My Virginia 30 Acre Timber Sale

[DrRod]

I just bought 41 acres next to our existing property -- about 165 acres. It was pretty cheap because most of it is across the creek with no bridge but I can access it directly from my side so it made sense for me. Added a good quarter mile of road frontage and provides a big buffer against any future neighbors. The seller was interested in retaining the rights to the timber or would take $25k for it. I had our forestry consultant walk the property and he figured it was worth at least $35k or more so I took the timber in the deal. Planning to cut it and about 65 acres of our current stand late in the summer. Don't plan on getting rich but as a hobby it sure pays better than golf.

 

[CADplans]

Today, the portable bridge arrived,,,

 

[teg]

Just down the road from ya... drove up through some of the snow flurries yesterday ... we've been "thinking" about logging some of our White Pine... but access is bad and not looking forward to the aftermath cleanup. Watching closely to yours!!!

 

[CADplans]

Got wood?

I did not like riding an ATV across the bridge,,

EVERY twig that gets hauled off the property will go over that bridge,,

 

[CADplans]

we've been "thinking" about logging some of our White Pine...

Two state foresters, and an article in a magazine stated that right now, pine is not sellable.
Apparently South America has huge amounts that they sell.
BUT, markets change every day, so the value of pine could jump tomorrow.
Call your state forester and ask what your timber should sell for.
That is where I started,, and that is how I determined how much money my timber would bring.
I ended up getting exactly what the state guys said I should.
It took 3 years of waiting,, but, the buyer met my asking price.

but access is bad and not looking forward to the aftermath cleanup. Watching closely to yours!!!

We were looking at harvested land today, 3, 5, and 7 years since harvest.

In riding around, we saw LOTS of standing timber that looked worse than the harvested land.
Bugs, blight, all sorts of things can get standing timber,,
the result is not pretty,,

Talk to the guys in Pennsylvania,, the bug getting the ash trees is horrible,,
I am kinda glad to see my trees being harvested.

 

[kevin37b]

What is the red machine on the trailer with the knuckleboom ?

 

[CADplans]

What is the red machine on the trailer with the knuckleboom ?

It may be a delimber? It has a roller like this at the bottom,,,

I found that pic on the internet,,,

 

[teg]

That's about the best looking logging equipment I've seen... most of the time it's beat to crap, leaking hydraulic fluid and very old.

 

[CADplans]

Well, they are still trying to figure out what the road will require,,

on Monday it snowed about 5 inches,,,

Today, they started hauling stone,, this is what 70 tons of stone looks like,,

The driver backed in,, almost a 1/4 mile from the paved road.
Then he tailgated the stone,,,, IN REVERSE!!

The 70 tons got them from my pretty good driveway, to the steel bridge,,,
I think it will take another 70 tons to get up the hill.

 

[forgeblast]

I was talking with someone the other day about beech bark disease and he mentioned this article Forest Regeneration Strategies at the Arnot - CornellForestConnect
it talks about slash walls and how they are getting their forest plots to regenerate after harvests.