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Beam me up Scottie! There is no intelligent life down here.

Started by Busy Beaver Lumber, December 01, 2010, 06:23:58 PM

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Busy Beaver Lumber

This morning I get a call from a young lad that wants to sell me 10 cherry logs which he said were mostly 20 inches in diameter and between 8 to 10 feet long. I love cherry, as do many of my customers, so I agreed to his asking price of $25 a log and we agreed to meet at my mill at 3:30 this afternoon to unload his logs and pay him.

Alas at 3:30 he pulls up to the mill with his pickup truck and introduces himself with a friendly hand shake and big smile. I expected him to be pulling a trailer with 10 20 inch diameter logs on it. I asked him "where are the logs", to which he replied, "they are in the bed of the truck."

I walked over to the truck to see 10 branches, all about 6 to 8 feet in length and all about 8 inches in diameter or less. So I say to him, "You are kidding, right?. Where are the 20 inch in diameter logs you talked to me on the phone about?". He replies, "these are about 20 inches in diameter." At this point I grab a tape measure and show him that all his branches ( aka Logs) are 8 inches in diameter or less. He then tells me that I am not using the right ruler and accuses me of trying to pull a fast one and says he can prove it to me. He goes to the cab of the truck and comes back with a ruler, holds it across the front of the largest branch and then points to the fact that it reads 20 and says "there, you see this one measures even a bit more than 20 inches".

After a few minutes of some heated discussion, and several glances to the heavenly skies, I was finally able to convince him that he was using the centimeter portion of the ruler and not the inch scale to measure the branches. I think the only reason he got the length of the branches correct was that somewhere along the line someone must have told him that his pickup truck had an 8 foot bed, and the branches went the full lenght of the bed.

Then I had to give him the bad news that his branches were of no use to me on the mill and would be better used for firewood. What I really wanted to ask him was if he ever graduated high school, and if so, which one, so I could make sure none of my Grand kids ever went to that school system.

I did take him over to the gas station across from my building and buy him a nice hot coffee and when we walked back to the building he asked for a tour of my operation. While we did that I grabbed a piece of scrap wood and cut it to 18" long and gave it to him and said if you get any logs at least this long across the face, give me a call and I will come and look at them. I told him to keep it in his truck as a handy gauge just in case he could not find his ruler. We parted as friends and just possibly I gave him a much needed math lesson that he missed somewhere along the line and he certainly gave me a good laugh if nothing else.
Woodmizer LT-10 10hp
Epilog Mini 18 Laser Engraver with rotary axis
Digital Wood Carver CNC Machine
6 x 10 dump trailer
Grizzly 15in Spiral Cut Surface Planer
Grizzly 6in Spiral Cut Joiner
Twister Firewood Bundler
Jet 10-20 Drum Sander
Jet Bandsaw



Save a tree...eat a beaver!

BCtimber

My God.  Ya those types are out the for sure.  They do make for good storys though! 

mikerat

Your mistaken about no intelligent life down here his name is Busy Beaver Lumber and taught this young kid a great lesson and not just math. This Country needs more people like you to help those that need it! How would I know ? I use to be one of those young guys.
WM LT28 logrite 30,48,60 canthook, huskys and stihls, Logrite Buck Arch I have met the best people on this site!

Busy Beaver Lumber

Mikerat

Thanks for the compliment. Actually, I could not help but like this fellow. I have a soft spot for anyone that shows ambition. I told him I would keep his number and give him a call when I need help at the mill or in the spring when we bundle firewood.

There is another funny part to this story. Assuming we would be unloading 10 18 inch diameter logs, I stopped and picked up my son in law for some help. His nick name is "Rerun" because every time he cuts a piece of wood, he almost always makes it too long and has to "rerun" back to the saw to cut it again.

Well Rerun is also a bit of a chop buster, just like me, and when he sees the branches in the truck bed he says "Dad, should I get the winch to unload these bad boys" and before I can even answer, the fellow that brought them says "No need for that, I loaded them by hand and can put them wherever you want them". Like I said, you could just not help but like this young fellow in terms of being willing to work and being punctual.

On the way to the mill, I had told Rerun we would be pretty busy this weekend cutting the cherry logs I was about to buy. Again, chop buster that he is, on the way home from the mill he says "I am going to go out on a limb here and assume that you will not need my help this weekend and I can go Christmas shopping instead"
Woodmizer LT-10 10hp
Epilog Mini 18 Laser Engraver with rotary axis
Digital Wood Carver CNC Machine
6 x 10 dump trailer
Grizzly 15in Spiral Cut Surface Planer
Grizzly 6in Spiral Cut Joiner
Twister Firewood Bundler
Jet 10-20 Drum Sander
Jet Bandsaw



Save a tree...eat a beaver!

Tronvik

1984 lt30, john deere 750

Magicman

I had a very similar incident happen to me except that he didn't want to sell them, he wanted them sawed.  It was ERC and some of them were only 3'-4' long.  He also drove up without a trailer, so I just thought that he had blown out a trailer tire or something.  You couldn't even see it without walking over to his truck.

I sawed that mess up and when he started to pay me, I just said, No Charge.  He ended up tipping me $60 which was more than I would have ever charged.  It didn't take maybe than an hour.  Probably if I had charged him $60, he would have gotten mad and thought that I was overcharging him.  People.   :)
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Buck

I always appreciate an individual with a little "try" about him. I used to keep a piece of cardboard around the shop with a picture of an inch broken down to 16ths. This was to have school with folks that needed help reading a tape measure. Hats off to ya BB!
Respect is earned. Honesty is appreciated. Trust is gained. Loyalty is returned.

Live....like someone left the gate open

ErikC

 You wonder how some people ever got this far in life, but a lot of them are pretty good sorts really. Just clueless. ::) But I would rather see that than lazy, and it sounds like you handled it just right.  He may turn into one of your best helpers if he can learn to read a tape measure. :)
Peterson 8" with 33' tracks, JCB 1550 4x4 loader backhoe, several stihl chainsaws

kelLOGg

I'm impressed with your diplomacy. It would have been easy to dismiss him altogrther but instead you treated him respectfully and probably kept a customer.
Bob
Cook's MP-32, 20HP, 20' (modified w/ power feed, up/down, loader/turner)
DH kiln, CatClaw setter and sharpener, tandem trailer, log arch, tractor, thumb tacks

Busy Beaver Lumber

I do not think he is as much to blame for his obvious shortcoming, as much as society is to blame for what our schools and absentee parents fail to teach the youth.

When I went to high school 30 years ago, young men were required to take wood shop and metal shop and demonstrate proficiency with a wide variety of tools, much of which are still the staples of any good home workshop today. These days, most high schools and middle schools do not even offer wood shop or metal shop because of insurance reasons or budget cutbacks.

Likewise, most of us on the forum probably had the chance to work side by side with our fathers and learn the use of tools from them as well. Today, with 50% of all marriages ending in divorce and many young men growing up without any positive male influence in their lives, many grow up without this learning opportunity being offered to them. I can't tell you how much I learned from working with my Dad and how much I wish he was still alive as I am sure there was still much more to learn from him. I guess this is why I have a soft spot for kids that never had the opportunities to learn from their Dad's but show the desire to learn. I was adopted and consider myself very fortunate to have had the adopted father that I had. He had a lot of knowledge and a lot of patience when it came to teaching and I try to conduct myself as he did in his honor when dealing with inquiring minds.
Woodmizer LT-10 10hp
Epilog Mini 18 Laser Engraver with rotary axis
Digital Wood Carver CNC Machine
6 x 10 dump trailer
Grizzly 15in Spiral Cut Surface Planer
Grizzly 6in Spiral Cut Joiner
Twister Firewood Bundler
Jet 10-20 Drum Sander
Jet Bandsaw



Save a tree...eat a beaver!

bandmiller2

Some folks just don't have a clue,they will drop off a 10"X 12' log with a long sweep and expect 10  10" boards. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

tyb525

I suppose it's our job to kindly educate them, at least enough that they won't repeat the same thing over again. I mean, we know what we are talking about, and they are the customers that probably don't. Just like in any other business :)

That was a very honorable thing to do.
LT10G10, Stihl 038 Magnum, many woodworking tools. Currently a farm service applicator, trying to find time to saw!

scrout

The advantage of being somewhat dim is that you will not accurately estimate the high risk of certain business ventures, and just jump right in and do it.
I have met quite a few dim but rich guys.

terrifictimbersllc

Nice way to handle it but also could have taken that tape away from him and given him yours.   I was fairly aggravated all morning today with centimeters on one side  of a tape that I think I paid a dollar for it somewhere, served me right.

Just think your revenue goes up more than 6 times (6.45 times to be exact)   if you charge by b.f. and use that ruler!!!!  8) 8)
DJ Hoover, Terrific Timbers LLC,  Mystic CT Woodmizer Million Board Foot Club member. 2019 LT70 Super Wide 55 Yanmar,  LogRite fetching arch, WM BMS250 sharpener/BMT250 setter.  2001 F350 7.3L PSD 6 spd manual ZF 4x4 Crew Cab Long Bed

captain_crunch

Got to admire you fellers with me temper Blue fog would choked half the county ::) I can handle ignorance but Stupid goes clear to the bone >:( >:(
M-14 Belsaw circle mill,HD-11 Log Loader,TD-14 Crawler,TD-9 Crawler and Ford 2910 Loader Tractor

weisyboy

i didnt think anyone could be that stupid.

we get some good ones but nothing that good.

one bloke couldnt work out how to get his logs up off the ground.

he was diggin holes under them and jacking tehm up with a car jack.

worst part is his wife was complaining about falling in all the holes.

wouldnt you jsut fill them in.

allan will be able to verafy this he was there whe shee was telling us.
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www.weisssawmilling.com.au
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Kansas

I seem to get a lot of people confused between circumference and diameter. I get calls asking what a bunch of 40" diameter walnut logs are worth. I have seen a few of those, but not often. Usually a little phone time brings out what they really have. Or they tell me its in their yard, and when you tell them about metal in yard trees, they get all huffy and say "I know it doesn't have metal because I planted it 30 years ago myself" after claiming its 3 foot in diameter.
All you can do is try to educate people. They usually mean well, they just don't understand measuring logs. Or for that matter, species identification. I passed a phone number to another log buyer from someone out of the area that had a whole bunch of oak and a few walnut on the ground. The log buyer got there and discovered the oaks were actually cottonwood, and the walnut was actually ash. Worst part is, he had a bunch of them on the ground, and in that area, no mill to go to with them.

weisyboy

normaly when someone calls me the log is either 1m or 2' diamiter, as soon as they say this i tell them to go and measure it.

normaly if someone says 1m i work on about 600 and if they say 2' i work on 1'

im convinced logs shrink overnight.

also i get a lot a calls asking how much is a tree worth.
god bless america god save the queen god defend new zealand and thank christ for Australia
www.weisssawmilling.com.au
http://www.youtube.com/user/weisyboy?feature=mhee
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000696669814&sk=photos

terrifictimbersllc

Once I showed up and asked "where's the tree?"  She said "over there".   It was a small dead cedar (I think-never found out) so totally covered with vines you couldn't see it.
DJ Hoover, Terrific Timbers LLC,  Mystic CT Woodmizer Million Board Foot Club member. 2019 LT70 Super Wide 55 Yanmar,  LogRite fetching arch, WM BMS250 sharpener/BMT250 setter.  2001 F350 7.3L PSD 6 spd manual ZF 4x4 Crew Cab Long Bed

Nomad

     I had just the opposite a few months ago.  A guy called with a cherry log, about 30 inches diameter, 4' long.  How much would I want to cut it into 2" slabs?  He'd bring it to my place.  I hadn't cut anything in awhile, so I said bring it over.  Two of us can just toss it on the mill.  $20.

     A few hours later a car pulled down the street with a VERY overloaded small trailer with a short log on it.  I had a heart attack.  It was a short cherry butt log, but it was about 5' long, 32" on the small end, and 56" at the swell.  Had to hook the thing to something and drive the trailer out from under it.  I broke out an Alaskan mill to slab it and still had to cut a few inches off the wide end.
     
     As these two guys were loading the slabs up, I mentioned that I'd probably have charged a bit more if I'd realized what I was getting into.  They said they figured that and wouldn't be upset if I upped my price.

     I told them that, right or wrong, I'd quoted them a price and that was the price.  If it was too low, that was my bust.  However, if they wanted to toss in a tip, I wouldn't complain.

     They ended up paying me almost as much as I would've asked for if I'd known what I was really getting into.  Can't say as I lost out, but it's a mistake I won't make again!
     
Buying a hammer doesn't make you a carpenter
WoodMizer LT50HDD51-WR
Lucas DSM23-19

Cedarman

Nomad, don't you just hate it when some people tell the truth and actually put a tape to a log? :D :D

We get people wanting to sell cedar.  When I ask how big they will say some figure and 9 times out of 10 it is the measurement at the butt.  When you tell them to measure the small end, there is always disappointment in their voice.

I've told this story before about the lady in Oklahoma that called a sawyer up and said she had a bunch of 2 and 3' wide cedar trees.  About 40 acres of them.  He asked if she was sure and she said she had taken a tape to them.  He said he couldn't wait to get out and look at them.  When he got there and visited with the lady, he got to asking where the big cedars were.  She said right there in that big field.  All that was there was short cedars about 1" in diameter.  He realized then that she was measuring the across the "whole" tree and was telling him the truth as she saw it.   He laughed when he told us this story.
I am in the pink when sawing cedar.

weisyboy

god bless america god save the queen god defend new zealand and thank christ for Australia
www.weisssawmilling.com.au
http://www.youtube.com/user/weisyboy?feature=mhee
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000696669814&sk=photos

jcbrotz

2004 woodmizer lt40hd 33hp kubota, Cat 262B skidsteer and way to many tractors to list. www.Brotzmanswoodworks.com and www.Brotzmanscenturyfarm.com

Cedarman

I am in the pink when sawing cedar.

toploader Ford

Since we all are telling stories here, About a dozen years ago a man calls up and has 10 or 12 Pawlonia logs he wants sawn into 4x4's. Saids he going to use them for table legs and such.  I say I would do it and tell him to bring them to my place.  I didn't think too much more about it until about a week later I see somebody has dumped what looks like firewood out by my mill.  You guessed it! They were 10 or 12 logs all right but only about 30" long.  You Woodmizer owners know what a pain in the butt short logs are, I had a heck of a time doing that job. The time it took to saw those short pieces up into 4x4's, I could have sawn 10 times as much volume if they were 8" long.  It was my faught, I should have asked more questions about the logs when he called. He about had a heart attack when I gave him the bill!  I asked him why he cut them so short? Said he didn't need anything any longer. OK.  I felt sorry for him because he really didn't know the process of how wood gets sawn into a usable product. I told him to forget the bill and just pay me what he thought it was worth. $20 sounds about right!  Haven't seen him since. 

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