Selling walnut for gun stocks etc.

[DrRod]

Greetings,

Everyone always talks about how valuable walnut is for gun stocks or other high end uses. But I have never met anyone who has ever sold a tree or lumber for big bucks -- just as part of a general timber cutting. Has anyone out there any hard examples of this and just where would you go to find a market?

Thanks,

Rod

 

[LD1]

Good question. I have no idea the answer but am curious myself.

I heard once (dont know if it was on here or not) that you could sell 2" x 2" x 6' osage orange wood with ends dipped in wax for up to $200 each to bow builders.

Kinda the same thing you are talking. But no one ever has sources or facts to back it up. Just here-say.:mur:

 

[Ed of all trades]

There are a lot of fables in log prices. I logged part time for years and knew log prices. I would hear prices that were way higher than you could get for most logs. If you get the perfect log, no knots, bends, or twist and big you can get good money for it. Saying you can get that money for all logs is like saying all tractors can win the big tractor pull. You have got to go through a lot of normal logs to get to the high dollar one. Blanks for bow builders need to be perfect and you also need to find a bow maker. The best log I ever sold was a red oak 12 ft long and big, it brought $714. Walnut did not bring near as much as oak of the same grade.

 

[300UGUY]

I see a lot of the same bs. I have been told right here on TBN, that cherry trees were valuable. I have cut down dozens, and advertised the logs for sale. I got zero response. And nobody would come out to log them. I had a couple of folks tell me after the fact, that they would've bought them, but that was after I told them that I had turned them into firewood. From what I can see, unless you have 10 or more acres to log, the pros don't want to bother with it. And even 10 acres might be marginal. They want someplace with enough trees to pay for moving the equipment and pay the workers, and clear a profit. Small properties just don't make money for them. I've had guys ask me for wood, but they want it for free, they are just hobbyist's, not commercial guys.

 

[300UGUY]

I had a neighbor cut down a huge oak, over 4 feet in diameter. It got chunked up for firewood. I asked the tree guy why he didn't cut it up as a log, he had 20+ feet of straight trunk. He said he didn't have equipment big enough to handle the log. He said in 30 years of biz, nobody ever wanted to pay him anything for a log. Everything ended up as firewood and chips.

 

[k0ua]

In Northern Mo.. Black walnut this quarter is averaging $1.33 per board foot for sawlogs. Veneer grade is $3.16 per board foot. The south part is averaging $0.68 for sawlogs. The prices various wildly per quarter, let alone per year.. It was way less last year. These are Stumpage prices (on the stump)

The board-foot is a specialized unit of measure for the volume of lumber in the United States and Canada. It is the volume of a one-foot length of a board one foot wide and one inch thick.

In my own words, it varies wildly, depending on where you are, and quarter of the year, and the year... and generally you are not going to get rich.

James K0UA

 

[Rustyiron]

Greetings,

Everyone always talks about how valuable walnut is for gun stocks or other high end uses. But I have never met anyone who has ever sold a tree or lumber for big bucks -- just as part of a general timber cutting. Has anyone out there any hard examples of this and just where would you go to find a market?

I have a friend up the road from you in Frederick that has a mill and cuts 2 1/2" slabs of B/W for a regular customer (for gunstocks) I believe in VA. Don't know about the "big bucks" but a regular customer. If I remember right, crotches were disired but you never know what you'll get until you open up the log.

 

[whistlepig]

There are folks that do this. I called one years ago.They will price standing trees if it is worth their while. We didn't have enough to interest them but their trip and estimate was free.

 

[rmorey]

In 2002, we sold some veneer maple and red oak logs for $2,500 per 1,000 bf. Now, you're lucky to get $1,000.

 

[mudcat47537]

I sold a few stocks blanks for stocks but I preferred to trade them. I traded several blanks for complete rifles usually for gifts. I traded several blanks 100+ for a custom rifle from Marvin Kemper [URL="http://libertylongrifles.com/"}LIberty Long Rifles[/URL] he is the son of Cornell Kemper. He did me well, the rifle was beautiful and has been valued in the $3500 range. I gave the rifle to my father in-law who has several Kemper rifles, to add to his collection. I traded some to another guy who made one for my son it is a youth sized rifle because he was 8 at the time.
I was never able to sell many blanks but I guess there is a market out there but I never found it. I am happy with my trades though.