Approach by logging company

[drajj5]

I was recently contacted by a logging company interested in buying my standing red pine, I am guessing it may be 15 acres of the forty I own. The other 35 is mostly poplar and willow.

For those of you that have either sold timber or purchase timber I was wondering what I could expect; as far as compensation and damage to the land. they did say they would "thin it out" not clear cut.

Those of you that have sold your timber would you do it again? Any advice on negotiating a contract?

The wife called them today and they are going to be coming out next Monday to estimate what it would be worth.

Thanks for any and all input.

I did this exact thing... All I can tell you is that it was the best/worst experience that I had in owning my property. I asked for it to be thinned, "leave some tree's". wanted a road made with a circle drive back there; pop the stumps and grade a road. Lastly, bunch the tops up so they could be burned later.

Well the first guy got in over his head as the growth was so dense that he had tree's stacked in such a manner that his Skid Steer would struggle to pull the interlocked timber free. He was here maybe a week before calling in reinforcements. Now I had a 2 Skid steers, a D5, and a D8 dozer sitting in the yard. Two weeks later the job was done. Tractor trailers flowed into my driveway like a revolving door during that time.

If you want a serious change of landscape do what I did. Property looked naked, and what trees that survived the ordeal, were limp at their tops. It was a sad sight, I swallowed hard and drove down my new longer driveway and made the loop ( they did honor the agreement ). I brush pile was neatly placed in the center and looked to be 200' in diameter and 15 stories high. I thought to myself how in the heck am I going to burn that swell of tree tops. It took over 5 years to burn that pile by hand (at the time I owned nothing more than a cheap murray lawn mower).

Neighbor down the road had his property done (logged)and left tops where they landed did nothing but take the money and in those 5 years trees were so thick you could not see 5 feet in.

I wanted to use some of the property for a new barn and a small apple orchard - the rest I let go back to nature. Wife soaked up money on the house and I was left only with a new Stihl chainsaw, pair of gloves and a small 30x36 Barn. She made out like a champ -so she says

BTW: contract, was a handshake and the deal was done

 

[MossRoad]

Plus 2

I agree. Consulting forester. They'll manage the sale and get a cut of the profit, but they'll get you the best price because the more you make the more they make.

 

[oosik]

I had my property selectively logged ten years ago. The equipment did cause some ruts but the following spring I fixed all that with the rear blade. All the limbs, tops, etc were pushed into piles. I was going to burn the piles but by the time I found time - I noticed the quail had taken over all the slash piles so I've just left them.
If it weren't for the few slash piles you couldn't even tell its been logged.

If I ever have it logged again - this is the way I would go.

I had no difficulty figuring what my timber was worth and the agreement we signed was a very simple one page document. I don''t even think we have "helpful forester assistants" in this neck of the woods.

 

[brokenknee]

Does anyone have any idea what red pine would be worth an acre, I know this is a pretty general question with lots of variables, the trees were planted in rows, and in most areas I can not drive the ranger through it.

 

[dave1949]

I agree. Consulting forester. They'll manage the sale and get a cut of the profit, but they'll get you the best price because the more you make the more they make.

Plus the forester will look to your long-term benefits. Maybe now is not the best time price/growth-wise to harvest those red pines, for example. Maybe 5-10 years from now is the best time. The forester could also say the stand is overdue for a harvest. What comes after this harvest looking ahead 10-15 years? You don't know without expert input. Loggers aren't going to be much help with that kind of assessment.

 

[grnspot110]

I just talked to our State Dept. of Conservation "Resource Forester" today, she will come to look at our farm next month to advise & assist with logging. Your state may have a similar program, I'd check into it!

 

[brokenknee]

I just talked to our State Dept. of Conservation "Resource Forester" today, she will come to look at our farm next month to advise & assist with logging. Your state may have a similar program, I'd check into it!

Let me know how it goes, I am interested in what she says even if I decide not to sell at this time.

 

[phiferpharm]

I had two neighbors get partial logging done on their property over the past month.. Both sites look god-awful and will require much more time and money to repair than what the owners got out of the logs. Stumps, trash limbs, and completely destroyed lots. They took what they wanted, pushed the other stuff out of their way, and split. It looks horrible, and one of them ask me to help with my tractor. I told him what I could do would be very limited and he needed to get one of our other neighbors bring his tracked Cat over to push the stuff into piles to burn.

I'll try and get a photo tomorrow..

 

[Rustyiron]

+3 on the forester. Another good thing to do is visit (the loggers) current and completed harvests and if possible, talk to the land owner. Then make your expectations or conditions of the completed harvest part of the contract.

 

[Rustyiron]

Does anyone have any idea what red pine would be worth an acre, I know this is a pretty general question with lots of variables, the trees were planted in rows, and in most areas I can not drive the ranger through it.

Your forester will have that answer for you. Not many plantations like yours around here, and the price is figured bd/ft or ton, not by the acre.