trying too start logging

[dusty_v141]

hey guys i have a few questions that i hope yaw can anwser.
i njust started this tree service but i like to do logging too.
i have a gmc dually, 7000lbs 16' trailer and a 1973 ford 2000 tractor.
i can too alot with this little tractor its just slow on bigger logs.
my question is how do you guys get your tracts of timber too log; do yaw buy the land , log it then sell the land or get leases or what. is there a site you can go too with land owners wanting timber cut. if i can get one good stand of timber i know i can get a backhoe or a tractor with a front end loader. im alos going too try and get a goose neck trailer around 14000lbs or 20000lbs about 30' long. i know you probaly think im crazy but you have too start somewhere and im not trying too go into logging full time as of yet, but i hope too eventually. thanks for yaws help and i love this website its awesome. it needs more felling and logging pic though lol

 

[Oldtimer]

Yaw first want to buy a big stand of really good quality wood for a really good price.
Yaw want to buy a skidder second.
Yaw wanna find a trucker that you can trust third.
Yaw wanna cut timber all day, and half the night fourth.
Yaw wanna forget about getting rich the first few years.

 

[dusty_v141]

lol thanks Oldtimer. i can mov some lumber right now but not alot. enough for me too start and save some money too buy bigger equipment. but everything i have right now is paid for so that helps. my biggest problem is how do you find the tracts of timber so you can buy them. thanks again.

 

[forestryworks]

I'd try and get some of the private landowner jobs. Start small and work your way up. Might even try some of the salvage jobs - do ya'll have any pine beetle problems down there?

Good luck.

 

[dusty_v141]

ya we have had pine beetles alot but thing im finding the most thats hurting the trees is carpenter ants. they are in hardwood as well as softwoods.

 

[ryan_marine]

I am like you. I am a small outfit and use a tractor to skid out logs. Yes it is slow but it gets the job done. Up here I get alot of jobs from farmers that have desent timber in their fence rows or property lines. That is the easiest way for me to get jobs. Just remeber to keep the land owner as happy as possible and you will not run out of work.

Ray

 

[Oldtimer]

Here's how I get wood.

I find it, find out who owns it, call them, buy it, then cut it.

It helps to know what yaw talking about when dealing with landowners, and only some years of doing it will learn yaw that.
Some guys have the knack for buying timber (It's actually sales, you sell yourself!) and some do not.

 

[joesawer]

Your best bet is to find small lots for free.
Where is Henegar?
My dad has a mill in Alabama and I have worked there a lot.
You have to find a niche and a market. Right now logs and even pulp wood can be hard to sell.
You wont compete on timber sales that depend on volume. Those guys have mechanized logging down to a fine art and work on a tiny margin. A lot of loggers are putting wood on the truck for $12 to $15 per ton.

 

[dusty_v141]

Henagar is twenty minutes from Ft. Payne and Scottsboro both; and i can be in either huntsville,al or chattanooga,tn in about an hour.

So what your sayin oldtimer is "yaw" lol, drive around and look for timber that looks good and just call and ask if you can log it?

right now i can get $25 per ton of pine pulp
$34 per ton of pine grade
and red oak is going for $600 per 1000 board feet

im going too look at a tract of timber up in Tn in the morning so wish me luck. do i ned any kind of permits or anything too log timber and if what are they and where can i get them.

thanks for all the help again

 

[stihl 440]

I'd try and get some of the private landowner jobs. Start small and work your way up. Might even try some of the salvage jobs - do ya'll have any pine beetle problems down there?

Good luck.

X2 totally agree 100%

 

[hammerlogging]

you wil need very small tracts because skids over 1000' will kill your production. But thats a good niche for you since most loggers can't move in on the small 5-20 acre gigs. You might sell pulp to a concentration yard but not to a mill without whatever SFI cert your state has (i.e. ?TN master logger) and a big insurance policy. But sawlogs you'll be fine, sawmills operate differently than the big pulp mills, and thats good cause thats all your system could make a profit on anyhow.

Offer to cut on shares, pretty common for a small outfit, 50/50 or 60/40- you get the 60.

Be good to the woods. Word of mouth will be everything to your future.

 

[forestryworks]

Be good to the woods. Word of mouth will be everything to your future.

Highly agree.

 

[stihl 440]

Highly agree.

X3 yes...a well done job always gets more work

 

[dusty_v141]

well i have insureance so thats not a problem the tract im looking at tomorrow is 20 acers so its not really big.

as far as the good job part i always try too do the best job i can with what i have too work with, i hate arguements so im really laied back and easy too get along with.

Maybe ill make; the only thing i can do is try lol.

 

[056kid]

20 acres eh? sounds like progress!!


Dont be too easy going, or they will walk all over ya. .

And the last one is a given, but try not to break ####t, its real easy and it will put an end to your aspirations in a hurry!

 

[dusty_v141]

thanks for all the help guys!!! this tract is a couple of hours away from home and i didnt know if i should worry about it or not. but i was talking too my dad and i told him if its not worth it then o well but what if it is and i dont go look at it.

056 kid there is a fine line between being too easy going and not. i think you have too set a point were you have had enough and when someone gets too that point it time too take care of the situation.

i hope everybody stay safe out there and thanks again.

 

[clinchscavalry]

Here in middle GA most of our loggers are production oriented, fairly big outfits that must move a good deal of wood to stay in business. I have been shown quite a few jobs that were just too small to justify moving a normal sized logger on. I would suggest that you contact local loggers and timber buyers first and tell them you're interested in these small jobs. You might end up with more work than you can do. Let them do the legwork finding these tracts, and it could help them "save face" with the irate landowners who don't understand why they can't move a million dollar logging crew onto a two acre patch.

However, you might have trouble actually selling the wood to a mill yourself. Around here, the big dealers are sometimes the only ones that can do business with certain mills. It is possible that a timber buyer, working for a dealer, will let you carry wood in on their tickets. Just a thought.

 

[dusty_v141]

thanks for the tip i never thought of that. i will get on the phone tomorrow!

I went and lookd at the tract of woods in tennesse and it was just too small of wood and not alot of it, mostly pulp wood and thats not bringing alot right now.

thanks again for all the help

 

[dusty_v141]

hey guys looked at a good tract of hardwood today and im going too look at another tract tomorrow.

how much do you pay the landowner for a good tract of hardwoods?
20-25% of the board foot value or what

 

[056kid]

50 or 60. . .