Lumber is shockingly expensive. Thanks, Obama.

the week ^

[mylife]

Lumber prices are so high that this ordinarily sleepy industry has captured headlines around the world. The generic lumber spot price reached $1,420.50 at time of writing — more than triple the figure of December 2019. The National Association of Home Builders estimates that this has added $24,000 to the average cost of new home construction relative to this time last year.

It's an unfortunate situation for builders, buyers of newly constructed homes, or anyone else who uses lumber. But it's also an unavoidable long-term consequence of some horrific policy mistakes that were made after the Great Recession. The only way to deal with this problem sensibly is to keep running the economy hot so that new supply can come online to catch up with demand.

[woodbutcher1963]

Where is KI Sawyer? in MN or MI?

[Kickass Conservative]

I picked a bad time to get into Woodworking.

Well, back to sniffing Glue.

[1Old Pro]

I picked a bad time to get into Woodworking. Well, back to sniffing Glue.

LOL, I'm making stuff from free pallet wood.

[crz]

“There is only one mill in Montrose, CO making studs out of that Lodgepole Pine.”

Must be Cody’s mill. He called me to ask if I knew of any firm that he could sell to. I referred him to Seaboard. I also told him to start selling wholesale at the yard to DIY people-mostly cash sales.

Saw it full 2X4 or 6 and advertise it as such. Saw the hearts 6x6 or 8x8s and do the same.
Told him to stay the hell away from selling pallet lumber!!! Better to chip that crap up and sell it for mulch.

Will the kid listen? I doubt it.

There is really something in the water out here. If it doesnt involve government subsidy money, they cant figure it out.

[crz]

Up by Marquette Mi-the UP. Used to be a SAC air base at one time.

They got two curve sawing lines at that mill. Ed Naggle and Dave Holli started that mill. Ed owned and operated Land O Lakes lumber. Building that mill killed him. Hell of a man. An old timer and knew his stuff.
LP had their hands on that mill at one time and then backed out of it. Then Potlatch got it.

[crz]

BTW, you mentioned insects.

You guys got the bud worm infestation like they got in the N central USA?

Aint a spruce tree up there that hasnt got it.

The boys back up there say that all the wood yards in the remaining pulp mills have enough in till next summer-2022. Verso shut down two more paper mills up there.
I tell the guys just take a trip down. I will show you all how to make some money. Hell I would even sit in the GD sawyers seat again for a while till I train someone to saw.
They all ask me how much I figure it would cost. I say depends on what they want to do. I could set up a small little mill for less than a 100 grand and sell locally and sell the overage commercially. Know what they say?

OMG! A 100 GRAND!!! Yet, Like I said, they will dump over 700 grand into a new processor and work in the woods and go friggan broke. I wish I was 50 years old instead of 68. I would do it myself.

BTW, if you go to youtube and search Cleereman air setworks. They say that band mill on there is the one I sawed on. The only thing is that they changed the equipment to Cleereman after they shut down second shift and I left. I sawed on a Filer & Stowell rig with 12 inch steam shotgun feed. 8 ft high strain bandmill. Faster than greased lightning. It spoiled me, I sat on one slow circle headrig after and that was it. I even had applied to Mead corporations mill at Cunard Mi for sawyer and they looked at me and told me that I was over qualified-basically. So, out in the woods I went.

[Organic Panic]

Harvesting regulations sure didn’t help. Massive “stimulus” ain’t helping. Commodities aren’t rising in as much as the dollar is falling. It’s going to be a great 4 years if you are a politically connected crony, illegal alien, or lazy welfare leech. The rest of us. We’re screwed. After 15 years of being self employed I have to look back and thing what a chump I was. I could have lived a life of leisure if I was a lazy slob.

[crz]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frqCfCnHtyU

Cleereman air setworks.

At abt 40 seconds to 55 seconds can you tell me what is wrong? Other than sawing dirty logs-which resulted in what is happening.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBtcaAu1YYU

I spotted that right away.

[minnesota_bound]

I planted some trees and will be able to get cheap lumber in about 50 years... :)

[woodbutcher1963]

That Potlatch mill in MI and the other stud mill in Bimgi, MN both saw a lot of Jack Pine and Red Pine. Those species tend to crook a twist quite a bit.

Most customers prefer Spruce, Douglas Fir or White Fir studs.
They tend to stay straighter, which is the most important thing for a wall to be.

[Think free or die]

I sympathize with the loss of your trees. We've spent thousands removing them from our property as well. We lost a huge ash a couple of years ago that cost some $1500 to dismantle. It was right in front of the house, so it was a delicate operation. We took out probably 4-5 ashes in the past year, along with some huge but aging tulip poplars that were too close to the house and dropping limbs on the roof and on car windshields.

When we bought this place nearly 30 years ago, we did some landscaping work. At the recommendation of the landscaper we put in a row of 10 hemlocks. We're kind of far south for them as it is, and then they started getting attacked by wooly adelgid. They all died. So many trees are being attacked by invasive insects and diseases. Very sad aspect of global trade, since many of these little monsters come to us in cargo.

[redinIllinois]

.

[Mr. K]

I am thinking of buying a whole pallet of 2x4’s for a bunch of projects I want to do.

Is anyone here a builder? Any advice?

I am adding 2 large dormers to two buildings (by raising the roof) and building a large octagon gazebo

[woodbutcher1963]

My White Ash trees were all far enough from the house that I just dropped them with my chain saw. Then I piled up the branches onto burn piles and burned them this past winter.
I have 12 acres.

The logs I cut up into rounds and stacked them on the side of one of my trails that I can get to with my tractor. I will split them up next fall and sell locally for firewood.

The Hemlock trees can be treated with an insecticide. It comes in the form of plugs that you drill holes and insert just under the bark. I treated all the hemlocks in the immediate vicinity of my house/yard. However, I have dozens out back that are on their own. Some are 24” in diameter.

I will probably have to get a logging crew in again in a couple years to take out the Hemlocks and a some others. The problem is none of the big commercial sawmills in NH want hemlock. The timber is almost worthless. Therefore, the logging crews do not want to cut it.

[crz]

The mill in Mi hasnt bought a lot of red pine since I left the business there in 04. They buy some, but not as much as one would think.

The big one they are after now is Black Spruce, White Spruce and Balsam Fir. Some Jack pine. The thing is with Jack Pine and Red Pine is that they are plantation pines and the USFS, State, and counties have those and most are nearing their final cuttings. Matter of fact, the pole plants are buying Red Pine like its going out of style since the final cuttings are prime pole material. The Jack pines have just about been flattened and are under re-planting. That is the UP of Michigan. MN I dont know about.

I do know this. I will NEVER build another house out of Doug Fir. EVER. I got walls in this place that are out of shape because of that crap. Messed up my natural black ash T&G paneling.
I will travel up to the UP and buy Spruce first and haul it down here.

[Think free or die]

It's great that you could use so much of the wood from your ash trees. 12 acres in NH sounds heavenly.

We were aware of the treatment for the hemlocks but didn't spend the money for it. They were not very happy in our climate and not really a great choice for our site. I love hemlocks, but they weren't at their best here. That's life.