Logging on someone else’s ground.

[LHF2019]

Lots of logging here. I would try to find the logging company first. I highly recommend having your timber sale contracted by a forester so everything is legit but here you can just get a Amish crew and turn them loose. All of my land is taken care of by a forester and we are within 5 years of a harvest. Properly done the trees are marked high and at the stump for accountability. Boundaries are slashed with paint and we are in the process of brightening them up ourselves as they are well faded.

 

[oosik]

I had the prime trees logged off about fifteen years ago. I have 80 acres and it is totally fenced - five strands of barbed wire. I told the contractor - "under NO condition do you cut trees outside the fence". Never had a moments problem.

 

[Bocephous]

It’s not the loggers that mark the boundaries. It’s whoever is preparing the timber sale for the landowner who marks boundaries. Anyone who just gives the logger free rein deserves the outcome they get. If it’s private land, typically a consulting forester prepares the timber sale and contract provisions.

That is what we did. Hired a Forester who followed our directions, marked the trees, calculated board feet and submitted the info to half a dozen logging companies. The highest bid won. Forester got 15% off the top. Well worth it.

 

[oosik]

In my case - the logger had specific ties to one milling company. Logger and I marked the trees to be cut. No middle man in this case. FWW - I don't even know if we have Foresters in our area. That was back in the days when pine had value.

 

[jyoutz]

That is what we did. Hired a Forester who followed our directions, marked the trees, calculated board feet and submitted the info to half a dozen logging companies. The highest bid won. Forester got 15% off the top. Well worth it.

That’s the best way to get a clean job and a fair contract. 15% for the forester? I may have to start consulting.

 

[ponytug]

That’s the best way to get a clean job and a fair contract. 15% for the forester? I may have to start consulting.

That was my thought as well. IIRC: last time we did it, a while ago, it was a flat fee or 5%. Different time, different place. I was amazed to learn how valuable our black cherries were, and I made sure to replant more of them.

All the best,

Peter

 

[jyoutz]

That was my thought as well. IIRC: last time we did it, a while ago, it was a flat fee or 5%. Different time, different place. I was amazed to learn how valuable our black cherries were, and I made sure to replant more of them.

All the best,

Peter

Black cherry is the most valuable timber stumpage in the U.S. But they don’t occur in CA?

 

[ponytug]

Black cherry is the most valuable timber stumpage in the U.S. But they don’t occur in CA?

Great call, yes, this wasn't on our current property in California, where we have some monster California bay trees (liabilities), California is buckeyes (trash), some scattered low value live oak due to natural growth habits, and a handful of planted grey pines.

The other property had 80-90+ foot tall cherries. As I recall, they were the bulk of the value, despite being relatively few trees in number, as the remainder was red/white oak, and large hickories.

I've been meaning to go back and see how the pecans and cherries are doing. I can see the pecans from Google Maps, but the cherries are in a mixed hardwood forest, and I can't really identify black cherries in a mixed forest from the air.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Jstpssng]

Black cherry is the most valuable timber stumpage in the U.S. But they don’t occur in CA?

20 years ago when I was working down in New York I was told that stumpage was a buck a foot.
Not anymore, apparently. I was marking wood down there last spring and they were selling the cherry for pallet stock because there was no market for it.
.

 

[jyoutz]

20 years ago when I was working down in New York I was told that stumpage was a buck a foot.
Not anymore, apparently. I was marking wood down there last spring and they were selling the cherry for pallet stock because there was no market for it.
.

In the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania, black cherry is always bid higher than any other species in the entire National Forest system.

 

[ponytug]

20 years ago when I was working down in New York I was told that stumpage was a buck a foot.
Not anymore, apparently. I was marking wood down there last spring and they were selling the cherry for pallet stock because there was no market for it.
.

That is incredible. As @jyoutz shared, I had always found cherry to be an in demand, high value wood. Pallet stock seems very square peg round hole due to how soft and prone to checking or splitting it can be.

Times change I guess.

All the best, Peter

 

[jyoutz]

That is incredible. As @jyoutz shared, I had always found cherry to be an in demand, high value wood. Pallet stock seems very square peg round hole due to how soft and prone to checking or splitting it can be.

Times change I guess.

All the best, Peter

High grade cherry is very much in demand by the cabinet and furniture industry.

 

[Jstpssng]

High grade cherry is very much in demand by the cabinet and furniture industry.

All that I know is what I was told by the forester I was marking wood with in New York.

 

[Dawg in Fl]

I think markets do come and go. A few months ago I tried to sell 50 years old white pine in the mountains of NC. The forester that I have known for 20 years was able to sell a few loads before the market ended. Unless the mill gets a special order, they are not buying any wood - told my guy they wouldn't take the trees even if given to them.

 

[dstig1]

The cherry around here is poor as we are at the very northern edge of the range. I have had a few cherry trees on the property but they all seem to die and rot about the time they get to 8-10" dia... Seems to be a common theme in this area.

 

[ponytug]

The cherry around here is poor as we are at the very northern edge of the range. I have had a few cherry trees on the property but they all seem to die and rot about the time they get to 8-10" dia... Seems to be a common theme in this area.

That's not great news.

Do you know what kills them off?

All the best,

Peter

 

[Jstpssng]

That's not great news.

Do you know what kills them off?

All the best,

Peter

It's the same way here. Poor site mostly.

 

[dstig1]

It's neither good nor bad, it just is... Like I said, we are at the very northern limit of their range in north america, so I'm going to go with "climate" as the reason...

 

[Bocephous]

That’s the best way to get a clean job and a fair contract. 15% for the forester? I may have to start consulting.

The part that was most valuable to the deal were his contacts. The bids varied greatly, from $7000ish to $34,000ish. The logger we settled on supplies wood for furniture, and the few maples the Forester had spiced the deal up with were what this particular logger wanted. I would have had no clue, as this logger was in another state.

Hardwoods - Gutchess Lumber

We manufacture a variety of quality, sustainable hardwood lumber species. Follow our link to view each type of lumber that we offer.

www.gutchess.com

Another benefit was the loggers realized I actually cared about our property; I have logging roads I use as ATV and hiking trails. They left a dozer at the site after they had finished logging so they could send a man up to address any issues I had with how they left the logging roads. They left the property in better shape than they found it.

If I had tried to do this alone who knows what I would have ended up settling for; plenty of local logging companies around here but none were included in the forester's bids.

 

[jyoutz]

The part that was most valuable to the deal were his contacts. The bids varied greatly, from $7000ish to $34,000ish. The logger we settled on supplies wood for furniture, and the few maples the Forester had spiced the deal up with were what this particular logger wanted. I would have had no clue, as this logger was in another state.

Hardwoods - Gutchess Lumber

We manufacture a variety of quality, sustainable hardwood lumber species. Follow our link to view each type of lumber that we offer.

www.gutchess.com

Another benefit was the loggers realized I actually cared about our property; I have logging roads I use as ATV and hiking trails. They left a dozer at the site after they had finished logging so they could send a man up to address any issues I had with how they left the logging roads. They left the property in better shape than they found it.

If I had tried to do this alone who knows what I would have ended up settling for; plenty of local logging companies around here but none were included in the forester's bids.

There is a reason to hire a professional to do complex work. Good that you realize this.