Anyone know what ash is worth. I have a relative that needs his timber cut. Is it just good for pulpwood? All I ever mess with is mostly pine, sweet gum, and a little oak.
IronMule
Ash can be worth a lot more than just pulpwood if the size is large enough and the quality is decent. The handle markets generally pay the most, but green Ash lumber in the south has good markets and good prices, so find a sawmill that can translate good lumber prices into good log or timber prices. If you are not that familiar with such markets, find a consultant who is.
Ash grows fairly fast on many bottomland sites in the south. If the trees are only 12-20" DBH, then consider letting them grow until they get into the 22-26" DBH range before cutting. That is generally the size at which they reach their peak or financial maturity. The rate of return on letting small sawtimber grow until it reaches its peak size is typically 8-12%. Of course, not everyone can wait. I know that all too well with many of the landowners I work with.
Around here the best prices for ash are at a tool mfgr. They have very specific lengths they want and unusual, like6'8" etc. This may not be one they want but a couple of years ago I was talking to a guy who had just delivered some ash to the factory and the lengths they wanted were very specific. Check before you cut.
The better butts are sold for veneer, up this way. A lot would depend on the amount of sapwood on the logs.
For sawlogs, we've been selling our stock to a company that makes butcherblock countertops. Its the best market we have found, and may only be in our area.
Lumber markets have been down for many years. I've seen it marketed as "golden oak" and used in flooring.
Ron, I've never heard of ash being used for butcherblocks. Do you happen to know if they make the butcherblocks with the endgrain exposed, or just long strips of wood ??? Just curious :)
Here's what they look like:
http://www.mapleblock.com/detail/dining-tables-23/
We saw it into 8/4 and they grade on the best side. After drying, they cut it into strips and glue it back together. I haven't been through their plant, but the buyer says they make countertops. I only see table tops on their webpage. We also send them what little hard maple we get.
I thought about making solid wood countertops for my kitchen, it really wouldn't take much wood, I have almost no counterspace :( I wonder how they would hold up over time ???
That's something I've been considering for a while as well.
I don't think it comes down to how the countertops will hold up.
I'm wondering how the finishes them selves will hold up.
I know there are some good products out there, just never used them myself and wonder how well they would hold up the typical kitchen uses?
I have put pine countertops on my bathroom sinks, and they hold up pretty good. I used polyurethane on them.
When I made over my kitchen, I bought a maple countertop to put over my dishwasher. I also put in a small sink and put a maple shelf above it. I bought it over the net and think it was cheap enough not to go through the hassle of building one. I believe it ran about $50/running ft for a 26" top and 2" thick.
You can get them finished with poly or rubbed with oil. It depends on how you're going to use it. If you're looking to do a lot of cutting, I would opt for a non-poly finish. Otherwise, the poly will hold up for a long time. Look how long bowling alleys hold up.
They make white ash flooring here locally, kiln dried of course. I think the wood is coming from the states as our supply of good sized ash is dwindling. I just fixed an old hay fork this morning and I discovered the old handle was white ash. It was well weathered on the outside but when I took to boring it out of the fork mount it smelled like fresh sawn ash. Father cut all our white ash logs 25 years ago on the woodlot. But, I have alot of young saplings established.