Took my first load of loblolly pine to the mill

[pclausen]

So today I took my first load of cut loblolly pine to the saw mill. They pay $38 ton and the mill is 10 miles from my property.

I rigged some 4x4s to my trailer to hold the lumber in place for transport. I used some 1/2" bolts with some worn down auger teeth on the bottom the secure the 4x4s.

Here is my first load which represents 4 trees. Each piece is 16' 4" long.

I hit the scales going in and then again when I left. The timber came in at 9,560 lbs, which is 4.78 tons. So that came to $181.64, meaning each tree was worth about $45.

I figure it takes maybe 2 minutes to drop a tree, another 3 minutes to haul it out to the loading zone, 5 minutes to cut it into 16' sections, and another 3 minutes loading the pieces onto the trailer. So maybe 13 minutes to process and load each tree. Taking a load to the mill is about a 30 minute round trip and burns 3 gallons of fuel. Tractor burns maybe 0.25 gallon per tree, and the chainsaw let's say another 0.25 gallon including chain lube. So that works out to about 4.25 gallons. Assuming $4 gallon, my fuel cost per load is around $17 and it takes me around 1.5 hours to cut, load, and haul the timber to the mill.

So my net profit is $181.64 - $17 = $164.64. The hourly rate works out to $109.76. Not too bad! Some of these figures are probably a little optimistic as I was not timing myself when dropping or cutting up the trees.

 

[brin]

I think that's great...what's not to like ? You are putting your equipment to use and getting exercise...and making $$$ :thumbsup:

 

[jinman]

Peter, that is really cool. :thumbsup: It's not a lot of money and you probably won't quit your day job, but it is still a nice payback for your work. Is there any premium for larger trees besides the obvious one of being bigger and easier to harvest than lots of small trees? I'm surprised the sawmill doesn't have a variance based on tree diameter. Pulpwood wouldn't matter, of course.

 

[pclausen]

From what I can tell, they pay $38 per ton for anything that is straight and can be turned into lumber. The guy at the scales looked it all over and said that it was all good. The guy with the grapple was very good and didn't get a single mark on the wood of my trailer deck. That guy had some serious skills! I felt really small sitting in line at the scales with all the 18 wheel tractor trailers in front and behind me. They must take in about 20-30 trucks per hour.

I now know I got taken for a ride last summer when I had a logger come in and clear out about 15 acres of mine. We supposedly split the hardwood 50/50 and my cut only came to $1700. I also had a lot of huge poplar trees that were very straight and some as large as 30+ inches at the base. The logger called these "poplar peelers" and said he was only getting $2 per ton for those. Then my pine stand he said was also worth just $2 per ton as pulp wood. In all he paid me another $500 for that, so my total take was $2200. There were 5 guys cutting, a guy running the skidder, and another one running the grapple and cutter for over a week.

Here are a few pics from last summer when that went down.

Since it would take me like forever to clear a few acres to built the house for mom on the lot I'm working on now, the builder is planning to bring in a logger to clear that area. I'm going to look over the figures carefully now that I know exactly what the wood is worth and make sure I don't get taken again.

Here's a shot of the new lot from when I had the well put in a few weeks ago. I'm estimating there are about 500 mature 80ft+ loblolllies on the lot.

 

[forgeblast]

Great Pics thanks for sharing.

 

[MossRoad]

Before anyone sells directly to a logger, they should always hire a consulting forester to negotiate the sale. The forester is working for you, not the logger. He or she will get you the very best price they can, because they get paid from what they get for you.

 

[pclausen]

Good advice Moss. I actually did have a forester come out initially, but since it was only 15 acres, he said that most loggers would not bother with such a small job, and that it would not be worth it for him to negotiate a deal for me. He did recommend the guy I ended up using as he does deal with small lots. In order to make it worth his while, I was able to talk 2 of my neighboors into clearing some of their land as well. We all had the same contract. The section that discuss what the buyer pays for the timber was as follows:

The seller agrees to sell and the buyer agrees to buy the said timber for:
50% of delivered value for grade hardwood logs
$10.00 per ton for poplar peelers
$2.00 per ton for pulpwood

I guess poplar peelers, while hardwood, is not considdered grade hardword? I would have thought poplar would be worth at least as much per ton as pine...

I'm also not sure that "peelers" stand for. These were huge 100ft+ tall trees. I guess I made the bad assumption that the peelers would be the small poplars and that all the nice big ones would be considdered grade hardwood and that I would get 50% of what they brougt in at the mill.

Anyway, I'm glad to now have an account directly with the mill.

 

[charlz]

Well peeler logs I would think are for veneer. Poplar veneer I would think is used as 'filler' in plywood. I would also imagine the price fluctuates with demand.

 

[jinman]

Peter, looking at your stand of trees around your new well, I'd say you have a lot of cash "on the hoof" to use a ranching term. The nicest thing about doing your own logging is you can pick and choose which trees to sell and which to keep. That alone is worth a bunch in my book. Besides, the knowledge of how you got slighted in the first deal will go a long way in making you more careful in future dealings. That logger probably didn't get rich off of you because of the small acreage, but still, nobody likes to give away money that is rightfully theirs.

 

[pclausen]

You are probably right Jim that the logger didn't get rich from clearing my land. I totally agree with you it is very nice to be able to take my time and pick which trees I want to keep. Sometimes it is easier to decide once you start cutting.

I picked up this rear grapple today that will really speed up pulling the logs out to the "processing" area.

I posted some more detailed over in the Attachments forum.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/265442-just-picked-up-valby-3pt.html