Selling My Timber

[Hkindiana]

I've always heard that if you keep the bushes and shrubs trimmed, it makes the timber look bigger. Any truth to that?

I heard that hardwood is more desirable than softwood

 

[Mgderf]

I heard that hardwood is more desirable than softwood

Boy did this thread go sideways in a hurry.

 

[yetti462]

What about black cherry? I have a lot of it. I have 165 acres that hasn’t been timbered in 33 years, and might hold out for 35 or 40 years

Cherry is the one species that nobody wants. The market report shows good pricing but comments say different. I will snap a pic of market report comment. 20 yrs ago cherry was king, the red woods, cherry, red oak were both king, the market trends switched to lighter woods maple white oak and they've remained top dogs ever since.

 

[yetti462]

here is report on vherry

 

[ghuns]

Cherry is the one species that nobody wants...

I want all you can send me...

 

[Expat]

My family in Kentucky is having some of our land timber cut right now. As I recall, we get 40% of what he sells it for. The white oak is pretty valuable for making bourbon barrels.

 

[BigRed]

I heard that hardwood is more desirable than softwood

I have no interest in having mine cut and hauled away.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I have no interest in having mine cut and hauled away.

John Bobbitt didn't either. His wife had other ideas though.

 

[Born2vette]

I really like working with cherry, mills and finishes nice. I have a buddy with a portable saw mill and many times friends will call and ask him to mill a log. He typically will for half the lumber.

Here is an Indiana cherry and walnut poker chip box I made.

 

[indyjohn]

I've always heard that if you keep the bushes and shrubs trimmed, it makes the timber look bigger. Any truth to that?

Okiegirl: "When you have big timber, you don't have to worry about the bushes & shrubs."

 

[natdscott]

All I can say—and you know exactly where I’m coming from—is that you need to speak with somebody(s) with no vested interest in you selling your timber.

District foresters are a good start.

Also: have the timber cruised and marked, and then GET SEALED BIDS.

In the mean time, do your homework on the companies submitting bids. Ask to SEE THEIR WORK in other woods they have wrecked (or not).

And, as usual: buy a book on forestry management. It’s somewhere between 10 and 100 years to erase some mistakes that can be made here, so tread carefully.

 

[indyjohn]

All I can say—and you know exactly where I’m coming from—is that you need to speak with somebody(s) with no vested interest in you selling your timber.

Which is exactly what I did. We will be moving on and contacting other agencies. We do need to thin the forest.

We had our suspicions confirmed tonight, $7,000 - $8,000 for 100+ logs was not a fair estimate.

Tip of the hat to Yetti462.

 

[Leadeye]

Our ground was "sandpapered" when we bought it, but the forest has rebounded well.

 

[one more]

Best way is sell through a consulting forester. They will mark, inventory, sell and monitor the harvest and see to it the terms of the contract are met.

Timber buyer will say, "don't pay them a fee, I'll make you more, yada, yada.".

Every sale I've been involved with that the landowner wanted a second opinion on , that was approached by a buyer first, I sold less trees, and after paying me my 8% they still made more than their first offer and had a woods left.

"Shares...logger gets half is that about the norm?" is a question I get all the time. I ask, "You planted your crop and grew it to maturity, I pick it and get half, sound fair?"

Net shares is another trick they'll run. Ive seen contracts people have signed that are on net shares. Horrible way to do it. Logger pays his labor and haul bill basically makes 20 cents a board ft of of you then splits the profit of log sales. Bad idea.

A buyer has choice trees. aka high grading. Only selling 100 trees, but they pick the best in the woods and leave you sh!t.

Hello yetti462, I agree 100%.
I have had a number of timber/loggers stop at my place. Prices they over range from $3000 cash to $8000. All of them say I do not have any good Walnut, but they want all of them. I have had my woods walk with State DNR Foresters. Maybe the sun glare in the woods blinded the loggers and they did not see the veneer quality Walnut trees in the woods? Oh and one of the foresters was from a large northern Indiana saw mill.
Use a consulting forester, that is what I will do.

 

[flyingsquirrel]

I had a friend sell 65 trees and after they were gone, it was 70 gone. He had to sue for the extra money so count your trees after.

 

[phatgemi]

Which is exactly what I did. We will be moving on and contacting other agencies. We do need to thin the forest.

We had our suspicions confirmed tonight, $7,000 - $8,000 for 100+ logs was not a fair estimate.

Tip of the hat to Yetti462.

Yeah, 8K would equal $80 per tree. You could make more selling as firewood!

How do you tell if a timber buyer is lying????

His lips are moving.

 

[two70]

My thoughts as well having sold timber and watched my parents and grandparents do so. I won't sell anything smaller than 24" at the base. Bigger would make me happier. My place is probably lying safe until after I die with that standard.

Not to gain say you or yetti but from what I've seen I wouldn't have a problem selling poplar down to 20" since it grows fast, often has more than 2 logs, and doesn't taper as much as other species. All other species though, I'd agree that bigger is better.

 

[yetti462]

^^poplar grows fast, 20"-2 log tree has 220 bdft, 24"-2log 360 bdft, below 14" dib is low grade/crating volume,. more grade logs in 24" poplar. double value. much past 16 ' on a 20" poplar your gonna get into low grade diameter. plus it doesn't take poplar as long to get to 24" so good to wait a lil and benefit from gain.

bigger the poplar the better, now on maple the smaller the more desirable. big maple has big heart and scares buyers, smaller maple has more white wood. Producers like white wood in maple .

White oak is hot as with walnut. they'll pretty much take any size.

 

[indyjohn]

You say 2 log tree - 1 log is equal to 9' 6" or????

Like I said on the phone, I've got trees that are 80' base to crown.

 

[yetti462]

1 log = 16'
most tree scales are in 16', some guys use a 12' scale.