Port Orford Cedar- price?

[Pattern Maker 437]

Haven't got my mill yet, but i was calling around for logs just to see what i could find.
I contacted a local tree service, he may have a port orford cedar to take out. 23" dia at chest ht. and 80' tall, lots of limbs so maybe not much clear.
my question is how much should I pay?
I'm very new at this
Thanks, Paul
not sure if this is where i should post this :-\

[beenthere]

Can't tell you what you should pay.
Don't know what you are going to try to make out of the PO Cedar.

Whatcha makin? Patterns?

[Pattern Maker 437]

not really sure, this would be one of my first logs to saw.
From what i read it looks like there are a lot of uses for this wood
the guy i talked to said he would buck it up to whatever length I wanted

[Kcwoodbutcher]

I wouldn't pay anything, you're doing them a favor getting rid of it.

[Ianab]

A log like that pretty much has "no commercial value", as in no larger mill is going to be interested.

Doesn't make it useless, but you don't want to be paying much for it. If he's dropping it off you your place you might want to pay a few dollars for his trouble, but otherwise it's likely to be going to a landfill, and he has to pay to get rid of it.

As long as the branches are green the knots will be "tight" and wont fall out. Means the boards are still useful. Makes good outdoor wood, fences, BBQ furniture etc or can be planed up to make "knotty" wood panelling for inside.

Ian

[francismilker]

I wouldn't pay anything, you're doing them a favor getting rid of it.

Agreed!

This person is already being paid for removing the tree.  You're doing them a favor to take it off their hands and keeping them from paying local landfill disposal fees or having to buck it and burn it.  I wouldn't pay anything for it.  (That is of course unless it's a very rare species and there's others wanting it. Then, it's fair game to the highest bidder.)

[redbeard]

Sawmill & woodlot magazine had a knowledgeable article on port orford cedar the old growth is high dollars. I would definitely try to get it especially the first 20' the upper will be heavy with knots. Good luck with your milling ventures!

[Pattern Maker 437]

Thanks everyone this gives me a much better understanding
I haven't seen the tree yet, it's about 20 miles away so it may not even be worth my time

[Left Coast Chris]

Another way to go would be to have him haul it to you and saw it for 50/50.   At least it would make some very good hobby wood.

[Ianab]

it may not even be worth my time

If the size is correct it probably is worth messing with. It's just not highly valuable. Maybe beer money sort of value? I've got a fair bit of it dry in the shed from some pretty ugly trees that should have been cut up for firewood  :D. But we got an assortment of pretty good boards out of it. Making up a gate and little fence this weekend for the MIL (to keep her yappy little dog in). It's easy to dry, a few knots don't matter for that, and it's a very durable wood.

Mature forest cedars are pretty impressive trees. Straight grain, tight growth rings, no knots etc, and very valuable. What you get from a yard tree wont be like that, but it's still useful stuff.

Ian

[ST Ranch]

You might try the following link for ideas or just G-search port orford cedar. 

http://www.bearcreeklumber.com/species/portorcedar.html

I have milled some open grown [father in laws front yard] WRC and it made nice knotty cedar - used for outdoor projects.  Tom

[Magicman]

In my area, the tree services already have an outlet for logs with any marketable value.  Any others are mine for the asking.  Many times they will drop off nicer logs without me asking.  The point being, I do not pay for "tree service" logs.

All of the ERC that I just sawed and installed in my Cabin Addition mud room was free dropped off logs:  Cabin Addition beginning with Reply #432.

[KnotBB]

Consideration:

Free is good!

Tree people take out "yard" trees.  Yard trees have nails in them.  No commercial mill wants ONE Port Orford out of a yard.  One nail will cost you one saw blade.   And if you took a survey of home owners none of them have nails in their trees.  Tied for worst is park trees.

Unless the owner has agreed to dispose of the tree the tree service is obligated to do it.  He can't leave it. 

Cedar does not make good fire wood for heating when compared to other species available in your area.  There are people that will take it for fire wood (I call them stupid).

A tree that size would make a good carving block for chainsaw carvers.  Get it and sell it as such.

The sap wood on a fast growth Port Orford (and that is a fast growth) is not rot resistance. 

Port Orford isn't too bad of a turning wood for bowl turners.  Some people are allergic to it.

Getting in good with a tree service is good.  Being right there when he needs to move the tree is worth a lot to the tree guy.  Timing is important.

Is he going to load/deliver the tree?  That is worth something.

Free is good (I said that), half a case of beer or a pint of the guys favorite whiskey (5th's are for walnut ET AL), at most $25 a cord/$50/m.  Cash is worth more than a check.  Easier book keeping. :D

[Ianab]

Yappy dog is now fenced in with a nice Port Orford Cedar fence.  ;D



BTW, we didn't pay for the logs. But they were upright when they were given to us. They were out on the edge of an open field though, so easy enough to fell and mill, didn't even drop one on the fence.

BTW, it makes better firewood than pine which is what 90% of people burn here. If it's dry and free, it's good fire wood. Does make your house smell like gingerbread though....

Ian

[Pattern Maker 437]

nice little fence Ianab, cute little dog too

KnotBB, great things to consider, I am thinking about that 1/4" chain I lag bolted to to a fir for my hammock at my last house  :embarassed:
need to find some logs though- I'm getten me a sawmill ;D

[Cedarman]

A decent metal detector will locate most metal in trees.  It should be good down to about 8" if you know how to use your detector and it is quiet when you check the log.  We do it all the time for suspect logs. Takes just a couple minutes at most.
We burn ERC in our OWB because we have lots of it.  Won' burn as long as hardwood, but we have lots of cutoffs.

[KnotBB]

I hit ceramic insulators one the second 12 log out of a tree that were covered over with 50 years of wood,  Not a sign on the outside.  The power company had used the tree as a pole and just left the insulators when they changed over to a real power pole.  Talk about a STOP in sawing. I dug the other two and the hold hook out with a chain saw.  I just didn't expect tree iron 28' above ground level.

Nail trees are a part of sawing urban wood, *DanG it.

[Pattern Maker 437]

Cedarman,  what make/model metal detector should I look for? and how much should I expect to pay?
Although it probably won't detect glass or ceramics