Getting an exact estimate of how much usable lumber you will get from your trees and how long
it will take to convert those logs to lumber is difficult to do. It varies greatly depending on
the shape, species and size of the logs. Contact Us for a free estimate.
Some general guidelines may help you to estimate the size of your project.
In general, larger diameter logs are more cost effective to work with.
Logs smaller than 10" in diameter are frequently not worth the effort to convert to lumber.
Our sawmill can handle a wide variety of sized logs both small and large. We can mill logs up to
32+ inches in diameter and 22 feet long. We commonly work with logs 15"->25" in diameter and
6 to 10 foot long. Such logs will take roughly 30 to 60 minutes each to convert to lumber.
To estimate how much lumber each of your logs have in them we recommend using the long established
Scribner Decimal C Log Scale.
In the table below "bdft" stands for boardfoot. A boardfoot is 144 cubic inches of wood. To calculate
the number of boardfeet of wood in a board multiple the number of inches of width times the number of inches of length times
the thickness divide by 144. For example a board measuring:
- 12 inches wide by 8 foot long by 1 inch thick is 8 bdft
(12 * 8 * 12 * 1 / 144 = 8 bdft).
- 10 inches wide by 8 foot long by 1 inch thick is 6.66 bdft
(10 * 8 * 12 * 1 / 144 = 6.66 bdft).
- 6 inches wide by 8 foot long by 1 inch thick is 4 bdft
(6 * 8 * 12 * 1 / 144 = 4 bdft).
- 8 inches wide by 4 foot long by 2 inch thick is 5.33 bdft
(8 * 4 * 12 * 2 / 144 = 5.33 bdft).
Knowing much much lumber is in a log is not an exact science. The shape and defects in a log can effect the yields dramatically. However if the log is an "average" log there are long established logging scales to help.
An excellent lumber calculator is available at WoodWeb.
