My lumber guy closed: Update

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It's the end of the world and I am pretty sure the sky is falling. My lumber guy just closed up shop. The other guy I buy 4/4 from is now going to sale to factory's only. There went $1 bd ft.

Been calling around all morning, not having much luck, finding any good dealers. Worst part is if they have one thing I want, they don't have the other. Here I sit, in the middle of the mid-west and I can get anything from South America or Africa, but local native is just about dried up.
 
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Steve,

What have you been buying? rough lumber...planed.....

I have some relatives around Bedford that had some mills in the family. I don't know if they are still in operation or not.
 
It's the end of the world and I am pretty sure the sky is falling. My lumber guy just closed up shop. The other guy I buy 4/4 from is now going to sale to factory's only. There went $1 bd ft.

Been calling around all morning, not having much luck, finding any good dealers. Worst part is if they have one thing I want, they don't have the other. Here I sit, in the middle of the mid-west and I can get anything from South America or Africa, but local native is just about dried up.

Steve
Funny thing

So did mine.. I am sure there are others but he was reasonable close didn't mind small orders and had a browsing area. Got into flooring big and the down market got him or so I hear..

We have a great mill even closer but they won't sell to individuals anything but mulch. Have another that had has literally 100,000's of thousand board feet drying. All goes into pallets.

I have to find somewhere to buy as I just today bought 12 lineral feet of 1x6 oak to build a cross with for around 40 dollars at Lowe's.

Garry
 
Pounded the phone pretty hard today. Got a couple leads. Hope to know more soon. Same old story with some "do you have a business license?" "are you a business?" "how many feet per load?" This guy was 20 minutes from the house and always had coffee on the stove. Little or big, didn't matter to him.

Ken, rough lumber. Any and all variety's. 4/4 and 8/4
 
Pounded the phone pretty hard today. Got a couple leads. Hope to know more soon. Same old story with some "do you have a business license?" "are you a business?" "how many feet per load?" This guy was 20 minutes from the house and always had coffee on the stove. Little or big, didn't matter to him.

Ken, rough lumber. Any and all variety's. 4/4 and 8/4

Take a trip down to the promised land, pick out a couple of trees from Paul and, fire up that band saw mill. Be his off loader stacker (or what ever they call the grunt) and trailer some home!

Got any Amish around they often aren't as picky who they sell too. We have them but then that pallet place is Amish and they won't sell.

Yea thats it go see Paul!
 
Bring the logs. help me - share a few boards and we will do it!!

I am very limit in diversity of species for quantity.. Oak sp., Hickory, Sycamore, E. Red Cedar, B. Walnut, and a few others. Really hurting for Cherry --
 
Would be nice Paul, but a little long drive. Get a semi and I can fill it up when you get here.

Got a couple nice leads tonight. Worry is all but over. Still don't like it but what do you do?
 
It's a tough market out there right now. I am fortunate to get the deal I posted about recently. I hope to help my friend out enough where he can stay in business. I have thought about getting into the lumber selling business for a while. I know there are a few guys around the country selling lumber through the wwing forums by doing drop shipments to geografic locations when enough folks pool their purchases.

The advantage of doing things this way is that the miller can take orders and cut unconventional woods that aren't normally commercially sold. Not often can one get red stained boxelder lumber or catalpa lumber and so forth. I have a woods full of dying ash trees that I will be sawing this summer. I also have more than a dozen large spalted maple logs that will see the sawmill soon. I have been sawing unconventional lumber for a friend who makes architectural pieces for multi-million dollar homes and businesses. I just sold him 333 brd/ft. of spalted elm lumber and a few 16"+ x 19ft. long beech planks.
 
It's a tough market out there right now. .

I understand that building homes has slowed way down, but why the demise of the home workshop ww'ing supplier? there's been a couple of lumber biz close around here, due to them putting all their eggs in the home construction biz, and went under. the place where I buy my lumber is ALWAYS busy,selling any amount to anyone. They're a Mennonite-owned operation, who treats everyone fair, whether you buy a little or a lot...makes no difference to them. a sale is a sale, to them I reckon. I see a small increase in portable bandmills being bought, but not really for commercial use. heck, we still have 1 sawmill that still uses his 60"(I'm guessing) circular blade..but he mostly cuts cross ties for the railroad. this may be a regional situation,maybe?
 
Yeah, if business is slow, why are they turning away business?

I could see not accepting personal checks, but if business sales are slow, why not accept personal purchases?

Maybe check in with your local WWing buddies and find out where that guy is just up the road in that small town with an old dairy barn full of air-dried log run lumber.

This might just be a good excuse to take a trip to the Merlau Mill. :thumb: I understand he's closed for the next couple weeks due to Family matters though. :rofl:
 
Mark,

I made an offer to Larry some years ago to buy him a beer. He's long in memory and it's gonna happen. I tried to convince him that it was an awfully long way to go for a beer but..........
 
what you guys can do is pool your order into a larger one.. how much together are you looking for and what kind??

Larry
I just use a few feet here and there. Don't have any room for storage. Thats why my guy down the road 6 miles was so great. He had the storage, had most everything. Even had a big bin of offcuts from his flooring in the hall as you went in. Hard wood by the pound. He made flooring so these were just offcuts from random widths and lengths before they were milled into flooring. There is still a big mill there behind the place and a huge one that advertises nationally just on down the road. My problem is I like it cheap or at least reasonable.....

I was spoiled...and liked it.;)
 
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