oak thinning

[Timber Tom]

Farm Management Pocketbook by John Nix 38th edition (2008)

 

A good guide for timber prices if anyone is interested. Im sure the 2009 edition will be available soon for more up to date prices.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Tom.

[skyhuck]

Farm Management Pocketbook by John Nix 38th edition (2008)

 

A good guide for timber prices if anyone is interested. Im sure the 2009 edition will be available soon for more up to date prices.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Tom.

 

Nice one!!!!!!!!

[Timber Tom]

Sorry the 2009 edition is now available from http://www.thepocketbook.co.uk/

 

Tom.

[Charlieh]

as someone who does ag contracting as well don't take nix as gospal, else you will be bust quickly, use it as a very loose guide. His workings are normally ok for south east uk but generaly are up to 20% out on what you can actually get in the midlands,

 

also the older versions wernt very helpful for woodland info, just quoted prices for uk grant schemes, and rental for sporting interests. just my opinion

[wills-mill]

I'm about to buy some standing oak thinnings, 12-20" diameter. Anyone got a average price they're paying this year?

 

 

I think everyone got excited about timber prices with the global price squirting up over last year, but I would imagine things are dying on their arse right now

 

If you are milling then I think it's reasonable to look at about £1.50 to maybe £2.50 per cubic ft for standing Oak with good access at what's usually called fencing grade, but is basically small timber frame building grade. The fact that the trees may be local to you and the owners are on your side can make it worth more (or more useful) to you than you imagine.....

From a small mill's point of view, it's nice to sink money into a larger number of smaller trees than a smaller number of large trees. If you buy 4 big trees and one is a nightmare you have chucked a lot of money away instantly, but if you have one or two dodgy trees among 30 others it's not so bad

 

Softwood-

B Bob-

found a price of £12.78 m/3. standing,but it wasnt clear if was softwood or broadleaved ???????

I would think that was standing softwood on a large scale. That works out as £0.36 per cubic ft (35 cu/ft to 1cu/m), so may even be for pulp or bars rather than sawlogs, you'd have to get confirmation from some of the softwood boys on here.

 

For what it's worth I'd hazard that most chunky sawable softwood used round here (SE England) on mobile or estate mills would go for 80p to £1.50 per cubic ft depending on species, so nice Larch, Douglas and maybe Western Red at the top end. But it's quite a bespoke thing, and I'd rather pay more for having the convenience of wood available locally with room to mill alongside when an order comes in.

 

I may be miles off the mark for other areas and people's experiences on a larger scale, but it'd be nice if more people piped up and chipped in. As someone else said, I can look at barley, pig and potato prices any day of the week.

 

Presentation and timber sales-

Having come into timber from an arb background, I understand that at no point in ALL arb courses are even the very basics of timber layout, handling, crosscutting and felling for timber quality discussed.

 

As a mobile sawyer I regularly cut timber for people who have ruined the value of their own trees with careless cutting and storage. All I can do is make the best that can be made from the available trees.

Sadly, it is primarily because the timber industry does not help itself in advertising or making available any information to the majority of people at the chopping edge.

[toby]

very true.

I'll always prefer getting wood of someone friendly, though just started dealing with the forestry commission which is an experience!

Paid about £500 for 1.6 hect. of chestnut thinning(singling) cant remember the volume off the top of my head.

I'd rather be told the price a owner wants than all this secret auction pulaver. Obviously they want the best price possible but a few woodland owners are a bit optimistic!

Folk like to keep what they pay a bit secret for some reason, a bit more openess would probably help all concerned.Maybe we could start a chart or something.........

[Log-ologist]

cheers mate i will keep you in mind.

not meaning to keep banging on and if you can tell from the crap pic im just curious how much do you recon this butt was worth?... i would of thought £250 -300

http://

 

 

 

the top third is next to useless. the remains are very fluted so the useable wood is less than you expect. Its open grown so probably has some degree of shake.

 

It may be good enough for 9 gateposts (3x3 at 8"x8") so its worth about 50 quid.

 

Thats why I log it up. Just like we did with this lot.

 

and the second lenght is no better

[Log-ologist]

matty , for the record.

 

I note that your tree was elm, as no such thing exists in where I live in Dorset I assumed it was Oak.

[Quickthorn]

I'd rather be told the price a owner wants than all this secret auction pulaver. Obviously they want the best price possible but a few woodland owners are a bit optimistic!

Folk like to keep what they pay a bit secret for some reason, a bit more openess would probably help all concerned.Maybe we could start a chart or something.........

 

They certainly are optimistic a lot of the time, although every now and again a buyer pays silly money for stuff, which I suppose encourages the owners: they never want to take a lower bid, once someone has bid over the odds. That's just happened to me..a landowner won't accept my price for some coppice because someone bought it for twice as much last year. The guy lost money on it, because the stuff he cut out of it never sold, and that's why he's not back this year, but the landowner still wants the same amount.

 

A thread or something on prices would be good. Openness would help contractors; secrecy only helps landowners.

[Log-ologist]

They certainly are optimistic a lot of the time, although every now and again a buyer pays silly money for stuff, which I suppose encourages the owners: they never want to take a lower bid, once someone has bid over the odds. That's just happened to me..a landowner won't accept my price for some coppice because someone bought it for twice as much last year. The guy lost money on it, because the stuff he cut out of it never sold, and that's why he's not back this year, but the landowner still wants the same amount.

 

A thread or something on prices would be good. Openness would help contractors; secrecy only helps landowners.

 

quality hardwoods always fetch good money,

 

i remember there being a run on good oak about 20 years ago. It coincided with a major UK hardwoods sawmill having landed a contract to supply Oak to a shakespeare theme park in Japan and the building of the Globe theatre in London.

 

it inflates the prices temporarily but they will return to a normal level.

 

the closing of the coal mines left a void in the poor quality hardwood market as mining timber was not needed. Then sawmills started producing finger jointed boards and glulam from ever smaller trees.