Sawlog Price

[Dorset Treeman]

I was hoping somebody may be able to advise me. I have an artist who makes carvings etc out of wood and wants to buy a sawlog from the woodland I having started to manage. The tree is still standing but is 46cm at dbh and the timber height is 3.9m giving a volume of 1.03 m3. Obviously some of this will be lost due to the felling cut. What sort of price do oak sawlogs go for per m3 or tonne?

[aspenarb]

I was hoping somebody may be able to advise me. I have an artist who makes carvings etc out of wood and wants to buy a sawlog from the woodland I having started to manage. The tree is still standing but is 46cm at dbh and the timber height is 3.9m giving a volume of 1.03 m3. Obviously some of this will be lost due to the felling cut. What sort of price do oak sawlogs go for per m3 or tonne?

 

Some hardwoods have been selling at auction for over £60 a ton standing so that stick must be worth £150 to the Carver I would have thought, that would be subject to it being sound.

 

 

Bob

[agg221]

If I was buying, I would want to work it out in Hoppus feet as it's easier for my head to cope with! Buying standing (so I would be taking the risk as to whether there is a problem in the middle) with no obvious defects, I would be looking at £4/Hoppus ft as it's a bit on the small side as timber goes and oak often has quite a wide sapwood band when relatively young.

 

Assuming that the dbh is very similar to the mid-diameter, which is only about another 50cm further up, and assuming that you lose about 20cm off the length when felling, I reckon you have about 17 Hoppus feet, which would be about £70, but have a good measure up once it's felled.

 

Coincidentally, if it's just under 1m3 once felled, it would be just under a ton in weight, so a bit less than £60 based on Aspenarb's standing timber figures.

 

Alec

[aspenarb]

If I was buying, I would want to work it out in Hoppus feet as it's easier for my head to cope with! Buying standing (so I would be taking the risk as to whether there is a problem in the middle) with no obvious defects, I would be looking at £4/Hoppus ft as it's a bit on the small side as timber goes and oak often has quite a wide sapwood band when relatively young.

 

Assuming that the dbh is very similar to the mid-diameter, which is only about another 50cm further up, and assuming that you lose about 20cm off the length when felling, I reckon you have about 17 Hoppus feet, which would be about £70, but have a good measure up once it's felled.

 

Coincidentally, if it's just under 1m3 once felled, it would be just under a ton in weight, so a bit less than £60 based on Aspenarb's standing timber figures.

 

Alec

 

 

I was thinking more in terms of the value of the stick to the carver, this guy can possibly get his £60 a ton for his timber without touching it. I just thought that going through the hassle of dropping the tree, trimming it out etc must be worth a little over the top of saw log.

 

Bob

[onyx landscaping/fencing]

from what I have seen £60/ton is the exception not the rule ?

[aspenarb]

from what I have seen £60/ton is the exception not the rule ?

 

This is out of date but worth a read.

 

timber sales news

 

Bob

[woodyguy]

I think this is being looked at the wrong way. If you are clear felling a wood, with good access and lots of machinery, then £60 per tonne may be correct. If you are going to all the hassle of felling a single oak and extracting it then the standard sum is almost irrelevant. It's what it is worth to that carver. So if it was my tree then I'd be looking at the best part of £200 to make it worth the bother (even then I wouldn't touch it as the time factored in makes it less economic).

[Brushcutter]

If I was buying, I would want to work it out in Hoppus feet as it's easier for my head to cope with! Buying standing (so I would be taking the risk as to whether there is a problem in the middle) with no obvious defects, I would be looking at £4/Hoppus ft as it's a bit on the small side as timber goes and oak often has quite a wide sapwood band when relatively young.

 

Assuming that the dbh is very similar to the mid-diameter, which is only about another 50cm further up, and assuming that you lose about 20cm off the length when felling, I reckon you have about 17 Hoppus feet, which would be about £70, but have a good measure up once it's felled.

 

Coincidentally, if it's just under 1m3 once felled, it would be just under a ton in weight, so a bit less than £60 based on Aspenarb's standing timber figures.

 

Alec

 

I'd of thought £4/Hoppus was a little on the high side.

[agg221]

I'd of thought £4/Hoppus was a little on the high side.

 

It is currently the norm, at least around here, for decent quality sawlogs. I agree it's a little on the high side for the smaller size of this, and taking the risk of buying standing (I would expect more like £3/Hoppus) but I would factor in the fact that this is a 'one off' selected log with no economy of scale on the felling and extraction.

 

If you want to try charging what you think you can get away with then that's your prerogative, but if he ever works out what the going rate is he's not likely to use you in future, and may not be talking about you in very positive terms on whichever forums he happens to be a member of:001_smile:

 

As an aside, I find the range of values people place on trees fascinating - everything from laughing at people who put their tree up for sale on ebay through to pricing something equivalent at hundreds of pounds. I think I'll give this thought its own thread.

 

Alec

[Dorset Treeman]

She was happy to pay the £4 per hoppus foot and said that seemed about the going rate, so thanks for all the advice.