Questions on a hickory log I can purchase from a tree service

[tomb]

I have been trying to purchase good quality logs from tree services for a couple of years with no success .  However my time has finally come,  and I hope i have made a wise decision!  I have been offered a hickory log that at the momment is 14' long, and is 24" in diameter.  10' of the log is completely clear.  As this was the first time I have ever received a call from any of the many tree services I have talked to, I wanted to make a lasting relationship.  So after going to check it out, I offered them $150 for the log.
The kicker is that I have to load it onto my trailor, and this will be no small task!    Does anyone have an idea of what this log would weigh?

In my area of Northwest Ohio, hickory is going for $3.05 a board foot.  Im sure I can get at least a couple of hundred board feet out of this log.  Milling will run me an additional .40 cents a board foot and .25 cents a board foot to kiln dry. 
This amount of hickory would last me a long time!

Now i am asking for your opinion on my purchase.  Do you think I overbid for the log?  What suggestions would you offer me for future purchases? 

Thanks for your help!

[Radar67]

How much will damaged blades cost you? Yard trees will most likely have metal in them. Most on the Forum will suggest you not pay for yard trees. The tree service is making money to not have to haul it off.

[Tim/South]

The log is worth what a person is willing to pay for it.
If you are getting that kind of money per bf and you can see a profit then it is a good deal.

Is there a way you can lift one end of the log high enough to get a trailer under it, then back up until it tilts onto the trailer?
 

[DRB]

Well that scales about 350 board feet but your yield of clear hickory worth $3.05 a bdft will probably be around 100 bdft or less.  You will put a lot of work into hauling and cutting and hickory is hard to cut and hard to dry. It depends how bad you want hickory.  $150 is not much money anymore so if you really want some hickory you did not pay to much. It would have been nice to have got it at least loaded for that price.  As stated if it is a yard tree there may be metal in it.  It does sound like a nice log. Personally I would only place value on the clear portion of the log which scales about 250 bdft.

[Chuck White]

According to the scale in the forum tool box, the log will weigh 2814.72 pounds.

That's just under 1½ tons.  You'll need to either get some helpers or someone with a loader to load it onto your trailer.
Some on the forum have developed ways to load logs without a loader, using a winch!

[terrifictimbersllc]

A metal detector can be useful if you are buying logs.  If you find metal you can offer a lower price, or pass. If it is clean and the seller doesn't know, you don't have to tell him.

[metalspinner]

I've been tempted to purchase a specific log from tree services a couple of times.  But for all the reasons you and others have already mentioned, I've declined.  For those of us that do not rely on logs and lumber as a major income source, patience rather than purchase might be a better decision.  Free ones are all over the place.  Have you checked out Craigslist? The few times temptation has gotten the best of me, walnut was involved.  Even then, the devil made me do it.

If you want to buy logs, call a logger.  Their price usually includes delivery with less chance of tramp metal.

[ahlkey]

As a comparison even at 300 bdf in that log the price the large sawmills would pay is only around $75 dollars at best.

If you have it milled and kiln dried at the end of the day you might get 150 board feet out of it but you then your cost is over $300 in this single log. Now add in your cost of transport and labor it will be tough to come out even. Remember, many private sawmill's like those on this forum would be happy to sell you hickory KD lumber at $2 dollar per foot rather than the $3 dollars you see priced at retail box stores.

However, if this is first time you dealt with the tree service I would see value is starting to do business with them, but those urban logs can have a lot of metal in them which just adds to your cost.

[Tim/South]

I have to show my ignorance and admit I did not know Hickory was an expensive wood.

I do not wish to hijack the thread, but where/how does a person market hickory?
I am about to finish up a storm clean up job from the tornadoes that came through several weeks ago.
I have a lot of nice clear hickory and red oak with 7 or 8 trees still to harvest.

Is hickory a log that needs to be quarter sawn to fetch $2 -$3 per BF?

[tomb]

Thank you for all your input and help! 

I have gotten a couple of dozen urban trees for free over the last several years.  Thankfully finding no metal in them.  However this hickory log is by far the largest log ive come across.  I have used a small trailor with a come along to pull the rest of the logs onboard, however I wasnt sure i could do this with this log!   But where theres a will theres a way!!! 
The lumber I get from these logs are not for sale to the public, but to fuel my need for wood hoarding!   I run a small woodworking business out of my garage and storage building.  Using the urban lumber GENERALLY keeps my wood costs down, and I enjoy taking the log and having it milled.
After finding out how hard it is to get a tree service to call me, I thought offering $150 for the log might keep me at the top of there list!  So we shall see how this adventure turns out, untill then thanks again for the advice!

[metalspinner]

Under the "forum extras" button is a dictionary link.  Search "parbuckle" and you will find a handy way to load logs - no matter their size.

I have used a small trailor with a come along to pull the rest of the logs onboard, however I wasnt sure i could do this with this log!

However, depending on your definition of "small trailor", procede with caution.

[tomb]

Thanks for the info on how to look up the term parbuckle.  Thats the system for me when I have my own trailer again!  Right now im relegated to borrowing trailers when i need them.  I hope to remedy this soon, anyone selling a good used trailer?

Anyway I did get the hickory log loaded yesterday and here are some of the pictures.

 

Timbers!

  Being creative using a tow truck to load the log onto the trailer.

  Like I said its a small trailer but it gets the job done!

Now Im looking forward to all that beautiful hardwood!  Thanks again for all the help  and advice.

[ljmathias]

Just be aware that hickory checks like crazy, so coat the ends with anchorseal asap  and again after you make lumber.  Just cut some 36" pecan (same family) and made wide boards out of it for interior steps, flooring, what-not- looks fantastic now (treated with the antifreeze-boric acid-borax mix to keep powder post beetles out)... and you need to treat with bleach first to kill mold/fungus, then the above for PPBs for airdrying.  If you kiln dry, do so asap since beetles just love this stuff...

Lj

[tomb]

Before I unloaded the log at the sawyers I coated the ends with anchor seal.  It will be a while before its all kiln dried , but before it goes into storage it gets coated with Timbor.  I found out all to well a while back about those little powder post pests!  
This is why this forum is so great, everyone is so willing to help everyone out!  Thanks again

[zopi]

Have yet to pay for a log...if i do..it will be special...great big cedar or walnut or suchlike...or a whole load..

freebie trees are too easy to scrounge...I'm buried under logs i have no time to cut as it is...great big pine and oak...

[Burlkraft]

That's a nice lookin' hickory log.

The last ones I seen from around here are hollow in the middle.

I had a nice 20"er that had about a 50 cent piece hole all the way through it.

The tree looked to be okay. Anybody know why that is?

[5quarter]

Hey Tomb...Bringing this thread back up to see if you've been getting more calls on logs from the tree service. Hows that working out? Also, how about a few pictures of that hickory lumber?

Chet

[tomb]

Yes, I have received another call from the tree service.  They called about a oak log they had just brought down and asked if I was interested.  Of course I was interested, however I was suppossed to leave for vacation in an hour when I received their call.  So I did what any good wood collector would do and went to look at the log anyway!   We left late for vacation but I wound up with another nice log. 
 I would have to say it never hurts to just stop by and leave a card when you see a tree service taking down anything.  I had tried this many times before finding a smaller local tree service who actually called me back.  Maybe persistance does pay off.   
Anyway I also picked up two maple logs from the tornados that came through our area earlier this summer.  Well as for pictures Im still waiting to pick up the lumber, so no pictures yet.  Trust me the anticipation is killing me!

[DR_Buck]

Way to many free logs to be paying for them.   Especially from tree services.   I recently had two trailer loads of hard maple, hickory and red oak given to me by a tree service.   Over 5000 bf.   All I had to do was go pick it up about 40 miles away. 

The only logs I've paid for yielded 8' 5/4 18" wide clear cherry and I only paid 25¢ a board foot for them. 

Did I mention I hate to mill hickory?