I have been lurking here for a while, trying to learn from you guys and have been real close to pulling the trigger on a hobby type band mill, looking at the ezboard walk Jr, but i want to make sure i am looking at all the angles of ownership/purchase. First i am looking to produce my own wood for the many projects i need to build, finish my barn, build another barn and finally to put an addition on to our house, a lot i know, We live on some acreage, but my in-laws has a good bit and they have been cutting the timber the last couple of years, I have thought of offering them $ for some trees they are timbering anyway( before they cut it all) , my problem is i dont know what a fair price would be for white / red oak trees in 24-30"diameter at the base , pretty straight and 25-30' usable length before the branches /taper come into play. excuse me for my ignorance on this subject but if I could line some good trees up from my in-laws at a fair price and knew i had plenty to saw, it would make the purchase decision on the mill so much easier. Thanks for your time! and insight!
Po-Jo WELCOME.
When it comes to discussing ANY tree prices, we need to know where you live.....what State? What region of that State?
Knowing this will narrow down a more precise answer to your questions since prices of trees, logs and lumber from region to region vary.......sometimes drastically.
Again, Welcome my friend!
David
po jo, you will get some answers man, the hobby mill will work for you, and considering this is all it is well go for the price, however, it will become more than this, I am sure, becareful, and weigh out the the long term investment, take care of the equipmtment, and if you go hobby, then you can sell it when you see the potential. good luck , david
sorry bout that , i am locating in far SE Georgia near the SC line, almost to the "low country" they call it around here. hope that helps, and yes i think / hope it would turn into more , My in-laws have 400 acres of mature pecan trees , and when the storms come thru and blow some down it really , really pains me to see them push them up in a PILE AND BURN THEM! don't know what kind of wood pecan would make but I hate to see it wasted like that, I tried to get a guy with a portable saw mill (only one around) to come here last years we had 4 big trees lost in a storm, he said it was to far and he was too busy. So they burned them :'(
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Po-Jo.
Your planned projects are all doable and it seems that you possibly have a log source, but my recommendation is to proceed slowly. Do your planning, but take one project at the time and do not make commitments to buy or to build that you can not fulfill within a reasonable time.
What I am saying is do not rush and loose sight of enjoying the trip :).
My advice is easy.
Pay cash for the mill. It makes milling much more enjoyabe if there arent any payments to go with it.
EZjr is a good mill. Stout and easy to learn on.
I cant help on what your trees are worth. Probably be easy to find some logs along if your inlaws dont want to sell you any. I have 3 or 4 calls a month(and have had ever since I got a mill) wanting me to saw on the shares.
Welcome to the FF.
PC
Figure the log cost at about 250 to 300 per thousand board feet on the Doyle scale. Or $30 to $35 per ton if the wood is weighted. To get the board feet in standing trees, measure the diameter at breast high (DBH) and estimate the height of the millable wood, say 25 feet. Go to the Forestry Forum Toolbox and there is a calculator for that. If the trees are down, you can get the board feet by measuring the diameter of the small end of the log inside the bark and the length of the log. There is also a calculator for this in the Toolbox.
Po-Jo,welcome to the forum, What type of building you doing,stick,timberframing? Do they have any type of pine to use? Maybe cheaper??? You will or should have support equipment,old truck,tractor,4 wheeler. Have you cut trees down and bucked them up into logs?
Welcome to the Forum, Po-Jo. Looks like you have some good opportunities. Hope everything works out for you.
thanks for the info guys, yes we have pine, its everywhere in GA, I have some on our property that i will use, I may try some timber framing on the small barn first to experiment, i have been putting pieces together slowly , I have a JD2240 and welded up an attachment to hook up the skidding tongs, will be trying to come up with an arch later ,have an old cj5, 4 wheeler, but for now I will drag them. I have cut firewood for years but if I ever get into some big stuff and I feel unsure there is a older gentleman that works on the farm that use to fell timbers back in the day, just yesterday he seen my timber jack and told me stories about when he was younger how they cut trees back in the day and how much they paid, he said it was 1 dollar per tree on the ground and limbed, wow that's a lot of work for a dollar, but he said he made 450-600 a week, again thats alot of work, I really enjoy hearing the stories from the older guys , it can really make you put things into perspective, besides I love hearing their life experiences, again thanks for the info will check out the calculator
Can you discuss buying lumber with you in-laws? Maybe they'd trade trees for lumber-- I do a lot of milling on shares. A 30" dia log is a bit big for the Boardwalk Jr. Might look at a bigger band mill. You won't regret spending a little more to get started. Good chain saw & cant hooks are useful. Timberjack is ok for holding firewood, but it isn't designed for turning logs. I wouldn't want to use it around the mill. I'm a strong advocate of chaps & logger's helmet when using the chain saw, and steel toe boots around the mill. Welcome to the forum, and good luck!