# Going rate for having logs milled



## GISer3546 (Jan 30, 2013)

Was recently driving through a part of town and noticed a pretty huge plot of land (10 + acres) that seemed to be nothing but downed hardwood trees seemingly from tornado damage. There are no structures on the land, its in a pretty horrible part of town, and its been over a hear since our last big storm leading me to wonder if I could go in cut a few logs and have them milled at a saw mill down the street. I do plan on looking into who owns the land and speaking to them first but wanted to see what I could be expecting to pay to have them milled. I'm guessing this is something charged by the foot, but I just want to be sure I don't get taken on the price.


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## FishFactory (Nov 8, 2013)

Depending on where you live, I would expect anywhere from 200-250 per thousand, maybe a little more. We charge 200 for soft wood.


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## pidaster (Feb 22, 2013)

My local mill charged me 300 per thousand for Cherry.


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## Tom the Sawyer (Sep 4, 2012)

GISer3546,

Please add your location to your profile. Milling fees vary. Around here 4/4 runs .45 p/bf, 8/4 is .35 p/bf.

Absolutely find out who owns the property and get permission in writing before you consider salvaging any logs. Some states have severe penalties for timber theft (like court costs plus triple damages).


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## GISer3546 (Jan 30, 2013)

Ive been looking around at all the saw mills in Birmingham Al.


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## Post Oakie (Aug 20, 2013)

If you can find someone to mill urban lumber for $.35/ board ft, you will be doing well. It often has metal in it, and most production mills won't touch it. I've cut through nails, fence wire, bolts, and even bullets embedded in urban logs. It also depends on the size. Anything under 12" diameter and 8' long takes more time per board foot to mill. $.45/ bd ft wouldn't be out of line. I charge $60/hr, which on occasion has come out to over $1.00/ bd ft, because the wood was so difficult to mill. The customer was delighted.


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## MTL (Jan 21, 2012)

After talking to a local sawyer I would recommend against any trees downed by tornados. From what he said the twisting forces caused by the wind causes stress in the wood and it has tendency to split as its sawn and you won't get much good wood out of it. That said it is second hand info and maybe others can provide better info on it.


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## ETWW (Mar 27, 2011)

.35 to .45 per bf or $50 to $75 per hour seems to be about average. Most sawyers want to work at an hourly rate if the logs are small (<8" ITB) or trashy (crooked, partially rotted, lots of taper, etc.)

Also expect to pay $25 - $30 per band blade if they encounter tramp metal.


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## Post Oakie (Aug 20, 2013)

I have milled logs from the 2011 Joplin, MO tornado, and had no problem with stress in the wood. Those directly in the path got twisted apart, but those on the edge were uprooted with no damage to the log. I got some amazing lumber out of those logs! It is like any log... you don't know until you mill it.


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