Oh, HELLS NO!
Any reputable timber buyer will pay for hardwood by grade, and thousand board feet. softwood might be bought like that as well, though here in Maine and NH it's almost always a "straight through" price- meaning you get "X" per thousand feet for any and all pine logs, and "X" per thousand for pine pallet / boxwood.
Pulp is by the ton.
Sounds like he's going to get bent over by that outfit. If they pay $400 per load, and they take 20 loads of veneer hardwood that scales out @ 4500 board feet, he gets bent hard.
Tell him to have no less than 5 logging outfits come look. Take all five estimates, discard the ones that are highest and lowest, (One is lying, both are stealing) then choose from who's left after calling your state's timber resource division and asking about the loggers reputation.
Here in NH, it's called DRED, division of resources and economic development.
You can see that he involves a licenced forester, but remember the forester takes his cut right out of the landowner's cut. The logger will make more or less the same as long as they are honest. AND not all foresters are saints. Some do lie cheat and steal like in any other profession.
REFERENCES are important with both loggers and foresters.
