Pricing logs?

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Just read a thread here talking about .40 board foot. Roughly $64 for a pine log that is 10' x 20". Seems very low to me after watching shows about timber pricing in the recent past.

Have log prices fallen off a cliff recently? Hardly seems worth it to load and deliver for that price. Unless one has access to large lots loaded with 20" logs. 20" is on the very large side for a typical Colorado log . 16" at the base and 13" after the taper might be a typical size.
 
Just read a thread here talking about .40 board foot. Roughly $64 for a pine log that is 10' x 20". Seems very low to me after watching shows about timber pricing in the recent past.

Have log prices fallen off a cliff recently? Hardly seems worth it to load and deliver for that price. Unless one has access to large lots loaded with 20" logs. 20" is on the very large side for a typical Colorado log . 16" at the base and 13" after the taper might be a typical size.
In the east we don't have long stuff but those skinny logs we called "pecker poles"........
 
In the east we don't have long stuff but those skinny logs we called "pecker poles"........
Trees grow slower at 9500'. This is also an arid state.

Guess I know why the vast majority of tree companies choose to throw everything in the chipper now.
Had no idea that 14" would be called a pecker pole. Sounds like they wouldn't even take it.
 
Just read a thread here talking about .40 board foot. Roughly $64 for a pine log that is 10' x 20". Seems very low to me after watching shows about timber pricing in the recent past.

Have log prices fallen off a cliff recently? Hardly seems worth it to load and deliver for that price. Unless one has access to large lots loaded with 20" logs. 20" is on the very large side for a typical Colorado log . 16" at the base and 13" after the taper might be a typical size.
pine is pretty much junk, that will offend many, despite being true

factor that with all the beetle kill salvage and the massive pine plantations in the us south, and canadian east, that was meant for a pulp market that no longer exists

pine prices are in the toilet and not likely to improve
 
Small pine logs like that you a 6 X 6 and maybe some #2 boards, no grade.

When I worked in a mill we'd get thicker pine ~30" + and we'd still get #2 and 6 X 6 but also get some nice clear stuff that got milled into 5/4.
Trees grow slower at 9500'. This is also an arid state.

Guess I know why the vast majority of tree companies choose to throw everything in the chipper now.
Had no idea that 14" would be called a pecker pole. Sounds like they wouldn't even take it.
 
Two things people erroneously believe:
Colorado has unbelievable big game hunting on public lands- everywhere.
Colorado is full of gigantic trees for the taking.
N. Mexico has some big ones though. My neighbor went there for his huge logs for a trophy log home.
 
Doesn't offend me, but I do disagree, depending on the pine. Just like firs, not all pines are created equal. I think Lodgepole makes real nice framing lumber.
the white firs are junk... Douglas Fir isn't a "true fir" though... White fir I think is why many folks confuse D Fir with a "soft wood" not knowing there is a difference etc.
Lodgepole is pretty skookum for pine, problem is finding some big enough to do anything but make teepee's with.
 
Pine is used for framing, flooring, log homes you name it. The guys that say it’s junk probably drink the Trump koolaid too.
Memories are vague by now. As I recall, D Fir was the defacto premium lumber for framing etc. But we can't hardly build everything out of a wood that grows in such a specific region. Pine does offer a superior R value for the construction of log homes. The lighter the wood, the higher the R value.
Spruce, pine, and H Fir are also good if properly processed. Especially when considering the strength of southern yellow pine. I think it may be "somewhat resistant" to rot and bugs as well.
If only giant redwoods grew everywhere. I think we shipped a lot of that wood to S America for use as railway track. Especially Chile.

Imagine if cottonwood and poplar was a great building material. Woohoo!
 
Memories are vague by now. As I recall, D Fir was the defacto premium lumber for framing etc. But we can't hardly build everything out of a wood that grows in such a specific region. Pine does offer a superior R value for the construction of log homes. The lighter the wood, the higher the R value.
Spruce, pine, and H Fir are also good if properly processed. Especially when considering the strength of southern yellow pine. I think it may be "somewhat resistant" to rot and bugs as well.
If only giant redwoods grew everywhere. I think we shipped a lot of that wood to S America for use as railway track. Especially Chile.

Imagine if cottonwood and poplar was a great building material. Woohoo!
Douglas fir grows all the way into mexico, and into canada, as far east as Montana and Wyoming, including parts of Colorado, Utah, Nevada etc. It technically has the largest natural growth area of any of the major lumber woods. So no, its not hemmed into a specific region.

Its been planted throughout Europe and eastern Canada, for commercial lumber. (though for some damned reason they prefer Sitka Spruce in Europe? I think because it grows a little faster and has much smaller limb structure, so it can be harvested earlier...)

"hemFir" is white fir and Hemlock, milled out of the same pile of junk wood, but still pays better then pine. Then "hemfir" is sold as its own species at hardware stores, because its cheap. ("white fir" being Grand, Noble, Silver, Alpine etc they all get lumped into the same pile with Western Hemlock)

As for R value? I don't think solid wood next to solid wood is going to make all that much of a difference one species to the other, however, pine is not very rot resistant at all, where as Doug Fir is. the R value argument, is null and void when you consider that chinking, windows and other weather protection is where most of the R value is lost in a log cabin (or any style of home really). Don't let the manufactures lie to you on that one, they use pine simply because it grows straight, is easy to work and is cheap, though I'd bet that more use Doug Fir simply for the rot resistance and strength.


Redwood isn't actually a very good structural wood, its very close to cedar and cyprus being rather soft and somewhat brittle, the railroads, ALL OF THEM preferred it because of its natural rot/bug resistance and its very resistant to fire, which is important when you're dealing with coal/wood fired steam engines. It does make a rather excellent wood for siding and decking though, much like cedar. Modern sleepers(cross ties) are going to be red oak or Doug Fir, for strength and rot resistance, notice pine isn't in the equation.
 
that maybe true, but D Fir will always be preferred, just because pine is used doesn't mean its any good at it.
except the koolaid part... I can read, and have fairly good memory, so gaslighting doesn't work very well, and I'm not afraid of skin pigments, losing my job or alternative life styles...

Also, Jim Jones (of jones town) used "flavor aid" Grape specifically, not the marginally more expensive, and frankly better Koolaid OH YEAH! etc
 
Ponderosa and sugar pine can be a high paying wood if they are large enough, though only to specialty mills. As for what trees are best, it all depends on purpose and availability, well wood condition also plays a part. Sometime with pine you can make more selling it as weight wood. Though your not gonna get as much as you would for dimensional lumber. Spruce is a good competitor to doug fir but reqiures cooler temps and more water for optimal growth but is otherwise just as good in my opinion. White Fir isn't the worst thing in the world either, paper mills will gladly take in any white fir but may not pay as high a price. Anyway these are just my opinions and thoughts, like i said earlier it all depends on a lot of variables but when selling logs shop around don't be afraid to call some farther buyers if you can get a better price.
 
Old growth non GMO southern yellow pine is some of the best wood on the planet while the trees grown on farms are just terrible in every aspect except growth rate. Down here in the deep south there are very old homes from the plantation days with original porches still standing strong. The pine turned into fatlighter, it does not rot and the bugs do not eat it. The only issue is fire, it turns into a fire that burns so fast and hot that often it burns up before it could be extinguished. The treated pine from the store will rot in two years, its trash.
 
Old growth non GMO southern yellow pine is some of the best wood on the planet while the trees grown on farms are just terrible in every aspect except growth rate. Down here in the deep south there are very old homes from the plantation days with original porches still standing strong. The pine turned into fatlighter, it does not rot and the bugs do not eat it. The only issue is fire, it turns into a fire that burns so fast and hot that often it burns up before it could be extinguished. The treated pine from the store will rot in two years, its trash.
You make strong points but exaggeration is a suspicion at the moment.
If treated SYP rotted in two years, we'd be in a helluva fix.

Though treatments vary, I think copper % is the go to. When done properly it adds noticeable weight I think.
 
Just read a thread here talking about .40 board foot. Roughly $64 for a pine log that is 10' x 20". Seems very low to me after watching shows about timber pricing in the recent past.

Have log prices fallen off a cliff recently? Hardly seems worth it to load and deliver for that price. Unless one has access to large lots loaded with 20" logs. 20" is on the very large side for a typical Colorado log . 16" at the base and 13" after the taper might be a typical size.
pine would probably be pallet price around $.29 bf unless it has gone up lately
 
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