160,000 BF cotton wood

[Dirtscooter5]

Curious everyones thoughts on Logging cottonwood. I am a farmer that cuts a lot of wood and has felled quite a few trees. We had a logger come out and look at some acreage we have along the Missouri river he estimated the 160,000 BF. He pays around .10 cents if he cuts it and would pay us 20-24 cents we cut it. I have a 241, 362, 461, and 660. and we have a 110 hp front assist tractor for skidding. Would I be crazy to take this on as a winter time project? probably me and one other guy, maybe 2 other guys.

Thanks Nick

 

[chucker]

as in any venture, location and elevation of ground! cottonwood should be bottom land which is prone to soft ground along with flooding! if these conditions are acceptable working order conditions it is doable! 160,000 board feet( 2 cord per 1000 bf) of logs are in the neighborhood of 320 cords. with that cordage and working a 40 hour week? and doing 5 to 10 cords a day for two man team?(not knowing before hand the current winter conditions ) this is acceptable working with non forest logging equipment! timber size is the mean of the scale for your question! these cords of 320 are in the figure of 32 semi loads with an average of 10 cds. per. weight limits may very! ?? $38,000 is a paycheck @ .24 a board foot. question is ? log length(whole tree trunk) or bucked into a desired length??

 

[northmanlogging]

depends on what else you have going, cotton wood is pretty much worthless out here, though a guy can get some money out of it, but its barely worth the effort to cut it.

so you could do alright just having some one else log it, end of the day you get a check regardless, If you decide to log it, then yer looking at a whole lot of low pay for a whole lot of hard work.

 

[BlackCoffin]

Yup basically a worthless wood, but if a logging company has use for it then by all means make some money off that stuff! They grow big and tall! Here's one I dropped last week. About 36" at the base. We've taken some down close to 48".

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

We make lumber out of poplar.

Makes good trailer decking, boards, etc. Not good for beams though.

 

[BlackCoffin]

We've also made boards for our flatbeds and trailers out of cottonwood.

 

[Gypo Logger]

It comes down to math. Find out what log buyer dude pays for a load and don't sign no contract. To many variables at this point.
Also find out what the buyer is calling a log.
Log buyers have a huge advantage over the uninitiated. A per ton price would be easier to work with which nicely elimates both grading and scaling, which is the way most lowgrade is sold. Not to say there might be some grade in the butt logs or a patch of prime wood in the back 40 you haven't discovered yet.
Just think that 160,000 bf is close to 3oo,000 cords, a huge job for a hand faller, but easy for a mechanized outfit.
Twere me, I'd be doing my homework.

 

[Gypo Logger]

On second thought, call it a dollar a cord or 10$ a ton for a cool 300,000$ U.S.
I'd be tempted to take the money and run.
Just consider that the bush is gonna look like a bad haircut after it gets plundered and pounded.

 

[chucker]

On second thought, call it a dollar a cord or 10$ a ton for a cool 300,000$ U.S.
I'd be tempted to take the money and run.
Just consider that the bush is gonna look like a bad haircut after it gets plundered and pounded.

I like your math way better than mine john! 10 times the profit and 10 times the going price of a common board foot..... seems like them cottonwoods must be inflated with helium gas to expand that much hey!! lol

 

[Dirtscooter5]

I guess what I am thinking is if we decide to we can try it awhile cut a few loads and if were not getting along too good at it we can always quit and have the logger finish the job. On the math it should be how chucker figured it. He is paying by the BF .10 cents if he cuts it .24 cents if we cut it. so we would make around 20k if we cut it all. The logger also has 2 sawmills and makes blocking and things out of the cottonwood he seems to have pretty good demand for it.

 

[chucker]

? any new updates on the venture??