Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[Sawyer Rob]

Log prices are about like the stock market, they go up and down all the time...

SR

 

[Snobdds]

mbf is a forestry term for "1000 board feet". M = Roman Numeral = 1000; BF = board feet.

GG is correct.

 

[dfkrug]

It is hard to say. Markets vary a lot by region, driven by supply and demand. Sometimes moving wood 100 miles can make a big difference in price. A spec sheet I have for red oak delivered to a local log yard reads like this:

Select - $625/mbf 14" min top 3 clear faces min
#1 - $525/mbf 12" min top 3 clear faces min
#2 - $400/mbf 10" min top 2 clear faces min
Pallet - $200/mbf 8" min top no clear faces

But you can't go by that. Pricing is very regional. In general oak is higher up here. Good logs are harder to come by and most of those get shipped to Canada. So there are many factors.

Go to some local mills or log yards and ask for a spec sheet.

gg

Interesting data on your local market. Here is my experience:

In the mid 90s when I paid a logger to remove some douglas fir trees, his crew hauled them way up
North to a mill in Ukiah, since the only mill left in the Santa Cruz Mtns (Davenport) did not pay as
well. He had 6 truckloads, and got $325/Mbf. Redwood was over $600 at the time. No other
species had any value to the mills.

I traded the logs for the work, after fighting the CDF for a "timber harvest permit".

 

[PJSprog]

I traded the logs for the work, after fighting the CDF for a "timber harvest permit".

I'd like to note this as yet another one of those "crazy California things." However, a farmer I worked for back in the early '90s here in Illinois posted an ad for several dozen pines he had growing as a wind break along the back of one of the barns. Mature trees for free, he'd dig them and load them, but not haul them. A local nursery asked him to pull the ad, and he politely declined. They took him to court ... and won! ... claiming he was harming their ability to make a living.

As far as I know, they are still there.

 

[dfkrug]

I'd like to note this as yet another one of those "crazy California things."

No argument here, tho Illinois seems to be headed towards junk bond status, from what I read. CA
just passed a $125G budget, so they DO know how to spend our money here, too.

In CA, you can not sell logs to anyone without a Timber Harvest Permit. That means no mill will buy
them without the permit, so no market exists without that piece of paper. Now, giving logs away, that
does not seem to fit into the ordinance, but who knows? I do give away logs here, gratis.

As I said above, I got no money for the logs I had logged out of here back in the 90s. But the state
did come after me for a "timber harvest tax".

The unintended consequences of these extreme restrictions on logging is that there are few loggers
out there who will do the work, and many many forests are unmanaged and overgrown. Read: fire
danger!

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

Man that doesn't sound like a free enterprising business.

I'd like to note this as yet another one of those "crazy California things." However, a farmer I worked for back in the early '90s here in Illinois posted an ad for several dozen pines he had growing as a wind break along the back of one of the barns. Mature trees for free, he'd dig them and load them, but not haul them. A local nursery asked him to pull the ad, and he politely declined. They took him to court ... and won! ... claiming he was harming their ability to make a living.

As far as I know, they are still there.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

Big Tree Small Contractor...a risky business

Here is a video of me felling, processing, hauling a big tree for firewood. I am not sure if these big yellow stringy birch is worth the time because they sure do split hard even with the wood splitter. The biggest risk was hauling it out. I am working in steep terrain with hug boulders that puts my kubota in strange angles especially when push on by a heavy trailer full of wood.

Big Tree Small Contractor A risky business - YouTube

 

[ultrarunner]

No argument here, tho Illinois seems to be headed towards junk bond status, from what I read. CA
just passed a $125G budget, so they DO know how to spend our money here, too.

In CA, you can not sell logs to anyone without a Timber Harvest Permit. That means no mill will buy
them without the permit, so no market exists without that piece of paper. Now, giving logs away, that
does not seem to fit into the ordinance, but who knows? I do give away logs here, gratis.

As I said above, I got no money for the logs I had logged out of here back in the 90s. But the state
did come after me for a "timber harvest tax".

The unintended consequences of these extreme restrictions on logging is that there are few loggers
out there who will do the work, and many many forests are unmanaged and overgrown. Read: fire
danger!

Just had several large Doug Fir trees removed at Tahoe... had to pay 3k for the job and the logger used a very large crane to negotiate.

He already had them sold and that is why it was worth it to him... quite a well orchestrated operation when all said and done and the crew made it look easy.

The only permit needed was from the TARP the Tahoe governing agency.

My invoice clearly lists a credit for log value of $800 deducted from the bid price.

I've got a couple of redwoods that need to go and not sure how I will handle that... also requires a permit for removal with public hearing... as does every tree except Eucalyptus...

Took out a backyard walnut that dropped a limb clipping the house gutter at one property... the city sent out postcards to all the neighbors and head a hearing asking for objections plus all the utility poles were posted...

 

[PJSprog]

No argument here, tho Illinois seems to be headed towards junk bond status, from what I read. CA
just passed a $125G budget, so they DO know how to spend our money here, too.

In CA, you can not sell logs to anyone without a Timber Harvest Permit. That means no mill will buy
them without the permit, so no market exists without that piece of paper. Now, giving logs away, that
does not seem to fit into the ordinance, but who knows? I do give away logs here, gratis.

As I said above, I got no money for the logs I had logged out of here back in the 90s. But the state
did come after me for a "timber harvest tax".

The unintended consequences of these extreme restrictions on logging is that there are few loggers
out there who will do the work, and many many forests are unmanaged and overgrown. Read: fire
danger!

A budget? What on earth is that? Our misrepresentatives haven't managed to pass one of those for the last two years. It's so bad, even Powerball and MegaMillions lotteries are suspending operations here. It's becoming clear that we will likely be the first state to file bankruptcy. :muttering:

I don't pretend to understand the subtleties of the logging industry. However, seems like as with everything else, it's been made ridiculously and unnecessarily complicated by all sides fighting for only their interests. Of course, the state will always be there to "permit" and "tax" any activity. You'd like to think that the state of California would be wiser to the dangerous consequences of forestry mismanagement by now. But then, ... politics.

 

[aeblank]

A hearing, to cut down your own **** tree? Good thing I'm where I am.