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The reason behind "Highly valuable walnut"

Started by woodman58, April 03, 2015, 08:26:14 PM

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woodman58

I live in the St. Louis area. While watching the news today they had arrested two men for stealing walnut logs. They stole a tow truck cut the tree down and drug it with the truck. They have been doing this before without getting caught. They sell the logs for drug money. The part that I thought was interesting was the news caster said that a walnut log can bring in $10,000 for one log. I buy my walnut for 50 cents a foot. When I dry it and sell it I am lucky to get $4 a BF. Where do they get their information? If I could get $10000 for my good logs, please let me know where because I want to be a walnut logger.
i LOVE THE SMELL OF SAW DUST IN THE MORNING.
Timberking 2200

terrifictimbersllc

"PROJECTED VALUE
The most ever paid for a single black walnut log was $90,000. "

https://www.greenwoodnursery.com/page.cfm/22020

Maybe if you're high on something you pay more?   :D :D :D

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

tule peak timber

Three months ago I had a losing bid on a single log that went for 42,000 $.....Rob
persistence personified - never let up , never let down

shelbycharger400

Guy prob was lyin to ya.    I was biddin a walnut, so i was looking for local pricing, found a mill in southern iowa i think , and it was posted clearly on his page $2 something a bd foot, only if its solid, venere grade 2-3ft solid dia.      This guy's log is 10 in,   and i thought i was generous bidding .50/bd ft, told him how its done, everything from measurement, to how scale works, estimate calculation from standing tree ect.     Its still up in the air,   wont be the last time ive been told "its worth more than that as firewood "... to i say. Do as you want.  Yep its worth more, after its sawn, dried and planed.

shakebone

I don't even like walnut ,but I have a guy that buys all mine for $2 strait off the saw I have never paid over $50 for a good walnut log but people come wanting some sawed like they have Prob paid too much theyre quick to give instruction on babying their log !
Lt40 super desiel , LT 35 hyd , New Holland ls 180 , Case 75xt ,
So many logs so little time.

Ron Wenrich

Back in the late '70s, they ran an article in the paper where a single walnut tree in Indiana brought $36,000.  Sounded like an exaggeration, so I asked a timber buyer for the local veneer company if they would pay that.  He said they would, if the tree was worth it.  In today's dollars, that's over $100k.  It was forest grown, and I believe the dbh was around 36".

Roll ahead 25 years and our trucker came into the yard and said he saw a $50k walnut log.  There was a German company that set up a yard, and they were buying walnut, as well as oak.  That $50k log was 15', and bigger than you could fit on most mills.  The value was in the ring spacing.

Apparently ring spacing is often the key.  I mentioned to a veneer buyer about hybrid walnut that was supposed to be 18" in 25 years.  His response was "who would want it". 

There's walnut that has value, and there's walnut that doesn't.  The average person doesn't know that.  The media report wasn't wrong.  They were reporting of high value.  They weren't reporting what they guys got for the logs. 
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

bandmiller2

Its easy for folks, with no dog in the fight, to say oh that old tractor is worth a lot of money, uninformed owners love to hear that. Stuff is worth what people will pay for it. If folks in the industry paid that much for a log it was probably worth a lot more. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

woodman58

Terrifictimbersllc, Thanks. That is a good read.
i LOVE THE SMELL OF SAW DUST IN THE MORNING.
Timberking 2200

WDH

Had a guy call me yesterday that lives about 1.5 hours (drive time) away from me.  Said he knew some people that had 35 black walnut trees, and they wanted to sell them.  He would fell them and get them ready to haul, he just wanted to make a little on the deal.  The plan was to send me some pics, and then next week, I would go with him to meet the people and discuss price. 

I told him that many people thought that walnut was worth a fortune, and that they are only worth as much as someone will pay.  The red flag went up when he said that someone offered $500/tree, and they turned that down.  I was a bit skeptical after hearing that.

So today he called back and we talked some more, especially about price.  I gave him the info on what I knew some recently sold for which was about $200/ton.  That is about $1.60/BF Doyle.  Of course I had not seen the trees and did not know the quality.

So, just like he said, he sent me about 12 pictures.  Some of the trees looked pretty good, and some of them were small.  There was one interesting thing, though,  They were not black walnut trees, they were HICKORY   :D

They should have took the $500/tree  ;).  That obviously was a not truthful statement on this Dude's part.  I am sure that he was not trying to mislead me  ::).

It is always better if your highly valuable black walnut tree is actually a black walnut tree. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

dustyhat

Wdh, you must have talked to the same people i did . they wanted me to cut there timber . and said theres a huge walnut in the fence row. the guy says he would love to have it cut, i went to check it out and there it was a huge scaly bark (walnut) :D

POSTON WIDEHEAD

The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

terrifictimbersllc

Yesterday at the end of sawing up some cherry logs the customer had a 6x6 beam he wanted resawn. His builder said it was black ash and he decided it was too dark to be used for a decorative ceiling application.  The beam looked like it had been oiled and it looked to me like cherry. 

Anyway after the first skim cut it was black walnut plain as day.   Customer was very pleased with 5/4 boards which were highly valuable.
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

4x4American

Boy, back in my day..

ScottInCabot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTgQHWQoatg




This is where the 'news personality' got their info.....


Scott in Cabot
Timber framing RULES!

Brian C.

How many calls we have had where people want to sell their walnut tree for $2000. We would have to cut it down AND pay them for it!! I'm not a tree service and at 58, don't climb anything more than a 6' step ladder. Knees hurt.

YellowHammer

WDH, That's funny and a good reason to always ask for pictures.  Too bad they contacted a moderator on the "Tree and Plant ID Forum." :D
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

deadfall

Great video, Scott.  The last line is the cherry on top.
W-M LT40HD -- Siding Attachment -- Lathe-Mizer -- Ancient PTO Buzz Saw

============================

Happy for no reason.

WDH

Robert,

I have had just a tad bit of experience with tree ID  :D.

Here is the response I got:

"There is walnuts all over the ground.  I guarantee that they are walnut trees I will mail you some of the hulls off the ground."

Then there was this:

"They may be hickory trees.  They have been selling the nuts as walnuts to an Asian woman.  If they are in fact hickory would you still be interested or do you know someone who might be?"

I told him that I had plenty of hickory.  Did not want to get into a discussion about Highly Valuable Hickory Trees. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

4x4American

Boy, back in my day..

Magicman

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

YellowHammer

Quote from: Magicman on August 16, 2015, 09:46:22 PM
At least he knows how to back up.   ;D
More like "cover up."

I wonder if they are ever going to tell the woman who they have been selling the walnuts hickory nuts to that she not getting what she's been paying for?  Somehow, I doubt it. 




YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

dboyt

It is worse when it is an urban tree.  I had a landscaper (not a tree service) call me about "the biggest walnut tree I'd ever seen".  He wanted $3,000 and that included me cutting it down.  In all fairness, it looked like a fair log but, of course, no telling what's inside.  I told him $300 for the log on the ground if it is solid, and gave him the name of other walnut buyers.  I would never sell a yard log to a commercial mill.  Still waiting to hear back.

Which brings me to the next point... how do you verify that the seller is actually the owner?  Could be someone just renting the place looking for a few bucks.  I've had that happen, too.
Norwood MX34 Pro portable sawmill, 8N Ford, Lewis Winch

mesquite buckeye

Quote from: tule peak timber on April 03, 2015, 08:50:29 PM
Three months ago I had a losing bid on a single log that went for 42,000 $.....Rob

I'm betting that was a claro walnut fattie. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:
Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

tule peak timber

persistence personified - never let up , never let down

postville

I sold a big walnut last winter and got good money for it. 52 foot to the crotch, 27.5 DBH, 22 inches on the small end. It was not perfectly round at the base , about 2 inches of sapwood. Got $6500 for it at the landing. One interesting thing, they bucked it at 45 feet and took it almost in one piece. Came out to $5.75 a bf.
Buyer said they have customers looking for big ones.
He mentioned he had paid over $10,000 for  another tree last year.
I wonder with currency values in China if pricing will be as high this winter.
LT40 25hp Kohler, Gehl 6635, Valby grapple, Ford 4600, Farmi winch, Stihl saws

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