White Birch

[blacklocst]

A neighbor called and asked me if I was interested in selling White Birch saplings that I have lining my lower driveway. He needs 1'000 FT and needs them to be about 3 to 4" diameter. I've looked on line and found "pristine" Birch poles for sale from northern Minnesota for about 4 to 5 dollars a foot. The trees if you can call them that are in an easily accessible location and I'll be doing all the cutting. I'm thinking of charging him $4 a FT what do you guys think, is this a good price?

 

[zogger]

If it is for designer upscale fireplace logs to look pretty, I know there's a decent market for them at top prices. Years ago I helped some folks cut firewood for a few years, they got absolutely the best prices for those. They even had to haul some when they delivered up in elevators in fancy buildings.

Anyway, you can ask high price, but remember, you are selling wholesale, the guy buying them has to make a buck too.

 

[NSMaple1]

Saplings? For What? Saplings sounds like he wants to replant?

White birch grows like weeds around here - I think if I tried to sell 3-4" white birch I'd get laughed at. If I could get $4/foot out of it, I would be tempted to quit my day job.

Lemme see - I was running around clearing some up for firewood last year, cutting to 8' lengths, maybe piling 50 pieces at a time on my little ATV trailer in a couple hours... geebers, that's $750/hr....

 

[cantoo]

That's about $1100 a cord (12" long) seems reasonable to me.

 

[blacklocst]

Anyway, you can ask high price, but remember, you are selling wholesale, the guy buying them has to make a buck too.

Good point Zog, he brought that same point up too.

I think if I tried to sell 3-4" white birch I'd get laughed at.

Hopefully I'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

That's about $1100 a cord (12" long) seems reasonable to me.

I would quit my day job if I could get that price.

 

[nathon918]

is that $4 a BF? or linear?
beacuse a $4 a BF would be about accurate since you almost never see a real white birch log, not naturally anyway, they usually shoot up then break in the wind or snow...

 

[cantoo]

How much does your $4 a foot work out to in cords?

 

[blacklocst]

Linear, I've got a few that are almost 2 Foot diameter but are hard leaners and as crooked as most politicians.

 

[blacklocst]

How much does your $4 a foot work out to in cords?

He's a contractor and needs it for a project he's doing. He's gonna split it in half and nail it vertically to a wall, also told me that it needs to be cut before spring or the bark will come off.

 

[Circle B MN]

I once sold a stump to some photographer out of the cities for a photo shoot. It was more of an belled end cut, but it was worth to him more than what I would pay for a cord of oak logs. I've also sold organically grown oak to another gent from the city for use in a BBQ contest of some sort. That one paid pretty darn good as well

 

[Yooperforeman]

Last fall I sold white birch poles for decoration purposes.They had to be 100" long with 2"-5" tops. I got $1.75 each and I thought that was
easy money.They grow like weeds,very easy to get 200 poles in an afternoon.

 

[blacklocst]

Meeting with him tomorrow to discuss which ones he wants. We settled on $2.50 a foot.

 

[zogger]

Meeting with him tomorrow to discuss which ones he wants. We settled on $2.50 a foot.

goldmine!

 

[blacklocst]

goldmine!

Just so happens that I'm been laid off for the next two weeks or so at work and I don't think I can supply him with the 1000 FT he needs But , I guess I can't complain.

 

[zogger]

Just so happens that I'm been laid off for the next two weeks or so at work and I don't think I can supply him with the 1000 FT he needs But , I guess I can't complain.

Well, pretty dang good timing either way!

 

[Guswhit]

I've also sold organically grown oak to another gent from the city for use in a BBQ contest of some sort. That one paid pretty darn good as well

WTF is organically grown oak?

 

[alleyyooper]

Back in the 1960's when fire places were popular accents in homes near the big cities my dad made a tidy sum selling rounds to those people. Most back then were giving him 25.00 per bundle of 4 to 6 inch dia rounds. A bundle was a good sized arm load.
Ours was not diseased so grew into some huge trees 18 to 24 inch in dia.

Al

 

[John R]

Linear, I've got a few that are almost 2 Foot diameter but are hard leaners and as crooked as most politicians.

If it were as crooked as a politician the top would wrap all the way around and go back into the trunk.
Most have their head up their a$$.

 

[Circle B MN]

WTF is organically grown oak?

It's oak that was grown and processed using no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. An extremely sought after commodity in the inner city and suburban communities that strive to use only the best natural grown materials to sustain their healthy lifestyle. You been living under a rock...?

 

[Guswhit]

It's oak that was grown and processed using no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. An extremely sought after commodity in the inner city and suburban communities that strive to use only the best natural grown materials to sustain their healthy lifestyle. You been living under a rock...?

I guess I have been under a rock or don't understand how you can apply this terminology to firewood. Here I just pull in to the timber and start cutting. I know that the only thing that may have gotten on the trees would be indirect drifting from the farm fields or leeching from the ground water runoff. I wouldn't call these organically grown because of the possibility of some cross contamination that could occur from these sources, but I wouldn't say they were not either. It seems to me that could open a whole can of worms since you couldn't possible be sure that nothing had been introduced to the trees in their life span. I can see how you could claim nothing chemically introduced after the wood was in your possession, i.e., chemicals to kill insect pests applied.