Hardwood pulp or logs

[eah]

My property is 3000 miles away and is being logged.  The logger is sending receipts for lots of hardwood pulp but very few logs.  My sister lives fairly close and says that he has removed several loads of big hardwoods, ie 2-3 feet or more at DBH.  Why would large trees such as this be pulp and not logs or tie logs?

[beenthere]

You don't have a trained forester or such looking after your logging show? Apparently not...

Tell us more about what you do have lined up being as you are so far away.

[eah]

Almost all of the foresters in the area are employed by logging companies or mills.  I had a forester look at the area and he bid but a logger in the area, who was known by the man I have clearing the property for row crops, bid higher.  My sister has marked a lot of the very pretty oak other large hardwoods to not be logged.  However, there are a lot of trees of big size that she did not mark.  This is in northeaster Alabama. 

[CCC4]

Just because they were large diameter trees doesn't mean they were sound. Lots of big timber goes to pulp due to rot.

[beenthere]

At this point, ya just gotta trust that the logger is doing the best for you. Talk to your sister, and suggest she don't watch any more unless she can grade the logs going down the road and give you a definite answer as to what the logger is doing.
Otherwise, go with the flow and save getting more gray hairs. IMO

Not much we can suggest other than have a knowledgeable third party being your eyes and ears.

Sorry to hear you are having to worry about your contract.

[grassfed]

I have seen plenty of very large dbh hardwoods that did not produce many sawlogs. This often happens on old ag/pasture land with trees that were not cleared. Maybe they were left for shade of fence rows and they grew wide and not tall and straight. They call these wolf trees and if that is what they are cutting then it is not surprising to see high pulp to log ratio. Pictures of the trees you are talking about would help us to give an opinion. 

[WV Sawmiller]

EAH,

    If the logger you hired had a good reputation from someone you know and trust I think you are about as well off as possible under the circumstances.

    Best bet is having someone who is knowledgeable you know and trust overseeing the project but lacking that I think you are good. There are many threads here about self-centered foresters who are just as likely to steer you wrong as a greedy logger. The logger knows his reputation is on the line and unless you have reason to know otherwise you might as well trust him to do the best he can for both of you. Life is too short to be worried about something you can't change anyway.

[t f flippo]

eah,

Have you called the logger and asked how the job is going ?
I would thank him for sending the receipts in a timely manor and , "And oh,by the way,
I thought there were more saw logs in there",and see where the conversation goes.

[beenthere]

And also, a sawlog here and there, isn't a load gonna make.

So may not be worth the time to mess with just a few sawlogs, and more efficient to load those few on the pulp truck.  We just don't know..

The conversation with the logger would be a good idea.

[eah]

Have had conversation with the logger.  He just says that I do not understand logging.  I admit that I do not but I once had a professor that said if someone knew their stuff they could explain it to anyone.  I am not stupid.  I reject that I could not understand why the the hardwood is all pulp.  However, I am going with the logger as I really have no choice. He is upset that we marked for no cutting a lot of the large red oak. I can understand that, but before he began I told him that we would be marking some hardwoods to be saved. That is in the contract, so it is not a surprise.

[Ford_man]

If you are still worried ,buy a plane ticket and go see for your self.

[CCC4]

eah,

Ok, here is the deal, or at least what I have run in to. Sale bid sheet says X amount of pulp and X amount of saw logs. Ok, so the logger wins the sale, gets there and the saw log timber turns out to be rotten and gets pulped...thats fine, however the bid sheet has included saw logs for one estimated price and now they are just going for pulp. This has to be understood that this happens in the timber business. When the possibly frustrated owner of the timber bid looks over at some trees that have been marked out of the sale and they look like they are possibly good trees...the logger is like...well that sucks!

...disclaimer, this may or may not be the case at all but this is a real life sc enario that I have wittnessed time and time again.

[bucknwfl]

There are plenty of registered foresters in Alabama and consulting foresters.  Just look online but it may be too late for that

[lumberjack48]

Have your sister take pictures of the truck loads and the landings

[WDH]

Not trying to be critical, but not a good idea to sell something that you do not know the value of. 

[Ron Scott]

Did your timber sale contract definitely specify the size, number of sawlog trees, volume, and price/mbf as well as the pulpwood trees and price/cord? As previously stated, the products and value of your timber sold on the stump should have been determined before it was sold.

Are your scale slips for the sawlog size timber all coming from a pulp mill??

[treeslayer2003]

that and .........what you consider big may not be in fact a size that constitutes saw timber in your area. as said, we would need pics.
i will assume you are doing business on a share, since if you had already been paid this would be a moot point. if so, and you are not happy, you should be able to dissolve the arrangement.