# going price for walnut logs



## jimmyjames

Hi, i just spoke to an individual that has a tree service and has some walnut logs, they are all really nice logs 21-28" diameter and between 10' and 11' long, hes said he would take $.30 a brd foot for them, does this sound reasonable? He says they are veneer grade but then again everybody thinks there logs are veneer grade...


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## Mike1950

The loggers will have a much better Idea of price- first I would offer less- the worse that could happen is he could say no. My best walnut comes from yard trees. usually they are large. I buy them already sawn though.


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## Kevin

jimmyjames said:


> ...He says they are veneer grade but then again everybody thinks there logs are veneer grade...



Nothing is a veneer grade unless a veneer buyer says it is and pays you veneer price. The .30 cents might be fair but sounds high to me since I don't have to pay for my logs. Find out what the stump prices are for it in your area. Your state forester is an invaluable resource and can answer pretty much all your questions and get you headed in the right direction. Also you can call your local sawmill and ask what they pay for logs. That's closer to the price you want to shoot for because the loggers will give you the highest figure that they try to get. 

At .30 cents a 24" diameter log 10 feet long will cost $75 (Doyle).


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## jimmyjames

He said he would take $.30 a brd foot for them, and also has a loader to load them on my trailer, i dont think i could go wrong for 1000 board feet for $300 and then the mill/kiln is $.75 a foot so $1050 total cost


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## jimmyjames

Kevin said:


> jimmyjames said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...He says they are veneer grade but then again everybody thinks there logs are veneer grade...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Nothing is a veneer grade unless a veneer buyer says it is and pays you veneer price. The .30 cents might be fair but sounds high to me since I don't have to pay for my logs. Find out what the stump prices are for it in your area. Your state forester is an invaluable resource and can answer pretty much all your questions and get you headed in the right direction. Also you can call your local sawmill and ask what they pay for logs. That's closer to the price you want to shoot for because the loggers will give you the highest figure that they try to get.
> 
> At .30 cents a 24" diameter log 10 feet long will cost $75 (Doyle).
Click to expand...


I calles.midwest walnut log and if you deliver the log to them they are paying $.25-$.60 depending on.grade and $.90 for veneer , im stopping at midwest walnut tomorrow to look at what a veneer grade log looks like, i will snap some pictures of the 10 gazillion logs while i am there for you guys to gander at. I live about 1 minute away from them.


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## jimmyjames

Maybe i should offer him $.25 for them


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## Kevin

jimmyjames said:


> ... i will snap some pictures of the 10 gazillion logs while i am there for you guys to gander at. I...



Now you're bucking for a raise.


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## Kevin

jimmyjames said:


> Maybe i should offer him $.25 for them



If he'll load them on your trailer and be a reliable source of logs I would pay the .30 myself. A happy logger is better to deal with than one who feels like you're getting to him and provides them only begrudgingly. With the prices for your area being what they are I wouldn't haggle over a nickel. Yea that's $50 per thousand but hey, you want your logger happy. They'll often throw in a freebie log thnking it's just a junker, but we love wood junk don't we.


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## Mike1950

One other thought is if going rate is that to twice that- does he know something you don't- like there is a bunch of steel in these logs- just a thought. Can be a good deal but there is no easy road to free money. You guys make me sick though. Walnut logs for .30-.60 a bd ft. cheapest store price for walnut here is $9 bd ft for plantation bland walnut. hell that bd ft price is about what mills pay for pine.................


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## mike smith

Considering that Iowa is one of the best growing regions for black walnut, $.30 per foot is a good deal. That is what we pay in NC and we have a lot of wind shake, bugs, and lots of sapwood. If there is crotchwood that is a bonus. Never seen a walnut crotch that was not veryfigured. You jerk your supplier around I am sure he will find someone else to pay this very reasonable price.


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## gvwp

Local price for hardwood pallet logs is $.25bf. Tie logs run $.30 to $.35bf. $.30bf for large Walnut must have something wrong with it. Especially in the 24-28" range. Current market price for KD character grade Walnut (2 common) in wide widths (11" +) is around $2.40bf so $.30bf for even character grade logs is very low in our area. This may be different in your area. Like has already been mentioned if the logs are yard trees metal is always a problem so take this into consideration as most mills will charge you for hitting metal in logs.


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## jimmyjames

Yep i checked for taining on the ends. If i do buy them i wont get them back from the mill till the end of the year, they saw them let air dry and then kiln them when they get 10,000 board foot of lumber to run the kiln, most of the wood the mill carries is rough sawn kilned lumber they get from a supplier, they just surface it.


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## jimmyjames

Well i went and checked what this guy had, the logs he had somebody came and picked up. So we walked roughly 50 acres of his 300 acre tract of trees, in those 50 acres theres probably 300+ walnut trees, about 25% of the trees are 24"+ daimeter and having at least 25' of the trunk straight before the first crotch. 50% of them are probably between 16 and 24" which alot of these are on a bank following a creek and are not straight but i bet have some amazing figure in them. For the pricing, i instructed him i want the first 30' of the tree up to the first crotch cut into 3 8'-10' logs, then i want all of the crotches out of the tree and i will mark the cuts after the tree is fell. for him to do the cutting loading them onto his trailer and dropping them off at my fathers property about 10 miles away he wants $250 per tree. I figured it at 3-24"+ diameter logs 10' long would be 250 board feet using the doyle scale for a total of 750 board feet for a price of $.33 a board foot plus i get the delivery and all of the crotches out of the tree. Does this sound fair? I told him i will call him tomorrow and setup a time to start cutting them. Im thinking about getting 2 trees for the first go around, he also has sugar maple, silver maple, hickory(which has amazing color),ash, oak, boxelder, sycamore, and many others, kind of hard for me to identify them in the winter since ive always went by leaves.... i think i want 2 trees, that will get me alot of slabs and about 30-40 crotches that are a useable size and not too small. And also i do realize that these trees arent veneer grade but i dont really care what it grades at, the more character the better, and hopefully i can get some cool pieces out of the crotches.


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## jimmyjames

and for giggles i told him i would take one of the small trees that has a goofy growth on it as well.... (burl weighing probably 500 lbs) said i could just have it, trees probably 12" diameter with a burl thats about 36" tall and 30ish" in diamter and wraps around the tree and looks like a porcupine with funny bark.(never got a burl before but thats my best description of it)


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## woodtickgreg

jimmyjames said:


> and for giggles i told him i would take one of the small trees that has a goofy growth on it as well.... (burl weighing probably 500 lbs) said i could just have it, trees probably 12" diameter with a burl thats about 36" tall and 30ish" in diamter and wraps around the tree and looks like a porcupine with funny bark.(never got a burl before but thats my best description of it)


Be sure to post pics, especially that goofy growth  I mean burl.


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