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selling walnut timber

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anderson764

Member
In the past month i have had several log buyers come to the door wanting to buy any walnut timber i have.I went out with one guy and he marked about 100 trees that he was wanting to buy. Have any of you had any experiences selling timber,and if so what should a guy look for or should i contact the state forester to get his opinion? The money would be great but, my primary concern is protecting the habitat, yet i actually need some thick cover which i think the leftover tops would provide.Any input would be appreciated as once they are gone they are gone.
 
Always contact the DNR or local forester for your area. They can figure how many board feet you actually have and then put the job out for bids. When we cut our small timber, the bids differed as much as $10000. Not to say that all cutters are a little crooked, but the state foresters help to keep them on the up and up.
 
Iowabruce is right on. Always check with your district forester, explain your goals, have him mark the timber and put out bids. I've seen a high bid that was 400% more than the low bid on the same trees. It doesn't cost you anything but time and could make a huge difference. It is also a good opportunity to walk your woods with a professional and learn more about your forest resource.

Old Buck
 
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Always check with your district forester, explain your goals, have him mark the timber and put out bids. I've seen a high bid that was 400% more than the low bid on the same trees. It doesn't cost you anything but time and could make a huge difference. It is also a good opportunity to walk your woods with a professional and learn more about your forest resource.


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Great advice to spend time with your district forester no matter what you decide. Creating some openings and in turn natural forage in your timber is really more important then foodplots. It's an often overlooked part of habitat/deer management.

There is a tremendous amount of logging going on in our area, like I have never seen the likes of. I sure wouldn't let it go to the first bidder!
 
You have already received great advice here on the subject in terms of consultation with the forester(s). One additional thing that I have heard from a landowner that I know well is that be sure you have some way to monitor how many trees are actually taken. In other words, if you reach an agreement with a logger and then let them operate without supervision you just may end up with a few more "stumps" than you bargained for! If you live near the land it may not be difficult to observe the process, if you live remotely you may want to draft the help of someone that is nearby.

Also be sure you mark any trees that you do not want taken, regardless of their value. It would be a shame to lose the best tree for stand anywhere around, etc.
 
Get your money up front......Dont let them cut a single tree until they pay in full....Seen to many people get the run around when trying to get there money
 
Before you get all worked up over the income, consider a few really important steps...

What will the logger do regarding pathways and roads into and out of the timber? Can you require him to leave as little a "footprint" as possible?

What will the logger do with the left overs...the limbs, tops, and all the refuse after he is done?

I have seen some horrible aftermaths when the loggers left the tree tops scattered all over, cut trees for access and just left them and created roadways that became erosion gullys a year later...
 
Another option is a private forester, they will take a percentage but do quite a bit more than a district forester as they are working for you. They will write the contract and bids, mark trees, calculate board feet, monitor clean-up, reseeding, and monitor compliance. You can write in pretty hefty fines or fees for trees harvested without marking and they will watch stump counts or whatever they call it. A guy hates to give a percentage away but I think this could be some of the best money ever spent to have someone watching your back.
 
My dads neighbor just sold about 60 walnut trees and his son sold 40 to someone a couple of weeks ago. The dad go $60 a tree and the son got $40 a tree. I think they got ripped off but I don't know much about selling timber.
 
Tell your neighbor that if he and his son are selling walnut trees at that price I'll take everyone they got in their woods.
 
I don't want to make anyone feel bad, but you could have gotten more out of those walnut trees if you sold them for fire wood.
 
Thanks for all of the input.I am waiting for a call back from the DNR forester to schedule an appt.I did talk with one forester who said that walnut is in very high demand right now and sees the demand continuing.He also agreed that it is best to have several bids on pre-marked trees.On a side note the logger that looked at my trees bid anywhere from $50.00 to $700.00 and that didnt include the select trees which he said would be worth several thousand dollars each in about 20 years.Thanks again for the input and confirming my suspicions as to put it out for bids.
 
Not sure what the wood market it up to at this time. But, a few years ago our forester recommended leaving some of the good looking walnut grow because they would make x% pre year by growth and I would guess by increase in market value. Very good advise already noted. I too have seen some good and bad logging jobs. Maybe you could ask for a few references from the potential loggers to see how they have done according to the previous landowners.
 
Walnut a good money maker. but I see some of these guys are giving advise on selling standing timber. Thats a no no. Have your trees cut before. then sell the logs. After there on the ground in piles and bucked up thats when you call the buyers. They'll measure and give you a price. After a few give you a bid then you can choose the one with the most money in his pocket. Be careful cutting walnut this time of year though. Walnut bleeds and a couple days in the warm sun and all you'll have is firewood. In short I would advise hiring someone to just cut, buck, and pile. then call the buyers. Most of the time the guy who is cutting isn't the guy who's buying.
 
NEIowa - although for all I know it may be common and highly advisable to cut the logs and then bid them, I had not heard of that method before. (I still am very green on the subject though too, having never sold a log yet personally and only hearing others talk about the subject here and there.)

I can definitely see certain advantages to the method you propose, but I would also think that you potentially disadvantage yourself because you are "committed". With the logs already cut down and so forth, the seller can't really replant them if the bids are not satisfactory, etc. That would seem to shift some leverage to the buyer(s). Although that may be counter balanced by the fact that multiple are bidding on them, etc.

At any rate, I just thought I would throw that out there and see what you think. I am leaning towards selling some logs this winter, so I am trying to get myself some education.
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If you sell standing timber- the buyer ususally has a year to harvest it. Once the contract is signed- they take all the risk for wind or storm damage or damage during harvest. Forester stories or nightmares depending on what happened. One that is not an urban legend is someone was contacted about clearing some land for development and wanted to "pulp" the trees to get rid of them. Long story short- silver maple jungle was worth almost $400,000.
This is an area where good advice is cheap and cheap advice is worth is just that.
 
We have had a district DNR forester walk the property with us and mark & measure trees to be taken. The trees are marked with a horizontal line about 5 feet off the ground and also a spot is marked at the base of the tree. That way you can monitor the stumps that are left to make sure the tree was supposed to be taken.
The forester will then send the info on the trees to several loggers in the state asking for sealed bids. Your forester will advise you if the bids are competative or not. There is no cost from the DNR forester for this.

We also told the logger were we wanted the skid trails and checked on them everyday.
 
Not that I don't trust anyone but once a tree is taken- a can of paint can mark the stump and unless you know every tree... anyway, there is always a way to cheat.
No disrespect to any of the district foresters- every one of them that I have met are very smart folks but they aren't being paid to monitor your harvest. It isn't worth the worry and headache to me for the 7-10% security they provide. That could easily be the diference in bids or enforcement in compliance and clean-up.
 
I see your concerns, but if your going to have a forester come and mark the tree to be taken, whats the difference. The trees that he is going to select are only going to be the mature trees and ones that are preventing new growth. This way you hire a logger to only take what you want. It makes no difference to me. This is just the way they do it around here. The standing timber sales stories from this area are all disappointing. Watch the fine print in the standing timber contracts. I've seen them where they state that anything with a certian diameter and bigger will be harvested. Good luck, Just try to make sure your looking at every option. Mark
 
Hello Plotman,

I would not let any log buyer who solicits by door step foot in your timber! These guys are vultures looking for the wounded. A price they give to you may sound good but is not likely to be what your trees are worth. With no other buyers to compete with and no professional on your side to help you determine what the bid price should be, you have no way of “winning” in that lotto game. You will lose and lose every time. I have seen it over and over again and am sick of hearing the nightmare tales of landowners being taken advantage of!

We help landowners sell trees all over the state as part of our wildlife management business -- you don’t have to call us, of course -- but by all means call some professional forestry service to help you out! The normal charge of most is 10% commission on the timber sale (ours is 9%) and everything is done for you -- from the necessary detailed timber inventory and marking, to bid solicitation and managing the actual logging event. The normal range of bid offer amounts we see is 100% from the highest to the lowest! The only way to get top dollar on a timber sale is by competitive sealed bid! This is a win-win for the landowner too since he gets top dollar, all the work done for him/her, and, what’s more, there is no obligation to take even the highest bid. No log should ever be cut before full payment is made!

Black walnut is at very high prices now and harvesting some of your select bigger trees can help your wildlife components as well. There is no reason not to harvest trees so long as it is done right!

Best,
Rich
 
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