Buy a Woodlot

[Henz]

Just spoke to the guy who is gonna be bringing me 10-12 cord of logs from a job just up the road from me. Told him about my situiation wantign to remove hemlock/pine. He stated that he has walked some of my property (before I bought it) and said that he would be interested in working out a deal. First, he would delieve the 10-12 cord of hardwood for "x" amt that he would take out of the logging of the pine/hemlock. Then once he has paid himself back, we would split up the remainder ofany $$ that he gets for the logs after his cut etc. I knowthis guy pretty well so it sounds good

 

[Ken45]

I've heard a "rule of thumb" is that you get 1 cord/acre on a long term sustainable basis. Of course it depends on the growing environment.

Ken

 

[JustWood]

Just spoke to the guy who is gonna be bringing me 10-12 cord of logs from a job just up the road from me. Told him about my situiation wantign to remove hemlock/pine. He stated that he has walked some of my property (before I bought it) and said that he would be interested in working out a deal. First, he would delieve the 10-12 cord of hardwood for "x" amt that he would take out of the logging of the pine/hemlock. Then once he has paid himself back, we would split up the remainder ofany $$ that he gets for the logs after his cut etc. I knowthis guy pretty well so it sounds good

Do yourself a favor and check with the local mills and pulp mills just to get an idea of who you are dealing with. References ,character ,etc.

 

[Henz]

I alrady know that. He lives where I do and have known him for half my life

 

[savageactor7]

Hey it sounds like the worm has turned for you Adirondackwoodburner. I never made real "see what I did" progress managing my wood lot until in '88 when I had a logger come in and take the bigger trees out and leaving me about 100 cords.

One of the pay backs were the logging trails that allowed me access to areas I couldn't get to before. Most importantly there were some trees that were just to big for me to take down. Now it seems I have more trees less brush and plenty of room to work around...life is good.

 

[michaelthomas]

I had 10 rather large white and red pines taken down in my back yard to let some sun in. The back of my house was getting mossy and I wanted more back yard space. I felt bad about cutting them down as I had just bought the house and they had been there for 75+ years, so I had them milled into useable lumber by a local sawyer. I paid 20 cents per board foot to have it milled. I had the wood milled for a shed and some other projects I had in mind. I ended up paying about $200 to have the wood milled and ended up with enough 2x4, 6 and 8s, 1x6, 8, 10 and 12s to build a 10x10 shed with wood plank floors and wood sheathed for the roof, and I still have plenty left over for the kids club house and other misc. projects around the house. I love being able to use something that I took from my land and turn it into something useful. Since I took down the big pines the Maple and Oak have really shot up. It was worth the trouble.

 

[downeast]

The experienced advice is good.

With your acreage it's time to hire a Consulting Forester. Interview them for the best fit. Foresters will do an inventory of the woodlot, prepare a management plan for what you want out of the harvesting short and long term, and show the best way to manage the woodlot. Management like the guys said, is the key.

Your Forester will then supervise the cut for maximum return depending on the regional market for pulp, sawlogs, veneer if you've got the timber. They ask "what do want with the land: wildlife, maximum profit, trails, firewood, etc..." .A good Forester will easily save you their fee in efficiency. Pulpers look for pulp. Millers look for sawlogs. Then you have a well-managed woodland for what you want for a long time: firewood.

We bought the 60a, that hadn't been managed since WWII, put it in Timber Growth ( like a farm ), had a Consulting Forester walk the lot and plan the logging --which species, when to cut ( we chose winter ), and the layout of the "patch cuts" and corridor cuts. We transected the lot many times with him flagging skid paths, marking trees, flagging the boundaries. We learned more about woodlands and Forestry Science and studied the texts. It's kind of fun to walk your woods like your own supermarket for wood. The harvest was done in 2000 with great logging crew using a Timberjack whole tree harvester on treads, skidder, slasher: in and out for a 40% species harvest in a month. Impressive crew saving every tree we asked for. The Forester is your agent.

Since then I get 7-8 cords ( real cords ) of firewood out each year--mostly Paper Birch and red Maple, the same in pulp from blowdowns, and Timber Stand Improvement ( TSI)such as opening around species such as Ash, Red Oak, White Pine that we want to spread and grow. I did go to "school" taking a Game of Logging course for pro loggers ( mandatory for them) . The course is designed to give you the tools to cut efficiently, safe, and accurately. Worth looking into. One serious accident was enough to scare ; that saw is not unlike firearms.....maybe more dangerous since we men assume ( making an ASS U ME ) we know tools. Ha..........

 

[Henz]

yes, thanks for all of the tips. I have been thinking about taking that Felling Course, NYSDEC has one and I believe a few other places do to. I have a couple of buddies that have taken it