I will of course get a contract before anything is cut.

Keith

what are your terms?

Alot of great advice here.
One more thing to consider is the leftover slash, or limbs.
Alot of good firewood goes to waste.
I have worked with some people where I came in after freeze up and harvested the limbs.
Another way to get a little more profit from this.

I want only trees marked and agreed upon harvested. I want any tops, not harvested, left in the woods, nothing left on mowed areas. I want a 20% deposit on the signing of the contract. I want payment in full, before the start of harvest. I want any ruts or compacted area restored. I want a bond that is forfeited if any damage is not restored. I want a finite window of harvest. I want the logging company to identify and stay in my property lines, so that neighboring properties aren't damaged.

I also want references.

What else do you think I should have in the contract?

Keith

price would be an appropriate concern. How is price determined? (are you taking THEIR word for what it's worth?). would you take the buyer's word for sale price if you were selling your house?

How is damage to residual trees to be addressed? Who determines level of damage/compensation?

Who determines whether the terms of the contract are being met/ignored?

how do you know they won't mark more trees after the agreed upon number?

Oh I thought the property line was over there?
Just have your neighbor contact my lawyer.
Elllovely.

Cameleon Oak.
When I buy it is 90% Red.
When selling it is 90% White.
Selling firewood, 90% Black lol.

Ha! My neighbor just had his farm logged by a "friend of a friend". His hauling trucks had to go by my driveway, which is equipped with a cellular trail camera. He had lots of Cameleon Oak too!. And delivered to the mill on Sundays...

ol'dad

Yeah I'd hire Marlin and throw a
yellow jacket nest in his truck just to get him primed.

I had my properties logged a few years ago. Logger would pile up a bunch of logs and call 4 buyers to bid on them. The differences were astronomical. Like 4500 to 8000 per pile. He cut to the market. all white oak, then all red oak etc. I cleared 1k per acre! Loggers are about the crookedest people around. Fortunately i was on site daily. He also chopped the tops so it really didn't appear to be logged. Same guy did a friends property and it looked destroyed. Tops everywhere and impassable.

We didn't walk the whole property, but did walk most of it. There were only 8 black walnut trees that had decent value and not enough to make it worth having a crew come out and cut just them. He did say that in about 10 years, there would be a lot of harvestable trees, well over 100, with good value, if the market stays decent. His advice was to wait.

I'm disappointed, but believe I was given sound advice.

Keith

High tops are much better for the firewood cutter IMO.
Know a guy that just bought a tri-axle load. 1300
Easy Money huh? lol

Keith now may be the time for the manager guy.

I think you're right. The walnut trees have been naturally filling in really well and it would be good to select the best ones and cull the ones that, will have poor value, that hamper their growth.

Keith

If you can harvest the 8 yourself you might be able to find a small mill willing to buy at a good price...

I thought about that too. I don't have the equipment for it, but I have a friend who does, who lives 6.8 miles from here. I used to log with him and mill logs with him a lot, back in the late nineties and early 2000s.

He bought a brand new, Wood-Mizer Portable Sawmill, probably 9 years ago and has hardly used it. I could probably borrow it and even mill the logs myself.

I have a lot of huge honey locusts. There doesn't seem to be much of a market for the timber, but I suspect I could sell the boards made out of it.

It all just depends on having enough time, energy and motivation. I have less energy and motivation as I get older and hurt more.

Keith

Keith...it gets worse, lol
The mind is willing but the body says seriously?

Get a hard start/finish date with a "Lock the gate" clause when overt
No trash, ie: oil cans etc left behind
No friends/neighbors cutting firewood clause
Specify what size/species tree's get cut, and what size get left.
What about the tops?

A buddy learned the hard way. Don't ask

What is the current walnut market compared to a few years ago?

Keith

Now is not the time to sell timber, everything is in the dumps. Another big sawmill(Weaber) closed its doors in PA.