tree id and value?

He is dreaming

yeah...that sounds a bit high. what are the measurements?

__________________
this message has probably been edited to correct typos, spelling errors and to improve grammar...

"All that is gold does not glitter..."

Do you have property/homeowner's insurance? If so your trees and their value should be covered... at least you should be able to get a professional appraisal for the trees from the insurance co to present to your "encroaching" neighbor....

I had a barn fire and lost the surrounding red and white oaks, many much smaller than yours and I was paid 500 dollars per tree.

I'm not sure, but I think this would be theft/vandalism and certainly encroachment (?)

digApony

I just talked to the Timber buyer for the company I work for . They are paying an average of $.40-$.60 per board foot. You probably have 500-600 board feet.

I have a doye scale and if you want to be bothered to give some measurements we can scale them via internet.

To scale you need length of log and diameter of small end.
You measure the wood and not the bark. if the log is oval shaped you must measure across the smallest diameter..... However often buyers will give you a break and let you measure the longest and shortest diameter and average them.

If you send me measurements I will send back the board footage (Doyle scale) and you can go to that Ohio State table and calculate the value

Look what I found .... a footage calculator

http://timberbuyer.net/sawlogbf.htm

Are you planning to put a fence up to avoid this again in the future?


Just because the guy appeared horrified, doesn't mean he actually was.


It does suck all around!

__________________
You are confined only by the walls you build yourself.

I was logger for a living a long time ago. He, your neighbor was mortified because you caught him. ALOT of loggers/neighbors are that way. I quit one company because they always crossed over the lines and acted "mortified" when caught. Have your state forester grade the logs. Hard to tell from pics but one looks veneer? If it grades veneer it can be worth ALOT. I bought one veneer walnut for $8,000, logged it and sold it for $12,000 during the boom years but that was a one in a million walnut, not a limb for 40 feet! Sorry but your neighbor aint very neighborly. He was lookin to make some money or had the logs sold already as most states you can cut your own logs and sell them to a buyer. He cut them for logs not firewood etc. Ash, red oak, white oak and walnut are the primo woods. Any oak is saleable. Look at the stumps and that tells you they werent cut for anything but logs to sell or barter. I suggest you stick it to him for a real good lesson learned or he'll be back. You'll be gone a day or two and he'll be cutting again, good looking timber there. Might be worthwhile for you to get a bid or two from several reputable loggers. You may be surprised what the value of the mature timber is. I've seen your situation too many times to count. Majority of the time by the time the victim realizes what happened its way too late.

On the subject of treestands and deerhunting he actualy did you a little favor as those deer love the first growth and thick underbrush that comes after logging. Most commercial tree stands wouldnt fit trees that size. Tri pod stands work great and any tree thats solid and 8"+ will hold the ladder stands.

Yes there are loggers who will "accidently" get over across the line and cut a few .... and if the line is not obvious then the burden is on the landowner to prove. Loggers will do this hoping they get away with it but if they don't then they appologize for the mistake and offer to pay you WHAT THEY THINK THE TREES ARE WORTH !!!

Many states require all bordering property owners to be notified before you cut a piece of timber.

We have a logging company coming today or tomarrow to come look at them. If they can figure out how to get them out they may buy them from us. From the pics they are real interested. They make flooring and other things related. If they can get them out from the neighbors property then that works too. If the neighbor refuses to let us drag them out via his property then he will get arrested for the fourth degree misdomeaner he created. He is also going to have to either pay us for the little limbs he cut for firewood or deliver them back to us because firewood brings $150 a cord here and there is ALOT of it.

Good for you Laser, dont let him run over you. One company I worked for is still in business here. He'd jump a fence and cut, heck he'd cut the fence and cut too. Most of the locals that caught him woudlnt call the law and he'd pay "restitution" to them for pennies on the dollar and laugh about making more money on the "poached" logs then the ones he legaly bought.

We call it Timber Trespass or Timber Theft in some cases, link from Michigan Forestry Assoc.
Quite a bit of it goes on.
Some loggers have a long history of it.
I found some mysterious flagging running through my woodlot few years back, abutting landowner thought it was his property and was getting ready to cut it. Good thing for him that i stopped him .
Got to keep an eye on you woods, sad but true.

On very valuable trees, with solid bases, I have seen loggers cut very close to the ground to get the most out of the tree. On average trees, I have seen loggers cut close to the ground so they can kick dirt over the stump and no one will notice the tree is missing. What do you think you have?
Firewood is pricy everywhere, but there is a lot of time and labor turning branches into cut to length split firewood. While firewood might go for $150 a cord, branches aren't worth that. Since some folks will cut firewood on shares, I'd say the labor to cut, split and haul away a cord of firewood is $75 and the value of the branches is $75 a cord. While you could make the argument that he took your tree/wood and you are entitled to get it all back, Perhaps getting half of the wood or half of the retail value gets you paid for your tree and he can profit from his labor.

Veneer quality logs are not common, but I have seen semi loads of veneer quality logs hauled from VT, NH, PA and OH going to a mill in Mellon, WI. If it is worth it to ship such long distances, they must be worth a bundle.

Most every state has county foresters who will come out, measure the volume of the tree....and either give you a value estimate, or connect you with a timber buyer who would based on the volume the forester found. This is a free service, and if needed would legally hold up. These, "so and so" said it was this species and worth this much,won't hold up, and is no basis for anything.

You pay taxes to have your county and state foresters around..... use them, they're free.

They actualy cut the top of the "roots" to save every inch of board foot. Thats why Im pretty sure from looking at the pictures he was cutting those to sell. Most walnuts and other species have 3-4 "roots" that fan out in a semi X pattern. Last one you cut is opposite the direction you want it to fall. Personaly I wouldnt cut him a break and his labor for cutting the scrap into firewood and laying out the logs is a fair trade for him not to be dragged into court and be fined and sued. We have 32 acres of timber and I pity the clown that cuts on it without getting his ground surveyed. If your that dumb and inconsiderate enough of others property to do that then you deserve what you get. As was stated let your foresters decide the value but they arent always the "experts". We had a cut on a state park and the 2 foresters marked numerous p**s elm as walnut. Why would you "pay" him to cut, rob and destroy your property?

Pin Oak?
Those are commonly planted as landscaping trees around here. Some in my folks neighborhood are 40 yr old and huge.

__________________
Cindy in SW PA

Your first call goes to your county sheriff. They will come out and investigate. In our case in Vinton county they loaned us a camcorder to document the damage exactly. In our case the logs were already gone. Our neighbor was having some timber cut and the cutting crew missed the property line (also pinned) by a mere 247 feet, on a Friday afternoon in February. The best log was a white oak and was marketed, and the check cashed almost instantly Friday night beer money we suspect.

We also had considerable damage from a skidder that roamed around our woods seeking only the best.

After the report was made, and the timber cutter identified; he was contacted and insisted that we did not know where our property line was.

We went to court. Bet first we hired an expert to determine the value of our damages (cash up front). We got a forester who is also a teacher of forestry at the local community college. He figured the value of the loss.

This took some time, and when all was said and done the property had been surveyed again and a pin located where it could be seen from the major damage area. Allowances were made for repair of the damage to creekbeds, and the soil area. Plus cleanup and debris removal.

Just as the judge was ready to rule, like majic the timber cutters attorney announced that his client had insurance and would like to have the insurance company settle the matter. Fine once an agreement was reached on the dollar amount the check was made out and in the notation part it said "Lightning Damage".

The check was good and everybody moved on.

Now the longer that you delay the report to the sheriff the easier you (YOU) make it for the criminal to get away with this crime. Call now they are open 24 hours a day.

If you do not cut them close to ground level the stumps become obstacles which impede movement of logging equipment. When you cut the tree down and top it .... you need preferably logs 8 feet or longer or you will be docked on price for shorter logs. So not only are you wasting volume if you cut high, but cutting high could cost you in a situation where you have a 7 foot log and an 8 foot log and you could have had 2 eight foot if you cut closer. Years ago a stump was left and I believe because boards made from the base of the tree were cut across the grain ..... which is undesirable .... or at least was undesirable years ago .... Boards which are cut across the grain are more difficult to work with .... causing break-out when you plane and also that grain is not so attractive. And if you ever have stained wood the areas of a board which are cut across the grain will absorb more stain causing uneven staining (darker areas).
This cutting across the grain is severe at the base of the tree where the log is bell shaped.

Ok laser ..... you had a neighbor you did not know .... but what do your other neighbors know about this man's character..... Are they surprised by what happened? I would consider their input and let it weigh heavily in your deciding how to deal with him ....

He needs to pay for damages but I would avoid over-kill unless the neighbors tend to agree he was trying to take advantage of you jmo but he may be your neighbor for a loooong time.

To the person saying file a reort with the sheriff we did that the very next morning even being easter sunday. The man from the one company came out and wasted our time. We were specific that the trees were 1500 feet back and not easy to get to. The man came in slacks and dress shoes and was an older man who would not have made it back there to look. He told us he couldnt get them out and it wasnt worth his time. Grrrr. DH will be calling the foresty service now finally.
The neighorbors dont know him too well either, just say he is an alright guy from talking to him. They cant say one way or the other really.