Selling Standing Timber

[CandJ]

Last summer I bought a new house that stands on 1.6 heavily wooded acres. I have about 20 or so trees that I'd really like to have taken down (all hardwood) and heard that some companies may purchase them from me and take them down. I was wondering if that was true, and how much was a fair price to expect for each tree. The trees are fairly straight, about 30 feet tall, hardwood, and average 1' in diameter. Some are close to the house. My hope is to get enough to pay someone to come later and grind the stumps. Also, if someone does take the trees, will I be left with a mess as far as branches and debris are concerned? I live in Northeast Ohio and any input would be appreciated.

Thanx - Jim

 

[swampwhiteoak]

Probably not going to happen. I think your measurements are probably a bit off. If you meant 1- 1.5ft in diameter, the trees would probably be between 60-80 feet tall. If they are really only 30ft tall, they aren't merchantible.

First, loggers don't clean up their mess. Tops will be left behind.

Second, a 1.6 acre lot is not a lot to work with from a loggers standpoint and probably more headache than it is worth.

Third, only certain species are merchantible so there is a good chance many of the trees you want to remove aren't valuable.

I don't know what someone would charge for stump grinding, but likely it would cost more than the logging would pay.

Your best case scenerio would be for these trees to be veneer quality black cherry or sugar maple, then you might have some interest. Second best scenerio would be to find someone with a portable sawmill cut the trees on your property. Don't expect a lot of money from that, though.

Contact a forester in your area, if they are passing through you might be able to get them to stop and take a look at your situation. Site specific advice is impossible to give via the internet.

Good luck

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Another problem is that you may not have enough trees for a mill to come get.

Look in the phone book for foresters and give on a call to see if it would be worth his time to look at them.

More then likely they are firewood quality, but you never know.

 

[treeman82]

A good friend of mine works for a tree company out in South Euclid. Forrest City Tree I believe they are called. The owner is a very respectable and knowledgable guy. (Past NAA pres / ISA VP I believe?) You can call them at (216) 381-1700. Good luck.

 

[CandJ]

Thanx

Thanx for the replies. Looking again at the trees, I guess that they are about 60' tall. I have a friend who'll take the trees and cleanup for free (for firewood), and I can rent a stump grinder for $200 for the day. If the loggers don't work out, I'll go with that plan.

Jim

 

[CandJ]

For the Curious

A pic of my backyard and some of the trees that I want taken out.

You can see how shady it is - and how close some of the trees are to the house.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Your big problem is that they are concidered urban trees. There is a high risk of metal in the wood. Most larger mills will not take this class of wood. Not enough benefit from the risk of blade damage.

Then there is a lot of "Sweep" in the logs, so they are marginal at best.

I cannot tell speicies from the picture.

The only way to sell them in my area would be to haul them to the mill, or find a small indipendant mill that will pick up at the driveway. If you do the former, you would have to lie that they came from a woodlot.

 

[ArborView]

If you have a friend who will take them and cleanup for free, that's the way I would go. The trees in your picture don't look to me like they would be too good for saw logs. Probably firewood, as already mentioned. Just make sure you're friend knows what he's doing, or you'll end up with a tree on your house.