Someone Is Getting Rich In The Timber Industry Today. Who?

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:21]It is full speed ahead planning for the International Firewood Expo.

[00:00:26]This is Joe from the Trumbull County Fairgrounds and you are looking at our long-lost friend Nathan Baird.

[00:00:37]He has brought us up a load of logs. He says, you know, they some of these got some mud on them, but that's the case here in Northeast Ohio with all of this rain.

[00:00:48]A lot of these logs can't even get out of the woods cuz it's such a soft condition. So, Nathan's going to unload these logs for us.

[00:00:56]It's been a while since we have spoken with him.

[00:00:59]And then uh we'll talk to him and see what's going on in the industry.

[00:07:32]Well, hello stranger. Good to see you, Joe. It's been a while, huh? It's been a little bit. Okay, everyone, this is Nathan Baird. He is the owner of Nathan Baird Logging. Yep. All right.

[00:07:45]And Nathan, the last time you were here, we did a video and it was it was a huge uh seen video. There was hundreds of thousands of views on it. We talked about what's going on in the industry.

[00:07:58]Yes. At that time, there was a glut of logs and they were all getting dumped back into the firewood market.

[00:08:05]Lately, I haven't seen you at all. Okay, so something else must be going on that's a little different. You care to give everyone an update on what's up with the industry and how it relates to the firewood guys like this guy?

[00:08:20]Yeah, everything's been um just very busy. Everybody needs logs.

[00:08:25]Um you know, all the pallet mills, uh grade logs, veneer logs. Everybody needs logs. It's just getting getting them to the mill with the high fuel prices is a little bit uh little bit of a hassle. Uh lumber prices haven't necessarily came up um which in hence log prices haven't came up either. So, it's takes an equal balance of all that to cover the fuel costs on these trucks and the equipment to get the material out of the woods. Yeah. Um Well, who's making money, Nathan?

[00:08:53]>> I don't think anybody. The landowner at this point.

[00:08:56]>> is the one that's in a good position right now.

[00:08:58]>> Yes. Yeah. Well, I understand about high fuel prices and I understand what you're dealing with with this big truck cuz I drive an F-150. Absolutely.

[00:09:07]>> And I know exactly what it's like uh to spend all that money on fuel that you would on a big truck like this. Yes.

[00:09:14]Last time we talked about all the different markets. There's firewood at the bottom, then there's scrag, and then blocking, and saw logs, veneer at the top. Yes. Uh what's Is there anything that's hot right now because it seems like the mills, when I drive by them, they have a bunch of skinny logs laying in their yards that weren't used to being up there. They were in my yard. Uh white oak logs and walnut, um they're still very very high demand. White oak veneer and walnut veneer.

[00:09:46]Um white oak saw logs and that mid-grade log, they're starting to um come down in price pretty good.

[00:09:53]Um and it makes it hard to deal with that whole tree in the forest because you're getting very good money out of your veneer but then on up the tree, you know, your second and third cuts are really dropping in price and it just you have some difficult decisions to make at the end of the day on what you're going to do with some of this material.

[00:10:12]Being a logger in this era probably isn't easy but it's also tougher in Northeast Ohio because it's been slightly wet.

[00:10:21]Yeah. And I see a little bit of mud on these logs. Not that bad but it could be worse, huh? Yeah. Yeah, this time of year it's it's not easy logging in Northeast Ohio or I mean really anywhere probably but um we get one or two good days of drying weather then it's right back to rain so you really got to pick and choose your job sites and try to find high ground when you can. Rain, what the heck? We had snow two days ago. It snowed here in Ohio in May. Good heavens. Yeah.

[00:10:50]So Nathan, I think you and me got a lot in common. I mean we're both pretty young and what's in the future for you?

[00:10:56]What's in the future for Nathan Baird Logging? Uh looks like we're going to have a pretty good year. Um hopefully fuel prices come down a little bit. We have a lot of work lined up in Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania.

[00:11:08]Um just as long as the wood markets stay afloat, I think we're going to have a really good solid year. And could this be a solid year for a certain firewood delivery service in Northeast Ohio who's in need of log supply? As long as you're within the distance of the job site, we'll bring you firewood. Yeah. So that is what Nathan and I were laughing about this before. So he had a huge job last year down on the Ohio River and it just made no sense for him to drive logs up to my place and it made no sense for me to pay for that trucking to bring those logs up here. So we need to get Nathan to find some more jobs around Cortland, Ohio.

[00:11:49]And then I will have better nights sleeping and not having to worry all the time. Absolutely.

[00:11:55]Nathan, the last time you were here, I don't recognize this truck. So this truck, I noticed the crane is on the front Yes. and not on the back and how does this truck work in our area? Um since it's a tri-axle, it's not very good for Ohio but doing some firewood deliveries and local deliveries, we really like this truck. It has the the crane on the front. Maneuverable. Yeah. Gets around very well. The biggest downfall is just it only has the three axles on the back so you you can't legally haul 80,000 lbs in Ohio. So that's the problem in Ohio is weight. Yes. Yep. It's all about weight, axle spacing, the length of the your wheelbase and everything and to make it a real hassle to haul heavier logs like saw logs and when you really need to get the footage on.

[00:12:42]Firewood is typically a little bit lighter than what the bigger logs weigh on them.

[00:12:45]>> Okay. So what kind of fuel mileage do you get on this truck, Nathan? Uh this truck has a C15 cat in it with an 18 speed in it. It does pretty well. It does about six and a half miles to the gallon versus our other trucks, you know, one has a Paccar in it. It gets three and a half. The other one has a 60 series Detroit and it gets about six.

[00:13:04]Yeah, so I know what you're going through. Again, I have an F-150.

[00:13:07]Absolutely. And Nathan, are we going to see you at the International Firewood Expo? Yeah. Absolutely. We should have a truck or two here and hopefully have some logs on the back.

[00:13:16]>> Heck yeah and stop and say hi to Nathan.

[00:13:18]He's super cool guy and he's the future of the industry. We're starting to see some younger guys showing up in these log trucks. That's a good thing. Nathan reads the comments. If you got specific questions about the logging industry, about trucks and stuff, go ahead and put them in there. Maybe he can answer them for us. We can try. All right. Everyone out there have a great day.