sold walnut trees

[peakbagger]

Saw Logs and Veneer logs are two very different things. Up in my area if a logger identifies good veneer trees, the veneer buyer comes right to the site and makes an offer and usually stays around to see it cut. A veneer log needs to be straight with no defects at all. They then attach a metal tag to it and may even have it picked up by their designated trucking firm. We dont have any walnut to speak of but if its figured maple they pay big bucks for the right trees (thousands not hundreds). There is a veneer mill in Newport VT near the Canadian border. I used to drive I91 a lot and frequently saw loads of big straight hardwood logs heading north all with metal tags on them.

About 25 years ago there was a lot wood poaching going on in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia on Crown (government owned) lands due to a high unemployment rate and huge demand for figured wood, folks would head into the woods on ATVs with a broad ax slashing a big piece of bark off the trunk to see if there was figure, if it was they would go grab it some night and drive it over the Maine border to sell for cash. I knew some folks that were buying maple trees with figure to sell for music instruments, they didnt need a perfect log like the veneer buyer wanted but they still paid cash for good trees with the right grain pattern. If they could get one block to sell for a viola, that paid for the tree and then the rest was all profit. The music folks want to buy the wood green and want to season it themselves. They definitely dont want standard kiln dried.

The hassle is that veneer logs are pretty rare and they can be damaged by nature or poor logging. Most loggers and landowners don't manage for high quality trees and the result is they are selling hundred dollar sawlogs and pulpwood instead of several thousand dollar veneer logs. My local town had a large hardwood stand that had been left alone for 100 plus years possibly longer, it had ideal soils and sun exposure. It was managed as watershed protection area. In 1998 there was an ice storm and it wiped out all the crowns of the mature trees. The town hired a forester for a salvage cut and the revenue was far more than expected. Buyers reportedly were coming from all over as most of the trees were veneer grade and trees that size were quite rare in the region. There are still a few big trees that survived to give folks an idea of what had been but its going to be another 100 plus years to see if it regenerates into the same quality trees. Most folks have a 20 year window, while northern hardwoods are 100 years plus.

 

[sutphenj]

Saw Logs and Veneer logs are two very different things. Up in my area if a logger identifies good veneer trees, the veneer buyer come right to the site and makes an offer and usually stays around to see if cut. A veneer log need to be straight with no defects at all. They then attach a metal tag to it and may even have it picked up by their designated trucking firm. We dont have any walnut to speak of but if its figured maple they pay big bucks for the right trees (thousands not hundreds). There is Veneer mill in Newport VT near the Canadian border. I used to drive I91 a lot and frequently saw loads of big straight hardwood logs heading north all with metal tags on them.

About 25 years ago there was a lot wood poaching going on in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia on Crown (government owned) lands due to a high unemployment rate and huge demand for figured wood, folks would head into the woods on ATVs with a broad ax slashing a big piece of bark off the trunk to see if there was figure, if it was they would go grab it some night and drive it over the Maine border to sell for cash. I knew some folks that were buying maple trees with figure to sell for music instruments, they didnt need a perfect log like the veneer buyer wanted but they still paid cash for good trees with the right grain pattern. If they could get one block to sell for viola, that paid for the tree and then the rest was all profit. The music folks want to buy the wood green and want to season it themselves. They definitely dont want standard kiln dried.

The hassle is that veneer logs are pretty rare and they can be damaged by nature or poor logging. Most loggers and landowners don't manage for high quality trees and the result is they are selling hundred dollar sawlogs and pulpwood instead of several thousand dollar veneer logs. My local town had a large hardwood stand that had been left alone for 100 plus years possibly longer, it had ideal soils and sun exposure. It was managed as watershed protection area. In 1998 there was an ice storm and it wiped out all the crowns of the mature trees. The town hired a forester for a salvage cut and the revenue was far more than expected. Buyers reportedly were coming from all over as most of the trees were veneer grade and trees that size were quite rare in the region. There are still a few big trees that survived to give folks an idea of what had been but its going to be another 100 plus years to see if it regenerates into the same quality trees. Most folks have 20 year window, while northern hardwoods are 100 years plus.

What specifically do you mean by "figured"?

 

[Marshy]

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[yinpin]

What specifically do you mean by "figured"?

This is what I think of when I hear figured wood or Walnut (middle)

 

[yinpin]

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This would be my scenario This is like every craigslist add around here for free wood!

 

[peakbagger]

The primary figured woods up in my area (northern NH) are hard and soft maple. There can be birds eye, (looks like 3d eyes in the wood, tiger u(niform steady stripes in the wood grain) and curly. (nonuniform stripes in the grain. Its a real PITA to work with but the results can be very nice. I got to stay in the old company house for one of the biggest pulp and papermills in the world long ago in Millinocket Maine. They had a conference room that was paneled and trimmed out with all figured maple.

I have also seen Tiger Ash once or twice and Yellow Birch also can have some incredible figure but its pretty rare to find. There is shop not that far way that stocks quite a variety. Its not cheap.

There is no real good way to tell if its figured unless the bark is slashed off. I have accidentally cut a few smaller tiger red maple over the years. They were damaged and needed to come down but if they were good trees, it was expensive firewood. I have one red maple that was hit by a plow and I can see the characteristic curl. It has some defects so it wouldnt be good for veneer but I expect I could get a couple of nice boards out of it.

 

[bfitz3]

i sold a few trees at 1000 ea and not huge trees....i also sold several at 2000 ea..nuff said?

So you sold some trees and might pay for a semester’s books?

 

[lefties]

yup

So you sold some trees and might pay for a semester’s books?

yup

 

[nrford]

A lot of walnut goes overseas now. Same with Black Cherry and White Oak. All of that should be about $4.00 per board foot on the stump or more.

Yes, Walnut much better than that especially with a high percentage of veneer. Cherry and White Oak...only the best veneer sells for that $4/bf.

 

[Simonkenton]

"
View attachment 224642
Here I am sawing out the summerbeam for my log cabin.


View attachment 224643
And here is the summerbeam installed. The king post is also black walnut.
Summerbeam is 18 inches high and 8 inches thick.

Wow, absolutely stunning. How long did you let that beam dry out?"

Thank you.

Here is the beam in the nearly-finished cabin

I put the summerbeam in the carport for 2 years. I coated the ends with wax so it would dry slowly.
Even still, it continued to dry and shrink a little once the house was finished and we started running the big Norwegian wood stove.

 

[lefties]

the truck picked up our logs about 4 hrs ahead of the snow

 

[jackatc1]

I have come across lots of beautiful figured wood over the years.
After it had been cut into 16" rounds and split.

 

[yinpin]

I have come across lots of beautiful figured wood over the years.
After it had been cut into 16" rounds and split.

Makes me a little sad just because I have a soft spot for USGI stocks from M1 Carbines, Garands and M14. Many of these were made with beautiful figured birch and walnut. I have been working on M14 stocks for the past few years trying to bring out their glory and make a little cash. Found a stockpile of about 200 or so stocks.

That is a practice that will never happen again so you using it for firewood is appropriate!!

 

[peakbagger]

Ethan Allen furniture had a sawmill in Andover Maine. I met one of the sawyers once. If he saw figure in the wood they would reject the cant (log) and burn it in their boiler, he set some aside to carve spoons from for himself and I got a hold on some eventually. Figured wood isn't any good in a typical production furniture factory as they don't have time to deal with things like grain tear out. I couldn't touch the stuff with my jointer until I switched to a carbide insert head. I have better luck with my planer but its in the 80% range, 20% of the time I get grain tearout.

 

[Ashful]

"
View attachment 224642
Here I am sawing out the summerbeam for my log cabin.


View attachment 224643
And here is the summerbeam installed. The king post is also black walnut.
Summerbeam is 18 inches high and 8 inches thick.

Wow, absolutely stunning. How long did you let that beam dry out?"

Thank you.

Here is the beam in the nearly-finished cabin

View attachment 224676

I put the summerbeam in the carport for 2 years. I coated the ends with wax so it would dry slowly.
Even still, it continued to dry and shrink a little once the house was finished and we started running the big Norwegian wood stove.

A large fraction of the structural framing in my house is Walnut. Not that it makes great floor joists, but BW is so common in this area, that it’s just what they used sometimes. The difference between traditional construction, and what you have there, is that the sap wood would be wasted off before use. It gives an interesting contrast, having it there, but it’s historically wrong.

Walnut was actually the “poor man’s mahogany”, in the American colonial period. Most colonial homes of middle class income or above, would have a lot of walnut furniture, stained to look like Mahogany.

 

[Zack R]

A good friend of mine uses a lot of black walnut in the fine furniture he makes. It's always looked good to me!

https://makerswoodworks.com/furniture

 

[lost in the woods]

around here walnut saw logs are $ 2.00/bd. ft. down to 10" on the small end and the pallet logs are $ 1.10/bd. ft. SCRIBNER scale. the veneer/ export logs are bought on DOYLE scale and the price varies drastically, with top price being around 8-10 dollars / bd. ft.

 

[Simonkenton]

I left the sapwood on because the contrast between the light creamy sapwood and the dark heartwood is so beautiful.
All done deliberately, along with leaving the 4 inch curve in that flying summerbeam, I love that look.
Sorry if it is not "historically correct."

 

[Ashful]

I left the sapwood on because the contrast between the light creamy sapwood and the dark heartwood is so beautiful.
All done deliberately, along with leaving the 4 inch curve in that flying summerbeam, I love that look.
Sorry if it is not "historically correct."

Yeah, I agree, I looks very nice! Sorry if my post came off the wrong way, that wasn’t my intent.

 

[TJ1]

If walnut was worth 1/3rd of what most people thought it was worth there would be a lot more people making money off it.

 

[lefties]

many many more walnut trees here but im teaching my son to manage them for a harvest every few yrs of his life

 

[Ashful]

many many more walnut trees here but im teaching my son to manage them for a harvest every few yrs of his life

I don't recall you listing your location, but we're starting to lose them around here. I lost two this year, in the wettest portion of my yard. My neighbor lost a half dozen along my property line. No sign of walnut twig beetle or thousand cankers, I think they're just succumbing to the crazy wet weather we had for more than two years.

 

[lefties]

ohio

 

[Bushels20]

here,,

We have 4 very tall and very straight white oaks on our property. No limbs until about 60 feet up. Each one is over 36 “ at the base. I’ve had people ask to buy them but have not entertained it, yet. Maybe some day I will creatively contribute to the college fund too

 

[Sodbuster]

i sold a few trees at 1000 ea and not huge trees....i also sold several at 2000 ea..nuff said?

What's "not huge" can you give us a rough diameter?