[OP]
Member
Here is the advertisement. I emailed with the lady that has it forsale. Its from her dads sawmill. (its now in his estate). I attached the only two pics that she sent.. $1300 What should I be looking for when I go check this out? What concerns?
Air dried hard lumber -
100 Bd Ft mixed Walnut & Cherry
794 Bd Ft Ash
126 Bd Ft 2" Oak
280 Bd Ft 2 1/2" poplar
83 Bd Ft 2" Poplar
245 Bd Ft Hard Maple
220 Bd Ft 1" Walnut
107 Bd Ft 1-2" Red Oak
441 Bd Ft 1" poplar
Selling all together
Last edited by David Schmaus; 06-09-2009 at 11:23 PM.
Contributor
I'd look for signs of bugs or rot. And I'd be checking my phone list for friends who can help me load/unload.
Matt
Member
awesome find. $.50 bf for assorted hardwoods is a great deal.
the photos show that the wood was stickerd properly and stored under a roof to protect it from the elements.
i would check for proper moisture content, termites or bugs, fungus and checking.
if nothing seems out of balance than snatch it up before anyone else does.
S.M.Titmas.
"...I had field experience, a vocabulary and a criminal mind, I was a danger to myself and others."
-Anthony Bourdain
Member
if it is dryed correctly and laying straight without much splitting it sound like on heck of a deal. less that 75 cents a bd ft.
id bring my truck but i might get lost on the way to your shop and have to bring it to mine lol
just the walnut is worth 1200 in my neck of the woods
you can always make some real nice shop cabinets out of the stuff
good luck
kendall
Member
Congrats! that's awesome... Like others said look for end checking and bug damage/rot... sometimes it's hard to see... if the boards feel unusually light that's not good at all.
Given how much lumber that is, I'd be inclined to take a circ saw and crosscut a board or two... I think that's only fair.
Other than that, make sure you have plenty of hands to help and an 18 wheeler at your disposal... lol... seriously, hopefully you have the logistics of moving all that lumber planned out, including where you're gonna store it. Ohhh and buy a bottle of aleve for the day after...
[OP]
Member
That is great input. I have a cordless circular saw that I will take with me. I am taking my 14x7 enclosed trailer. I dont have help lined up but I will make some calls in the morning..
About checking. On a lets say 6 foot board is a inch or two of checking on each end ok?
I actually dont have anywhere to store it but if it turns out to be nice I will find a place to put it... Its could be a good day tomorrow. I will make sure I bring a camera and give updates.
Thank for all the input on a short notice!
Member
Given how much material is there it would take a LOT of checking for me to turn that stuff down... well beyond am inch or two. From the pics, the material looks great! I really don't think you're gonna have a problem with quality if the pics are a proper representation.
I think you're going to need to make multiple trips... 2500BF of lumber is a HUGE amount of lumber (in both size and weight). I think you might find yourself saying "we're gonna need a bigger boat" after you get a good look at it. Heh... maybe not... but the weight alone might force that. I'd probably want 3 other people as well for the lifting.
It might not be that easy to just stick it somewhere either...
For reference sake, I'm attaching a pic of 140BF of walnut I recently got off craigslist... imagine 18X this and that's what you'll be dealing with... a good problem to have tho! Good luck with everything.
Member
I'd jump on it Dave!
Unless there is a BUNCH of rot it looks like a killer deal!
Member
What are you waiting for, go get it! Honestly, 6" end checking is acceptable. The lumber is properly stacked and stickered, so I will assume its air dried, which is a bonus. You won't have to worry about if someone messed up the drying cycle in a kiln, which leads to internal stress.
You aren't going to fit that in an enclosed trailer. You might need to take 2-3 trips to get that all home due to the weight. for an example that pile of 792 bf ft of ash weighs around 1700 pounds, so you are looking at quite a heavy load.
Here's a link that might help you figure out the total weight.
http://www.customsawing.com/Lumber%20Weight.htm
Member
I bought about that much one time and used a neighbors horse trailer to haul it. It filled up a 4 horse trailer to the top and the poor truck would hardly pull it home. that was before the days of the diesel pickups.
Member
That's some old wood. Been outdoors a long time.
Member
Originally Posted by Charles Davis
yep, that is going to be a pile for sure! definitely worse problems to have though!
a couple months back, i helped my dad cut down an oak at his place that had been hit by lightening. i got 2-10 foot logs from the butt, hauled them to a local guy, and came away with about 350 bd ft of lumber. it pretty much filled my 16'x6' trailer to a height of about 12" (it wasn't stacked very neatly). it was wet too, so very heavy. it turns out logging is hard work!
-matt
Last edited by Matt Ellis; 06-10-2009 at 12:59 PM.
Member
As you're unstacking it, evidence of powder post beetles would be apparent - little piles of "sawdust."
But that's the kind of deal you can't go wrong on. I'd do it in a minute. A little heavy on the poplar, but the maple, walnut oak makes it well worthwhile. Some end checking is unavaoidable.
Moderator
I added up 2396 bf of mixed hardwood. At $1300 for all that, you are looking at 54 cents per board foot.
Even if half of it is garbage, it is likely still a good buy.
Rent a large truck for the day and fill it up!
I noticed you don't have your location posted...CHICKEN!!!!!
Member
David,
There is a far greater concern than Insects, Rot or end checks, its where do you put that much wood and if you can't come up with a place I'm sure there are a few of us that would pay you $1.00 a BF to take some of it off your hands especially any walnut thats really wide. I know that stuff can be hard to store. I'd also be concerned about those of us that are frantically trying to search craigslist across the country to get such a deal.
On a more serious note, I bought a bunch of walnut a few years back from a sawmill that had a fire and there was a little bit of black soot on the top of the piles. After letting it sit for a year, I started using it. I was always worried about a smoke smell, but instead, I found myslef just smiling knowing I wasn't feeling the other $2.00 a board foot in my pocket I should have paid for that wood and I've never had anything built from it smell a bit.
I can't buy any of that wood in your list for less than $2.00 a bf in my area, so if 25% of the wood is good and its just the poplar your breaking even. If 75% of its good, your getting a heck of deal. I don't see how you could go wrong if you do a quick inspection of it.
Just remember if you need to offload that walnut for room I'm there for you.
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