See how much of the log becomes lumber, slabs, edgings and sawdust, what the log costs per MBF of lumber, the overrun on your log scale and what each point of recovery is worth.
Pre-sizing and estimating tool: results do not replace design, calculations or reports signed by a licensed professional, nor verification against the applicable codes and standards.
Monthly log volume split into lumber, slabs and edgings, sawdust and bark.
Lumber and residue revenue minus logs and sawing cost, for recoveries from 30% to 65%.
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Cash flow of the improvement: investment in year 0 and annual savings escalated at the rate entered, discounted at the MARR.
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It is how much lumber you get from your logs. In cubic terms it is lumber volume over log volume inside bark; US mills also use the lumber recovery factor (LRF, board feet per cubic foot of log) and overrun, the lumber tally above the log scale. In the example, 5,000 ft³ of logs scaled at 25,000 bf produced 30,000 bf: LRF 6.0 and overrun 20%.
It depends on the log rule. On Doyle, small logs often show 20% to 50% overrun or more, because Doyle underestimates them; on Scribner it is lower, and on International 1/4-inch it is close to zero. Compare overrun only on the same rule and log size.
From the number of logs (volume ÷ volume of the average log), cuts per log and kerf: each cut makes a slab of sawdust as wide as the kerf and about 0.79 times the diameter tall. In the example, with a 1/8 in kerf and 10 cuts per log, sawdust is about 520 ft³ a month, 10% of the log volume.
Log volume and scale come from the scale tickets or the log scale calculator; the lumber tally from your production report; kerf from measuring the cut on a board; prices from your lumber and residue sales.
At $250 per MBF of log scale, logs cost $6,250 a month, about $208 per MBF of lumber. Lumber at $500/MBF plus about $1,080 of residues brings about $16,080, and the margin after logs and sawing cost is about $3,830 a month. Each point of cubic recovery is worth about $280 a month at these prices.
Sawdust is a geometric estimate; the rest is lumped as slabs and edgings, without separating drying shrinkage, oversizing and trim. Taxes, freight, kiln drying and financing are excluded. Confirm recovery with a marked-log sawing study before investing.
Sort logs by diameter, use sawing patterns for each class, keep saws sharp and aligned, cut kerf and green oversizing, and recover short lumber from slabs. Use the target and investment fields to see how fast an upgrade pays back.
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