Pricing for timber for milling

[Big J]

Another question - spotted a large wild cherry on one of our walks a few days back and was looking for a little guidance in terms of pricing it. It is again very close to a large beech and I was going to use this as a reason for felling. It's about a 70ft tree, tall and straight with no branching before 40ft. DBH is 16.5 inches tapering to about 12 iinches at 40ft. It has an approximate milled volume of 35 cubic foot. I was considering offering £150 for the tree on the basis that we fell and mill in situ and also purchase the burr Oak as part of the package. It's a very good tree - I'll get photos of both the Oak and the Cherry later in the week. Reckon it's worth approx £5 a cube standing?

 

Jonathan

[John Hughes]

I would not pay more than £4 for the cherry felled. Don't under estimate the time and cost of milling ,karting , stacking ,cutting stickers, more stacking, selling. Then there is the risk of rot and shakes, hitting metal and resharpening or replacement blades. The cost of running a kiln or waiting years for it to air dry.

 

 

I was sorting through some timber I have had for years stacked in the barn only to find some boards of walnut I was saving for the right job were infested with woodworm. :crying:

 

John

[Rob D]

I'd offer around the £4 mark as well if you're having to fell it...

 

Sorry to hear about your walnut John that is a choker!

[John Hughes]

While sorting through the pile to get to the oak I needed, which was of course on the bottom of the pile, I came across a couple of slabs of burr elm

that I had chainsaw milled many years ago. Surprisingly no worm in these. I thought I would try putting them on ebay and email pics to a couple of cabinet makers. How much do you think I should ask? They are 2inch thick 6ft by 2ft.

 

 

[Big J]

Roughly £100 a slab (at £50 a cube) - beautiful stuff!! That's assuming a maximum of 12% moisture content.

[Rob D]

I'd say maybe £120 a slab if dry - loverly stuff!

[tommer9]

Im with Rob on this one. That is extremely high value and nowadays rare timber.

[John Hughes]

I thought around £100 per slab, but as you say it is very rare and should be dry as it has been in the barn for over 15 years.I will try for £150 or the two for £250.

 

John

[Big J]

Some progression on this.....

 

Decided against the original Oak on the basis of there being better oaks available. There are three coming down in winter which I'm very interested in. I won't be felling them as the they already have a contractor for the larger stuff. I'll briefly describe them:

 

Tree one: Oak, average diameter 28 inches over 15 foot. Fairly straight and well pipped, though not very burry.

 

Tree two: Oak, average diameter 40 inches over 10 foot. Perfectly straight and 100% burred.

 

Tree three: Haven't looked closely but I think it sit's squarely between the two.

 

From speaking to a cabinet maker colleague, he would be expecting to pay anything up to £10 a cube for tree two. It really has the potential to be exquisite. I was thinking of offering about £8 for tree two, £5 for tree one and £7 for tree three. I'll get some photos up shortly.

 

Suggestions?

 

Jonathan

[Rob D]

Tree two sounds unbelievable! But I'd have an arrangement to be there when it was felled just to check for shake first....

 

I'd ask whoever owns the tree what sort of money they are after first as it could be a lot lower than what you may offer. If it's higher then you can start negotiating.