100 Yr Trees

[WODAD]

A few months ago they began cutting down some old hacberry trees at the State Capitol in Pierre South Dakota. The trees were planted when the Capitol was built so they are 100 plus years old. Everyone was coming out of the woodwork trying to get some of the wood for creating or burning. When it was all said and done the entire lot was ground up or hauled out to the landfill to be burned. I was able to get to the wood pile before it was burned and was able pick up a nice pickup load of logs after almost having a tug of war with the wood burners that were cutting it up as fast as they could pull it out of the pile including logs that I was dragging out for myself, if I didn't have my foot on it they figured it was fair game.

Words out and I have people calling and wanting pieces made from the wood. My question is what's a fair premium or should there be one at all? 0, 10%, 20%, double my usual price?

Thanks in advance for your input!

Frank Denton

 

[George Guadiane]

A few months ago they began cutting down some old hacberry trees at the State Capitol in Pierre South Dakota. The trees were planted when the Capitol was built so they are 100 plus years old. Everyone was coming out of the woodwork trying to get some of the wood for creating or burning. When it was all said and done the entire lot was ground up or hauled out to the landfill to be burned. I was able to get to the wood pile before it was burned and was able pick up a nice pickup load of logs after almost having a tug of war with the wood burners that were cutting it up as fast as they could pull it out of the pile including logs that I was dragging out for myself, if I didn't have my foot on it they figured it was fair game.

Words out and I have people calling and wanting pieces made from the wood. My question is what's a fair premium or should there be one at all? 0, 10%, 20%, double my usual price?

Thanks in advance for your input!

Frank Denton

First of all, congratulations on the score!
Tough one, there isn't any more of it when your done, but you are counting on people accepting your word. Those that do, always will. Those that don't will never believe unless you have some kind of "authentication...
(thinking for a while)... I guess you have to charge more... My question is, is the WOOD premium? It's nice to be able to say that you got it from an historic site, but you can't go TOO crazy if the wood or the work isn't that much better than your usual (IMHO)... I guess, it would depend - If it's a politician, charge a bunch and take a partial campaign contribution write off?

 

[Ed_McDonnell]

The first thing I would do is take a picture of a really nice piece you turn and send it to the Governor, your local representatives, the newspaper and local TV stations. Include a write-up on your experience and explain that you would have been proud to have donated something made from the historic wood to be displayed at the capitol building. Unfortunately, since they obviously don't have any interest in history or the environment you don't see any point in doing so. Donate the piece to the local historic society with a written agreement that it will never be displayed at any public or private political venue.

As far as premium value, I would charge what the market would bear. It's a unique material with only very limited quantities in existance. If there is enough interest you could start taking competitive bids from interested parties. But if it's a politician or government bureaucrat that wants it, then a flat premium of 10,000% over your regular price sounds approriate to me.

Ed

 

[Bill Boehme]

But if it's a politician or government bureaucrat that wants it, then a flat premium of 10,000% over your regular price sounds approriate to me.

It it is one of the wood burners who were trying to take the wood away from you. I'd say say at least double it over the politician price.

It is interestring that it never crossed any politician's mind in Pierre to make good use of some of the wood. In a similar situation locally, the city of North Richland Hills is building a new public library adjacent to the old building and they had to cut down some of the very old trees. They made a deal with our woodturning club to purchase any turned items made from the wood. They have a standing order for a large number of pens in addition to wanting all the art items that our members are able to turn. We have been surprised that they were offering premium prices for the turned items above the FMV prices being asked.

Bill

 

[WODAD]

I did get two loads of wood, when I picked up the first I had to work my butt off to get it. I then contacted a representative of the Govenor's Office and told them I have some of the wood and if the State wanted any pieces for posterity they would need to come up with their own and I would turn it. They provided me with 2-half stumps. 2ft tall 42in long and 28 in. at the widest point. They also had some nice huge crotch pieces so it'll be fun. I will charge a little more but what I'm most excited about is that I donate a lot of work to charity auctions so I really hope those pieces will bring a premium. For reference I did go out and take pictures of the trees before they cut them down and after. When I get a chance I will search the archives of the local paper for pictures of the trees and see if I can find something for every tens years or so.

FD