Our origins, our mission

Urban logging is rare and varied enough that most people ask how Lumber Logs began. Our approach to it is (I think) unique, so here is a brief overview of how Joe and I started this endeavor.

As a woodworker, I found myself getting closer to wood sources to find interesting and unique material. I learned that most trees dropped in St. Louis ended up as landfill material. While huge amounts of wood were wasted, logging regularly occurred in nearby rural areas. I mentioned my interest in the subject to Joe at a party and he volunteered to help me find a solution. We originally thought we needed to own a sawmill since it seemed most urban loggers approach the problem this way. But most urban loggers also merely gleam the best lumber worthy cherry and walnuts, capturing the higher margin end of the business but not really addressing the volume of waste. Shortening a much longer story, we figured out that all lumber-worthy logs had some value at the sawmill, which made our task simply getting them delivered. The problem was really one of aggregation: even a fat walnut on a someone's front lawn was a liability, a disposal problem, when compared with the cost of getting it where it could have value. However, a truck load of pallet logs could be worth enough to make the trip.

We did not need a mill. Our mission of reducing log waste could be met by picking up logs for free from those who fell them (saving them disposal time and money) and getting them where they could be useful.  Currently tree services, municipalities, golf courses, cemeteries and individual homeowners use us to save them time and money and also help recycle logs. We pick up any species (current exception: pine) because if they are sound and without metal, they are at least good for pallets or railroad ties. Frankly, the margins on this portion of our business qualify it as a "loss leader". (Hey, maybe this is why nobody else does this...) But we save suppliers enough they happily give us logs of higher value too. Maybe 3% of our volume we set aside to have sawn for us by local portable band mill owners. This becomes the hardwood lumber we sell.

We are clearly meeting our first goal, the environmental one, having recycled millions of board feet of logs since our beginning in 2005. Our secondary goal of improving my wood stash was easily overcome too. Coupled with my pathetic productivity in the shop and growing interest in smaller work, it will take me years to dent the pile. It has not stopped the quest for unique material though.

I am aware of few other urban log operations that take in all species, and know of none that do so without owning a saw mill. We appreciate our supplier partners who "get it" and also our sawmill buyers who understand what we do. The metal issue is a constant problem - no high speed saw wants to hit a hidden bolt - but one that any modern sawmill must confront, even if they only take forest grown logs. Mankind's penchant for driving nails into trees is apparently widespread. We scan each log multiple times but still miss an occasional nail inside a 4' diameter pin oak.

I will take some pictures of what we evolved into. The words above describe what we do pretty well, but nothing conveys the glamour of urban logging better than a picture of a pile 'o logs. ;-)