Good Evening!
I am a young man in the tree care/firewood business in Northeast Texas, Emory to be exact. We are on the edge of the Plains, where the Post Oak belt, the Piney Wood, and the grasslands merge. I have been doing tree care for the last 2 years, firewood for 4. The opportunity has come to log 25 acres of medium size oak trees in a creek bottom. So, should I do it? Here is what I have to work with.....
Stihl 661 chainsaw..... Stihl 400cm chainsaw. John Deere 5075E 4x4 loader tractor with brush grapple. My CDL. A single axle dump truck with a 20' flat bed. Access to a semi with a 53' flat bed trailer. Pickup and gooseneck. Old Vermeer 1250BC chipper. 2 or three part time helpers.
The property is rentland for my cattle. The owner wants more usable pasture. It has a bunch of 16-24 inch oak trees in the fenced area where the cows are, and the other half of the property is creek bottom I've never walked through. The trees are bigger in there, but I think it is a mix of hardwood trees, post or white oak being the most valuable, i think. The creek bottom is pretty rough land. Access problems after a rain?
Here is what I am thinking. Do a selective cut of the pasture, leaving some smaller, nice trees for shade. Open it up from being 25 percent pasture to 80 percent pasture. Cut most of the trees in the creek area, leaving some good trees to keep growing for future harvest (the landowner is sorta a do-it-yourselfer). Clean up all the tops for firewood, and either burn or chip the brush.
There isn't much logging done in our area. I don't know of any mills. Anyone have contact info for log buyers in northeast texas?
How much can I expect to make for my effort, and how much to the landowner? A local farmer told me that he spent all he made on his lumber to clean up the area logged. Is that how it works?
Any other ways to sell logs other than to a big lumber mill?
Should i chip the branches, or pile and burn them
Should I even take the job? Or just stick to the work I know? I have been staying busy. But something different would be fun.
I am a young man in the tree care/firewood business in Northeast Texas, Emory to be exact. We are on the edge of the Plains, where the Post Oak belt, the Piney Wood, and the grasslands merge. I have been doing tree care for the last 2 years, firewood for 4. The opportunity has come to log 25 acres of medium size oak trees in a creek bottom. So, should I do it? Here is what I have to work with.....
Stihl 661 chainsaw..... Stihl 400cm chainsaw. John Deere 5075E 4x4 loader tractor with brush grapple. My CDL. A single axle dump truck with a 20' flat bed. Access to a semi with a 53' flat bed trailer. Pickup and gooseneck. Old Vermeer 1250BC chipper. 2 or three part time helpers.
The property is rentland for my cattle. The owner wants more usable pasture. It has a bunch of 16-24 inch oak trees in the fenced area where the cows are, and the other half of the property is creek bottom I've never walked through. The trees are bigger in there, but I think it is a mix of hardwood trees, post or white oak being the most valuable, i think. The creek bottom is pretty rough land. Access problems after a rain?
Here is what I am thinking. Do a selective cut of the pasture, leaving some smaller, nice trees for shade. Open it up from being 25 percent pasture to 80 percent pasture. Cut most of the trees in the creek area, leaving some good trees to keep growing for future harvest (the landowner is sorta a do-it-yourselfer). Clean up all the tops for firewood, and either burn or chip the brush.
There isn't much logging done in our area. I don't know of any mills. Anyone have contact info for log buyers in northeast texas?
How much can I expect to make for my effort, and how much to the landowner? A local farmer told me that he spent all he made on his lumber to clean up the area logged. Is that how it works?
Any other ways to sell logs other than to a big lumber mill?
Should i chip the branches, or pile and burn them
Should I even take the job? Or just stick to the work I know? I have been staying busy. But something different would be fun.