Could you make a lot of money doing this?

[jeremy clarkson]

I once saw a program where a couple of guys went into the woods everyday and cut down like 3 trees then they had a pair of horses drag the logs out and they sold them to saw mills?

How much can you get for a cedar or fir log from a saw mill? Do saw mills buy a couple of logs at a time from individuals?

 

[056kid]

Haven't you made enough with Top Gear?

 

[2dogs]

I once saw a program where a couple of guys went into the woods everyday and cut down like 3 trees then they had a pair of horses drag the logs out and they sold them to saw mills?

How much can you get for a cedar or fir log from a saw mill? Do saw mills buy a couple of logs at a time from individuals?

No.

 

[jrr344]

I once saw a program where a couple of guys went into the woods everyday and cut down like 3 trees then they had a pair of horses drag the logs out and they sold them to saw mills?

How much can you get for a cedar or fir log from a saw mill? Do saw mills buy a couple of logs at a time from individuals?

If they make a TV show out of it and you overly dramatize it I bet you could make a killing doing that.

 

[madhatte]

One of these days I'll have to write up my adventures in small sales. Super-short version: you best have your ducks in a row long before you even select trees for harvest. Hate to give such a grim outlook, but them's the facts.

 

[lfnh]

I once saw a program where a couple of guys went into the woods everyday and cut down like 3 trees then they had a pair of horses drag the logs out and they sold them to saw mills?

Small scaled sale - not likely.

Otherwise, depending on where and what species - quite possibly a very good living. But not 200 days a year.

 

[Gologit]

Do saw mills buy a couple of logs at a time from individuals?

The big mills? No. Not in your area, anyway. Too much hassle for the amount of wood involved. Smaller mills might but they're getting hard to find.

Plus, consider what it's going to cost you to haul those logs. Transportation is expensive .

You'd be better off having a portable sawmill on site or cutting the logs for firewood. Usually, low volume equals low income...on the Left Coast anyway.

 

[madhatte]

...on the Left Coast anyway.

That's a solid point. I am speaking strictly from a West-Coast perspective. I have no idea how things shake out elsewhere.

 

[bitzer]

I saw that show a couple of years ago. There were several different logging scenerios shown. The horse loggers focusing on low-impact, earth friendly, and amateurish cutting skills, heli-logging big cedar in BC I believe, and swamp logging. Bobby Goodson actually came out of that. I doubt small time softwood would get you anywhere, but maybe, maybe one guy busting his ass and getting great stands of peeler hardwood could make it pan out. IF he knew what the hell he was doing in advance and with the right equipment and set-up.

 

[tlandrum]

ive cut single vaneer trees that brought 3000 bucks but you know how often you find timber that good. maybe one a year

 

[autis]

out here in my area if a guy could get into a decent walnut patch then thatd probly work great. our walnut buyer comes out and marks the logs for bucking and then picks them up with his own picker truck and hauls em off. a small scale guy could cut and skid the walnut logs all week and on friday the buyer could come out and do his thing. id say a guy could make pretty decent money doin that.

other than walnut the best thing would probly be sellin white oak butt logs to a stave plant but unless you paid a guy to load and haul them or could do that yourself then it probly wouldnt work. to make it worth anybodies time then ud have to have a full load ready and that could take quite a while with just mules.

 

[ShermanC]

The big mills? No. Not in your area, anyway. Too much hassle for the amount of wood involved. Smaller mills might but they're getting hard to find.

Plus, consider what it's going to cost you to haul those logs. Transportation is expensive .

You'd be better off having a portable sawmill on site or cutting the logs for firewood. Usually, low volume equals low income...on the Left Coast anyway.

From all I've learned of logging in north ARKANSAS, the costs and requirements for a profitable load of logs is the same here as what you shared about the W. Coast. Be safe and careful out there!

 

[RandyMac]

I did a whole bunch of small timber jobs, some on private land, more with the Feds. Sometimes it was only 5-6 trees. I had a plan for every stick before putting steel to them. It did help that one of my drinking buddies had a selfloading log truck and good connections at a small mill. A few times we stockpiled logs to sell to larger mills.
There are often time limits, co-ordinating all aspects of the harvest is important.