Logger walked off the job yesterday.

[David P]

Thanks for the info. Seems like the vast majority recommend utilizing a forester. I suppose there's a bad apple in every barrel though. I hope you can get your trees planted.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

I can't just dump all the blame on the forester. Initial cruise was in June. I signed off on him representing me in early July.....but he took forever to do the prep stuff. We started looking for someone who had a chipout operations so they would leave much less slash. Had 4 or 5 loggers come thru. 2 of them never made an offer, and one couldn't start till "March at the soonest". That was in October. In early January we had one offer a contract and he was supposed to start cutting Feb 1....he never cut...never moved any equipment...nothing. So we cancelled the contract and went with this guy....I was feeling the pinch to get something going. And that is how I ended up here. I have noticed that most of the loggers don't seem to like working with a forester. They would rather deal with you directly...I'm guessing that is to get a more advantageous contract. Also, My forester is not from the area...That was mentioned to me by two of the loggers I met. I guess they like to keep it in the family. The reality is that timber prices are down( although lumber prices are up?), and most of the loggers are flush with timber right now. So they are picky. And many of them just want to tie up your property with a contract and tuck it away.

 

[CalG]

There is one sentence that should be part of every contract

"Timeliness is of the essence".

Justification for calling a breach on the the other party,

By the way, Please don't recommend this guy to any of your friends. ;-)

 

[smstonypoint]

I expected him to have someone in there cutting soon after I closed on the property in august last year. Live and Learn.

I cannot claim patience as a virtue, but why did you not want to wait at least one year from the date of closing before selling your timber, and thus qualify for long-term capital gain taxation of the sale proceeds?

Steve

 

[Ford850]

it sounds like your forester over estimated and then couldn't find a reputable logger to cover that high bid.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

I've been told by a logger and two environment assesor type around here that every "redneck entrepreneur" thinks he can be a "logger." That makes for a lot of price competition.

The result, I've been told, is that you can't make money logging without cheating somehow. All three said there is no way to be a completely honest/stright-up logger in my area. :confused3:

 

[dmccarty]

This is how we sold our timber:

• Interviewed some foresters. Two partners were playing games so we hired on with a guy we knew through family even though he was going to charge more and he lived much farther away from us. Figure I would rather pay more to him to get it down right than pay too little, but in the end pay too much, to someone who did not get the job done right. His being far from us was a worry but it was ok in the end.
• Forester cruised the timber and provided us with an inventory of the trees. We knew how many trees we had by species, size and MBF. This was used as part of the sale.
• Forester advertized the timber sale which was closed bid on the property, at dawn and run from my pickup tail gate. :shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing:
• "Sold" said timber as described in the cruise inventory at dawn but we had later legal closing on the timber where the logger bought the timber and had up to two years to cut the trees. This was standard in our area and if they did NOT cut in two years, we kept the money AND the trees. They started logging within days of buying the deed.
• Forester watched over the operation. Not as much as I would have liked, he lived 3 hours away, but everything worked out ok. Quite a few large piles of slash were left behind but that is part of the process.
• We put BMP and other requirements into the timber deed that the logger did follow.
• We were PAID at the timber deed closing. No equipment was put on our land until they had PAID for the trees.

Later,
Dan

 

[Rock knocker]

Maybe just throw a big lock and chain on the gate and claim the equipment until the contract is honored, or you have satisfaction.

You can't steal someones equipment because you are mad at them.

Might??? Get a lien put on his equipment tomorrow.

The OP has no right to lien equipment belonging to somebody whom the OP owes money to.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

You can't steal someones equipment because you are mad at them. The OP has no right to lien equipment belonging to somebody whom the OP owes money to.

I don't want their equipment. I want their absence.
And I do not owe them any money. The contract is to sell them the timber on an ad cut basis but it clearly states clear cut not select cut. The value of what I have left is severely declined now because they took the more valuable trees and left the pulpwood. And instead of 20 acres I have about 15 left.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

And I don't pay them, they pay me based on mill receipts. I'm also a bit ticked off at the forester. These trees were on the ground for 3 weeks. And he didn't know about it. That means he hasn't been there.