happens. I want the burl if it has good figure but cant afford to risk much $$.