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How to find a lumber broker...

Started by Captain, January 27, 2003, 04:56:40 PM

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Captain

I have read in previous posts that many of you find it necessary to sell some of your hardwood lumber to the wholesale market through a broker. I now understand why...
 ::)
I have an opportunity to saw a quantity (4-5Mbf) of hardwood in the near future, and I know that the supply of it will far outweigh my very small demand at this time.  The one large hardwood dealer in my area requires semi trailer loads, 8-9 Mbf stacked and presorted for grade. (Grading, another problem..) I suppose if I keep about 2Mbf of it, that will force me to build a kiln at the end of the winter...but until then, I hate to turn down the opportunity for all of this wood...

Those of you who are selling wholesale, how did you find the broker?  I assume that you have an idea what the broker needs in advance, their dimension requirements and species, etc.  How regularly do you communicate with them to check the market?  Who sets the prices?  Who determines grade?  Who transports the material? ???
I never quite anticipated this kind of problem.....having to turn down raw materials just because I have not yet developed a market. :o

Thanks as always,
Captain

Bro. Noble

We are fortunate to have several buyers in our area.  You have to deliver the goods unless you're a real large operator in the situations that I'm aware of.  The buyers quote prices for species and grades,  how they want it packaged,  how they want it cut.  They grade it within a  day or two and mail the check.  They mail out a new price schedule when there are any changes.  The prices should all be about the same.  I have compared our prices with Ron W. and others and they run real close.  We sold to a small local flooring manufacturer and broker first-----graded good but was awfully short on bdft.  Next we sold to a huge flooring manufacturer-----the bdft were there but the grading was terrible.  Now we sell to North Pacific and are well satisfied with them.  They have a website and buying stations all over.

Check the phone book for possible buyers.  Visit commercial mills,  they are selling their lumber to a broker somewhere most likely.  If you have to deliver lumber a long distance,  work out a deal with a commercial mill to haul or buy yours.

We sell ties, pallet boards, and grade lumber.  We no longer have customers interupting our work (I sometimes miss them)  no bad checks,  no little piles of lumber that no one wants to buy.  We haul stuff off as soon as we get a load.

Noble
milking and logging and sawing and milking

Mr._Logical

What kind of mill do you have?  Can you meet there needs with your mill?  You should start small and work you way up if possible.

Waterford Woodworks

So, I was looking on line at some info for selling lumber to
a lumber broker and was brought to my good and faithful
website to a posting from 2003 that seems to have been
cut short for answers. I am looking to saw and sell green lumber
and am looking to try to move it faster than I have in the last
8 years. I get the occasional woodworker that buys 50 to 100
board feet but mostly I end up using my lumber for custom
furniture. That's nice and all to bring in some money, but I
would rather be sawing logs and reserving my woodworking
Projects for the wife and kids.
Anyone have an idea on selling to a broker so I can make my
"Fortune"(I live pretty humble), sawing logs. I do custom saw
for others, but it seems to be not as often as I would like.
Also, I work at the fire dept, 24 on 48 off, so I have a job that
Pays my living, health, and retirement benefits. Just looking to
Increase the pace with my Woodmizer.
Thanks alot, Jason
2006 Lt40 Super Cat 51, Allis Chalmers 185
"Keep doing what your doing and you'll keep getting what your getting, life is what you make of it."

thecfarm

I live out in the country. Not far enough out for me,but too far for the city people to come here and buy. Are you close to a good size city or wood workers?
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Ron Wenrich

What kind of production do you do?  Brokers aren't particularly interested in small lots of lumber.  Most often they have customers that take lots of 1 Mbf of a certain grade and species as a minimum.

What they do is buy large lots from producers.  Some buy graded stock, some will grade at their place.  All producer lumber is mixed together but separated by species and grade.  They will then put it in a pre-dryer to allow some drying.  Then it goes to the kilns.  To keep the kiln schedule consistent, they dry the same thickness and species at the same time.

They usually want their lumber sawn from fresh logs.  They don't take log run.  Some buyers buy 2 Com & btr, others may buy only F1F & btr.  Lumber needs to be well manufactured, which means it needs to be well edged and well trimmed. 

I probably ran about 750 Mbf to lumber brokers on an annual basis.  We also cut for casket, counter tops, and flooring, which was another 3-400 Mbf.  The balance went to pallet, ties or industrial blocking.  Whenever we wanted to sell lumber, it was simply a phone call.  But, we sold in trailerload quantity, and would put together a load in 2-3 days.  So, there wasn't any need to sticker lumber and let dry. 

The problem with small mills and brokers is that the volume is too low.  What I supplied in one load would take several small mills a long time to produce.  Economy of scale.

If you want to look into brokers, try your state forestry department for a listing of users.  Another source would be your friendly, local mill.  They may be able to point you in a good direction.  Once you find a decent broker, don't jump around the marketplace.  If you do, you'll find lumber increasingly hard to sell, especially in down market conditions.
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

WIwoodworker

Where are you from Jason? And how much production are you trying to ramp up to? Also, what kind of logs do you have access to? Species and location are pretty important pieces to the puzzle.
Peterson 9" WPF

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