Where have all the logger's gone

[Ed_K]

Went to a bid showing today and I was the only logger there. Forester thinks it is because of the low prices for logs.

[sprucebunny]

What kind of logs ???

[snowstorm]

did you get the lot?

[BargeMonkey]

did you get the lot?

:D :D :D.    More and more guys are going out down our way, I met the new state regional head forester on a backroad one day last fall and he was having trouble finding guys to cut. Small woodlots  are the key, I've seen a few guys go under getting big to quick and taking on huge lots.

[lynde37avery]

I'm selling logs. I got a gazillion ft of timber to get done lol. Hope it worked out for ya Ed. You should check out my new skidder some time.

[CCC4]

My boss is getting out bid on FS jobs by a sawmill owner who is bidding stumpage at $50 a ton for hardwood sawlogs. COE and Game and Fish bids are junky and low...of course we win every one of them...Yeh there is a reason no one is bidding...did I mention junky??? Lol!

[so il logger]

A sawmill can outbid a logger everytime. That's why most small time logger's myself included contract to a mill. And market's are low right now, but oil is as well. They run hand in hand

[Ed_K]

 The lot is a little more than an hour drive one way and some wet spots so i didn't bid. no sawmill op's showed up either.
There was a lot of hemlock and mixed hardwood about 50/50.

[BargeMonkey]

 I sent a bid a few months ago on a local lot and the sawmill bid almost 3X what I did.    another logger friend of mine lives in western NY and the same mill will bid 1.00 a ft all the time and snuff the little guy right out. My cousin cuts for them, it's not the life to have, working like savages isn't the word for it.

[Corley5]

Some MiDNR sales are going at 200% or more of the minimum bid.  One outfit in particular has been buying them like that.  Makes me wonder how long he can keep it up  :-\

[treeslayer2003]

they will bust they self, i seen it happen time and time again. bad thing is they drive up the average to a false high and force every one to pay more no matter what log prices are doing.
meh, i pay a fair rate. i buy it or they buy it. i was here when some werent, i will be here after some go out, just depends on what a guy wants to do.

[dgdrls]

I sent a bid a few months ago on a local lot and the sawmill bid almost 3X what I did.    another logger friend of mine lives in western NY and the same mill will bid 1.00 a ft all the time and snuff the little guy right out. My cousin cuts for them, it's not the life to have, working like savages isn't the word for it.

Barge,

Hope you are well,  From what I have seen most sites in Northern NY are cut just about clear.
saw logs are sold off and everything down to twigs is chipped and rolls to Ft Drum in Watertown

has that been your experience as well, or is something else happening??

Best
Dan

[Ken]

Over the last couple of years as markets have improved around here many landowners are having a hard time finding a reputable contractor to do work on their woodlots especially if the wood quality is maginal.   Makes it nice to be able to pick and choose a bit.

[timberlinetree]

Saw an ad for $25hr for forest equipment operators. Some one is looking for where the loggers are.

[BargeMonkey]

I sent a bid a few months ago on a local lot and the sawmill bid almost 3X what I did.    another logger friend of mine lives in western NY and the same mill will bid 1.00 a ft all the time and snuff the little guy right out. My cousin cuts for them, it's not the life to have, working like savages isn't the word for it.

Barge,

Hope you are well,  From what I have seen most sites in Northern NY are cut just about clear.
saw logs are sold off and everything down to twigs is chipped and rolls to Ft Drum in Watertown

has that been your experience as well, or is something else happening??

Best
Dan

The guy who trucks my pulp wood says they are cutting stuff down to 8" up where he is working, work like that would get me tossed out real quick on a decent HW lot down here. The wood is out there, I've got just over 1mil ft bought within 20 minutes of the house right now, and I know 2 other guys who can't keep up. The high grade, high dollar lots are hard to come by, alot of 15-30acre lots that the big guys won't move onto. It's all about utilization, my good saw logs are sold, we saw the low grade and smaller ash ourselves, and the FW I can't keep up with. I'm finding more and more clearing work, heading up north to look at a 18" chipper next week. We are so diversified that if logs go too low I just don't cut, I deal with mostly weekend people from NYC, as long as I pay a fair price and leave a clean job the work keeps rolling in. My days are getting fewer out here on the water, was always my goal to walk at 35 and I think it's a possibility now.

[plasticweld]

I sent a bid a few months ago on a local lot and the sawmill bid almost 3X what I did.    another logger friend of mine lives in western NY and the same mill will bid 1.00 a ft all the time and snuff the little guy right out. My cousin cuts for them, it's not the life to have, working like savages isn't the word for it.

Isn't discouraging when the mill pays more for it standing than they do delivered to the mill, or the trucking rate they pay won't even pay the driver and the fuel.   My guess is that it won't be long before the mills around here put all the small guys out.   I only do well because I have my own  mill and a great market for low grade.

[ehp]

I have been going threw that problem here , the last tract I just bid on I bid $76,000 , 2 mills bid the same as me , 1 mill bid $90,000 and the winning bid was $98,500 from another mill. I know I would of got $107,000 total at the mill for that timber and I had to cut , skid, buck up and truck it . I see loggers all the time bidding way to high just to get a job but their not going to make much money at that rate and my feeling are if I'm going to loose money I might as well sit at home and watch Jerry or Maury . But things are changing here now , that mill that was bidding big numbers now has woken up and bidding very low on the bushes that came up last week for bids . I hope the timber prices come back down to a level most guys could make money at . I'm lucky in that I always seem to have more timber to cut than I can but that can change fast also . What really worries me is if the 2 main mills stop buying logs as that will pretty much finish alot of guys around here and I honestly think that can happen here in a couple months or the mills will drop the price to the point no one will make anything but them

[gaproperty]

Here in the east coast of Canada the problem is we cannot compete against free lumber.  The Irvings and the big companies were getting crown wood for free and the government was ( admin edit )  They also gave them big money for their big mills which they took the money, ran the mill for a few years then bailed and were allowed to keep the allotment of crown land. Their is a great group in Newbrunswick called the  co-op woodlot owners which are doing their best to get a fair price for the private guys. The co-op movement made a big fuss to make the Irvings pay for stumpage on crown land.   The government ended up makinge the big guys pay stumpage based on the amount that the pay to private woodlot owners for their wood delivered to the mill.  Having all the wood they needed from the supply on crown land, they didn't need the private woodlot owners wood so they reduced the amount they paid to private woodlot owners which reduced the amount of stumpage the big guys had to pay.   What a bunch of crooks and they wonder why the economy is hurting. 

Though out the course of history the rich got richer and the poor got poorer then finally their was a revolution.  Just wonder how much further we are going to get pushed before something happens.  People got the wake the up and start making a stink and not letting this stuff go on.  This is a more serious problem then logging prices... this is an issue that we are never more then one generation away from loosing our freedom and fairness in society so it is up to every generation to fight for fairness and not let the big boys completely take over.    :-[