At what point ................?

[nativewolf]

The closest pulpwood concentration yard to us shut down last week.  So now it's pulp direct to the mills or no pulp.  For small guys this last closing hurt.  They don't have contracts with the pulp mills and it's hard to even get on board nowadays.  

Funny, we had avoided shipping pulp as we focused on quality products and finding buyers and now that we have figured out how to operate and might have considered sending a few loads of pulp a week they shut. :D.  That's life.  

Think we might cut a lot of small walnut this summer as our other project has wrapped up a bit early.  

[Southside]

That sucks, the trucking will be a logistical nightmare for sure.  I have seen more than a few loads get turned around and have to sit for a weekend.  

[stavebuyer]

Bowater, IP, and Domtar all gone within the last year or so here. Chillicothe Ohio is 200 miles with quotas and price cuts that make it no longer feasible. Lots of huge TIMO acreage hereabouts that specify clearcuts in sale contracts. Going to get ugly fast Pallet mills are already swamped, the poplar peeler market is next followed by the repo man after many logger's equipment by summer I am afraid.

In addition to roundwood, those paper mills ate a world of sawmill chips. The paper mills were the foundation of the entire industry and we have been playing Jenga with various foundation mills closing for 20+ years. 

Part time guys filling export containers destined for China will soon be all that's left. Once the competitions gone, I doubt the exporters will be quite as generous with their pricing.

We watched it happen to just about every domestic industry. Sadly, I don't see ours having a different out-come.

[BargeMonkey]

 One of the larger firewood producers in N-NY just put it ALL up for sale. Land, processors, equipment. Shame to see and I think a few others aren't far behind them. 

[rdobb13]

@stavebuyer 

I was in and out of Pixelle five times yesterday, they just opened back up after two weeks of unscheduled shutdown. I usually don't get out of the city limits before my forester calls.  I just kept cringing waiting on that phone call to stop. I've got got about a hundred ton that needs to disappear still, at least they can't cut my rate anymore cause I'm already the whipping boy on the pay scale. 

[Riwaka]

One of the older loggers in a podcast interview recently said he was buying some used skidders. My guess is his crew has shifted to working in part of the forest with longer drag distances. Rather than race the newer skidders, add some used skidders (to keep the daily output the same) and get a few machine operators from some of the completed roading projects.   

[Mountain_d]

Yeah trucking is always on my mind. Always have to be ready to get my own truck just because contractors come and go. I hope it never happens though. I personally think a forwarder would help you southern guys a lot. 8 wheeler with tracks would really help on those wet jobs.

Firewood Joe,
Your comment on a forewarder caught my attention. I am just kicking around the idea of trying one. I think I will start a new thread to get some comments on merits of a forewarder with manual felling.
Mountain.