going to sell some trees. Need some input.

[JC360]

Howdy guys.
I'm planning on selling some tree's this winter. I have a small wood lot, 2.5A. Looks like 40 hard maple, 16-22 in in diameter at chest height. 10 cherry 16- 20 in.
And a handful of others, red oak, bass wood etc.
I have the option of cutting and skidding them out myself or contracting with a logger to do it.
Each option has it's pro's and con's.
What have you all done? And how has it worked out?
I have never sold timber before , so I'm just asking .
Thanks for taking the time to read.

JC

 

[birddogtg]

Let them grow

 

[redoakman]

Hey i am a logger up north here. Sounds like a nice little bush .. You will for sure make more money by doing this your self but there is a huge factor. You will want low stumps bore out the middle of all the trees so you don't pull any fibers out of the log. You will have to learn how to mark the logs to length . ( get most money out of the log as posable took me along time to learn ) . find a mill that wants the logs . find a trucker to haul the logs. I would suggest you finding a very good logging crew in your area that knows what there doing. Most looging company's will go 70-30 or 60-40 . no work needed on your behalf and they do all the work. That's just my advise anyways.

 

[sunfish]

Yeah, I'd let em grow. Those size trees are not goin to bring much $. But that many trees on that small of lot, they likely need thinning. 2.5 acres I'd log it myself...

We've had our place (400 acres) logged once and the logger got half the money. They used draft horses and mules, pretty cool and didn't make a huge mess. This was years ago and we skid our own now.

 

[pioneerguy600]

For a small cut like 2.5 acres, do it yourself. The costs of a logging crew to move their gear to the lot and skid out less than a hundred trees would just about eat up any profit expected. Now if it was 500 plus acres then it would be worth their while. The big machines used today also cause a lot of collateral damage on other trees and the forest floor, take that into consideration.

 

[JC360]

Thanks for the feedback!
I would love to let them grow more, but they do need some thinning and I need some $$$. I would love to have someone else with more experience help , but the aftermath that some operations leave behind doesn't exactly thrill me.
The percentages given help a lot! It gives me some idea what to expect.
I have 2 pro's comming out to give me quotes. We'll see what happens.

 

[slowp]

Post on the Forestry and Logging section.

Have you got a buyer? Hauler? Out here, you need to know what lengths the mills want. Those diameters are the desirable size for west coast timber. Check it out. Does your area have a county forester? They might be helpful.

Are there forest practice laws? Wetland buffering? Lots of things to think of. In our state, you need a permit to log more than a load a year and there are rules for such things to protect fish and wildlife.

Also, the aftermath of logging never looks neat and tidy. You'll have cleanup work to do to make it so.

Oh, and if you decide to have somebody else log it, check their references. Make up a contract.
You will also want to determine the volume you are logging -- do a timber cruise, for your own protection.

 

[fearofpavement]

I doubt you could even get someone to come look at that amount of trees around here. Timber prices are way low. It actually may behoove you to wait until the housing market gets stronger again. I think that you will find that by the time you go through it all, you'll net very few dollars and probably for sure not enough to compensate for the mess. In some areas, the trees would actually be more valuable for firewood. Not sure of where you are though.

 

[JC360]

Well, I have been told that maple is quite high right now. As is walnut, but I only have a couple of those. I would love to try it myself, work is a bit slow right now and it would be a great excuse to 044 some tree's
I'm 25-30 miles south of grand rapids

 

[Warped5]

Just so you know ... a 'good' walnut can bring a couple thousand dollars if it's usable for veneer.

 

[JC360]

Yeah, my neighbor sold his walnuts off last year and got a check for 93 k.

I do not know what makes a veneer log , other than no branches and a straight trunk. On the maples you can throw curly and birds eye into the mix too. I guess it all boils down to getting someone you can trust to not rip you off. Easier said than done though.

 

[redoakman]

walnut trees are way to over rated you will only here about the good ones. veneer buyers are like lawyers they argue and are picky as f uck . we try to explain to land owners just because u have a walnut dosent mean it a veneer. im not saying your walnuts are not veneer . im actually saying as you speak the environment you described is the best place for a really nice walnut to grow . if you have time and can snap some close up i will let you know what kinda prices you may get .

 

[Warped5]

... and let's no forget the burls on walnut and oak trees .... a big one can bring big $$ from those making gun stocks and knife handles

 

[fearofpavement]

[QUOTE="JC36
I'm 25-30 miles south of grand rapids[/QUOTE]

Like in Allegan County?

 

[treeslayer2003]

[QUOTE="fearofpavement, post: 5163230, . Timber prices are way low. It actually may behoove you to wait until the housing market gets stronger again. [/QUOTE]
what? hard wood is better than ever here. even junk is good money now.......gum is more than pine. i do aggree he don't have hardly enough to atract any real interest.

 

[fearofpavement]

Does a burl like this have any value?

 

[JC360]

[QUOTE="JC36
I'm 25-30 miles south of grand rapids

Like in Allegan County?[/QUOTE]
Yes . afraid so

 

[fearofpavement]

[QUOTE="fearofpavement, post: 5163230, . Timber prices are way low. It actually may behoove you to wait until the housing market gets stronger again.

what? hard wood is better than ever here. even junk is good money now.......gum is more than pine. i do aggree he don't have hardly enough to atract any real interest.[/QUOTE]
............................................................................................................................................
Well, my neighbor just had a second thinning of a Loblolly stand (maybe 20-25 acres) and she got $3000. That wouldn't have been enough to clean up all the slash they left. (they're doing the cleanup themselves)

 

[treeslayer2003]

pine is way down........little pine i don't even want if ya give it to me...........this summer i was putting 7-8 pine on a semi load and sad about it for the price.........they where dieing. hard wood is hot, what we used to call trash brings much better than even large pine. it is a shame, but i don't think it will get better untill cheap imported lumber is slowed.

 

[dave53223]

Does a burl like this have any value?

View attachment 396529

Yes it does.