Thread: What to charge for Oak?

Old oak like that is rare and valuable and I know that in Europe most countries you need a permit to even begin cutting and each log has to be individually certified. The only trouble is that the raw logs are only the beginning of the process. I would guess valued at something like three or four hundred pounds per cubic metre. If you can find a mobile miller or a sawmill which will collect the logs then you can have them milled into timber which is then worth perhaps 1500 pounds per cube. Then if you sticker out and dry that timber for (I've dried english oak and it takes forever) say five years and then have it dressed the value will have doubled again. My prices are only a guess and may be way out but if you ring timber suppliers and get a finished price on oak and work backwards from that you should get a closer estimate. After all it is only worth what you can sell it for. If the logs are not rotten inside and good timber can be recovered then it is worth way more than firewood.

Another thing to consider, if the logs are big and sound then some really prime edge to edge slabs can be taken out of the middle and will be quite valuable. This needs to be done by an expert miller in order to get the best possible slabs. Straight and dry slabs like that will be worth double again what the other finished timber is worth. Perhaps you should talk to furniture makers.

That sounds great!!!I will try and take a few pics of the wood and post them. Luckily we have a local Sawmill, so I will get in touch with them. Thank you very much indeed. Steve

Steve! stop burning it! Even the small pieces have a market.

I'm a box maker and constantly on the hunt for interesting pieces.

Originally Posted by Evanism

Steve! stop burning it! Even the small pieces have a market.

I'm a box maker and constantly on the hunt for interesting pieces.

Is there a market for small pieces of timber cut and properly dried from various species? I get a lot of firewood from arborists some of which is in lengths up to 50-60cm or so. Diameter over bark up to 30cm. Some of it is superb timber. It seems a shame to burn it but processing and drying would take some effort.

I think there is.

A bit sells on the forum. I'm starting a few conversations with people here about sourcing good timber directly. It's expensive here in Australia and finding a fellow woodie who has a farm which is being "pruned back" is a good start.

One guy on the forum has a whole army of people buying his stuff.

You could always try eBay!

For these smaller pieces of timber, what sort of sizes do people want? There's the wide range of species that turn up in the local arborist material that I use for firewood. And I can get windthrow red box, grey box, various stringybarks, mountain ash, silver wattle and blackwood from various farms. Plus I own a farm in Gippsland that has had some trees planted in the last ten years and I'm in the process of planting a load more of various species.

It is possible to "mill" and dry the small pieces that I get as firewood.

6 years ago I paid 4k for a big old English oak log that was 4m3 in volume..so...$1000 per cubic metre. Pleeeeeeeaaase don't burn any more my friend.

Originally Posted by nifty

6 years ago I paid 4k for a big old English oak log that was 4m3 in volume..so...$1000 per cubic metre. Pleeeeeeeaaase don't burn any more my friend.

That's a price that would encourage many a farm forester.

I've grabbed some big (what I think are) oak rounds from my current firewood pile. I think they're probably pin oak which is used locally as a street tree. The rounds haven't split as yet. I did a bit of research into the sort of wood piece sizes wood turners like. Lose the pith and the bark and after that it appears there's uses for all sorts of sizes. I'll "mill" up the rounds to see what I can produce. I also have a small log which is a beautiful looking timber. I couldn't face cutting this log up after I turned another piece of this tree into firewood and saw how attractive the wood is. Found both pieces on the nature strip up the road.

And I'll keep my eye out for windthrow etc from various farms as mentioned. I cut up some red box (E. polyanthemos) for firewood last year on a farm near Seymour. Beautiful timber with a lovely wavy grain. Would much rather see this finding a higher value use.