Need forest harvesting info.
 

All,

A good friend of mine wants to clear out and sell some of the Black Walnut trees on his property. He would like the name of a reputable lumber company that will giv ehim fair market value for the trees and also manage the tree removal over the next couple of years so not to harm the forest and hunting. Does anyone know of a reputable lumber removal company in Ohio that can help him out?

Thanks,
Matt

RE: Need forest harvesting info.
 

Have him call the Conservation Department or the Forestry dept at the University. There are a ton of real jerk wood buyers and there are some really top notch folks. Anotherplace to consider is to sell the trees once down direct to woodworkers. Many woodworkers will buy a log and have it sawn by a sawyer with a woodmizer. Suggest www.woodnet.net...great forum there

RE: Need forest harvesting info.
 

My friend just went through the same thing. He had lumber guys come in and price the trees. They wouldn't give him that much. He ended up calling a forestry service and they did everything the correct way and he got a nice fat check. He lives in Western PA. That might be to far.

RE: Need forest harvesting info.
 

My experience with timber is this. It is a real dirty business. There is just so much wiggle room in it. This tree is not veneer (high price) when it is. The board feet they say is less than actual. Also there are two ways to calculate board feet (doyle scale and international scale) one results in more board feet. Obviously the buyer wants to use the lesser scale. I have actually had buyers say the log is not veneer and a veneer buyer then show up and say they will take that log.

A must is to know how many trees and board feet that are there before they are cut. If you can't do this yourself you must find someone you trust that will do it for you. This can also be difficult to do.

Black Walnut is a top quality tree maybe the best it is right up there with cherry etc. What ever the person does do not give away your black walnut tree the are worth quite a bit.

RE: Need forest harvesting info.
 

walnut lumber, rough sawn and dry is going to be worth about 3.50-4.00 a board foot for run of the log material...so if the sawyer has to cut and dry it, you can see that there is not a ton of value in a raw log...BUT...the bad boys in that business will give like 50 bucks for a log that is rightly worth 150. Also the board foot calculations dont reflect useable bord feet for the furniture maker. I have purchased rough sawn walnut that yielded about 900 bf from a toal bf of about 1300.

RE: Need forest harvesting info.
 

Wigmap there are more than two ways. You have International, Doyle and Scribner (may be more than that, but these are common). Figuring standing timber you also have different form classes ie: Scribner FC 68, 70, 72, 74, 76 etc.

RE: Need forest harvesting info.
 

The way I would do it would have someone cut the logs out and then have buyers bid the logs as they lay. Make sure to either consult a forestry tech. or some other reputable person to mark the desired trees to be cut. Take the highest bid and then the logger gets a percentage of the sale. Make sure you write up in the contract very clearly how much the logger gets.

St. Croix

RE: Need forest harvesting info.
 

You should be concerned also as to how they're gonna extract your trees. A skidder in the hands of a clutz can do a lot of damage especially in the spring. Don't forget too, that any large limbs and roots can provide the most figured wood for firearm stocks.