This 50/50 thing

[biziedizie]

  I had a guy drop by a few weeks ago wanting some cedar cut but he doesn't have much cash : Well I got home tonight and he drops by and asks about splitting the lumber and I say....well...uhmmm....(here I' dieing for cedar).....OK I guess so :D How do you guys go about it??? He wants a few beams and things and I want fence boards and I would like to keep some logs for the down the road custom cuts.
  Would ya just measure the logs and say hey buddy that's your pile and this is mine??? Or is it better to p$@# around by cutting what I want off the log and cutting what he wants???
  What I've found about the cedar out here is that you never know what's inside the last 5 to 8 feet like the butt and I don't want to be messing around trying to get a beam out of a log and finding that the log was crap for him yet it could have been good for me.


    Steve
  

[Percy]

Hey Steve
When I do a 50-50 in WRC, I usually cut it all up and take my half. On occasion I have "split the log pile" but what you have to do is basicly scale each log for volume if you want accuracy. I usually just eyeballer and hope for the best if the customer is willing.  Sounds like if he wants beams and you want pickets, you are both in luck.  Some of the best money I ever made was on a 50-50 cedar cut. Even if you only cut 800 feet in a day, your half is 400 and at a buck abdft you are doin great.
Go getem  ;)

[biziedizie]

  Percy that's what I was thinking at first that it would be a good thing for me but as we all know my cuts would come from the outside and his from the middle. What if the middle has a few spots of rot??? I do have some good cedar colored wood filler but if he's right there I don't think that would work :D :D
  I can't loose this deal but I also can't come across as being to eager, but yet I need cedar.
  Gonna look at the logs on my way home and see what he has. Hope there's some nice stuff and no junk


    Steve

[Percy]

Best thing Steve is to just tell him what you told me. He'll appreciate the honesty and will be aware of the slight risk involved. They are his logs and you have no control over whats inside. Tell him youd like him to be there when the wood is cut. Might even get some free labour outta him ;D ;D

[biziedizie]

  That's just what I wanted to hear Percy Being honest has always worked for me, hasn't got me rich but I sleep well at night
  From what he told me the logs were about 14" in dia and 10' long so that's a good thing but he also wanted the butts cut and that's where I kinda gotta think about things but maybe I will just saw one with him there so he can see what's inside. If I do it this way he will understand that the prize at the bottom of the cracker-jack box ain't what you always think it is ;D

    Steve

[Percy]

Im kinda used to Western Red Cedar and am getting better at sizing up logs but this is only a guide and results may vary...heh.

The logs you describe,14 inches are usually what we call Second Growth up here. They are usually tightknotted and more predictable as to whats inside compared to a big merch log(old growth). If the butt has some rot in the flare but not at the small end on a ten foot log and there is no visable defects(catface,rotten knots,etc), there is a good chance that the rot peters out about a foot past the flare. If there is little rot holes , randomly spaced anywhere on the bucked ends, well those are strictly Las Vegas. Ya have no idea what you are gonna get. I call that ShotGun Rot.Its totally unpredictable. I try to make 4x4's,6x6's, and sell them to someone who is looking for a greenhouse foundation or landscaping ties. The worst thing Ive run into is a check that has a twist. Make a beam and take your losses, especially if the twist is radical cause most boards are gonna break easy. The second growth usually has hardly no check so you should be ok.... ;)

[Haytrader]

Split the pile and let him pick his half, then he can't complain.
Don't know how you could be any fairer.

[ARKANSAWYER]

Steve,
  If he has 20 logs and needs 20 beams then there may be a problem.  If he has 20 logs and needs 10 beams then just do what Haytrader said and make two piles and let  him pick his pile.  Take your logs home and saw them there.  You can saw his logs where he wants them but if he sees your pile of lumber he will fill cheated.  I saw on halves and most of the time they feel cheated.  I have sawed and stacked lumber in two piles of equal boards and numbers and they still feel cheated.  So now I put the logs in two piles of equal scale as possible and let them pick.   If they want beams the I make sure that there is enough side wood to fill my half and that I can sell or use.   Every one should go through this a time or two just for grins.
ARKANSAWYER

[Larry]

Arkys description is very accurate.

I like to saw on shares but try to avoid it unless I have known the person for a long time just to avoid those grins. ;D

[biziedizie]

  Me thinks I'm gonna go with the picking the pile thing. This way he won't see what I got out of mine ;D
  Some people just can't listen to reason when it comes to sawing, seems like they know more then me sometimes :
  K I am far from being the pro sawmill guy but what I've done so far I have remembered and keep that in mind when I saw.
  Had this one guy bring me a bigass cedar log and he wanted 2 4" x 12" x 6' chunks out of it. Well I could see some rot in the butt end and I told him that's where his chunks will be coming from and maybe the best bet would be to cut it into something that I had ordered and we could split the cash and he could take his loot and buy what he wanted and still have coin in his pocket. Well what he wanted just had to come from his log so I said ok buddy I will try my best but you still gotta pay me for my time ;D
  Got to the cant and I said hey let's just saw it right down the middle and see what we have and he said yes. Split this cant and there were bugs and rot, so I says hey we can still make a buck and I think this is a waste to try to get what you want. Well he didn't want any part of it, he wanted his thick lumber, so I proceed to saw and there's no way that I can get what he wants and we end up wasting this log.
  I could have gotten some nice 5/4 x 5 1/2 out of this log and we could've had it sold with a call but this guy just would'nt listen :
  He paid me and drove off confused about his decision : I  sold this crap to a lanscape guy and still made even more money 8)


   Steve

[smwwoody]

I saw alot of hemlock on a 50 / 50 deal and have changed the way I do it to protect my self.  the rot isnt a problem with hemlock but you do run into a lot of shake.  

so now when the logs come in i scale them (doyle) and dock for any shake that I can see.  then tell the guy that brought them in that I will give him half the amount of the log scale back in lumber.  He can take the lumber from my inventory right then or if I dont have what he needs I will call him when it is done.  And if they don't like this they can find someone else to saw for them.