Highest & Best Value for this Walnut?

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Noah

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Hi loggers,

I'm just a newbie that cuts firewood, etc. and sometimes comes across a tree that's TOO nice for firewood. Wind brought down a solid Black Walnut that was given to me. Its up off the ground but still on site partially uprooted. Size is 33'ft. long. Its 63" circum. at stumpage ht., and 19"dia. at 18'ft. from base.

What would be the approx. value in N. Central West Virginia?

Another question:
I only have a 1/2 ton 4wheel drive p/u available so far, and no way of getting the tree up off a hill side loaded, yet. It would need sectioned and loaded into the p/u, OR a logger to take it and pay percentage to him. What would you suggest?

Thanks,

Noah
 
It's only worth what somebody's willing to pay you for it. Transportation costs can quickly match or surpass the wholesale worth of the log. If there are no local mills then you will have no market for it. I see beautiful wood going to the dump on a daily basis because nobody here has any use for it. Finde your nearest mills and solicit it to them.
 
Skwerl,

There is a mill w/in driving distance that does veneer. They don't give out estimates w/out seeing logs.

I'm just wondering from the opinions of those who are in the business, or those who have been there-done-that, what I should do to get the best $. Since the most that local mills w/do is give me an offer at the mill, the only other thing that I can think of is asking owners of logging companies to come to the site(s), (there's another), and giving an est./offer. The guy would like me to get it off of his property ASAP. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Noah
 
Noah,
Most mills around here won't mess with it. Not enough of the species to make a truckload, and the by-products can't be sent to the papermills.
However, maybe you can locate someone with a portable mill and saw it into 4-5inch thick slabs and possibly find a market in the gunstock niche.
mike
 
Sad but true, for a single log it's probably not worth a pro's time. Crying shame, isn't it?
 
Hey Noah... does that mill provide a list of rates that they are paying per thousand board feet (MBF) ? if so find out what the rates for Black Walnut are for each respective grade. Around here, Mid-Western New York, Grade one is running about $600 MBF, with Rotary at $900 MBF and Veneer between $1200-$1500 MBF. Your log, based on your dimentions, has rougly 460 BF, which would run you about $276, $414, and $552-$690 respectively. But thats new york... Anyway, also find out if it necessary to cut the logs a certain length to be graded veneer, out here it's 9'6" and 10'4", otherwise a veneer log gets graded out as Grade 1. As far as loading your pickup, buck the logs and figure out some way to rig them that your could maybe lift them and lower them into the bed... I dunno, just give a shot, I say. Why throw away good wood, or money for that matter?

I have brought several logs to the local mill one at a time, in the bed of my pickup. Worst case scenario, you bust your a$$ in the woods for some beer money... not so bad, as far as I am concerned.
 
b walnut

Noah said:
Hi loggers,

I'm just a newbie that cuts firewood, etc. and sometimes comes across a tree that's TOO nice for firewood. Wind brought down a solid Black Walnut that was given to me. Its up off the ground but still on site partially uprooted. Size is 33'ft. long. Its 63" circum. at stumpage ht., and 19"dia. at 18'ft. from base.

What would be the approx. value in N. Central West Virginia?

Another question:
I only have a 1/2 ton 4wheel drive p/u available so far, and no way of getting the tree up off a hill side loaded, yet. It would need sectioned and loaded into the p/u, OR a logger to take it and pay percentage to him. What would you suggest?

Thanks,

Noah
Click to expand...
try going direct w smith and wesson the see what the price offer is and then rig it out, sounds nice
 
If I gave you a tree for firewood then found out you were trying to sell it for lumber. It would be the last thing I gave you.
 
Noah said:
Skwerl,

There is a mill w/in driving distance that does veneer. They don't give out estimates w/out seeing logs.
Click to expand...

there's a reason for this. there are many markets that loggers and mills operate in and what is worthless to some is valuable to others. you need to find a small mill, with the right markets and that log will possibly worth some money.
my sugestion is to load it on a trailer, so you can shop it around as you find potential buyers. not knowing a specific length, I'd cut it 8'6" long.

you might even be better off if you find someone with a portable bandmill, have them mill it for you (approx $50 set up and .25 to .40 a board foot or $40 an hour) and then sell the green or air dried lumber. or go all the way and have it kiln dried (approx .10 a bf).
 
fubar2 said:
If I gave you a tree for firewood then found out you were trying to sell it for lumber. It would be the last thing I gave you.
Click to expand...

why? once you gave it away what's it to you?

that's like the customer that agrees on a price to have me remove their tree, then upon seeing all the nice firewood that I cut, or Lord forbide, slabbing it out with my Alaskan, wants some $ back.

granted, if he got a few hundred for it, it would be nice to see some come back your way
 
I would be careful with cutting that thing 8'6" until you KNOW that the mills near you will cut veneer from an 8'6" log. All the mills around here have very specific lengths, ie 9'6", 10'4", 12'6", that the log must be cut to in order to be graded as veneer. I dont know about the rest of the US of A, but around here an 8'6" log can only hope to be graded as high as Grade 1. Cutting it a foot too short might cut you profit down significantly.
 
I appreciate all of the replies guys. I'll call around and get specifics from the mills, before getting someone who can load the truck or slab the logs. BTW, the tree I mentioned wasn't given away for firewood. The guys whoes property its on said he didn't want anything for it but some work, and then for me to use it the best way I know how. I completed the work and now just trying to figure out how to handle it with the resources my friend and I have. There is another tree I bucked, black walnut, across town. Same situation. Moved all of it but the base. Its on a steep hill and has over 20 ft. uphill to get it loaded or milled. Real booger for a newbie, but we've gotten in shape on little jobs like this. We've just run out of brains:confused: 'n braun :bang: for these, and looking for some solutions. Thanks for all the recommendations. If you have any more, feel free to share it, otherwise I'll post back to let you know what we ended up doing.

Best regards,

Noah
 
Last edited:
Blackenedtimber, I bet it wont grade veneer, most logs dont. wonder if its a yard log. But you could be right. However most of the market he will find is for hobby woodmakers, furniture makers, craftsman, least that's my experience. 8 foot boards are the ticket, plus a foot or two shorter and he can handle them easier.
What's veneer walnut bringing where you are?
I can get up to $1.50 bf on grade 1, usually about $1.20. walnut is the most unstable price wood I find.
 
noah, if you can get a utility trailer to either end (preferably small) of the log it can be loaded with a come-along/winch and block. after backing trailer to log end, attach block to log w/ chain as low as possible, attach come-along n cable end to trailer front and take slac out of line. with a 4' pry on each side of the log end near trailer start prying/lifting log end and blocking the log up as the end is raised. when it gets up high enough to clear the trailer start winching the log w/ the come-along. slow but surprisingly easy.

largest/heaviest log to date w/ this method is bout 300 bf 2500 lbs. should have made 2 logs out of it but i needed it 17' long for trailer flooring. good come-along/bloc and getting trailer very near the log (preferably dn slope) are the keys. if its steep uphill pull you have your work cut out for you! gets difficult really fast when you are looking dn hill. maybe someone w/ a wrecker truck can pull log onto road for easier loading.

good day 1953greg
 
May I suggest that you get a couple of 5"-6" blocks, a couple of lengths of 3/8 i.w.r.c. with thimbles and a few shackles...and a few 3/8 chains with grab hooks and slip hooks. If you snipe (bevel) the end the log and use one block for mechanical advantage and the other for redirect if you have to, you would be suprised how much you can pull. I picked up a few things over the last few years that have helped me out getting logs, my truck unstuck. The cats ass is my Tirfor, with that, some blocks and cable last week I unstuck my big pickup full of wood. Yarded it right sideways from almost tipping over were the road had given way, probably wieghed 9k. There are many ways too move heavy stuff without diesel power and hydraulics. Brains, muscle and time. Stay out of the bight.
 
yo mike,

walnut is really all over the place around here. I only deal with a couple of mills, and I havent brought walnut to either of them in a long time. Also, neither one prints thier walnut rates on thier price sheets, probly because of it's high fluctuation and rare occurance.

However, If I do find out what it's going for around here I will let you know.
 
Yeah, fellas, there are plenty of ways to get a log in the old pickup, or utility trailer. The comealong method works quite well. To get the log uphill: I assume your truck is at the top of the hill. Not hard. Simply attach a long chain or rope to your receiver hitch and drag it. can't get enough traction? Load up the bed with firewood or something else heavy first. Today with my F-150 I (no joke) unintentionally uprooted a 14" water oak while trying to pull a broken limb out of it. (4x4, and I had a sizable amount of hardwood in the bed. You won't believe this, you'll think I'm making it up, but two of the chunks, about 3-4 feet long each, are walnut!) I was just trying to pull the limb (a big one) out of the tree, and I uprooted it and a 60' shortleaf pine whose roots were intertwined with it! Thankfully the pine is only about 10" abh. The pine got hung up in a big Tulip tree which, providentially, kept it from hitting the house. This happened just at sundown, and I had to leave the two trees hanging there because there was no way I was cutting them down in the dark. I'll get back to it in the morning. But back to your problem-- if you are pulling up hill but it is a road up there and you can't pull across it, try finding another tree near the top of your hill for the rope/chain to pivot on, then pull paralel to the road. This assumes you won't get in trouble for messing up that tree-- you could also tie a pulley onto that anchor tree and that would be less likely to mess up the bark. All this is for people like me who are too cheap to buy a winch but are among the few who would actually use it if we had one!
 

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