Yep feel free to give me a holler any time, my number is in the NCSawyers page under Mills Custom Sawing.
So glad to have another saw mill dude on the site, lumber is where it all starts.
I'll tell you a little story. Folks around town, know I have a saw mill, so it's not uncommon to get phone calls and folks stopping by wanting to give me logs or have them sawed. One day last week a arbborist guy pulls up, he tells me I got two walnut logs for you. So I go out and look at them, at first glance, from a distance, I'm thinking yeah nice, they were bigger than the average bear, there's a good 500 ~ 600 BF in those logs. Then he said how much you give me for them? I looked a little closer and happened to notice something black hanging off one of the logs, so I went to inspect. Yep sure enough barbed wire, then upon closer inspection of both logs I found nails, garden hose, more wire and what appeared to look like the end of a horse shoe. I thought to myself what a shame. And replied, you wanting to give me these logs? His face turning a little red, He said no I want to sell them to you. I said not to me you aren't, what do I want them for? He said you got a saw mill don't you? I said yep, I sure do and would have really liked these logs if they didn't come out of someones yard full of trash. I said I'll take them off your hands and give them away for fire wood, his face started to turn a little redder and he said well if you don't buy them I'll roll them down the side of a hill. I said their your logs man, do whatever you want with them, but I would suggest at least giving them to someone for firewood. His face turned even redder and he got in his truck and drove off.
Moral of the story is if your going to saw wood to sell, yard logs are a crapshoot at best
they are usually full of trash and I don't know any wood worker that would want trash in their lumber. You didn't hear me say all yard tree are junk, I didn't say that. I've got lucky a time or two and got some real nice lumber from yard trees. But almost all of the the time they come off the mill and go to be made into firewood.
It's hard I know, but network and try and get a relationship with a small logging outfit that you can trust. Then you'll know your getting logs that come from the woods and not someone's yard, you'll pay market price but you can be confident your selling a good product...
keep in mind the best metal detector in the world will not pick up rocks, hose, glass, plastic, etc... and you know what that can do to your bands. You'll be amazed what your going to find in logs, I'm waiting for the day when I hit a $20.00 gold piece.
Thanks
