Petrified wood like you wont believe

[pronghorn]

Petrified wood like you won't believe

I hope I am not violating any forum rules by posting the following
I will remove this post immediately upon finding that it is inappropriate
and I have violated any rules. I apologize in advance if that is the case.

I have on my families property maybe the one of the largest collection of
privately owned huge agatized petrified wood stumps in the world.
Well over a hundred tons, maybe over 2 hundred tons.
I am talking rocks weighing at least a ton, some several tons.


Hundreds of beautiful huge agatized stumps that you aren't going to find
anywhere no matter how far and wide you hunt.
I would appreciate any information on marketing this resource.
I can post pictures if that will help me in my quest to find a fitting
home for these amazing treasures.

 

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[EDDE]

Re: Petrified wood like you won't believe

I would appreciate any information on marketing this resource.
There could be a large finders fee
for whomever helps me find a market for these treasures of nature.

um try the internet

 

[EDDE]

Re: Petrified wood like you won't believe

um, isn't that what I am doing Thanks for the great advice

 

[allen_idaho]

Re: Petrified wood like you won't believe

Petrified Wood does have a market out there. You've just got to find it. You definately have the resources, you just need to turn them into something you can sell.

Usually the wood is sliced into thin slabs or cut into decorative bookends and sold at rock shops, gift shops, or on the internet.

It is at times also fashioned into jewelry or sold as larger decorative stump slabs. Depending on the size they can be used to create very unique furniture. Think petrified wood table tops and coffee tables.

You can use the wood to create spheres or dishes. If you are artistically inclined you could create shaped carvings.

So basically what I'm saying is that there is a market depending on how much you put into it. If you are just trying to sell stumps, you probably won't do so well. But if you invest some time and money into this, you could do pretty good. You are definately going to need a hefty sized rock saw and a tractor.

I would suggest starting out by taking the time to create items you can sell out of the raw material. This would be the slabs, table tops, jewelry, furniture, etc. Get creative.

From there, I would do the following:
1. Advertise at rock and gem shows and sell some of your wood.
2. If you have local rock shops, ask them if they would sell some of your slabs.
3. Start a website and make your creations available to the world.

 

[pronghorn]

Re: Petrified wood like you won't believe

Petrified Wood does have a market out there. You've just got to find it. You definately have the resources, you just need to turn them into something you can sell.

Usually the wood is sliced into thin slabs or cut into decorative bookends and sold at rock shops, gift shops, or on the internet.

It is at times also fashioned into jewelry or sold as larger decorative stump slabs. Depending on the size they can be used to create very unique furniture. Think petrified wood table tops and coffee tables.

You can use the wood to create spheres or dishes. If you are artistically inclined you could create shaped carvings.

So basically what I'm saying is that there is a market depending on how much you put into it. If you are just trying to sell stumps, you probably won't do so well. But if you invest some time and money into this, you could do pretty good. You are definately going to need a hefty sized rock saw and a tractor.

I would suggest starting out by taking the time to create items you can sell out of the raw material. This would be the slabs, table tops, jewelry, furniture, etc. Get creative.

From there, I would do the following:
1. Advertise at rock and gem shows and sell some of your wood.
2. If you have local rock shops, ask them if they would sell some of your slabs.
3. Start a website and make your creations available to the world.

Thanks Allen for your post.
What I have is a lot of huge stumps, and I live out in the middle of nowhere
500 miles from the nearest city of any size. So transportation is a huge problem,
fuel prices, ouch.

Basically I am the local rock shop.
I live in a very low population area with little tourist traffic so bookends and that sort
of petrified wood product aren't really worth the time.
I need to sell several truck loads of rock to someone who wants to create a one
of a kind structure.

I am looking to move some very unique agates the size of small cars,
good luck with that right.
I am no salesman and don't really know where to
go with this.
I have sold a few stumps to people, they put them in their yards and
landscape around them etc.
Below are some pictures of a building made with smaller rocks,
400 lbs or less, and a nice stump, maybe 2000 lbs, in a yard.

 

[allen_idaho]

Re: Petrified wood like you won't believe

500 miles?! Wow. That is out there. Where exactly do you live? Northern canada?

Trying to sell car sized petrified wood from such a remote location could be very very difficult. However, the size of the pieces would be promising for some nice and pricey furniture.

Do you have any pictures of the larger pieces that you could post up?

By the way, the pictures of that house are really cool. That is an interesting use for petrified wood.

 

[pronghorn]

Re: Petrified wood like you won't believe

If you think that building ( it's not a house) is cool,
you should see the inside back wall of the local catholic church
30 foot tall all petrified wood put together by someone who was very good and
meticuous, you really have to get close to see any grout at all.

When I say 500 miles from any city of anysize, I mean like Minneapolis or Denver,
I am 230 miles east of Billings.

I know there is a market for these large stumps somewhere because thieves were
caught stealing some out of a field north of here. An 80 year old man
and his 50 something son were hauling them to Montana somewhere. They bought
some and got caught stealing some. I found them nosing around my yard one day.

A former friend of mine showed them a rock in a field that I had shown him, unbelievably beautiful naturally polished over millions of years , I was always
going to try and buy it off the landowner, but you guessed it, it disappeared, they stole it. No way to prove it but ....

My pics aren't that good but here are some, I am in the process of cleaning this
property right now.

 

[allen_idaho]

Re: Petrified wood like you won't believe

You weren't kidding. Those are some big pieces.

East montana isn't too bad. You could work with that. You could probably ship some of your petrified wood by air freight from the Billings International Airport if they still have that service. Haven't been that far east in a while so I'm not sure. Otherwise there is train and truck freight for shipping goods. Not sure what is available in your area.

As for a local market for the stuff, I have no idea. Thieves would be after it because once it's cut and polished it can be worth a lot. One of your large stumps could probably net you thousands of dollars when finished if done right.

I still think it would be a great idea to cut them and try to sell through an online store. To give you some examples, here are a few websites I found that you can look at. See how much they are asking for large petrified wood tables and slabs. It's impressive.

http://www.elenhunting.com/
- Check out the Petrified Wood section of course. They also offer fossils and antler products.

http://www.petrifiedwoodart.com
- They create unique petrified wood sculptures. Very interesting stuff.

http://www.petrifiedwoodsmith.com/
- They seem to specialize in slabs and furniture products. You should check out their online showroom, sold pieces gallery, and furniture projects by others.

http://www.georarities.com/
- This is a store that does furniture, art, sculptures, and other interesting things.

http://www.horizonwood.com/english/evolutions/petrified_showcase/petrified_showcase.html
- This is the petrified wood products portion of the Horizon Wood Products website. Some cool pieces.

http://www.petrifiedwoodsinks.com/
- This is one of the more unique uses that I've seen for petrified wood. Interesting site. They also make tables.

---------
Another option if you are only interested in selling the raw material (untouched stumps) you may want to contact some of the above mentioned businesses or similar businesses and ask them if they would be inclined to purchase some it from you. Shoot them an email. What would it hurt?

I don't know if any of this informations is helpful or not. But I hope so.

The real beauty about selling on the internet is that you don't have to be a salesman to sell your product. Bookends may not do well for local tourists but might do pretty good on the internet.

 

[rmptr]

Re: Petrified wood like you won't believe

Hello Pronghorn,

Well, you might should have been in the sales forum, but you got some attention, and that's what counts!

I have a business associate near Sacramento, CA who is working with high-dollars homes and remains very busy, in spite of the present real estate scenario...

I shall ask him if he's interested in perhaps 100 tons of architectural petrified wood.

Carlos is a very nice fellow, and could be a good contact for you.

I'll be back,
rmptr

 

[pronghorn]

Re: Petrified wood like you won't believe

Hello Pronghorn,



I have a business associate near Sacramento, CA who is working with high-dollars homes and remains very busy, in spite of the present real estate scenario...

I shall ask him if he's interested in perhaps 100 tons of architectural petrified wood.

Carlos is a very nice fellow, and could be a good contact for you.

I'll be back,
rmptr

That's what I'm talking about, thanks rmptr.
It doesn't have to be 100 tons, if someone wanted a truck load or partial load even.
That is the market I am looking at, high end real estate, people who want a
unique yard or building and can pay. I just don't know how to go about contacting
the right people or who they are?

If I could sell some maybe I could afford to buy a saw or build a saw big enough
to cut some of these huge stumps. I want to cut and polish enough to do a large
wall fireplace surround. I can see it in my mind and it is mind blowing. After I
built that and showed the pictures or let people see it, the rock would sell itself.

Not long ago a nearby hardware store had a couple of petrified trees in their parking lot - sold each of them in no time at all - don't remember the prices they asked. Anyhow, people use petrified stumps and logs in landscaping. With the push to get people to use less water all across this country, petrified logs and stumps make good points of interest in a rock garden or a natural setting. I would ask at a hardware store or a landscape contractor and see if they will buy or consign your stuff.

You can send my commission to my PayPal account.

Thanks Ttales, I have property with highway frontage with a large display of
petrified wood, just not enough people or tourist traffic in this area to make much
money and I don't have much time, need to unload a bunch.

You weren't kidding. Those are some big pieces.


---------
Another option if you are only interested in selling the raw material (untouched stumps) you may want to contact some of the above mentioned businesses or similar businesses and ask them if they would be inclined to purchase some it from you. Shoot them an email. What would it hurt?

I don't know if any of this informations is helpful or not. But I hope so.

The real beauty about selling on the internet is that you don't have to be a salesman to sell your product. Bookends may not do well for local tourists but might do pretty good on the internet.

Thanks Allen. Looks like some good links, I will check them out soon and fire off
some emails

Treasurenet is the best site with the friendliest folks and I thank God I found this
site.


YOU PEOPLE ROCK

This is "half" of a stump that broke in two when I moved it, a full 8 feet in diameter!

 

[pronghorn]

Re: Petrified wood like you won't believe

With the push to get people to use less water all across this country, petrified logs and stumps make good points of interest in a rock garden or a natural setting.

Here is one big rock in it's natural setting, could be a foot thick, could be 6 foot
thick, I haven't got around to diggin this one yet.

 

[lamplighter36]

Re: Petrified wood like you won't believe

Hey Pronghorn,

Travel channel jus aired a "cash and treasures" episode on petrified wood from Oregon. Like everything on that show her finds are a bit inflated (as far as real value) in my opinion. But you should see some of the value they were quoting!!!

I think you have it figured out though, claiming a 100$ pair of bookends, and actually selling a pair of petrified wood bookends for 100$ is two totally different things.

just thinking about this, if a large volume buyer doesnt materialize...and you can stand having people dig your property, you could open it up to puiblic fee digging. most places charge buy the bucket load or by weight. I think with time people will come and dig. I dont think you will get rich though. Certainly not any time fast and you will deal with people and their "issues" all the time.

Here's an idea, see if there is any interest with the fancy counter top people. If the richy-rich folks will pay top dollar for granite maybe there is a market for cut and polished p-wood. I know in Sicily they cut up lava rock and make counter tops, BBQ's, tables etc. you've got some very large pieces. I would contact a stone cutting place and see what they say about finding a market for counter tops. You get one supplier willing to take a chance and it finds a market, they might come and haul all that rock out of there.

sure sounds like fun. best of luck!
- thomas

 

[pronghorn]

Re: Petrified wood like you won't believe

more pics, overall length of yellow handled shovel is 5 feet for size reference.

 

[Nashoba]

Re: Petrified wood like you won't believe

ALL I can say is that I have done my share of digging petrified wood and agate and you have some PRIME stuff with regards to building materials. IF you are able to connect with the right people you have the potential to make a bundle. I know I saw some pieces in the pics that if cut down would easily sell for$200 bookends!
~Nash~

 

[pronghorn]

Re: Petrified wood like you won't believe

Didn't know there were only two classifications as I can show at least 3 varieties
found in my area.
It is mostly all silicified or agatized but can have lots of fractures
Have a cut and polished piece with my dad's initials in it that looks like gem to me.
I don't know, help.

 

[Nashoba]

Re: Petrified wood like you won't believe

Didn't know there were only two classifications as I can show at least 3 varieties
found in my area.
It is mostly all silicified or agatized but can have lots of fractures
Have a cut and polished piece with my dad's initials in it that looks like gem to me.
I don't know, help.

There are more than two forms. Opalized is a nice type found here in Oregon. I plan on finding some very very soon~

~Nash~

 

[pronghorn]

Re: Petrified wood like you won't believe

Your photos are too small for my eyeballs, so I did some enlarging. The piece on the left appears to be a nice piece of gem grade material. It would probably look great cut and polished. The value then depends on the colors in it, the size of the pieces cut, and the quality of the polish. The piece on the right would be a very nice speciman piece just as is. Depending on its size and density, it could bring as much as $120.00 but without holding it and seeing it in person, it's really just a WAG.

You could very well have both gem and landscape material in one log or one piece of material. Or you could get extremely lucky and have an entire log composed of gem quality material - whoopie! That could be a museum piece. Or you could have mostly landscape quality, which would require doing your footwork (or phone calls) to find a buyer. I imagine you'll have to physically take some typical samples to people so they can see and feel the wood.

Find the right buyer and you'll be rich. But it may take some effort and some time to find the right person in this poor economy and low home sales. Good luck and let us know how it goes for you.

Not familiar with the term WAG?

You are right about actually seeing the stuff I have, just too expensive to haul it around.
I have had some success with road trips, just don't have the means right now to
do road trips and as I mentioned earlier, I live out in the middle of nowhere, not
complaining, I love it here. Just a long way in any direction to put this rock in
front of potential buyers.
I believe I have both, gem quality and landscape quality petrified wood.
just hoping to find a landscape architect who wants to build a structure that will be one of a kind like the one in the pictures above, on a larger scale.
It would be the only one in the world. Maybe I should be talking to the people
in Saudi, they have all our money
I can post some larger close up pics of the gem quality of these samples,
mostly looking to find a buyer of large stumps for a
one of a kind structure or landscape.
I do greatly appreciate all the responses and help you all are posting.

[/quote]
There are more than two forms. Opalized is a nice type found here in Oregon. I plan on finding some very very soon~

~Nash~
[/quote]

Hey Nash, if you ever are in my area ( about 1000 miles east of you)
PM me and I will make your day.... OK?

 

[pronghorn]

Re: Petrified wood like you won't believe

Thanks TT
Problem is it is not a new find, I just have to do something with it soon.
sell it, or bury it, give it away.

I bet if I advertised it for givaway there would be a line from here to next year.
No, I won't misrepresent it but thanks for your help, I will somehow have to
get back on the road, once people actually see it and can touch it, it's sold.
Any of you ever make it to SW North Dakota and want some petrified wood,
I have a little for sale

I'll keep hunting for that one person, all it takes is one, the right one.
Thanks again all for your help.

 

[allen_idaho]

Re: Petrified wood like you won't believe

Hi again. I did a little digging on the internet and found this website.

http://www.ha.com

It is Heritage Auction Galleries. They do a lot of Natural History auctions such as fossils, gems, and petrified wood. In fact they have one coming up in June.

You could give them a try. Just consign some of your petrified wood to them and let them sell it for you in the auction. Although there is a fee. They get a percentage of the ending sale price for selling your items. Same as ebay or any other auction house.

They can also give you a free appraisal. There is an online form on their website. Fill it out, attach some pictures, and see what happens.

I'll keep digging and see if there is anything else I can find for you that might be useful.

 

[Montana Jim]

Re: Petrified wood like you won't believe

Train freight is the way to go... get the things to Glendive or the other closest station... let the purchaser pay for the freight.