10 Acre Woodlot

[gilberte]

We have a small woodlot withsome nice white pine, cedar, and cat spruce on it. Some of the pine is probably thirty inches @ breast height. Had a local logger stop in the other day and wants to log it and split the proceeds 50/50. Is that a good deal or should I ask for a stumpage price?

[Silvercreek Farmer]

1:Search the forum, there are a lot of threads on logging, including plenty of horror stories.
2.Talk to your local forester.
3.Get several bids.
4.Do BBB serches ect.
5.Get a written contract.
6.Expect your woodlot to look like a war zone when they are finished, no matter what the logger says.

I have not had anything logged, this is just what I have gleaned from trying to decide what to do with my plot of white pines...

[Rick]

Can you be there every day with a clipboard to register loads leaving?

I was not, and one particular day I was there, and never saw that load on an invoice. I didn't question it as it could have been taken to the mill on a different day, but I always wondered... did the trucker cheat me and the logger, did they both get over on me?

[City Bound]

Yeah, how do you know how much he took and how do you know how much he actually sold the log for...it is a gamble. He could bring in 80 grand, but tell you that he brought in 30 grand, give you half of 30 and cheat you out of 25 grand......and leave you with a mess in your lot to have to deal with over the coming years.

I would say trust and honesty would have to be at the heart of this deal and if you do not know this guy, how can you know you can trust him?

Maybe you can selectively harvest the lot for personal fire wood, and then selectively harvest the better woods to sell to a mill. My uncle has a black walnut tree on his land and some company offered him $6,000 for that one tree, and they would have come and cut it down and cleaned up the mess.

Explore some other options.

[ldc]

Silvercreek farmer has it right; when you have some time, search the archives. Many folks from Maine wrote on this topic during the last few months. One might live close enough to give you some references to good forestry people. Best wishes w this, ldc

[FarmboyBill]

Buy your own mill, Then you know.

[Danaus29]

If they came in and wanted to log it and you haven't had any ads up advertising that you want to log it I would be as suspicious of him as I would the door-to-door driveway sealant professionals always making their rounds in the city.

[fishhead]

Talk to your state forester and see if they have a list of reputable loggers and what price the mills are paying near your area.

[KySam]

Ask yourself do you REALLY need the money by selling the wood. If you arent in a bind and needing the money do a little research and get yourself a better offer.

I would look for a certified forester and have them do a evaluation of your wood lot. If you have some top quality trees he can put it out to bid for you getting you the best return for your trees.

From what I've seen and read of the lumber market sawlog prices are down and the return might not be that good.

[Old Vet]

Call the State Forestry Commission The information is free and they might come out and tell you what is to be logged. You are paying taxes for this so why not use them.

[TnTnTn]

Sounds like you have a fair amount of timber. Best to hire a professional forester to evaluate and put out for bid to reputable loggers. A contract will be drawn with all conditions stated and a start/end time. You should have your check before they crank up the first chain saw. TTT

[achrap]

50% is just plain robbery. Number the trees and measure them and then put out to bid. Twelve years ago I sold my trees and had a professional forester handle the sale. He marked and inventoried all the trees and then put them out to bid. He took 10% 0f the gross. I had 9 bids ranging from $12,000 to $46,000. Guess which one got to run their chainsaw?

[randy11acres]

A professional forester will make you way more than the 10% he gets paid.

[luvrulz]

Ask at the extension office too for any reputable loggers and what the going rate is. Someone there will know someone that can put you in the right direction.

[ChristieAcres]

It may not help you, but may assist someone else...

DH logged all the 2nd growth he needed to, then hired a driver to deliver to the Mill. The driver was paid a flat fee. We got the payment, from the Sawmill, in the mail, with the inventory clearly noted on the receipt (easy to count the logs when you are there when they are loaded). In addition, there was a price list of what they paid for each type, size, etc...

[MaineFarmMom]

Originally Posted by gilberte

We have a small woodlot withsome nice white pine, cedar, and cat spruce on it. Some of the pine is probably thirty inches @ breast height. Had a local logger stop in the other day and wants to log it and split the proceeds 50/50. Is that a good deal or should I ask for a stumpage price?

My husband is a licensed forester and scaler and works as a wood buyer for a pulp mill in Maine. He can answer your questions and explain how things should be done. He's offering his phone number if you'd like to call him next week. There's no benefit to him, he's offering his knowledge and experience. Depending on where you live, he might be able to recommend a local forester, contractor, etc. He's explaining volume per acre, board feet, why 30" at breast height could be meaningless where value is concerned and a lot more than I can't keep up with typing 100 words per minute. Message me if you'd like his phone number.

He said to the Maine Forest Service page lists the 2009 stumpage rates by county. He also said to not do this until you have a forester on your land. While he/she is there you can talk about a management plan.

Our land was logged six months before we bought it 14 years ago. It has been interesting to watch natural regeneration in action. I almost don't remember what it looked like when we moved here other than the ruts that aren't going to go away.

[texican]

As a rule, going into a relationship with a logger (that is not your father, brother, or sister, or someone you'd completely, without reservation, trust with a checkbook full of signed checks), plan on getting what the bull does to the cow.

If the logger is for it, he's going to make money, way more than you.

Even if the logger is someone you'd trust with those aforementioned signed checks, be on site every day, counting the loads. Logging is a hit or miss business, and the 'profit' is usually fleeting... an extra load, off the books here and there, will make a loader payment, or pay for a new skidder tire.

Trust, but verify.

And, after it's all over, enjoy the jungle... the tops and stumps will make it a goats paradise in a year... using it for anything else will be 'fun'. A lot of folks think they're going to make money, selling their timber... and they do. But then, realize, for another crop of trees, they're going to have to wait, minimum of 14 years, for big trees, 30 years. And using that once forested area for anything else, requires the use of bulldozers to clean up... or a couple of chain gangs, or field slaves... both of which are scarce, I hear. Ten years ago, it was around $300/acre for prep, pushing tops in rows to burn, clean enough to replant trees. Even more for 'pasture' clean.

[MaineFarmMom]

Originally Posted by texican

Even if the logger is someone you'd trust with those aforementioned signed checks, be on site every day, counting the loads. Logging is a hit or miss business, and the 'profit' is usually fleeting... an extra load, off the books here and there, will make a loader payment, or pay for a new skidder tire.

You can get a copy of the slip from the scale house showing what was purchased. Mills here keep a paper trail back to the woodlot.

And, after it's all over, enjoy the jungle... the tops and stumps will make it a goats paradise in a year...

Tops and other undesirable parts are chipped on site as hog fuel.

And using that once forested area for anything else, requires the use of bulldozers to clean up... or a couple of chain gangs, or field slaves... both of which are scarce, I hear. Ten years ago, it was around $300/acre for prep, pushing tops in rows to burn, clean enough to replant trees. Even more for 'pasture' clean.

That isn't my personal experience on my land or on any of the land around us. I'm surrounded by thousands of acres of harvested land. As I said above, tops are chipped. Not using them is lost income. It gets in the way of natural regeneration. They aren't left strewn on the ground. If for some reason they aren't chipped, weather for example, they're left in a pile in the wood yard. A wood yard is an area at the side of the road where logs are brought to be delimbed, stacked, loaded and/or chipped. Replanting is uncommon here. Instead, mature, healthy trees called seed trees are left standing to replant naturally. Natural regeneration is only a year or two slower in Maine and much less expensive.

[fantasymaker]

Originally Posted by MaineFarmMom

That isn't my personal experience on my land or on any of the land around us. .

You are in a much different area than many of the posters here.

[fantasymaker]

Originally Posted by MaineFarmMom

My husband is a licensed forester and scaler and works as a wood buyer for a pulp mill in Maine. He can answer your questions and explain how things should be done. He's offering his phone number if you'd like to call him next week.

Umm I dont see a phone number?