Three ways to train

Read the stem. Make the call. See how you did.

SumBuck turns real bucking and grading decisions into hands-on practice you can repeat as many times as it takes — no log deck, no daylight, no wasted wood.

01

Buck a stem

Place your cuts along a full tree-length stem, then score your pattern against the highest-value solution the optimizer finds under the current specs and prices.

02

Learn the optimum

Work through curated instruction stems, each built to teach a specific lesson about length, diameter, sweep, heart, and where the value really sits.

03

Grade logs

Call the grade on pre-cut logs — from slicer veneer down to scrag — with product-specific defect feedback, and keep score as you go.

Freshly bucked hardwood log end showing heartwood, sapwood and a central defect

What you learn to see

Every cut is a value decision

A stem is more than length. SumBuck trains the eye to read small-end diameter, heartwood, sweep, face quality, and visible defects — the same things that decide whether a log makes veneer, a prime sawlog, or scrag.

Roll the stem and inspect all four faces
Use the magnifier to study defects up close
See grade, volume, and value for every segment
Compare your pattern with the optimal, side by side

The grading ladder

From slicer veneer to scrag

Marked log ends in the yard are where careers are made or lost. SumBuck’s Grade mode drills the full product ladder — slicer and rotary veneer, prime and select sawlogs, #1 through #3, and scrag — against real species standards.

Eleven valuable hardwood species
Resident Northern Hardwoods market built in
Product-specific and veneer-only defect rules
Keep score across a full set of logs

Row of bucked hardwood butt logs with grade marks on the ends

Built for the hardwood region

Real species. Real markets. Real rules.

11

Hardwood speciesHard & soft maple, red/black/white oak, white ash, hickory, yellow birch, black cherry, tulip poplar, and walnut.

3

Log rulesInternational ¼-inch, Doyle, and Scribner — switch and watch the value change.

8

Product classesFrom slicer veneer down to scrag, with defect rules that match each grade.

∞

Your own marketsEnter specs and prices for any species and save a custom market.

100

Practice stems & logsA deep library for bucking and grading, plus curated instruction stems.

0

Cost to startThe free edition is fully capable — open it in a browser and go.

Editions

Free to practice. Custom when it counts.

The free edition is robust and complete — it works just fine for training sessions, vo-tech and forestry schools, and everyday practice. When you need it branded and built out, the custom edition is ready.

Free edition

SumBuck Free

$0

Robust enough for real training — not a stripped-down demo.

All three modes: Buck, Learn, Grade
Eleven hardwood species and the resident market
Enter your own specs and prices
Great for training sessions, vo-tech schools & daily practice

Launch SumBuck Free →

Custom & workshop

SumBuck Custom

Let’s talk

Branded and built out for your region, organization, or event.

Branded to any region, state, agency, business, or organization
Additional features beyond the free edition
Ability to input entire markets
One-stop versions for individual workshops

Contact Steve Bick →

Custom builds, regional branding, and single-workshop editions — contact Steve Bick for pricing and options.

Hardwood log bucker training session in the field

Who built it

Designed and created by Dr. Steve Bick

SumBuck comes out of a long association with hardwood log bucker training. Dr. Bick served as program manager for the US Forest Service’s Hardwood Value Improvement Project and the Hardwood Utilization Project that succeeded it.

Over the years he has put on, assisted with, and supported hardwood bucker training sessions throughout the 35-state hardwood region. He saw the need for a modern, up-to-date virtual log-bucking trainer — and SumBuck is the result.

— Steve Bick, Northeast Forests · Lumbermen OS