Too much red Oak

I know a guy who loves working in the woods. He has his own saw mill and saws up a lot of red oak and other things, but doesn't know where to sell it. He says it usually isn't #1 and that's the problem. Does anybody have thoughts on how he could move some of this? He is a retired guy,like me, and is not in business to sell wood, jsut needs an excuse to drop trees and run the sawmill I thought I had a lot of rough sawed wood around (8000 or 10000 bd ft of this and that), but he has many times more than I do.

west central Wisconsin, Pete Stanaitis

Reply to
spaco
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ebay, maybe -- he wouldn't be the only one.

Reply to
Doug Miller

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Reply to
DLB

Pete:

Perhaps, he could call a couple of the HSs that still have a decent woodshop class (ours in California, are slowly coming back). I know of one that would LOVE to have the oak.

Also, perhaps contacting the nearest club (check the Internet) and see if there are any members who would like to buy.

If the guy lived near me, I'd buy up some, but shipping, etc. is probably too much of a hassle.

Good luck!

MJ Wallace

Reply to
mjmwallace
  1. Try posting on the
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    classifieds if they have one for his region. It's a very popular free classifieds system that has a regional component so it's not national like eBay.

  1. If the travel> I know a guy who loves working in the woods. He has his own saw mill

Reply to
SonomaProducts.com

Well sir, there is a lot of the red oak that has tons of rot and insect damage. I have a lot of it and have milled some too. It's not good enough for flooring which is the usual use for red oak.

It is often used for pallets since it is plenty strong and appearance don't matter. If he just has to move it then that's who uses it, the pallet industry. The pallet industry is quite competitive however and prices for mill run red oak would be very low, maybe ten or fifteen cents/bd foot. Also, since it is already milled then it might not be correctly sized to industry needs. They use a thinner size than the usual 4/4 that people cut.

I think even red oak with holes in it would make good flooring in my house. I cut 2000 bd/ft for some neighbors who had it kilned and milled. They don't mind the holes. The knots holes can be filled with epoxy, stronger than wood. They can also be ignored. That is not acceptable in most homes however.

It would also make good floors in an outbuilding perhaps with little or no surfacing. Some animals actually do better on rough-sawn floors than they do on smooth floors, better footing. Red oak is not known for it's rot resistance but it is durable enough when you mill it yourself.

If you can't sell it then you have to use it yourself. I have even seen it used as board and batten siding. It is not the preferred use for that species but what the heck? Red oak makes damn fine firewood if nothing else. The value of oak firewood has never been higher. $70 to $100 per cord is the range of prices I see around here for oak firewood and no worries about rot and bugs. I bet it sells for twice that in the Big City.

Reply to
lwhaley

There are a few people in Central and Southern Wisconsin that have the same issue. I have been buying my red oak from the same guy for about 10 years but he is getting old and I am afraid that he may not be around much longer. He used to have a lot of 6/4 and 5/4 but had trouble selling it. Now he mainly does 4/4 for the hobbyists around here (Northeren Illinois).

If you or you friend have some good 8/4 and 12/4 I would be interested. I get a lot of heavy maple and cherry, but find it hard to get thick milled red oak.

Neil Larson

Reply to
Neil Larson

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