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Ash prices/ good score today

2K views 13 replies 5 participants last post by  the dude 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey everyone. Got a question for anyone really but especially southwestern pa wood workers. I replied to an ad on Craigslist that said he was selling air dried white and red oak for .50 cents per foot regardless of width or thickness. Boards are a mix of 4/4 and 5/4. It was about an hour and a half from me but I thought worth the drive. I planned on taking a good bit but ended up striking a deal with the guy for all of it and it is several hundred if not over a thousand board feet of mainly white oak some red and I find some ash the I believe was mistaken for white oak. Now I know what red and white oak are going for on my area but no clue as to the ash. The ash is all 5/4 and in real nice shape. I'm thinking of trying to sell some of the ash and was wondering what a fair price would be. I got back with my first load and cut a few different boards in half and then checked the middle of the fresh cut ends for moisture content. All the boards I checked so far are reading right at 13% I checked boards that were kiln dried but have been stored in my shop for about a year now and the boards from my shop are sitting right at between 9 and 10 % so this wood is pretty much good to go and if I bring some in shop and let it acclimate it should get close to the other boards that have been stored pretty quickly. Guy said it was all cut and stacked 6-7 years ago. I think I did real good. I got all the lumber in the pictures for 500 he had to get it gone because construction on his new garage is about to start and it was in the way. Wood Lumber Grass Tree Plant
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I think I did pretty good what you think. I'm pretty sure I'll end up selling some on Craig's list cause this is more wood than i can use anytime soon and storage is a bit of an issue for me as well
 
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#3 ·
I think you got a good deal there, assuming that the boards are reasonably straight & flat.

I just bought some QSWO at Boards & Beams in Fairfield, NJ. They sell rough ash for about $3.70/bd ft. Similar pricing as their red oak, except that the bd ft price doesn't increase as much with thickness as it does with oak.

If I lived near you, I'd buy some of the ash just because.
 
#4 ·
There are a few pieces here and there that are gnarly and twisted but I'd say 95 % of it is as straight and flat as any other rough lumber I've bought so far. I'm paying between 2.25-290 for 4/4 white oak depending on where I go and between 2.00 and 2.70 for 4/4 red oak. None of the 3 places I deal with regularly even have any ash lately. They tell me it's because of the emerald ash borer killing off the trees around here. I been working wood pretty seriously now for that past 5 years and before that it was just putzing around in other peoples shops and in that time I've never used ash for a project. I've burned lots of it In my stove tho because they have been cutting lots of dead ash trees by the edges of the roads around me because of that bug killing them and I will say it is great firewood. I ran a piece over the jointer today and it's a nice looking wood.
 
#8 · (Edited)
TimPa said:
last time I checked prices. high-wholesale for w. oak was 1.26, r. oak was 1.09, and ash was 1.10.
I only know one guy around me so far that has prices that cheap but last time I went to him he didn't have the volume I needed, he only had about a hundred board foot on hand and said I'd have to wait till he loaded and ran a cycle thru kiln. About 6 months ago I only had one guy I dealt with, he didn't have any white oak and so I started looking for new places, went to frosty hollow hardwoods and the guy there had very little and wanted 3 something bdft. He was telling me they they have been having a hard time at that time even buying it on the stump. He told me it was barrel makers buying it all up. Who knows tho if he was just spinning yarns tho.
 
#9 ·
Brought home another load today, and still got to go up tomorrow at least maybe even another trip after that. Taking dads 2015 F350 tomorrow tho. So hopefully I can pile it up higher than I did today. I love my old truck but I had her loaded down pretty good today for that long ride. She handled it rather well for being 18 years old. I didn't break and land speed records pulling some of the grades up that way but i made it, slow and steady wins the race they say lol

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#10 · (Edited)
This is what I have in the garage at work so far. There are a few boards here and there that are kinda gnarly and twisted, it's mainly the ones from the tops of the piles Floor Wood Hardwood Flooring Wood flooring
and here is some of the ash I've picked out so far, there is more ash I the messy pile against the wall in pictures I didn't realize it was ash when I was unloading that load

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There is more that is coming tomorrow like I said and I can see there is a good bit more ash in the next load. For the most part tho it's all pretty nice white oak.
 
#12 ·
epicfail48 said:
...you know, I can be there tomorrow to help you load some up. I can't garuntee it'll make it to your house though :laughing:
lol I'm usually the one on the outside looking in. Nice to catch a break every now and again. It is an hour and 15 or hour and 30 mins one way and a bit longer coming home cause I'm heavy and have to slow it down. I would have loved some help. Had to jump on it tho and get it moved cause guy has excavator coming next week to break ground on garage that is going where all this is stacked up. I guess I was in right place with right time and with just the right amount of cash in my pocket
 
#13 ·
I had to ask the guy what the deal with him having all this wood is. Turns out he is a cutter for a hardwood timber buyer and he cleared some land for a neighbor on the side. The neighbor had a guy with a woodmizer mill come out and mill a bunch of the trees that were taken down and this guy took a few thousand bdft as partial payment. He told me he figured after he dried it he would sell some and use some for repairs on some of his out buildings since white oak is pretty good for outside exposure. So he stickerd and stacked and threw some ply wood over the tops of the stacks and some blocks for weight on top. That was between 5 and 6 or 6 and 7 years ago I can't remember exactly what he said. He told me he already had a guy come and take a truck load and he called back wanting more after he milled a few pieces but I beat him to it. He basically told me that being from up in a really rural area and working as a tree cutter hardwoods dont hold the value to him like they do to us wood workers. Basically to him and his wife out there on their property it's just a pile of boards to use for whatever. I guess if you had such easy access to large volumes of hard wood on a daily basis you and I would feel that way too. He told me you'd be real surprised actually to see how many people up that way have piles of cherry and oak and maple that's been cut and milled and is just sitting out in their yards to be used for whatever.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Well made another trip today and still have to run up for one more. The company I work for is paying for my fuel. I work for a management company and over the years I went from a maintenance man fixing leaky sinks and stuff like that to being one of only two guys who do complete remodels on the units, new kitchens and baths and rearrange some walls to make them into more high end places and now I'm out of that and in the wood shop most days making cabinets and new cabinet doors to re face some of these places. So they paid for the wood with the agreement that I can keep what I want for myself as long as they get about double what they would normally get when I spend 500 on a lumber run. I usually make a run at least once a month. So everyone is a winner in this deal. Floor Flooring Wood Hardwood Room
I'm finding that about 96% of it is all nice ,fairly straight ,useable lumber. There are some bad ones in the mix tho I'm just setting them aside as I stack. All in all I'd say I really made out for 500 the ash is all pretty nice stuff all 5/4 and pretty straight. The ash is the stuff that's light in color and facing the opposite direction than the other piles in the pic. There is more ash in tomorrow's load and still a good bit in the pile that's behind the second pile and up against the wall ,kind of hidden in the picture.
 
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