Some loggers nearby left me the end pieces they took off right before the trucks left. About 6 cords, cut and drive up and haul em out. Thankful for a nice pile like that and great weather to cut it up in. Pic 1 mid way through, Pic 2 loaded, Pic 3 back in the 2015-16 winter pile
Sometimes the log can contain defects that would cause a log to be a lower grade.. From high to low (peeler for veneer, saw log, pallet wood, pulpwood) Of course there are more grades but those are the basics. Simply cutting off an end and removing the cull or knots can raise the grade and thus price that is paid for a log. An 8 foot veneer log will pay more than a 12 foot pulp log. The mill will tell the logger/forester/trucker what they want and what they're willing to pay based on log length, diameter and grade. Cutting the logs to meet the demand allows loggers to maximize what they get paid... Make sense?
It sort of makes sense. Whats confusing is that most parts of the log get used in one fashion or another, meaning theres no waste. why not just take the log whole and have the mill cut it the way they want it and they would also reap the rewards of the remaining unusable timber?
Not all mills use all of the product. Veneer may go to one mill and the pulpwood to another. Say you have a 12' log that is hollow on one end. How far up is it hollow/rotten? Only way to know is to cut the log.. If it's only 2 feet up, then you could have a 10' veneer log/sawlog and a 2' chunk that stays on the landing.. If it's 6 feet up (and you discover this by cutting 1-2 feet off at a time) you might as well have sent the whole log for pulp. I did a timber sale on my property in north central MA in '09. They left a half a truckload of sawlogs on the landing because it was only a half a truckload. Diesel prices were high and the distance to the mill made it prohibitively expensive to come back for just half a load. I ate some of the loss in that I didn't get paid for the logs. The logger ate some of the loss in that he had time and equipment used to get the logs to the ground and out to the landing. If the logger had paid for what was cut and not just what was delivered to the mill, all of the loss would have been his and the landing might have been cleared. As it was, I got paid well for the product that made it to the mills.. Chip jobs are the cleanest when they bring in a whole tree chipper and the wood is sold as pulp. But they also pay less since the equipment costs more to get there and they're dealing with the lowest quality product. Be happy to answer any more questions... Just like learning about dry firewood, education and understanding are key to success..
Also, logs get graded as they arrive to the mill.... Not as they go through the saw.. Payment is based on this tally. As such, the logger should deliver timber that is going to get the best grade and most money; not what is going to use most of the log. Now if we're talking a wholly owned operation in which the mill owns the land or an operation in which the buyer pays a fixed price for the trees cut then yes, they can sort it out at the mill/log yard and you can get more utilization..
That there is one prodigious score, Greg. A six cord catch must be up there among the top takes compared to the half pickup load at a time I sometimes get. Way to go !!
