Time to thin pines. Any guess on value.

[N80]

I know there are a lot of variables in this equation, including pulp wood prices (probably low), tree density, tree size, etc. But, I've got about 120 acres of planted pines pushing 15 years old. We had the state forester do a free assessment 4 years ago and according to him, it will be time for a first thinning in about a year.

I've got a wedding to pay for in about 15 months.

Tree density is high. Tree size, is variable of course, with the best areas having trees 8-10" diameter, 24-26" circumference at the base. Does anyone have a rough guess what range of profit one might expect per acre from such a thinning? Mill is fairly close. Access for trucks and equipment is excellent. Very little if any road improvement will be necessary.

 

[dave1949]

All I can tell you George is that I got $4/ton for chips here this July. That was my total net, the mill pays the logger for getting them there, and I have no idea how much.

I heard SC is really into pellet production for export to Europe. Maybe your wood is worth more than you think?

Having good access is a real plus for your final result and negotiating the price.

 

[newbury]

Product prices for most categories increased during the 3rd quarter with the exception of pine chip-n-saw and pulpwood. Stumpage prices increased from the previous quarter by 11.2% for mixed hardwood sawtimber, by 1.8% for pine sawtimber, and by 4.6% for hardwood pulpwood. Pine chip-n-saw and pulpwood fell by 5.2% and 2.7%
respectively

from http://msucares.com/forestry/prices/reports/2013/3.pdf

Right now it looks like pine isn't fetching what it did. Around Mississippi hardwood is doing better. This may be because for the last 20 years everyone has been planting pine.

 

[MossRoad]

I know there are a lot of variables in this equation, including pulp wood prices (probably low), tree density, tree size, etc. But, I've got about 120 acres of planted pines pushing 15 years old. We had the state forester do a free assessment 4 years ago and according to him, it will be time for a first thinning in about a year.

I've got a wedding to pay for in about 15 months.

Tree density is high. Tree size, is variable of course, with the best areas having trees 8-10" diameter, 24-26" circumference at the base. Does anyone have a rough guess what range of profit one might expect per acre from such a thinning? Mill is fairly close. Access for trucks and equipment is excellent. Very little if any road improvement will be necessary.

Call the state forester back and ask him what's the best way to get the most money for those trees in your area. It's a free service. If he tells you to call a logger, his brother is probably a logger. Skip that and hire a consulting forester. A consulting forester will try to get you as much money as he can out of those trees, while a logger will attempt to get as many trees out of you for as little as possible.

 

[Jstpssng]

Quarterly prices for your area, up to third quarter 2013;


SCFC- Current SC Timber Prices

From the SC Forestry Commission, in conjunction with a private organisation.
This could link to the same place Newbury gave... if so I apologise for the duplicate post.

 

[creekbend]

All I can tell you George is that I got $4/ton for chips here this July. That was my total net, the mill pays the logger for getting them there, and I have no idea how much.

I heard SC is really into pellet production for export to Europe. Maybe your wood is worth more than you think?

Having good access is a real plus for your final result and negotiating the price.

I just had dealings in chips from pines. If the Chipper also cleans the bark from the trees and limbs, the Paper Mills in SC will also take them, if they are cleaned by the chipper. The chips will fetch more, because the Paper Mills make a finer quality of Paper from the cleaned Chips. My logger took took 8 loads of chips to these mills a couple of weeks ago. The loads averaged 36-38 ton each. Best wishes. BTW, I was told that a NEW Chipper costs 1.4 million. The chipper that my logger used cost $35,000 and they worked to fix it for two months.

 

[dave1949]

I just had dealings in chips from pines. If the Chipper also cleans the bark from the trees and limbs, the Paper Mills in SC will also take them, if they are cleaned by the chipper. The chips will fetch more, because the Paper Mills make a finer quality of Paper from the cleaned Chips. My logger took took 8 loads of chips to these mills a couple of weeks ago. The loads averaged 36-38 ton each. Best wishes. BTW, I was told that a NEW Chipper costs 1.4 million. The chipper that my logger used cost $35,000 and they worked to fix it for two months.

My harvest was really a lot of junk wood and part of the deal was they had to clear it all off, which they did a good job of. It was mixed hard and soft woods, no good saw logs in the lot.

I'm in the process of making a field, but even if it had been a harvest for forestry purposes, the thing to do would be have been to clear it off and start over.

The chips were used to fire a steam boiler that generates power for the mill.

 

[newbury]

Quarterly prices for your area, up to third quarter 2013;


SCFC- Current SC Timber Prices

From the SC Forestry Commission, in conjunction with a private organisation.
This could link to the same place Newbury gave... if so I apologise for the duplicate post.

Thanks for another good link.
The graphs are what like MSU used to produce quarterly.
example: http://msucares.com/forestry/prices/reports/2013/2.pdf

 

[MossRoad]

Quarterly prices for your area, up to third quarter 2013;


SCFC- Current SC Timber Prices

From the SC Forestry Commission, in conjunction with a private organisation.
This could link to the same place Newbury gave... if so I apologise for the duplicate post.

And that link highly recommends to contact a consulting forester, too.

 

[creekbend]

And that link highly recommends to contact a consulting forester, too.

A consulting Forester will also make sure that the property to be logged is clearly marked and flagged. This insures that no logging will be done on your neighbor's property. BTW, the Forester and Logger will be responsible if any trees are cut on your neighbor's side. At least, this was on the Contract that I signed.