A friend of mine, an old diver buddy, and one of the few people I can hang out with and do a little light drinking and have a good time, decided to get a new boat motor. He didn’t trade in his old motor, a 2012 Mercury, 4 stroke, 60hp. Well, he wound up making me an offer I couldn’t refuse. The boat motor is hanging from a hoist, dangling from a swingset I built years ago, which was built heavy duty enough to double as a motor puller.
Well, I can’t leave it there forever, and as I already have a 90 hp 2 stroke Mercury, sitting on the outboard stand I built a while back, I decided to build another stand, this time a quick, easy build, from plans on the net using 2×4’s and a 2×6″. So I drove my happy ass to the lumber shed in town and told the owner I wanted three 2×4″ and one 2×6″. He tallied it up and it came to $42 and change. I was incredulous! I asked him, did he get that right? Three 2×4″ and one 2×6″? He looked it over and told me yes, that was correct. I said… no. I’m not paying $42 and change, for 4 planks that not that long ago I could have bought for a twenty, and have enough left over for a Coke. So I got back in my truck and went home, not just a little miffed.
Well I did some inventory in the shop and I have some 1″ square tube steel, but nowhere near enough to build the stand from metal as I did the first one. So I drove to our closest metal supply/scrap yard and inquired how much would it cost me for three 8′ pieces of medium grade thickness, 1″ square tube steel. It came to $42.
So you can buy freaking steel for the same price as lumber right now apparently.
As I always do when I’m at the scrap yard, I poked around in the scrap and bought some pieces of flat steel and diamond plate, the kind of stuff that comes in handy when you have a welder and are prone to using it periodically. It all came to $51.
My new outboard stand is 90% done, I still have one piece to weld in, and I have the scrap piece of 2×6″ I found while digging in the shop, drilled and drying with its first coat of polyurethane. I typically use a product, it is a spray on bedliner in a rattle can, to protect my steel creations (Dupli-Color brand), but my local Auto Zone no longer carries it apparently, so I had to order 2 cans from Amazon. It’s always something.
Anyway, consider this fair warning. If you are planning a project that will be using lumber, and it’s that time of the year here in the states, be sitting down when you hear how much it will cost you!
Oh, I went back to the lumber shed to buy the hardware to complete the outboard stand, it cost me right around $10, for four 1/4-20 bolts, 3.5″ long, with washers and nylock nuts. And two 1/2″ bolts, 5″ long, with washers and nylock nuts.
If you happen to have a good supply of lumber, and a good supply of hardware right now, you might want to consider leaving it to the kids in the will! Things are getting to where stuff like that is heirloom material.
Just in case you are wondering, you know how some things just seem to be attracted to certain people? That’s my problem with boats and outboards… and guitars. Somehow they find me.
Evidence Based Reality 
Not only is lumber skyrocketing in price, supply is evaporating. There are all kinds of building projects stalled because there’s no material to be had. Who knew that Covid would be so hard on managed forests?
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Yeah, I was surprised when the owner told me he was having trouble keeping inventory.
I told him I got the steel for what it would have cost me for the lumber. He was mildly surprised, but not entirely shocked.
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Those prices are ridiculous. Consider that the housing construction industry is shut down like the rest of business, so there cannot be any kind of shortage, unless lumber is not being produced. I don’t have any data so can’t come up with definitive opinion. In a situation in which the prices of something have gobe up astronomically, the retailer should warn shoppers, otherwise there is just unnecessary congestion at the registers and unnecessary restocking.
On Wed, Mar 24, 2021 at 7:18 AM Evidence Based Reality wrote:
> shelldigger posted: ” A friend of mine, an old diver buddy, and one of the > few people I can hang out with and do a little light drinking and have a > good time, decided to get a new boat motor. He didn’t trade in his old > motor, a 2012 Mercury, 4 stroke, 60hp. Well, he wound up ” >
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I believe there is a problem with supply. Not sure exactly where the breakdown is occurring. But it has caused prices to go way up.
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This has been going on for awhile, shell. My husband has a portable band saw and I can’t tell you how many calls he gets a week. People get projects started and are unable to finish because they just can’t get any more materials. Hubby was kept quite busy last summer by two men; both of them needing lots of lumber. He’d take his mill out and manufacture lumber for them from their logs. This spring, both of those men have bought their own mills – hubby breathed a huge sigh of relief. :). Between his own projects and that of our son and son-in-law, it keeps him busy enough!
You sound so resourceful; good for you!
Oh, and a p.s – I got my first jab this morning! (Astra-Zeneca)
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The things I do vary from project to project, I haven’t bought lumber in quite a while. I had no idea the current state of affairs, till I was gobsmacked at the register.
Right at, or around 100% markup from last I remember. Maybe a little more.
Congrats on the jab! I haven’t got one yet, but I’m anxious to get one. My wife has had both of hers. She had a mild reaction after the second shot. Swelling and soreness at the jab site for several days, and mild flu like symptoms for a day or two. But now she is covered, for a while. One of my boys had covid, I did a post on it a while back, so he should be good for a while. I need to get mine soon. 🙂
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You must be a young fella, comparatively speaking. ;). Ours have only opened up for over 80’s and early 60’s. . .so far. I don’t get another one until early July. All good!
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Yeah, that’s it! I’m a young fella 😉
I can get mine now I think, I just haven’t gone and done it. It is on my list 🙂
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Just got my second jab yesterday (Modena). Essentially no reaction from the first one other than a vague itching.
This second one has created a bit more intense itching and some slight swelling at the injection site, but so far nothing else. Fingers crossed.
Just glad to get it over with, even though with the variants, one STILL has to be cautious. *sigh*
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Lumber isn’t the only thing that’s gone up! My other-half likes to target shoot and goes to the range as often as possible. When he tried to order some ammunition to replace what he’s used, he was gob-smacked at the prices!!
One might consider the pandemic has played a role … but putting two and two together tends to leave one scratching their head.
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I have been aware that ammo has been getting more expensive at a pretty steady rate. I haven’t done much shooting as a result. I’d like to go blast a target to kingdom come, but it’s becoming a rich mans hobby. Or at least a well to do mans hobby. I suppose I can afford it if I really wanted to, but I’m too damn cheap to want to!
Times we live in, two and two doesn’t add up anymore. Not to what we thought it was 😉
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