I noticed in some of your posts there are references to log grades such as 3SC and 4SC, You also provided brief descriptions for 3SC and 4SC grades, which is greatly appreciated.

I was wondering if you could provide more detailed descriptions of all of the log grades - I'm mainly interested in minimum diameter inside bark (DIB) and minimum length, per native species.

Perhaps you could point me to a web resource?

Thanks

Greetings Jeff:

Well, do you really want to open Pandora's Box of log grades? I mention this fact simply because there are literally hundreds of hardwood log grades floating around the internet. Rather than sending you on a fool’s errand in which we exam each of these log grade rules, let’s simply point to a couple that are widely used and accepted by the eastern hardwood industry:

USDA Forest Service Tree Grades: http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/fia/datacollection/manualver1_7/A09_Tree_Grades.pdf

USDA Forest Service Log Scaling Handbook: http://www.fs.fed.us/im/directives/fsh/2409.11/2409.11-NF%20LOGSCALING%20HDBK.pdf

Univ. of Tennessee: http://www.utextension.utk.edu/publications/pbfiles/PB1772.pdf

American Hardwood Export Council: http://www.ahec.org/hardwoods/pdfs/IllustratedGradingGuide.pdf

Log grades are typically assigned based on the following specifications: species, minimum length, minimum diameter, defects (i.e., clear faces), sweep, etc.

This should get you started for now…