So here's what might seem like a silly Question:

[YooperMan]

I'm in the process of selling some wood & had a cruise done last year; in one  area indicating there's maybe approx. 11 "poles" & "bolts" of cedar in an area that's really too wet to log anyway... But I'm wondering, in terms of stumpage, what the heck is a "bolt," exactly? And what's a "pole"?  Is a bolt the same as a log? If so, how big a log?  And how bolts & bolts, generally, does it take to total a cord? And am I correct, that it' be a little mre than twice that to = a thousand board feet? How do all these terms inter-relate,anyway,  in estimating the fair market value of those cedar logs & bolts versus, say, the value of 180 cords of balsam?  Any help I can get on this would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Ron Wenrich]

Poletimber is usually those trees less than 12" dbh (diamter at breast height).  Poletimber or pulpwood, is generally measured in cords, and sawtimber is generally measured in board feet.  Some areas do buy their sawtimber in cords, so there may be some overlap.

Sawtimber is scaled by the log.  A log is 16', and the breakdown for cruisers is by the half log.  So, valid height measurements are 1 log, 1 ½ logs, 2 logs, etc.  A tree with 2 logs means it has 32' of usable length for sawlogs.  By using the diameter and height, a board foot volume estimate can be gotten. 

Poletimber is scaled by the bolt.  To add confusion, a bolt can be either 4', 5' or 8'.  But, all poletimber would be scaled with the same standard length.  By using diameter and height, a cord volume estimate can be gotten.  In addition, a cruiser can also come up with tonnage, cubic footage or cubic meters. 

The cord to board foot conversion is only useful in sawtimber estimates.  Its real hard to get a handle on how many board feet will come out of a cord, since so much on recovery revolves around size.  A 6" tree will be nearly worthless to roll into a mill, but does have fiber value when viewed as either pulp or firewood. 

[Phorester]

YOOPERMAN, you've probably already thought of this, but your best bet would probably be to call your cruiser and ask him what these are.  As Ron indicated, the same terms can have different measurements in different parts of the country.

[pasbuild]

It may be a yooper thing but as far as the cedar go's anything large enough to saw is a " saw bolt" and the smaller ones would be poles.

[Tom]

In the Southern Yellow Pine Southeast, there is a distinction made between Pole timber and timber that is small enough to be used as "Posts".  Posts are small and destined for fences.  Poles are large, clear, knotfree and destined for power poles.  Poles are a premium crop and are right up there with sawlogs and veneer.  A pole or veneer log that won't make the grade might still make a sawlog, but it doesn't work the other way around.

A bolt is just a merchantable bucked length of log.  It could be almost any length, depending on how it was to be used.


This is copied from the Wood Handbook:
Bolt. (1) A short section of a tree trunk. (2) In veneer production,
a short log of a length suitable for peeling in a lathe.