Mini Mag Mar 1 2021

“That might seem expensive at first, but these horses sure earn their keep here. It’d be a lot more work to try to get these logs out of the timber with a tractor,” Troyer insisted. “We brought one horse from New York and bought the others at the sale in Kalona, Iowa.” Chain saw roar was soon loudly apparent as big walnut trees dropped to the timber floor. Logs averaging from 18-to-24-inches in diameter were sawed out in lengths from six-to-18-feet long.

Teams took turns pulling single logs chained to the carts to be stockpiled in the nearby field. In short order with the morning work, there were about two dozen logs ready for marketing. “We have buyers who come in and bid on the logs,” Troyer said. “They pay on a scale by the board foot with a highly variable price depending on the quality.” For example, a six-foot Grade-A black walnut log, 19-inches in diameter, could be valued at about $700. With six additional inches diameter that price could be considerably more. Oak and other kinds of logs are typically somewhat less valuable. Age of the trees can be calculated by counting the growth rings. Bob Eichenberger, Pomona, sold walnut and oak logs off his farm and attempted to calculate how old some trees were. “It’s interesting how much growth there is in a wet year compared to when it’s dry,” Eichenberger said. “Several walnut trees were about 30 years old, but one of the oak trees was nearly 100 years old.”