Power Line Logging Project

[timster2]

The power company is going to put in a new power line and will be clear cutting the right of way. The logs and brush will be piled up along the right of way for me to with as I please. Now I supplement heat with wood so I will be harvesting some for my use, however, there will be more than I can use for sure. Here is my dilemma and/or project. There are many trees including Cherry, hard and soft Maple, Ash that are marketable. Here is a picture taken of an area just down the road to give you an idea of how the area will be left when they are done clearing. Mill logs in one pile tops and brush in another.

My dilemma is do I try to handle the logs myself and haul them to a nearby mill, about 8 miles away, or hire a logger to pick them up and take them to the mill. Being the trees will be cut down and stacked already what should I expect to get from and/or pay a logger to haul them off to a mill. I understand that there will be mill logs, 10" and up, and firewood 5"-10". Now my volume will be whatever about three acres will yield so we are not talking too many loads. I have a car trailer, 7x10 dump trailer the B2320 the BX to use for the project.

How long do I have to move the logs before a mill will not want them, how long from the time they are cut and stacked is a reasonable time to get them to the mill? Should I concentrate on the mill logs and have a logger take the firewood? Cutting at my end of the project is scheduled to start next month. Any insight, suggestions, recommendations, warnings etc?

 

[dave1949]

Several really nice mill logs could be worth more than all the firewood. You need someone to work with who will grade and cut the mill logs to correct lengths, plus send them to the best mill for that product, in order to maximize their value.

If you could get the logs skidded to an accessible location near a road for sorting and cutting that would be ideal I think. Selling the higher value logs soon after they are cut is best. The cherry and hard maple should have the most value.

If you could combine your wood with that of one or two adjoining neighbors it would be easier to get a forester to grade the logs maybe?

 

[timster2]

I don't think any skidding will be necessary. Most, if not all, the logs will be along a newly built access road, easy picking. That's what has me considering hauling some of the mill logs. Cutting to length should be no problem. As long as the tractor can lift the logs and load them on the trailer. Any guess as to what a 16" x 12' cherry or maple log would weigh?

 

[dave1949]

https://www.google.com/webhp?source...=2&ie=UTF-8#q=volume of a cylinder calculator

.67' radius, 12' length = ~17 cubic feet of volume.

www.oocities.org/steamgen/woodweights.pdf
Green black cherry lbs per cubic feet = 45.

17 X 45 = 765 lbs for a 16" x 12' black cherry log.

 

[Jstpssng]

You might be able to get somebody from the mill to come look at them, tell you what they are looking for, which logs in the pile they will take and give suggestions how to maximize the value.

This time of year they will want the logs within 14 days from the stump... not that you would wish bad luck on anybody but if progress was delayed until the end of September you would have all winter to work them up.

I pay $200 for a self loading truck with about 10 cord (5000 board feet) capacity to haul wood about 25 miles. He needs to be able to drive to the pile though, which wouldn't be possible in the picture you show.

Your power company is rather accommodating, up here they run everything through the chipper.
I guess that I'm not sure if you own the land and have given them an easement; or if they actually own the right of way. If it's the former and you have time you also could go through now and take out the high value sawlogs, letting them cut the firewood for you.

This is just a rough number, but we use 10 cords/acre to estimate how much will be cut.

 

[timster2]

Jstpssng, What is special about this time of the year and 14 days? This is the kind of thing I would like to learn. The piles in the picture was an example of how they will be left. My situation is a road fifty feet wide by just over a quarter mile long. With the road bed at about sixteen feet wide that only leaves fifteen or so feet on either side of the road for the piles. That should make access easy. I own the property and have granted an easement. After they are done I will own the road.

As far as taking the high value saw logs due to physical limitations I cannot or will not fell the trees, my neck is all but frozen and I cannot look up and watch the tree while cutting. Once the trees are down and horizontal I have no problem cutting them and the tractors will do the lifting. Once they give me a firm start date I will pass by the mill and see what help they can give me.

 

[Jstpssng]

Wood spoils just like fruit does. High value hardwood logs are used for cabinetry and trim; this time of year they get a fungal stain which downgrades the logs. (Softwood also stains plus is susceptible to bugs this time of year... I have 3 pine logs which I had planned to sell but instead I'll have them sawn for my own use as sheathing.)
This When are veneer logs felled and sliced? | American Hardwood Export Council explains it better and more completely.

 

[newbury]

Contact your state/county forester immediately for advice. They should know the local conditions.

 

[LD1]

Might want to contact a fee mills to get an idea what they want.

Around here 10" wouldn't be touched. And even 16-18" is on the small end of what they want for logs.

 

[SPIKER]

They DO mill down to about 8" but useful lumber is often not taken from them for much more than paneling or sheathing on smaller stuff usually do to knots etc.
I had 4 loads of lumber on my car hauler taken over to my Amish neighbor and milled into 1x and 1.5x stuff. Lots of Red Oak and Cherry with a good bit of Slippery Elm. Smallest I took over had a 7~8" small end & made nice stuff for trim to flooring. Still setting under my lean too drying.



was first pile of lumber from the logs that sat for a while in woods (some of them 4 or 5 years.) they are spaulted which is a interesting thing ...
close up of the Slipperly Elm



M

 

[timster2]

There is some hemlock and other conifers that I would like to have milled to board and batten siding just need to find a sawyer. Perhaps the smaller logs would be useful to someone with his own sawmill?

 

[luvmexfood]

Probably worth selling except for right now the price of logs is way down. Two price drops in the last three weeks. Be sure if you buck to length to allow extra for the mill to square. Some want 6" to trim off. You can haul them on your car hauler if you have enough truck to pull them. I regularly haul loads on average of 400 bd ft of logs with my F150 pick-up and a 16' utility trailer.

Winter before last the power company cut out a right of way here. Got the logs, they were good big poplar some 36", and sold them. They were right beside a paved road so I got the log yard to send over one of their selfloaders and get them. Didn't have to skid but he moved 3 times to get them all. Cost me about $100.00 per hour for the truck. Well worth it. As far as picking them up with your tractor all you have to really do is one end at a time. I do it all the time with just a boompole and a tongue mounted winch on the trailer. Can explain in more detail if you decide to do it.

 

[MossRoad]

Contact your state/county forester immediately for advice. They should know the local conditions.

X2! :thumbsup:

 

[timster2]

Being the property they are going to clear is only fifty foot wide by a quarter mile or so I have to wait until the power company comes in and marks the road. They were here before with some slick GPS surveying handheld map that seemed to be accurate to a few inches. They were looking for endangered wildlife and wetlands. Got in touch with a forester and he will come out and mark the trees for me prior the feller buncher chopping them down so they are not destroyed in the process. Then I can have a better idea of how many board feet and what species of trees are available.

Still have to stop by the mill and see if they have a self loading truck and what it would cost for them to pick up the logs. I'm sure that once they start cutting someone will come knocking on my door and look to buy up the lumber.

I can haul about 5K lbs at a time with my truck and trailer. Don't know how many logs that might be perhaps six or seven at a time. I will have to figure out my costs vs having a logger or the mill do the hauling work.

I will also have to figure in a good chainsaw that starts easy or at least I have a good excuse to buy a new one. The ones I have are thirty years old or a cheap Poulan I picked up a few years ago that's a pain to start. I have a Stihl dealer nearby so that's the brand I think I will look at. Any suggestions? The old saws I have are a Craftsman 3.7 with an 18" bar and a Homelite 14", and the poulan pro with an 18" bar. They all run with some TLC but none of them are trouble free and easy to work with.

So far so good keep the suggestions coming.

 

[bcp]

I seem to hear more "easy starting" comments about Echo than others.

Bruce

 

[dave1949]

Husqvarna or Echo is what I would look at.

 

[Jstpssng]

Echos tend to be heavier than a comparable Husky. They also cost less, and last time I knew had a 5year powerhead warrantee. (My last Husky lasted 3years befors the crankshaft failed, doing so much damage that it wasn't worth fixing. ) I have an Echo CS520 that was a good saw for about 6 years... trouble is that I've had it for 7.

5K would be about 500 board feet. If you go that route be careful though, a good sized log can weigh 500lbs or better; your BX only weighs about 1500 lbs. (A 16 foot log, 12" on the top end is about 100 board feet.)
Felling trees, bringing them out and merchandizing them is fun, plus you will be able to write off that new saw on your taxes. :thumbsup:

 

[smstonypoint]

Felling trees, bringing them out and merchandizing them is fun, plus you will be able to write off that new saw on your taxes. :thumbsup:

I haven't seen the tax consequences discussed.

Are you be being paid for the ROW? That complicates the tax situation. A consulting forester or CPA could advise you as to the tax issues involved.

Ignoring the ROW complication, income from the sales of standing timber is subject to capital gains taxes, while income from the sales of logs is subject to ordinary income taxes (and FICA). This is my understanding of how this can be handled. A forester could value the standing timber (and your basis if you do not already know your basis) for purpose of calculating your capital gain. You could calculate the net income from the sale of logs as the revenue from log sales less the value of standing timber less logging expenses.

Steve

 

[Birdhunter1]

Here's what you also need to think about; the power crew will want in-through-and out in a short time window. You will be working like crazy to be out of their way while being in the way, if you are asking about a chainsaw at this point I think you will be in over your head in the work required and hauling 5,000 lb loads at a time will make for alot of loads and very likely rough and/or muddy ground from where the trees are piled to where you are loading them.
Have you ever worked through one of those piles?

What I would do is work with the forester on the other ground you own (assuming you own more) and come up with a plan and have someone do it.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

We have a small mill in this area; he will come and pick up the logs and mill them for a 50/50 split. I don't know if mills in your area would work with you on the same basis, but I certainly would contact them.