Tools for Running Tree and Lumber Calculations

Jeff Brokaw is webmaster and creator of The Timber Buyers Network (TBN) which is a growing resource for people interested in forestry in the North Central States. His site hosts a fledgling forum and increasingly provides much needed information for forest owners and loggers in Michigan and surrounding states. Jeff has worked in the Wood biz for 22 years. His primary occupation is head sawyer for a large north central Michigan mill. Jeff is also an accomplished artist and has sketches on display from as far away as the United Kingdom. His interest in art is what led him into designing websites, and in a natural progression (for him), led to the creation of TBN . In his designing and messing with forestry things, Jeff, with forester Ron Wenrich, have designed several quick calculators to help you with simple estimates. You might never need your cruiser stick or volume tables again. Ill let Jeff describe each calculator: Tree Volume Calculator was designed to help answer the general question How much lumber is in my tree? This will give the landowner a close answer. Variables that we cant add, such as individual tree form, will always be a factor in determining volume. (Outputs in Doyle, Scribner and International scales)Use this calculator Board Footage Calculator is a handy little tool, not only in helping the landowner determine board footage needed for a project, but also a tool for the lumber producer to get a quick measurement on lumber sawn.Use this calculator Log Volumes Calculator is used to help a landowner measure the volume of a saw log just the way its done upon arrival at the mill. A specialized scale stick is not necessary, just a tape measure or ruler, and this handy calculator. (Outputs in Doyle, Scribner and International scale.)Use this calculator Tree Spacing Calculator is a great tool for determining seedlings needed per acre at a specified spacing, or estimating numbers of trees in a plantation setting.Use this calculator Hardwood Pulp Calculator will calculate the volume for non-saw log trees or Pulpwood. The calculator can return its output in cords, cubic feet, tons, cubic meters and metric tons.Use this calculator Lumber and Log Weight Calculator is a very, very, general estimator of weight by species per cord and B.F. It includes an explanation why weights can vary by many percentage points on similar volumes. Limited use for very rough estimates.Use this calculator Jeff is also the webmaster for several other forestry related sites. Those sites include The Michigan Association of Timbermen www.timbermen.org , The Michigan Forest Resource Alliance www.mfra.org and the Michigan Branch of the Sustainable Forest Initiative Programs website. www.michiganforest.com