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Post by bill9068 on Jan 7, 2019 19:19:16 GMT -5
I'm meeting with a forester next Monday to see if my woods needs to be thinned. I'm wanting to improve the under growth for wildlife. Any question's I should be asking?
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Post by bartiks on Jan 8, 2019 0:13:41 GMT -5
If you happen to know which type of trees will be coming out, then I wouldn't worry to much. Reason being a friend of mine used to help log out some woods and property owners would call up to have their woods logged without knowing what they actually had.
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Post by duff on Jan 8, 2019 5:54:56 GMT -5
I'm meeting with a forester next Monday to see if my woods needs to be thinned. I'm wanting to improve the under growth for wildlife. Any question's I should be asking? Is he representing you or the lumber mill? That would change my questions. Also if representing the mill I would get multiple quotes to keep everyone honest. Also if you can find other land owners that have used the timber cutters and see how the treated them. Good luck. |
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Post by freedomhunter on Jan 8, 2019 8:27:19 GMT -5
He will steer you to tsi and other management practices, which is fine. If you have any marketable hardwood, I can steer you in a good direction if you want to make any money PM me. Your local mill will take pallet and maybe give you something for decent ash that is still good, might not cover your cut bill.
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Post by beermaker on Jan 8, 2019 18:25:51 GMT -5
If you decide to have the property logged, get a real firm understanding/agreement of the condition the land will be left in when done. My boss recently had some future development land logged and they made a complete mess of the place.
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Post by jbird on Jan 8, 2019 18:38:24 GMT -5
best thing you can do is get multiple opinions... Foresters tend to be trained on the $$$ side of things. I ignored my state forester, as he said to wait 20 years. I cut within 3. Best habitat related thing I ever did! Most Foresters handle the bidding process and the like. So you will need to know exactly what their "cut" is and exactly what services they will be providing. You also want a list of references from them from over the past year or so and you want to talk to those people.
I have had my place cut twice and I didn't use a forester...but I know my trees and I knew the loggers and I was also VERY involved. I don't regret it and I look forward to the next cut.
Timbering can be a great experience or a horrible one...so doing it right is VERY important. You need someone to represent YOU and what YOU want.
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Post by welder on Jan 8, 2019 19:21:45 GMT -5
I don't want to be "that guy",but you will need to pay income tax on your share of the sale. A friend of mine didn't and got in deep do do!
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Post by bill9068 on Jan 8, 2019 19:58:05 GMT -5
Thanks for all the replies. Yes the forester is working for me and knows what I want as far as habitat improvement. His fee is 9%. I plan on getting multiple foresters , 2 more, to check prices and knowledge. The property was last select cut 20 years ago. They took 402 trees then and didn't touch the front 20 acres so there are bigger trees there (25" across at chest height) . Last cut netted 50k. Property has been in the family almost 40 years and I am sole owner. There are lumber mills in the area, I think 3 within a hour drive. What the plan is to get bids from loggers/ mills and take the highest. We also discussed when to cut and how to leave the tops and any roads they use or construct. I have not met him yet so all this has been over the phone. Am I missing anything? Also I do not know the differences of tree species, I just know very basic such as oaks, tulip poplars, hickory.
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Post by bill9068 on Jan 8, 2019 20:18:43 GMT -5
I don't want to be "that guy",but you will need to pay income tax on your share of the sale. A friend of mine didn't and got in deep do do! Yes, 15% capitol gains If cut by a bidder. |
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Post by ms660 on Jan 8, 2019 20:43:19 GMT -5
Thanks for all the replies. Yes the forester is working for me and knows what I want as far as habitat improvement. His fee is 9%. I plan on getting multiple foresters , 2 more, to check prices and knowledge. The property was last select cut 20 years ago. They took 402 trees then and didn't touch the front 20 acres so there are bigger trees there (25" across at chest height) . Last cut netted 50k. Property has been in the family almost 40 years and I am sole owner. There are lumber mills in the area, I think 3 within a hour drive. What the plan is to get bids from loggers/ mills and take the highest. We also discussed when to cut and how to leave the tops and any roads they use or construct. I have not met him yet so all this has been over the phone. Am I missing anything? Also I do not know the differences of tree species, I just know very basic such as oaks, tulip poplars, hickory. What type of equipment are they going to use?? Hand falling with chainsaws, or timberjack mechanical cutter. Hopefully the man behind the wheel of the skidder has some common sense. The skidder operator is the one who can do the most damage to your woods, but you got to get the logs out. |
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Post by jbird on Jan 9, 2019 12:58:07 GMT -5
Just keep in mind what was cut before really can have no impact on what is cut this time. The trees cut before may have been prime timber like oak, walnut and cherry, while this time it may be maple, and poplar and hickory...(which bring less) or even lower value stuff like cottonwood or soft maple.. Also be aware that various wood types fluctuate as well. So even oak value can be up or down...so you have that to consider when you cut, as you may want to wait a year to see if the price will recover if this cut is heavy in one type of timber. Also keep in mind that size isn't everything. Trees can be to mature. We see this in oaks and hard maple. Oaks tend to become full of knots and the like and hard maple can get too big as the heart wood expands...this is the less desirable wood....so it has a "sweet spot" for size. Cherry can show signs of damage well before it gets really big as well. You or the forester will need to research the loggers as well...just because they do good on price doesn't mean they are good to do business with. They may have a habit of being late on payments or tearing up a place and not fixing it or even trespassing on neighbors or stealing trees or not have insurance and the like. Like was mentioned understand the taxes... Make sure they at least drop any trees you want to come down. What I mean is that you may have a large beech tree that is shading a potential oak. The beech may be hollow and worthless and of no interest to the logger. Have them drop it any way. If it's not hurting anything leave it stand for cavity nesters, but you need to keep things like that in mind when discussing what trees are coming down. Each tree is a unique situation and YOU should have the final decision. The forester should create an inventory list with the trees being numbered with an estimated size as this is what the loggers will bid against. You will also need as much detail for access, landings and clean-up as possible before quoting.
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Post by jbird on Jan 9, 2019 13:01:48 GMT -5
Sorry that got long winded...I'm an Engineer, so I focus on details. Your forester "should" help you thru all of this.
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Post by schall53 on Jan 10, 2019 14:14:17 GMT -5
The forester I just used was great. He handled the whole thing. Went back and marked all the trees, wrote up a description of them, and sent it out for bids. We got 8 bids ranging from 15600.00 all the way to 47160.00, his fee was 10%. We got 20% down 10 days after the contract was signed with the balance due before they start cutting. A great guy to work with. I had two different outfits look before I contacted him. They were nothing more that thieves, one offered 6500.00 and the other 9000.00. GET A FORESTER ! He will watch out for your interests.
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Post by bill9068 on Jan 10, 2019 16:14:36 GMT -5
Pretty much the same I'm hearing from the forester I'm meeting Monday. Paid in full before timber is cut and he handles everything in writing. Last cut 20 years ago the crew left nice trails in the woods the deer use to this day. I'm going to be insisting they be used and repaired. My grandkids love to ride on them with the four wheelers and side by sides. Tops will be pushed into small piles for cover for wildlife.
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Post by esshup on Jan 10, 2019 19:54:44 GMT -5
Long time ago when I took forestry in college we were told to use a color paint that was hard to get, and paint both the tree that was supposed to be cut AND the part of the tree that would be the stump so the loggers didn't cut trees that you didn't want cut.
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Post by steiny on Jan 10, 2019 21:08:54 GMT -5
I've logged my woods twice and always hired and independent forester to survey and evaluate the woods, mark and measure trees, then solicit bids from loggers and monitor the harvest. Never paid anywhere near 9%, that sounds high as heck, but the money spent on the forester certainly got me good sale prices. Have never had any of the negative experiences some complain about with loggers tearing the place all up.
Do not hire these timber companies that come knocking on your door without getting quotes.
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Post by freedomhunter on Jan 10, 2019 21:15:22 GMT -5
I'm not an agent, anymore, but still collect a referral. That being said, I only represent one company and they get top dollar just because they have the market cornered. I wouldn't give a forester a dime. I do know the companies that take advantage of people hire foresters as a smoke screen. Just my opinion. It still is a brutally competitive industry. If it ever gets regulated it will go the way of normal business.
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Post by jbird on Jan 11, 2019 11:42:48 GMT -5
Only reason I didn't use a forester was because I had trustworthy family connections to the logger being used AND I was significantly involved thru the entire process and felt I knew enough about what I wanted and what I didn't AND I know my trees. I had personal yes/no say on EVERY tree we marked...we took over 600! It takes time and I checked in everyday (I live on the property that was logged) during the process. I have/had a pretty unique situation so if you are not comfortable with all of that using a Forester you are comfortable with (and talk to several) then I think it would be worth your time. Marking each tree (log AND stump) is a great way to keep loggers honest...we just used a bright colored spray paint. Mark the tree with a number up on the log and again low to the ground to be the stump...then you should have an inventory list of what each number species is and if the logger tries to cheat you it's easy to tell because the numbers get screwed up or you have a stump with no number.
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Post by esshup on Jan 11, 2019 18:39:35 GMT -5
I like the number and species ID thing. Good thinking!!!
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Post by bill9068 on Oct 2, 2019 14:45:22 GMT -5
Follow up on this post. I did hire a forester, got bids from interested loggers and settled with one in July. Have a 3 page contract spelling out everything from staging site used to cleanup and re seeding any thing I see needs attention. Cannot cut from October thru December. Using tracked cutters and some chainsaw work. Paid in full in July, harvesting 452 trees marked and made 73K after paying forester. Forester will vist site 4 times after cutting has started and make sure contract is being followed. All in all very pleased to this point, I will also stay at my home there as they cut to monitor the work. Works out to 7.5 trees per acre, so the canopy should be opened up for undergrowth after they cut.
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