Log to BF calculator

[Bobby Hunt]

I’ve posted about this before but I have actual measurements now. I have a 1/3 acre lot about 20 miles north of I-20 and 20 miles east of the Savannah River (for geographical reference). I measured 50 yellow pines on this lot yesterday, about 4 feet up, and on average, being VERY conservative, they are 18inches in diameter (not counting the bark) and about 35 feet long. They’re closer to 50-60 feet long but they’re all pretty consistently 18 inches thick to about 35 feet. I used the calculator at wood web and it came out to a little over 21,000 board feet. Does that seem right? Seems like a bunch to me.

The actual measurements came out to almost 72000 board feet. That was the diameter including the bark and actual lengths of each tree. The 21000 is minus 10 inches in diameter and the average length ( estimated). That seems like a HEAPING pile of lumber from 1/3 of an acre. Is it possible??

[John TenEyck]

I get 21,450 bf using the Doyle scale for 50 logs at 18" at the small end and 35 ft long. Yep, lotta lumber, but if your trees are that size, that's what you'll get, possibly more because the Doyle scale is biased low for smaller diameter logs. For example, if you use the International Scale, it will yield more than 29,000 bf. I use the International 1/4" scale for my bandsaw mill and it's pretty close. In any case, you have a lot of lumber standing there.

John