Sale of timber

[Rich_Stutz]

I have responsibility for my Father's estate and have hired a person I trust to mark and cut our timber. Much of it is very large species include cherry,walnut,white oak,red oak beech lots of poplar and other species. Probably 1400 trees. The person I have hired has good markets but does not use the web I thought there might be people who would be interested in bidding on certain species for special purposes. This timber is located in Indiana. This is good tmber. Some of the land may have never been cut over. Is this a good place to post any other suggestions to create competition.

[Ron Scott]

I would have a professional consulting forester in your area selective mark your timber, prepare the sale, place it out on bids for timber harvest, and administer the appropriate timber contract through completion of the harvest. A consultant forester knows the bidding process and would get sufficient bids and highest value for your timber.

[Jeff]

This person you trust.. You did not mention whether they actually know what they are doing. Are they professional loggers? Did you realize that you can devalue your timber considerably by an improper harvest? Valuable logs can be damaged by improper felling, Markets can be lost my miscut lengths.

Ron is right, you need to hire a consulting forester to manage the sale. They understand all aspects of preparing, to completing, the harvest. They can also explain to you about what your tax responsiblilties will be on a timber sale (which can be considerable). Just the tax information alone might pay for your forester.

T

Don't go into this blind because a friend says he can handle it. You may only harvest timber once in your life, so it's important to get it right!

[L. Wakefield]

   I absolutely agree. Even if the logger gets you a good price for the wood, they may not have good knowledge of other factors, and can savage the landscape badly, working against watercourses and rutting the land up. I am living those consequences, and the forestor I hired after I was able to buy the land (after the timbering) makes the claim that it could have been avoided had they had a forestor as consultant previous to and during the harvesting process. It's hindsight, of course, but HIS place doesn;t look like this..
                         LW

[timberbeast]

Rich,  I agree with the others.  I hired a guy once whom I thought I trusted.  The deal (no contract) was for him to pile 20 cords of Cedar at my mill in exchange for the stumpage on an area I marked.  He never went to the marked area,  left me with ten cords,  and cut 57 maples and yellow birches.  There were 4 hard maples that went over 30 inches at the butt,  and when I cut some slabs off the stumps....yeah....they were birdseye.  I didn't take it to court proper,  only my court,  and he made me whole.  In the area I work,  word spreads fast.  He isn't getting any work.  A forester will draw a detailed map of the area,  what to cut and what not to cut,  and will oversee the operation.  If a logger doesn't want to work with him,  I wouldn't hire him.  Just my 2 cents.  It sounds like you have a lot of timber value...protect it!!!  

[Ron Scott]

Quite a value loss, especially with the birdseye! A foresters time would have been easily paid for with more values received.

[Rich_Stutz]

I want to thank each of you for your comments. Unfortunately, in an E-mail you don't always use the proper wording. The man I have hired is a forester. He has 15 years experience and I not only have looked at his work I have also investigated him using business and personal references. The good old boys tried all kinds of stunts to get my business. My goal was to see if more competition could be generated over the web for cut logs when they are ready for sale. Again your advice was very good and matches what I had already received. I was not clear what I had done to insure the property was properly forested. This cut will manage the forest and help elminate mature trees and unwanted timber that is now inhibiting the growth of the forest. Thank you all again for taking your time to respond.
Rich Stutz Trustee