Value of Cedar
Info from 2012 on Cedar log prices at the sawmill. March 28, 2012
Question
I've got a chance to get some eastern red cedar from a logger. I'll have to pick them up on my trailer from his log deck. What is a fair price per thousand I should offer and what do you guys get for your cedar lumber? I'm on the east coast.
Forum Responses
(Sawing and Drying Forum)
From contributor B:
Probably not much. Wall Lumber in NC is selling #1 common and better for $2 bd ft. So the stump price must be very low.
From contributor A:
I pay $400 mbdft for logs delivered to the mill.
From the original questioner:
What log scale do you use?
From contributor A:
Cedar scale
From contributor C:
We pay $400/1000 for 5" (7 board feet) through 9" and $450/1000 on cedar scale delivered to mill. We are in southern Indiana.
From contributor A:
Does the white in cedar matter for outside use? The red is the heartwood, correct?
From contributor C:
Sapwood will rot in ground contact. Sapwood that can dry quickly after getting wet will last for many years. Can be used for fence boards, decks, lawn furniture, pergolas, etc.
From the original questioner:
Thanks for all the info. I'm going this morning to start picking up. He talked like he might have about a tractor trailer load all together. The man I got my sawmill from said he sawed some cedar for a fence and it rotted in just a few years. I've got about 500 feet of wood fence I need to replace soon. I was for sure going to use some of this cedar for 4X4 posts. Do you think I should use treated lumber for my boards or maybe saw some white oak? I've got 1X6X16 boards now and that's what I'm planning on replacing with.
From contributor C:
I have a cedar walkway that was built in 1992. The sapwood on a few of the pieces is just starting to deteriorate. Most pieces with sapwood are just fine. I would question the fellow with the rotten fence and find out what he means by rotten, and how long the boards were up. Were the boards western red cedar by chance, or northern white cedar? I wouldn't hesitate to put up ERC fence boards. The only negative of ERC fence boards is that they are brittle compared to hardwoods and will break rather than bend and absorb the stress of a blow.
