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This may work for you if you're close to a wood mill.....

Started by POSTON WIDEHEAD, October 31, 2012, 03:04:44 PM

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POSTON WIDEHEAD

I have been giving log slabs to a hunting club this fall. One of the guys I know works for Bowater Wood Mill.
He ask me if I heard about their list. I said no.

Bowater will not take a log over a 22" dia. But who would have ever thought, some logging crews try to slip a log in over the specs everyday.

They have a list of sawmills that you have to be picked to be on. If an empty logging truck is coming your way going back to their tract, Bowater will load the trailer to the gills with these over sized logs and bring them to your yard.

These Pine logs are FREE.......all I am expected to do is give the driver a little fuel money. I will be getting my first load Friday, hopefully. It being Friday, the logger will just drop his trailer and I will unload it on Saturday and he will pick up his trailer on Monday.

I was told these logs are different lengths up 16 foot and some are 30" dia. I'll try to post some pics of my first load. I'm curious as to what BIG free logs look like.  :)

So, just a thought.....if you live close to a timber mill, it may be worth making a friendly call.

The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

Holmes

Great score  Freddy.  ;)   The big logs can be scary also.  :o
Think like a farmer.

scsmith42

Peterson 10" WPF with 65' of track
Smith - Gallagher dedicated slabber
Tom's 3638D Baker band mill
and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

drobertson

And the Lord blesses again! Awsome news for you!  I hope this is not a trick or treat for you.  I am amazed that so many will load a load without knowing what they are loading.  and if it is weighed, who is paying for the extra?  They have to be butt cuts, which is primo.  What a deal. Happy for you!
only have a few chain saws I'm not suppose to use, but will at times, one dog Dolly, pretty good dog, just not sure what for yet,  working on getting the gardening back in order, and kinda thinking on maybe a small bbq bizz,  thinking about it,

Dodgy Loner

Quote from: drobertson on October 31, 2012, 05:55:54 PM
and if it is weighed, who is paying for the extra?

The logs that are out of spec don't get paid for. The logger (as well as the landowner, if they are cutting on shares) simply don't get paid for those logs. They are free to the mill, but the mill doesn't want them, which is why they are free to Poston.

I have had several opportunities to get out-of-spec logs for free - one opportunity was at a CNS mill that kicked out the logs that were flagged by the metal detector. Those logs I could live without :D. But the other opportunity was at a pole facility - these were absolutely beautiful logs that simply didn't meet the stringent requirements to be poles. Those I would have loved to have. But Red Clay Hound and his sawmill are 9 hours away, unfortunately :(

Not all mills will keep oversize or otherwise out-of-spec wood. Many will simply turn the truck around, which costs the driver a lot of money. But it certainly wouldn't hurt to check if you have a local mill!
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

Tree Feller

Poston (Freddy) that's a heck of a deal. It could turn into a big cash cow for you. Congratulations.
Cody

Logmaster LM-1 Sawmill
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48" Logrite Cant Hook
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POSTON WIDEHEAD

Quote from: Tree Feller on October 31, 2012, 07:00:13 PM
Poston (Freddy) that's a heck of a deal. It could turn into a big cash cow for you. Congratulations.

We will see on Friday the 13 3rd.
The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

redbeard

  Big logs make bigger stacks of boards :). Nice info thanks David.
Whidbey Woodworks and Custom Milling  2019 Cooks AC 3662T High production band mill and a Hud-son 60 Diesel wide cut bandmill  JD 2240 50hp Tractor with 145 loader IR 1044 all terrain fork lift  Cooks sharp

WDH

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Sixacresand

Great Deal.  Does anyone in that hunting club know a plastic surgeon?  lol
"Sometimes you can make more hay with less equipment if you just use your head."  Tom, Forestry Forum.  Tenth year with a LT40 Woodmizer,

barbender

Too many irons in the fire

WDH

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Magicman

He doesn't need a plastic surgeon, he needs a transplant.....quickly.  :o
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

WDH

It is a good thing that you have the Law on your side  :D.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

POSTON WIDEHEAD

The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

barbender

I hear David changes his avatar photo more often than his undies :D
Too many irons in the fire

POSTON WIDEHEAD

Quote from: barbender on November 01, 2012, 09:58:11 AM
I hear David changes his avatar photo more often than his undies :D

If I want clean undies, all I do is turn them inside out. I only have 1 color I wear and that is brown.  ;D
The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

clww

Many Stihl Saws-16"-60"
"Go Ask The Other Master Chief"
18-Wheeler Driver

tjhammer

I live just out of smelling range of bowarter wonder if its the same here I think a call would be in order
tj
hammer

Raider Bill

Quote from: tjhammer on November 01, 2012, 11:12:43 AM
I live just out of smelling range of bowarter wonder if its the same here I think a call would be in order
tj

Are you near the Calhoun Mill?
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.
My advice on aging gracefully... ride fast bikes and date faster women, drink good tequila, practice your draw daily, be honest and fair in your dealings, but suffer not fools. Eat a hearty breakfast, and remember, ALL politicians are crooks.

Jeff

There are shades of this that use to happen around here, and I didn't think much of it.  I won't name the name of the very big company that makes OSB in a town just north of us,  but a practice I used to see when I was at the mill, was that when said company was low on wood, they would demand that the local loggers that had pulp contracts with them, working on said company's stumpage, bring EVERY thing to them. Logs, pulp oversize, everything. I was also told they would lean on loggers that were not cutting on said company's stumpage to bring everything they cut as well, or their pulp contracts might not be quite the same in the future. I know of a couple loggers that were cutting on some local lands, with contracts with the landowners where the landowners got paid pulp stumpage because that is where the logs went. The logs that were oversize and did not meet spec, were culled after they were hauled. The logger was not paid, and the landowner was not paid. The over-sized logs were shipped off to a sawmill in lewiston, that sawed only dense hardwoods. The Lewiston Mill then sold the cull logs to mills that sawed aspen. Our mill bought some of these logs on occasion. Guess who owned the Lewiston Mill?  It all seemed very wrong to me.  This was happening probably around 2004 or so. I have no idea if it still goes on.
Just call me the midget doctor.
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Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Beaudeane

The guy may want them unloaded that nite if ur only giving a little fuel $$. He probably needs to get the trailer reloaded or staged at the tract to reload for his first load Monday ... Some the guys have multiple trailers & some don't but paid off weight, I'd wanna reload ASAP to start the week off. The paper mulls run 24/7 too. Good luck & good deal on the free logs. That's just input from me being a trucker myself.... But not a stick hauler... Lol
Don't think of it as `gun control', think of it as `victim disarmament"

POSTON WIDEHEAD

Quote from: Jeff on November 01, 2012, 12:28:44 PM
There are shades of this that use to happen around here, and I didn't think much of it.  I won't name the name of the very big company that makes OSB in a town just north of us,  but a practice I used to see when I was at the mill, was that when said company was low on wood, they would demand that the local loggers that had pulp contracts with them, working on said company's stumpage, bring EVERY thing to them. Logs, pulp oversize, everything. I was also told they would lean on loggers that were not cutting on said company's stumpage to bring everything they cut as well, or their pulp contracts might not be quite the same in the future. I know of a couple loggers that were cutting on some local lands, with contracts with the landowners where the landowners got paid pulp stumpage because that is where the logs went. The logs that were oversize and did not meet spec, were culled after they were hauled. The logger was not paid, and the landowner was not paid. The over-sized logs were shipped off to a sawmill in lewiston, that sawed only dense hardwoods. The Lewiston Mill then sold the cull logs to mills that sawed aspen. Our mill bought some of these logs on occasion. Guess who owned the Lewiston Mill?  It all seemed very wrong to me.  This was happening probably around 2004 or so. I have no idea if it still goes on.

Good history Jeff. I never knew something like this went on.  :o

As I type NOW......my first load is on its way. The trucker (Chad) just called. It'll take him about 40 minutes to get here with all the road construction going on between points A and B (me).  :) I was expecting him to drop tomorrow, but due to scheduling on the loggers trucks, they're coming now and I will have to unload when he gets here.
The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

Magicman

I know a former logger/truck driver that his last load on a Friday went to his house.  He was also in the firewood business.  I imagine that the sawmill was cheated out of the logs.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

POSTON WIDEHEAD

Well here we go......not even close to what I expected.......not even close to what they told me.

First of all I asked for all Pine. I got a * UGLY * BIG OAK laying on top of the load of Pine.

Second, I unload my logs with a 555C BACKHOE with forks on the front. The log stops on the side of the logging truck were so high, my loader needed to go up another 12 inches to clear the log......which it wouldn't do.

Third, the driver says, " Look at the nails in the log on top". Who only knows what was in the rest of them.

Some of the logs were like snakes.....not even straight enough to get a 6 foot straight log out of.

I called Bowater.  >:( >:(.  The guy laughed and he said, "I'll bet one of them young boys loaded them logs".
The guy from the hunt club came up at the same time, (he works for Bowater on the scales). He said, "THEY SENT YOU THIS? ::)" He quickly said he was gonna leave to get out of the way. (Good Idea).

So the driver is a super guy....really nice, and I know he's thinking......who gonna pay me?

Then he gets an idea smiley_lit_bulb. He called a circular mill 32 miles on down the road who unloads with a knuckle boom.......SOLD.......The circular guy says, bring 'em on. He saws pallet wood.

Now the deal was I was gonna pay the driver $150.00 for a load go "pretty nice" logs.  say_what

The driver and I shook hands.....no hard feelings. He said he was just a driver and he was glad he found a buyer.

I could have sawn $150.00 worth of boards out of this load and then a little more for a little profit.....but having to deal with the rest of the junk.....sawing in half, putting them on a burn pile, etc......just not worth it to me.

I'll stick to my other guys who bring straight 10'-6" logs to me. It's sooooo much easier. Live and learn



  

  

  

  

  

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The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

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