finally got a deal with a tree service, advice to those trying

[Kelvin]

Howdy all,
Well ya'll know i like to complain and i've not had any easy time procuring logs in my area.  The price im able to sell my lumber at, and the prices that loggers wanted to sell me any small scale amounts left no profit for me.  I had tried calling every tree service in the phone book, about a dozen or so, and all had no interest once they figured what urban logs were worth even when i was willing to pay what local sawmills were paying delievered to the mill.  Selling a whole woods yeilds a pretty big check at $.25-$.50 bd ft, but a few yard trees with short logs doesn't look that great to the guy who just made $2k taking a tree down.

Finally i was able to network through a local guy who worked at one of the big tree services in town that i had called previously.  Turns out they really didn't have a plan for their logs and basically were hiring a few sawn for themselves and turning the rest  into firewood, or burning in a pit.  I talked with the owner who was really interested in using the logs to the best potential and trading for me sawing lumber for his new barns.  Now he won't have money outlay, and less logs to dispose of.

My conclusion is that you can't just call people on the phone and you have to have hard numbers to quote, and keep them the same, whether its someone you hope you might get some logs cheaper from.  You want them to stay a supplier for you, and not switch when someone comes along and offers $20 more.  I also can offer more services now, from sawing to kiln drying and machining which make the trades better for me. 

The best part is he has a pretty new prentice loader and has dropped off about 4k bd ft of oak butt logs, some of which might have been veneer grade if they were from the woods and hadn't sat around so long.  He's got a pretty big stack from one years worth.  I will keep track of the logs and what i pay, and do sawing for him in exchange.  You'd be amazed at how little these companies utilize their log resource.  The biggest operation in town, makes so much money they don't care to sort the sawlogs out for me for decent mill prices, but grind them all and sends them to the concrete plant, cherry, oak, walnut veneer to crap you name it.  You can't get them to do squat b/c by the time they talked with you about sorting out their logs for money their dozen brand new bucket trucks depreciated more than the value of your house!

Good thing i'm so small that one or two companies will keep me in logs.  THey just called today with a monster american elm.  40" dia, did i want elm?  I really like the color of the american elm, kinda like butternut, but harder

Well keep trying if you are dealing with tree services and meet with them in person.  They get a lot of nuts wasting their time, so they just say no off hand.  Same thing applies to selling your lumber.  If you have enough of a supply to go after a small cabinet shop  make sure you know what they are paying, what you can sell for, and what you need to do machining.  Know your numbers before hand.  Planing?  Rough planing, or finish?  if you can beat their price, or supply better service, or give them something to increase their sales, like "urban waste log lumber" something green, or recycled if you are near a bigger city.  Good luck
Kelvin

[Kevin]

I just salvaged three large Spruce trees.
The combination of being a tree service and owning a saw mill works well.

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

Kelvin good going  ;) hard work pays off Mate  ;) ;D ;D 8) 8) I deal with 2 treeloppers on a regular basis and works well for everyone involved I also do the odd tree removal myself Cypress pine and some H/woods  mainly  ;) Ive gotten some great one off logs out of it over the years Mate  ;) ;D ;D 8) 8)

Regards Chris

[Ironwood]

The guy w/ the dozen trucks may soften up a bit if you make him something, just do it. I went out on a limb like this one time and it paid off big time. People no matter how wealthy dont forget "random acts of kindness". It takes them by surprise and they usually dont soon forget you, at least that has been my experience.

Ironwood

[nas]

I do maple syrup and have found that giving them a bottle when I go to see them, and when they drop off logs really sweetens them up. ;) :D 8)

Nick

[ErikC]

 Glad to hear you finally had one go your way Kelvin. It was a long time coming.