Lumber Prices

[seahorse]

I could be wrong but I don’t think lumber prices are going down unless the stock market crashes and we head into a recession. There is a 2 year deferral on old growth logging which will reduce the Provincial cut and volume available for the mills by at least 50%. The supply side will be under a lot of pressure which will keep prices high. But I hope I’m wrong. I bought my lumber package for my shop a month ago to lock in those prices and there has already been an increase in plywood prices since then.

 

[Thunder21]

I could be wrong but I don’t think lumber prices are going down unless the stock market crashes and we head into a recession. There is a 2 year deferral on old growth logging which will reduce the Provincial cut and volume available for the mills by at least 50%. The supply side will be under a lot of pressure which will keep prices high. But I hope I’m wrong. I bought my lumber package for my shop a month ago to lock in those prices and there has already been an increase in plywood prices since then.

Don’t you think they will just start cutting more second growth if they shut down old growth?

 

[seahorse]

Don’t you think they will just start cutting more second growth if they shut down old growth?

Nope, I have worked in the forest industry for the last 37 years in timber supply analysis for a few private companies and the Provincial Government. The Provincial crown land volume is based on hectares and site index or the capacity to grow volume. If the area from old growth deferrals remain then the cut will drop to compensate for the loss of ground in the timber harvesting land base.

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

I will be applying for subdividing approval next year on our property. I will have about 2 acres of forest to clear. With these sky rocketing lumber prices I'd like to sell off the timber myself to help keep some of the money towards the project if possible. We have some big cedars, lot's of big fir and hemlock, some big leaf maple, and some spruce. Some of the hemlock and fir would make good hydro pole grade.

Would there be more money in me sending the timber to a mill, having it milled, then selling it myself as milled wood, or would it be better to just sell it to mills? Would it be best to sell the cedar to a specialty cedar mill to get more $ for it?

My thoughts are if I leave it up to the developer to handle all of that part I could be missing out on a lot of the money from the trees. I have friends in the forestry, truck/trailer business so falling the trees and trailering the logs shouldn't be too big of an issue. I have an excavator and a loader to load the logs as well.

Any advice from any of you experianced with this sort of thing would be appreciated.

 

[Clint r]

I will be applying for subdividing approval next year on our property. I will have about 2 acres of forest to clear. With these sky rocketing lumber prices I'd like to sell off the timber myself to help keep some of the money towards the project if possible. We have some big cedars, lot's of big fir and hemlock, some big leaf maple, and some spruce. Some of the hemlock and fir would make good hydro pole grade.

Would there be more money in me sending the timber to a mill, having it milled, then selling it myself as milled wood, or would it be better to just sell it to mills? Would it be best to sell the cedar to a specialty cedar mill to get more $ for it?

My thoughts are if I leave it up to the developer to handle all of that part I could be missing out on a lot of the money from the trees. I have friends in the forestry, truck/trailer business so falling the trees and trailering the logs shouldn't be too big of an issue. I have an excavator and a loader to load the logs as well.

Any advice from any of you experianced with this sort of thing would be appreciated.

If you’ve got a log home builder in your area, it might be worth it to check with them if they might be interested in having a look at your trees for any house logs. When I was a log builder our company would pay private owners top dollar for house logs

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

If you’ve got a log home builder in your area, it might be worth it to check with them if they might interested in having a look at your trees for any house logs. When I was a log builder our company would pay too dollar for house logs.

Thanks Clint. Very close by is a log home builder actually. I never thought of selling direct to them. The owner is a close friend of a friend too so that should help as well to talk to him about that possibility. What species of tree do they like to use for the log home building?

 

[Clint r]

Thanks Clint. Very close by is a log home builder actually. I never thought of selling direct to them. The owner is a close friend of a friend too so that should help as well to talk to him about that possibility. What species of tree do they like to use for the log home building?

Our company used mostly large fir but we did a couple a year made from cedar. In the mid 90s there was a few years when blue stained pine was the big thing in Japan but I think that was just a fad as it didn’t last long. On a side note, at the time Kevin Costner was filming Dances with wolves, my brother and I built him a small cabin made from cedar logs.

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

Our company used mostly large fir but we did a couple a year made from cedar. In the mid 90s there was a few years when blue stained pine was the big thing in Japan but I think that was just a fad as it didn’t last long. On a side note, at the time Kevin Costner was filming Dances with wolves, my brother and I built him a small cabin made from cedar logs.

Ah right on ok well that's good news as the majority of our trees are good sized fir. The pine is the least of the trees we have and are smaller more hydro pole sized like quite a bunch of the hemlock are. That's very cool about the cabin for Kevin Costner. Was the cabin for the movie, or for him personally on his own property?

 

[Clint r]

Ah right on ok well that's good news as the majority of our trees are good sized fir. The pine is the least of the trees we have and are smaller more hydro pole sized like quite a bunch of the hemlock are. That's very cool about the cabin for Kevin Costner. Was the cabin for the movie, or for him personally on his own property?

It was for his personal property in Montana. It’s my fist claim to fame haha, but later on in life after I learned to weld I built some stuff for one of Mark Pendlingtons boats. Not sure which ranks higher in real life but for me it was working on Marks boat. Don’t discount the pine logs, they’re typically smaller anyways but some builders use them for smaller projects. Gazebos or saunas or stuff like that. Also stand a chance of a smaller private mill wanting the smaller logs. They’re not really set up to handle the monster trees. And another avenue you might look into is profiled log builders. The pan abode style where the log is machined with the tongue and groove into a Lego style log home. They’re typically using smaller trees too. With the price of lumber today, if you look around You should be able to find someone to take them of your hands fairly easily.

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

It was for his personal property in Montana. It’s my fist claim to fame haha, but later on in life after I learned to weld I built some stuff for one of Mark Pendlingtons boats. Not sure which ranks higher in real life but for me it was working on Marks boat. Don’t discount the pine logs, they’re typically smaller anyways but some builders use them for smaller projects. Gazebos or saunas or stuff like that. Also stand a chance of a smaller private mill wanting the smaller logs. They’re not really set up to handle the monster trees. And another avenue you might look into is profiled log builders. The pan abode style where the log is machined with the tongue and groove into a Lego style log home. They’re typically using smaller trees too. With the price of lumber today, if you look around You should be able to find someone to take them of your hands fairly easily.

Wow very cool about doing Kevin's cabin and Mark's boat. I imagine Montana to be beautiful like BC is.

I remember when Mark was just starting to get into fishing. I used to live close by Babcock's fly and tackle when I was a kid in Coquitlam. I used to shop in there and dream about all the stuff I was going to buy from the store when I had my first job lol. I kept shopping there for years as I got older as well after I moved away from the area and I remember going in there one day long ago to buy some steelhead gear and Kelly was talking about Mark and I remember him telling us that he would be starting up a t.v. show. If I remember correctly Mark was into music back then and had a band. I think his father was putting the money up for Mark's first fishing t.v. show venture. But it was long ago so not sure on all of those small details but it looks like it all went well for him cause he's been on t.v. ever since with different fishing shows.

 

[N2013]

It was for his personal property in Montana. It’s my fist claim to fame haha, but later on in life after I learned to weld I built some stuff for one of Mark Pendlingtons boats. Not sure which ranks higher in real life but for me it was working on Marks boat. Don’t discount the pine logs, they’re typically smaller anyways but some builders use them for smaller projects. Gazebos or saunas or stuff like that. Also stand a chance of a smaller private mill wanting the smaller logs. They’re not really set up to handle the monster trees. And another avenue you might look into is profiled log builders. The pan abode style where the log is machined with the tongue and groove into a Lego style log home. They’re typically using smaller trees too. With the price of lumber today, if you look around You should be able to find someone to take them of your hands fairly easily.

Costner > Pendlington. By a million.

 

[Clint r]

Costner > t. By a million.

For me it was more of a Boats > logs type situation. Lol. Heres a couple other brushes with fame, all happened in the 90s when I was a party animal. Except meeting the Dead South. That’s pretty recent. I was in a bar one night where trooper was playing and Darby Mills was the backup entertainer, for what ever reason she picked me out of the crowd. She chased me all night. It was pretty embarrassing and my girlfriend at the time(now my wife) was less than enthused. The last one happened at that same bar where I was out back smoking a joint with a buddy when a woman walked by and said it smelled pretty good and when I asked her if she wanted a puff she told me she would love to but had to go on stage. It was Alanna Myles. Lol. She saw me in the audience and made sure a roadie loaded me up with band gear. That’s about it for my “meeting the stars” lol. Except that time I was standing on a corner in Vancouver chatting with a group of 5 people. I was wearing a Dead South band t shirt and we we’re going to see them that night. We got there and we’re waiting for them to come on stage when out walked the five people we were talking to earlier In the day. It was the band. They saw us and mentioned us as the fans they’d talked to earlier In the day. That’s truly it unless you count the time Peter Pocklington bought me a Xmas gift for doing some work for him through a mutual friend. Didn’t get to meet him though. And now I just remembered meeting Steve Fonyo at a buddy’s house after he’d run across canada but before he became a drug addict so about 25 years ago maybe? Got to smoke a joint with him too. He was from Vernon back then so I’d see him once ina while and he never forgot me. Always called me by name and greeted me with a smile.

 

[N2013]

For me it was more of a Boats > logs type situation. Lol. Heres a couple other brushes with fame, I was in a bar one night where trooper was playing and Darby Mills was the backup entertainer, for what ever reason she picked me out of the crowd. She chased me all night. It was pretty embarrassing and my girlfriend at the time(now my wife) was less than enthused. The last one happened at that same bar where I was out back smoking a joint with a buddy when a woman walked by and said it smelled pretty good and when I asked her if she wanted a puff she told me she would love to but had to go on stage. It was Alanna Myles. Lol. She saw me in the audience and made sure a roadie loaded me up with band gear. That’s about it for my “meeting the stars” lol. Except that time I was standing on a corner in Vancouver chatting with a group of 5 people. I was wearing a Dead South band t shirt and we we’re going to see them that night. We got there and we’re waiting for them to come on stage when out walked the five people we were talking to earlier In the day. It was the band. They saw us and mentioned us as the fans they’d talked to earlier In the day. That’s truly it unless you count the time Peter Pocklington bought me a Xmas gift for doing some work for him through a mutual friend. Didn’t get to meet him though. And now I just remembered meeting Steve Fonyo at a buddy’s house after he’d run across canada but before he became a drug addict so about 25 years ago maybe? Got to smoke a joint with him too. He was from Vernon back then so I’d see him once ina while and he never forgot me. Always called me by name and greeted me with a smile.

Just teasing. Funny how we remember how people treat us so clearly.

 

[Thunder21]

I will be applying for subdividing approval next year on our property. I will have about 2 acres of forest to clear. With these sky rocketing lumber prices I'd like to sell off the timber myself to help keep some of the money towards the project if possible. We have some big cedars, lot's of big fir and hemlock, some big leaf maple, and some spruce. Some of the hemlock and fir would make good hydro pole grade.

Would there be more money in me sending the timber to a mill, having it milled, then selling it myself as milled wood, or would it be better to just sell it to mills? Would it be best to sell the cedar to a specialty cedar mill to get more $ for it?

My thoughts are if I leave it up to the developer to handle all of that part I could be missing out on a lot of the money from the trees. I have friends in the forestry, truck/trailer business so falling the trees and trailering the logs shouldn't be too big of an issue. I have an excavator and a loader to load the logs as well.

Any advice from any of you experianced with this sort of thing would be appreciated.

You will make more money having it milled and selling lumber but it’s also a lot more work. You’ll have to pay .50c a bd/ft or so for the milling, grade and sort all of the clear from the knotty and babysit the guy running the mill to make sure you get the lumber back you should. If you’ve got quite a bit, I think the best way to go is to hire a scaler to scale and grade the logs once they are on the ground. Take the scale sheet to a bunch of mills and see what they’ll give you. There is a coastal log market report that comes out every few months that shows value per m3 of each species and grade. You should be getting market value or better for everything these days. If you’ve got high grade clear red cedar with a 15” top or bigger, I’d try 20% over market . If you are in Vancouver, prices may be even higher . I am not familiar with what people are paying over there .

 

[fish brain]

A couple of years ago I was clearing $5k per truck load after falling, some excavator time and trucking. I just sold them to the local log sort. Considering you have access to an excavator and reasonable falling and trucking, you could maybe do better (Falling was $700/ day). The Cedar price varies by about 50% premium for wood without powder worm. Regardless of which way you decide to go you will need a timber mark.

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

You will make more money having it milled and selling lumber but it’s also a lot more work. You’ll have to pay .50c a bd/ft or so for the milling, grade and sort all of the clear from the knotty and babysit the guy running the mill to make sure you get the lumber back you should. If you’ve got quite a bit, I think the best way to go is to hire a scaler to scale and grade the logs once they are on the ground. Take the scale sheet to a bunch of mills and see what they’ll give you. There is a coastal log market report that comes out every few months that shows value per m3 of each species and grade. You should be getting market value or better for everything these days. If you’ve got high grade clear red cedar with a 15” top or bigger, I’d try 20% over market . If you are in Vancouver, prices may be even higher . I am not familiar with what people are paying over there .

Great info. Thank you. Yes, in the lower mainland. Yes all of the red cedar are over 15", some really big healthy ones too.

A couple of years ago I was clearing $5k per truck load after falling, some excavator time and trucking. I just sold them to the local log sort. Considering you have access to an excavator and reasonable falling and trucking, you could maybe do better (Falling was $700/ day). The Cedar price varies by about 50% premium for wood without powder worm. Regardless of which way you decide to go you will need a timber mark.

Great info thank you. Yes I was aware of the timber mark but not sure how long ahead of time I have to apply for that but I'll dig into that sooner than later to make sure I do things right and early enough.

 

[fish brain]

Great info. Thank you. Yes, in the lower mainland. Yes all of the red cedar are over 15", some really big healthy ones too.


Great info thank you. Yes I was aware of the timber mark but not sure how long ahead of time I have to apply for that but I'll dig into that sooner than later to make sure I do things right and early enough.

It used to take a couple of weeks, but who knows during the time of covid. The process is straight forward, if I remember correctly you just need your PID number. You can get an actual mark or just the paper version, which means that you have to write the mark on the logs with a lumber crayon

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

It used to take a couple of weeks, but who knows during the time of covid. The process is straight forward, if I remember correctly you just need your PID number. You can get an actual mark or just the paper version, which means that you have to write the mark on the logs with a lumber crayon

Right on thank you.

 

[man*of*steel]

Right on thank you.

The province will possibly come after you for Stumpage fees also. Many people get caught up to years after the actual logging with surprise bills.

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

The province will possibly come after you for Stumpage fees also. Many people get caught up to years after the actual logging with surprise bills.

I'm not positive but I don't think stumpage fees pertain to privately owned development properties. I believe they apply only to crown land timber cuts. I may be wrong but from what I could find on the government sights that's what I have read so far.