Pay price for tops

[Curlycherry1]

I cleared tops for logging operations only twice and they were both on hard sand so no skidder ruts, and I also got a fair number of standing damaged trees and culls.

I had a contract to cut one set of tops on ~250 acres and it was a big contract but after seeing what the skidders did to the place I told the forester running the sale to forget it. He said he had lots of people interested and could get a better price than what I was paying ($5/full cord) but those tops were never pulled out of that contract. He never got anyone crazy enough to go into that mess and try to get them. It was sad to see them go to waste because it was hard maple, beech, and oak and nearly every top was ~30" at the butt. Lots of wood in those tops, but the big logs from those trees they skidded out under wet conditions caused the skidders to dig to China. That is the place I have pictures of I am trying to find and post.

 

[avalancher]

Forget paying for tops,run you an ad in Craigslist and you will have more than you know what to do with if you run it in the summer months. I made the mistake a few years ago doing just that and used up all my cell minutes in a little over a week.finally just quite answering the phone.It was what prompted me to go and get licensed and insured and now I get paid to take out those trees or clean up behind a logging operation.

Because its not my primary job, I can work a little cheaper and be more selective on my jobs and I also avoid stepping on the toes of the bigger tree companies around here.In fact, I get some of my work from them when they dont want to fool with a job, and it keeps me in their good graces.

If you are looking for wood, call tree companies,contact a nearby sawmill for their cut offs and slabs, and thumb through the yellow pages for logging companies.No need to pay for wood.
Watch the cut offs from the mills though,if you see any blue or red paint marks it might mean that there is metal in the wood, generally pretty close to where the paint marks are.Dont ask me how I know!

 

[freemind]

Forget paying for tops,run you an ad in Craigslist and you will have more than you know what to do with if you run it in the summer months. I made the mistake a few years ago doing just that and used up all my cell minutes in a little over a week.finally just quite answering the phone.It was what prompted me to go and get licensed and insured and now I get paid to take out those trees or clean up behind a logging operation.

Because its not my primary job, I can work a little cheaper and be more selective on my jobs and I also avoid stepping on the toes of the bigger tree companies around here.In fact, I get some of my work from them when they dont want to fool with a job, and it keeps me in their good graces.

If you are looking for wood, call tree companies,contact a nearby sawmill for their cut offs and slabs, and thumb through the yellow pages for logging companies.No need to pay for wood.
Watch the cut offs from the mills though,if you see any blue or red paint marks it might mean that there is metal in the wood, generally pretty close to where the paint marks are.Dont ask me how I know!

No saw mills here. No logging opertions either. Logging isn't a real big thing around here.
Tree services either sell the wood or are only willing to get rid of junk woods, like cottonwood, pine, or willow. Junk woods still are not free.

I don't want to fool with trees near buildings or homes. I am not very good at downing trees. Fence lines? Sure I can do them, but it seems people want an aweful lot for free around here. Like the guy whos ad I answered, people are fooled into thinking ANYTHING they have is worth gold.

It boils down to money for me. I won't travel a great distance for wood, as gas adds alot to the expense. I don't want any junk woods. Paying a FEW bucks for tops that will yeild one or two truck loads of good splitable wood is ok with me. So long as I am not going to get stuck, ruin my truck getting it out, or have to spend alot of time cleaning it up to make the landowner happy.

I did get a lead for some wood. I need to call the city, as time to time they trim/cut down trees. Maybe a score or two there this summer.
I have run ads on CL to no avail. Either people in my county don't want/need what I have to offer or they just don't use it (craigslist).

I am sure it will all pan out, but I sure would like to have a steady supply of wood waiting to be cut.

 

[AIM]

I myself have never paid for tops but I know people that have. About $2 per top is what I have been told.
Tops that are still laying there from years back were pretty big, but the last few woods that I have seen logged out the tops were 16" or smaller at the big end. Takes a few of these to get a truck load and therefore not worth much. The problem is all these morons that just got a new wood burner and a snazzy new poulan saw. They will spend as much for wood as they would have buying propane. Can't blame the land owner for taking advantage of this opportunity.

If wood is hard to find I just do some scroungin. Lots of fence rows, downed trees, creek banks etc that need cleaned up. Some of this is tough cuttin but there is an endless supply. This weekend I am going after a bunch of dead elm along a creek. I will guess the first 300' has at least 10 trees 12" - 24" diam. I haven't even bothered to look further down.
My point is. There is enough wood that NEEDS cutting that I won't pay for it.

 

[Curlycherry1]

I found the photos I was looking for. The one on the right is of a skidding road set up by proper management over many decades. The contract I was supposed to get the tops and culls out of were all around roads like this one. Nice straight roads so the skidders should have been able to make nice pulls without ripping things up too much.

The photo on the left shows the results of what the skidders did to a section of the road shown on the right. They chewed everything up like this and notice the debarking of some of the trees and they bumped against them.

When I saw the results I told the forester to stuff it and that I would not be knocking myself out to get the tops and culls out of that area. In this case the wood was just too hard to get to and the risk of me losing my small equipment in that muck was just too high.

 

[freemind]

Well, prices don't matter now. The guy was on the other side of the county.
We didn't even need to discuss prices.

I had a feeling also, it was pretty tore up. The guy doesn't even live, where the wood was logged. This is just property he owns. IMO likely a hunter who needed cash to pay land taxes or a few land payments.

I don't want into a situation like Curleycherry's photos.
Nor did I want to haul wood 20 miles back home.

 

[Dalmatian90]

That's a shame Curlcherry.

I've seen a few abandoned town roads in my area, one just past the place I grew up, that were unmaintained but passable until a logger did similar damage.

The great majority don't tear stuff up like this simply out of a lack of give a damn, but the ones who do leave a very bitter taste in the mouths of people who see the damage.

 

[Fronty Owner]

I hate to leave much of the tops in the woods. I usually take anything larger than a couple inches. the small stuff gets run when Im starting up or in the summer when I light my fire pit and just wanna sit outside with friends, have a couple drinks, let the kids roast marshmellows and a fire go out in a couple hours.
Then again, im not making any money off the wood I cut so its just how much time do I want to spend messing with it.
I guess the tops might be useful to someone with a wood chipper or shredder they could get in there with, but again, its a lot of work.