timber questions

[kendall j]

We had a guy come out and look at the timber on our lot. It is small acreage (6acres). He said he would pay us $20/ton for ply logs, $8/ton for chip and saw, and $2.50/ton for pulpwood. Given the current market in my area (eastern NC), I was wondering if this sounded about right.

Thanks,

Kendall

[uncle Will in In.]

I don't know the price of logs, but $20 a ton for your best logs sounds mighty cheap. Figure his price against the board feet that would be in a one ton log. I'm guessing it would be very low. Get another bid on your timber. UNK

[haypoint]

Most operations won't bother with a small plot like yours. You didn't list species, so I'll guess it is yellow pine.
Around here most wood is measured by the cord, 4 by 4 by 8. That is a measurement you can see. If sold by the ton, how can you be sure?
With a slow economy, prices are soft. The distance to a mil makes a difference, too.
Around here, pulpwood sells for $35 a cord, about 2 tons. There is a reasonable difference between saw logs and the junk that is chipped.
There is no market here for ply, except veneer logs. Hardwood, oak, maple, birch, veneer logs are very pricey and command a lot more money.
If there is a forester available, you can get your timber scaled on the stump.

[DaleK]

I wouldn't touch anybody paying for saw logs by the ton. Around here pulp logs and firewood are paid by the cord, saw logs and higher grades by the 1000 board feet.

[camprunner]

Originally Posted by haypoint

Most operations won't bother with a small plot like yours. You didn't list species, so I'll guess it is yellow pine.
Around here most wood is measured by the cord, 4 by 4 by 8. That is a measurement you can see. If sold by the ton, how can you be sure?
With a slow economy, prices are soft. The distance to a mil makes a difference, too.
Around here, pulpwood sells for $35 a cord, about 2 tons. There is a reasonable difference between saw logs and the junk that is chipped.
There is no market here for ply, except veneer logs. Hardwood, oak, maple, birch, veneer logs are very pricey and command a lot more money.
If there is a forester available, you can get your timber scaled on the stump.

I (kendall j.'s wife) called many loggers and this is the only one that would even look at it. You are correct. It is pine. The guy told us an estimate by the truckload as well if I'm not mistaking.

Our goals here:
1. Not to get completely cheated.
2. Get enough out of it to pay for a fence around the land so we can put goats in it. (use pigs to uproot stumps little by little eventually).

Hope I'm not overstepping my bounds Kendall

[Old Vet]

Originally Posted by camprunner

I (kendall j.'s wife) called many loggers and this is the only one that would even look at it. You are correct. It is pine. The guy told us an estimate by the truckload as well if I'm not mistaking.

Our goals here:
1. Not to get completely cheated.
2. Get enough out of it to pay for a fence around the land so we can put goats in it. (use pigs to uproot stumps little by little eventually).

Hope I'm not overstepping my bounds Kendall

Even if it is a low bid you can probity sell it all at the pulp wood price and make enough to help put a fence around the place. Saw logs are down but not the same as chipped wood.

[texican]

At that price, you're giving it away... and you'll end up with an impenetrable jungle in the spring... If possible, I'd wait till prices were higher. The nature of trees is that they keep growing, whether the economy is booming or busting. I've got a plantation, and folks call me all the time wanting to cut it (because it's on high ground)... I'm not about to give anything away for free... I'll wait a few years for higher prices, then wait for a wet spell, when my place is more accessible than other sites.

[ovsfarm]

A forester once explained to me that our timber appreciated in value very gradually for the first several years and then once it reached 12-15" diameters, would begin to increase in value very sharply. He looked at our trees and recommended we wait another 10 years or so to get in on that sharp upswing on the age to value graph. However, most of what he was looking at was hardwood, so I'm not sure if it would be the same with pines.

Even if the other companies wouldn't cut your lot, you might ask them for price information that you could use as a comparison.

[agmantoo]

The pulp mill at Plymouth has shut down for a short period to my understanding. The remoteness to a buyer is why the pulp price is so low. I sold some pulp for only $2/ton out of Hyde county in 2008. My trees needed thinning badly to the point the growth was going to stagnate if I did not get them thinned. I did manage to get $2000 per acre for some plylogs based on yield but I found a buyer that needed the logs for export and he paid the transporting fee to his mill that was 175 miles away. With the small acreage you will remain at a disadvantage in this depressed buyers market.

[MELOC]

just a couple of years ago, maybe 2006 or so, my local mill bragged about getting pine for 4 cents per board foot from the state. he wouldn't pay more than 9 cents for white pine and 7 cents for spruce.

[RosewoodfarmVA]

Fence in the land now, run goats, which will demolish the underbrush while leaving the timber. Wait out the timber market til it improves, at which point the goats will have gotten the underbrush under control and your timber will have grown more. Perhaps do a thinning now and leave the best sawlogs for harvest later when sawlogs improve in $$.

[just_sawing]

If you don't have a way to be the end user at this time you are giving away timber. One year ago I spoke to the buyer at a large Pine mill and then they were selling pine 2X4s for 280.00 per thousand. At that time I was paying 500 per thousand for Poplar logs to cut up in 2X4s. Logs have only got cheaper. It is going to be interesting on the rebound when the small logger has lost his equipment.

[o&itw]

.
Most states have a conservation department that positions foresters in areas around the state. They will come out, evaluate your timber, help you draw up a contract to protect your land etc. (for free)

This will help to ensure your timber does not get 'hy-graded" and you don't end up with deep ruts and damaged land which may turn into extremley erroded soils.

The chief problems one encounters, are timber harvested in an incorrect manner for the site, and badly damaged land.

[texican]

Originally Posted by MELOC

just a couple of years ago, maybe 2006 or so, my local mill bragged about getting pine for 4 cents per board foot from the state. he wouldn't pay more than 9 cents for white pine and 7 cents for spruce.

When uncle sam is giving it away, why should anyone pay for private timber...

Most of the federal timber sales (at a loss) have almost disappeared... thankfully...

[catahoula]

I would rather take my raw material (standing trees) and sell them as some sort of finished goods (fire wood). Get the most profit you can from your raw materials.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Originally Posted by catahoula

I would rather take my raw material (standing trees) and sell them as some sort of finished goods (fire wood). Get the most profit you can from your raw materials.

Around here good firewood has dropped to as low as $50 a 4x8 truck load which averages 1/3 a cord. He said it is yellow pine which most times you can get for free. (most folks are scared to burn it, but I say burn what you have...) I agree with the folks that say wait for a better market!