Not sure if this is the right forum…but I had my woodlot marked. Taking out 60 trees or so. I walked through it the logger yesterday and feel like it’s not too aggressive, which is A-ok by me. Just wondering about the price strategy. Instead of a fixed price quote they want to split 60/40 (60 for me) and market the logs to a couple buyers. Is that a good split? it’s about 40 black walnut, ten red oak and the rest is soft maple and cherry.
Before agreeing to anything, get an unbiased opinion from a certified forester. Price split seems reasonable assuming that you can see all bids. Your portion should be made payable to you by the buyer, not the loggers. Get a rough estimate of the timber value and request a 10% escrow from the logging company for damage, failure to perform etc. If they balk find a different logger.
Thanks for that. For what it’s worth, my friend in the area partnered with this logger and said he’s a reliable guy
Like amateur cutter said. Get a certified forester. Way safer for you. Mt neighbor had his property logged and hired a company that figured the value of his wood. They then put it up for bid. The outfit that won the bid was 2 hours away. Before I new this I asked the local logger I know if he got it and he said it was to rich for his wallet. There may be specialty buyers out there that would pay a premium for your walnut. Good luck.
The walnut should be marketed to specialty buyers, me thinks. Any larger quality stems are going to end up being exported by the mills who buy them.
I know of some people who had a couple loggers who came and gave them estimates for logging their modest woodlot. One was roughly twice as much as the other. Being confused, the landowner sought additional counsel, and ended up being advised to do what amateur cutter recomended and have a forester in. The forester did a thorough assessment and was able to take his assessment to auction. His assessment included each species and how many board foot of each. The Amish ended up with the winning bid, which was approximately 7 times what the logger with the higher bid estimated. Do your homework! Let us know how it goes.
I did a 387 tree harvest on my place last november. I used a consulting forester for my harvest. We selected for cut together. He figured out total board feet by species. A minimum acceptable bid price at current market value. Marketed an auction sale to 8 different buyers based on their ethical practices. There was a 30K difference between low and high bids. Once a bid was accepted he helped with the day the loggers showed up. After the cut he figured my cost basis to be taxed on for the accountant. It was worth every penny of his fee and I made a great deal more on the timber using him.
After my experience, I don't think I would ever negotiate With just a single buyer for timber. I have had neighbors do that and now I wonder if they could have gotten more for their sale. Additionally the forester had several different types of sale contracts for the buyer and discussed the pros and negatives of each one with me. I learned a lot throughout the whole process. Editing to add: some of my White Oak was veneer quality. The value of those logs was much, much higher than the value of a saw log and I did not have the experience to differentiate between them.
It is pretty crazy that a couple of trees could be worth on their own than what is found in several acres of mature trees. My guesstimate on veneer trees in my stands would be about 1 of every 25 mature trees. I am pessimistic rather than optimistic in my assesments of them. The most valuable tree on the property is easily a certain walnut that is 32" DBH and has 22' of clear wood. There are a couple other big boys in that vicinity, but none with that much clear wood and diameter. I sometimes wonder where it will end up? A bar top in Japan? A fancy desk top in an office in the UK somewhere? LOL Hard to tell.
I know my White Oak veneer logs went through 4 different Entities and ended up in Germany. Only 23 veneer trees out of 387.
I should have specified on my estimates...I expect 1 of every 25 *quality mature trees to veneer. Of course there will be many blocking and tie trees as well. I have a fair amount of 'stave' and No.1 trees. I need to find someone to take a 4-5' diameter white oak burl. lol
Don't underestimate the smaller walnut. Some of the Amish horse loggers around here are taking stuff I would have cut into firewood. My buddy and I just saw a stack of walnut logs they had out by the road for the log truck and he also thought they were pretty small.
A little late to this, but a consulting forester is a good way to go. He or she will know the current market and which loggers to offer bids to. Their work will generate higher bids, so your fee (10% in my State) will be covered. “Loggers choice” could result in less desirable outcome on your timber stand at the end of it
Yeah I hired a forestry guy. He steered to a logger with a good market for walnut. Spoke to some farmers that used this logger and they said he was the best most trustworthy. My logging should start today.
Hope you are as satisfied with your harvest as I was. I worried over it for the longest time and it turned out to not be a big deal. Don't forget to have your consultant help you with the tax angle of it. The guy I used shined on that aspect.
Ok just to follow up. All got done the past two weeks. Took about 50 trees down, mostly walnut. I had $$$ in my eyes but when you see them on the ground you see there’s a lot of crooked ones and hollow ones. But also a lot of nice ones. Out of 200+ sawlogs had 6 veneer quality ones that were worth a lot. The rest did ok. And the forest doesn’t seem too worse for the wear. And my trails are nice and clear. I will use some of the money for a box blade to keep them that way.
Pic #3 shows me a veneer log and I’ve sold a bunch over the years he holds his girth for a long way nice lot sir!
Yeah that was the best of the bunch. Wish there were more like that one. It’s headed to Kentucky to a veneer mill.
