Logger ripped off my neighbors

[Aquamoose]

Here's the thing, an elderly couple next to my property had a logger cut down trees close to the home that could fall on them due to experience of fallen trees from a storm 3 years ago that blocked their drive for days. It was when I did a welfare check in the area and that's how we became friends. (I cleared the trees)

Now, this logger signed a contract which the couple only had to pay $400 for the deal which the logger can take whatever trees away and to clear up the slash into piles at the back end of the property. He ended up just taking 4 truckloads of trees, leaving everything else behind.

I'm trying to help them out. I just did 5 straight days of clearing up the property of slash since it was important to get it done before wet winter came (had a solid week of dry, warmer temps) and now the focus shifts on going after the logger. What should they do? What's the expected value of 4 truckloads of pine/fir that he took to the mills? The cost of cleanup I don't intend to recoup at all, but rather have them hang onto it as part of their rainy-day funds.

I've attached pics. Glove was used for scaling purposes. Last pic is my Branson tractor with the Anbo grapple that helped me get the job done... approx 3 solid acres of slash!

 

[Aquamoose]

Also, what would you do if you were in my shoes with this pile? I've already got lots of wood from my property. Should I sell them via CL as is or better to cut & sell as rounds? Any $ will go to the neighbor anyway.

 

[Rock knocker]

Do you have any photos of the slash before you started?

I think you are going about this backwards. The wood the logger hauled off is in fact the property of the logger as per the contract, you won't be able to recoup that. But the cleanup of the debris is on the logger, so that is what your friends should be going after him for.

 

[adventure bob]

The specific language of the contract is important here. If hauling off any harvested lumber was in the pricing of the contract then there is no issue there. If in the language of the contract he agreed to pile slash in a specific location and didn't then that's the issue. Again specific language of the actual signed doc would be helpful. If there's no signed doc then its a verbal thing to get remedy for.

 

[CCWKen]

When did this happen and what dates were on the contract. Typically, a contract will state the effective dates. Perhaps the logger wasn't finished. If it's "open-ended", the owners are in real trouble. The logger could come back at any time and clear the property of all remaining trees. I wouldn't have paid 10-cents for that contract.

If there are effective dates and the logger didn't perform, file suit in small claims court. The burden of proof is far less stringent in SC court. It only needs to be shown as "more evident than not". Your photos can be used as proof. Provide an "invoice" for your work so that can be adjudicated as the owner's loss. Beyond that, any other trees taken are gone forever. Also in the SC suit, be sure the owner's ask that the contract be terminated as of the filing date and give the logger notice of no trespass. If he returns, call the applicable LEO.

 

[Aquamoose]

This shows a portion that was not touched by the logger. The property looked much like this.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

There's a huge ignorance tax on timber. Your neighbors are paying it. They could have picked up a standard contract from any consulting forester. Instead, they decided to do it themselves, thinking, "How hard can it be?"

 

[newbury]

As Larry wrote they are paying for their education the hard way. They should have consulted a State Forester to begin with. Your before picture doesn't really tell me DBH but it looks like there were a few sawlogs there and a lot of pulpwood.

If I read it correctly the LANDOWNERS PAID THE LOGGER. Is it common in your area to pay someone to haul away a valuable commodity?

If they paid the logger to clear the land was there a statement as to exactly where the slash should be piled? In my area it's normally left up to the logger where he actually makes piles and the only real purpose of making piles is to make replanting easier.

 

[LD1]

I agree with the above that the language of the contract is critical here.

We dont log pine, or pulp wood around here. Its all hardwood that gets timbered. And typically, a logger will gut the selected trees (either selected by the forrester, the landowner, the logger, or any combination of the 3).

Once its agreed upon, the logger goes to work. Trees are cut, logs are removed. Tops and limbs are left where they drop and are not moved unless needed to to clear a path to the next log. Logs are then hauled off to the mill where the logger gets paid, and the landowner gets a percentage. Which usually works out to ~$100 +/- per tree, just depending on size and species.

So things seem backwards out there that the homeowner is the one paying. Here.....to have a woods logged out......the homeowner is the one getting paid.

 

[newbury]

In this case it reads like

<snip>....the homeowner is the one getting <snip>.

shafted.