The MYTH behind straight lined lumber.  Do you know how much footage is lost when lumber is straight-lined?

More importantly; are you being OVER-CHARGED by your current supplier when purchasing straight-lined lumber?


We cringe when we hear that suppliers are adding 10 to 12% on tally loss when invoicing for straight-lined lumber.


Hardwood Industries has the answer to these questions. We did a study with our computerized lumber tally system to find the exact footage lost based on width and length. Using our system, we tallied 200 BF quantities of many species of lumber before and after straight lining. Here are the actual results we found for the sample units we ran.


You will be surprised by the difference in the loss tallied to the tenth of a foot and the NHLA tally method.


Industry Standard NHLA Tally Method - 10' Lumber


(Average loss is 0.5 BF. With NHLA grading rules, half the boards will lose a whole BF.)
Ave. Width Tally Before S/L Tally after S/L % Lost on Footage
4" 4 BF 3.5 BF -12.5%
5" 5 BF 4.5 BF -10.0%
6" 6 BF 5.5 BF -8.3%
7" 7 BF 6.5 BF -7.1%
8" 8 BF 7.5 BF -6.3%
9" 9 BF 8.5 BF -5.6%
10" 10 BF 9.5 BF -5.0%
11" 11 BF 10.5 BF -4.5%
12" 12 BF 11.5 BF -4.2%

Industry Standard 10' Tally Average: 

-7.1%



Hardwood Industries Standard Tally to the Tenth of a Board Foot - 10' Lumber

Ave. Width Tally Before S/L Tally after S/L % Lost on Footage
4" 3.3 BF 3.0 BF -9.1%
5" 4.2 BF 3.9 BF -7.1%
6" 5.0 BF 4.7 BF -6.0%
7" 5.8 BF 5.5 BF -5.2%
8" 6.7 BF 6.4 BF -4.5%
9" 7.5 BF 7.2 BF -4.0%
10" 8.3 BF 8.0 BF -3.6%
11" 9.2 BF 8.9 BF -3.3%
12" 10.0 BF 9.7 BF -3.0%

Hardwood Industries 10' Tally Average:

-5.1%



Hardwood Industries Standard Tally to the Tenth of a Board Foot - 8' Lumber

Ave. Width Tally Before S/L Tally after S/L % Lost on Footage
4" 2.7 BF 2.5 BF -7.4%
5" 3.3 BF 3.1 BF -6.1%
6" 4.0 BF 3.8 BF -5.0%
7" 4.7 BF 4.5 BF -4.3%
8" 5.3 BF 5.1 BF -3.8%
9" 6.0 BF 5.8 BF -3.3%
10" 6.7 BF 6.5 BF -3.0%
11" 7.3 BF 7.1 BF -2.7%
12" 8.0 BF 7.8 BF -2.5%

Hardwood Industries 8' Tally Average:

-4.2%



Hardwood Industries' straight-line loss for 10' is only 5.3%.  For 8', only 4.3%.


What we found: The wider the average width of the lumber, the lower the straight line loss. And, the longer the length of the board, the higher the straight line loss. The percentage of footage lost varies depending on the average width of the boards in the unit.
For lumber averaging 6" in width the percentage of footage lost is approximately 6.3%. In the above table is a sheet calculating the percentage of footage lost depending on the average width of lumber in a unit. An assumption is made that 3/8" is lost for saw kerf and edging on each board.
Use this table to assist in determining footage prior to straight lining from your current supplier.

We encourage you to contact us to discuss how you are buying your straight lined lumber to MAXIMIZE your profits!


We encourage you to contact us to discuss how you are buying your straight lined lumber to MAXIMIZE your profits!


Download our PDF Flier on Straight-Line Loss.