Highbeam
Super Member
Wow, hire that guy. 3 acres per day on a little 200 class machine is good. Also, never buy used equipment from an old fashioned logger.
Future Land Clearing Project
- Thread starter johnnyringo
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johnnyringo
New member
I've took your advice and have contacted a consulting forester. He says he charges 400 for a "timber cruise" and 7% commission on the sale. Is this reasonable? Thanks for your help.
Highbeam
Super Member
Perhaps you meant to reply to someone else? I don't like the 7% part.
CurlyDave
Elite Member
Real estate agents charge 6%, sometimes only 5%. And, there are a lot more of them than foresters.
Since you already have an offer of $19,000, anything over $20,860 is money in your pocket.
I would do it just on the basis that without him the logger has a lot more knowledge of the market than you do. Plus, he will know what is reasonable to expect in the way of clean up and can push the logger to the limit in that direction. Can you get him to agree to come out after the operation and inspect the property to be certain it was cleaned up according to the contract?
Let us know what you ultimately get for the timber.
Since you already have an offer of $19,000, anything over $20,860 is money in your pocket.
I would do it just on the basis that without him the logger has a lot more knowledge of the market than you do. Plus, he will know what is reasonable to expect in the way of clean up and can push the logger to the limit in that direction. Can you get him to agree to come out after the operation and inspect the property to be certain it was cleaned up according to the contract?
Let us know what you ultimately get for the timber.
JimMorrissey
Veteran Member
I think Beam has good suggestions here....
In addition:
If you just cut and leave the stumps you will have all kinds of small dense growth in two years time that will require you to cut again. You can do it with hand power tools, but it will be work.
What are you doing with the clearings.....are these for huntable wildlife (grouse, quail or deer), or are these for a future home site? I didn't get that part.
We had nearly 20 acres cut about 10 years ago. It was a slash and run operation and you'd never know it was logged to the untrained eye, aside from the skid trails which are now fantastic walking trails. As others have said, get a county forester. Get an inventory and a management plan. If you want to get off on the right foot /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
"Slash" isn't always a bad thing. People get all up in arms about what the forest looks like after a logging operation. No, it's not pretty, but give it a couple of years and it will be hard to tell. The slash that's laying around is good to help keep the soil in balance. You don't want to remove all the organic matter wholesale. Probably the best thing to do is rent a diesel chipper and drag it with your tractor where you can chip 80% of the slash and leave it on the forest floor. Stumps are another topic.....the most environmentally sensible way to go is to have them grind the stumps with large machine or buy one for your tractor (if it's big enough) and take your time. A lot of guys here in the East grind large numbers of stumps. It's much less damaging to the land and friendlier on the surrouding watershed. Also check to see if a high-flow tracked skidsteer with a stump grinder attachment is available in your area. You could get a lot done yourself and have a ton of fun....rent it for a month. It won't be cheap, but it will be effective and probably the least abusive to the land. The soil disturbance from clearing 35 acres of stumps will be tremendous. That will look like a WWII battlefield. Now, obviously if you intend to turn the soil for agriculture then that's another story.
My two cents is to take Beam's advice about rolling the clearing for a home if that's what you intend to do into a construction loan, then have the main lawn area cleared with an excavator. I'd seriously look into grinding the rest for views and or wildlife.
In addition:
If you just cut and leave the stumps you will have all kinds of small dense growth in two years time that will require you to cut again. You can do it with hand power tools, but it will be work.
What are you doing with the clearings.....are these for huntable wildlife (grouse, quail or deer), or are these for a future home site? I didn't get that part.
We had nearly 20 acres cut about 10 years ago. It was a slash and run operation and you'd never know it was logged to the untrained eye, aside from the skid trails which are now fantastic walking trails. As others have said, get a county forester. Get an inventory and a management plan. If you want to get off on the right foot /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
"Slash" isn't always a bad thing. People get all up in arms about what the forest looks like after a logging operation. No, it's not pretty, but give it a couple of years and it will be hard to tell. The slash that's laying around is good to help keep the soil in balance. You don't want to remove all the organic matter wholesale. Probably the best thing to do is rent a diesel chipper and drag it with your tractor where you can chip 80% of the slash and leave it on the forest floor. Stumps are another topic.....the most environmentally sensible way to go is to have them grind the stumps with large machine or buy one for your tractor (if it's big enough) and take your time. A lot of guys here in the East grind large numbers of stumps. It's much less damaging to the land and friendlier on the surrouding watershed. Also check to see if a high-flow tracked skidsteer with a stump grinder attachment is available in your area. You could get a lot done yourself and have a ton of fun....rent it for a month. It won't be cheap, but it will be effective and probably the least abusive to the land. The soil disturbance from clearing 35 acres of stumps will be tremendous. That will look like a WWII battlefield. Now, obviously if you intend to turn the soil for agriculture then that's another story.
My two cents is to take Beam's advice about rolling the clearing for a home if that's what you intend to do into a construction loan, then have the main lawn area cleared with an excavator. I'd seriously look into grinding the rest for views and or wildlife.