Seller: Ian Robb, harvesting contractor

Buyer: Steve McLean, Furniture maker, sawmiller and founder of Dovetail Scotland

Timber: 6.25m Douglas fir logs

The situation

Ian Robb Timber Harvesting has been harvesting and marketing timber for over 30 years. Specialising in low-impact harvesting with lighter machinery; Ian is able to work sites that are awkward to access or environmentally sensitive. Marketing the timber is part of the service: getting timber to the right buyers, not just clearing the site.

When Ian had a parcel of Douglas fir coming out of a larger felling job near Stirling, he thought they would be of value to a specialist sawmill. Douglas fir is one of the strongest softwoods and well suited to structural timber projects.

Dovetail Scotland, based near Stirling, is exactly the kind of buyer CloudForest is designed to connect. Steve McLean has been making bespoke handmade kitchens, furniture, and post-and-beam frames, from locally sourced Scottish timber for over 30 years. He was looking for large-diameter Douglas fir to cut the structural beams for a new building to house their sawmill, something that normally would have involved a lot of ringing around to find.

Finding a buyer

With a simple listing on CloudForest, a timber alert went out to sawmills in the area. Steve’s enquiry came in the same day.

But matching a potential buyer to seller was only the first step. Steve needed logs large enough to yield 6m long, 300×300mm beams; which meant working out a minimum top diameter.

Ian didn’t have a full timber inventory for the forest but estimated that cutting 6.2m lengths would yield an average top diameter of around 350mm, with some logs reaching over the requisite 450mm. But would there be enough for the six beams Steve needed?

Ian proposed cutting 6.25m lengths to see what came out. The larger logs would be stacked separately until there was a full lorry load. If there weren’t enough large logs Ian could cut the logs in half with 3m lengths. readily finding a buyer for this spec.

The outcome

Ian’s assessment was right. When the logs were stacked at least eight were large enough for the beams Steve needed. With the remainder of the lorry load to be processed by Steve into cladding. The lorry load of timber was delivered by Ian Young in March and it won’t be long until they’re transformed into a lovely timber building.

What made it work

By creating a listing with no more than a few photos and some basic details Ian was able to quickly find a specialist buyer. As this happened before felling Steve was able to get logs cutto the spec he needed, and by working through the sizing with the contractor gave him confidence to proceed.

List timber or find supply on CloudForest

If you have timber to sell — standing trees, roadside logs, or leftover parcels — we can help you create a listing and reach the right buyers. If you’re sourcing timber, set an alert and we’ll let you know when something matching your requirements comes to market.