White pine...

[Mr Mom]

There is a amish sawmill auction sept 6 and they have Three tri-axle of white pine and three of firewood poles.
I was looking at trying to get some of the white pine.
What is white pine going for around Northeast Ohio and Pa??
What is firewood poles going for??
Any help will do.

Thanks Alot Mr Mom

[Ron Wenrich]

A lot depends on how long its been sitting.  You can count on it having blue stain, but that only goes through the sapwood.  The heart is OK, if it doesn't have any wood borers in it. 

Another factor is quality.  If it has a bunch of knots, its worth a whole lot less.  The type of knot - red knot vs black knot, also plays into it.  Our white pine generally is black knot, so those quite often fall out.  That means the boards are no good for paneling or furniture.

The PA Market report has white pine going for $70-85/Mbf for the Northwest part of the state.  That's mill price for only a few mills.  I know its hard to move, as we have quite a bit in the yard and no takers.  We used to saw it for log cabin stock, but that has slowed down, as well.

As for firewood, we're getting $600/triaxle load.  That's delivered, so you might want to factor that in. 

[SwampDonkey]

Wouldn't pay to get outta bed for 85 / mbf would it Ron?  ;)

In Ashland Maine, Fraser Papers is buying Grade 1 for $465 / mbf, the low grade stuff is $185 / mbf

[Ron Wenrich]

Not really, but we don't have softwood markets in PA.  I only know of a couple of mills that saw pine, and they are all in the log cabin business.  Without the competition, the market falls apart rather quickly.  Most of the construction lumber that is sawn comes from hemlock. 

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah, I guess spruce (red and black) and balsam is pretty scarce down there. It's amazing that hemlock is so much more plentiful than the spruces. Up here we have a lot of hemlock, but fir and spruce is more abundant. And our hemlock isn't valued much for timber because it has shake so bad.

[Mr Mom]

How many board feet is in a tri-axle load.
Just need a close guess range.
If the pine has black knots is it still good.
Would it be ok for lumber for a shed??

Thanks Alot Mr Mom

[Ron Wenrich]

It depends on the triaxle.  Most will haul 3500-4000 bf.  Do a log count, and figure what the avg log has in it. 

The black knot pine is OK for lumber.  The bigger the knot, the worse the defect.  It makes it rough to make a good 2x4.  Oversize the load bearing areas.  It makes good siding, as long as you don't have it close to damp ground.  I used it for siding on my house, but its 10" and wider and pretty clean.  The knots are tight.  I used the board and batten style on it.

All my sheds were built using 4x4 on the corners and where there are windows and doors.  My house is built that way and has been standing for 160 years.  You need to have good braces on the corners, and use purlins between posts.  The vertical siding helps give it some strength.

[Mr Mom]

Thanks Ron for your help.
I was just going to use it to build a couple sheds to store things in.
If anyone is looking for somthing for there sawmill let me know beacuse they are
selling the whole mill setup.
It is a Amish auction so they will outbid me buy a mile and then some.

Thanks Alot Mr Mom

[Foxtrapper]

Ron

Is there a weblink to the PA market report? 

[johnjbc]

http://www.sfr.psu.edu/TMR/TMR.htm

[Mr Mom]

Well the white pine logs went for $950.00 for a tri-axle load. Trucking was not included.
Firewood logs went for $450.00 a load. Trucking not included.
They sold two whole saw mill one band and one circler.


Thanks Alot Mr Mom