Knowing the Value of your Forest: Scaling & Grading Trees & Logs

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ISU Extension Forestry: naturalresources.extension.ia...
IDNR Wood Industry/Logging: www.iowadnr.gov/conservation/...
What occurs between woods and mill.
Quality matters, management leads to quality.
Terms, industry understanding.
Importance of timber to economy.
Promote forest management.
Inspire to learn more.
Highlight role of timber buyers. Especially for students, as career path.
An everyday, but complicated process - let’s break it down.
Log and tree scaling are estimates of final board footage expected. Objective is to estimate as closely as possible the volume of lumber to be produced from a given set of logs.
Log rules are used to estimate board footage from measurements of diameter and length. Then, defects subtracted.
Logs seldom round, thus two diameter measurements - at small diameter end.
There are rules for scaling out defects from total.
Stumpage = standing trees.
What’s the difference between log scaling and tree scaling?
Tree scaling, used when estimating volume of standing timber (stumpage). Buyer measures DBH, and then deducts for taper and bark thickness to estimate the scaling diameter at the top of the first log. The volume is then determined using a log rule (Ben does this in video 0230). Ocular estimates and local experience with taper and bark thickness are then used to determine the diameter and length of each additional log and hence to volume of the tree.
Knowing what you have when selling is critical - thus importance of forester. Like selling animals without weighing them.
Scaling vs. grading.
Before logs can be sold, we need to determine their content (volume) by some standard. Board foot is common standard for sawlogs and lumber.
Standing trees - volume of wood may be estimated by obtaining 2 measurements and applying these to tree scale volume tables. Diameter and merchantable height.
Merchantable height includes the portion of the tree from stump height to a point on the stem at which merchantability for saw timber is limited by branches, deformity, or minimum diameter. For smooth stems, this minimum diameter is usually not less than 60% of the tree DBH - which is the case for the smallest sawlog trees, usually 10” in diameter.
Log scale vs. tree scale.
Log scaling - measuring board foot content of a log or group of logs. Equipment needed is a yardstick and log rule. To speed this up, a log scaler uses a scaling stick (basically a yard stick with a log rule printed on it).
Scaling logs is the normal basis for transactions between loggers and sawmillers. Not as accurate as the lumber tally after sawing. Log scaling prompt settlement for timber cut and delivered without waiting for actual yield, and eliminates the need for separating logs on the yard by ownership (?).
Log rules estimate volume of sound, straight logs, with no accordance for defect. Thus, volume loss due to defect must be calculated separately and deducted from the gross scale given by log rule.
Timber is often sold on stumpage basis, which means it is sold in standing trees rather than cut products such as logs.
Sawtimber (sawlogs) are trees large enough to be sawn into lumber. Specifications refer to length and diameter inside bark. Log size specifications are regional.
How does product knowledge affect you?
It’s like selling a used car. To properly market, you need to know much about it, such as age, how it works, miles, owners. Without detailed understanding, your ability to sell it for maximum value is limited, especially when selling to experienced buyer like a dealer.
Same for marketing your timber! Species, type of timber, nearby mills, what products can be made, volume, age, condition, defect.
Lack of knowledge leads to less-than-full value received. Education prior to marketing = satisfied landowners when timber is sold.
Marketing is important step/stage in life of your forest. Before you market, learn all you can about what is in your forest. By doing so, you’ll help yourself get full value for your forest and ensure that a new forest will take its place in future. Above example from MS State pub.
#logger, #forest, #timber, #tree, #skidding, #scaling, #lovetrees, #loveforest, #forestlove, #lumberjack, #treetopper, #treejobs, #forestjobs, #intensejobs, #boardfoot, #treemeasurements, #timberbuyer,
ISU Extension Forestry: naturalresources.extension.ia...
IDNR Wood Industry/Logging: www.iowadnr.gov/conservation/...

[@IntegratedPestManagement]

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[@rachelgibson1858]

Him describing the different people involved the market has me wondering. Our timber sale was done through a Forester who owns his own timber business. So he has hands on or in at every step of the way. So now I'm wondering if he was honest with us about the pricing.

[@rachelgibson1858]

Date is May 13th 2022 My family recently sold 181 trees that according to the timber guy has 51,000 board feet. I have a very bitter distant VERY distant relative who is upset we didn't go through him. He claims we're being cheated even though I've never told him the price we're getting. He says they are taking all our high value trees. Walnut, Red Oak, and I know they are taking Beech too. The timber guys we went through do their own milling. Can anyone tell me how much on average 51,000 board feet is worth? I don't know how many of each species they are taking. Also I know for a fact that they aren't taking ALL of our walnut and oak tree. A neighbor we trust walked the woods with the Forester guy and for every walnut they marked they left at least 3. They said we will have more to harvest in 10yrs.

[@jessiehodges1513]

For that many trees especially black walnut being involved I would get more than one bid on the sake and even more than one opinion from a forester. Price varies by region and species as well as quality. I'm a logger in Western New York and beech isn't worth much but black walnut without limbs and knots is worth quite a bit. There is a lot to look at for tree quality that people don't realize and many foresters inflate the numbers for mills to bid on vs what is actually usable timber.

[@matefurlan86]

Lol what circus is this, he is 4th gen buyer but he doesnt even have a calliper to meassure tree corectly?

[@IntegratedPestManagement]

For Midwest high-quality hardwoods, the vast majority of professional timber buyers utilize rulers and/or scale sticks for scaling and grading standing trees and logs (as seen in this video). Calipers are rarely used. Scaling and grading in other regions of the country, with different wood species, forest types, and markets, may entail the use of different gear, such as diameter tapes and calipers.