So I have several trees that I want to have cut down. fortunately, they are types that tend to be worth a couple of dollars. I don't expect to make a fortune but it would be nice to get rid of the trees and make a couple bucks.

I'm in Chilton county. Who should I be calling to "sell" these trees?




-Keith

What kind of trees are they?

What kind of trees? How straight are they? Where do the branches start?

In your area id call Mark Nolen

Great guy to deal with.

Poplar for sure. Maybe oak, hickory and maybe some others. I have a couple of sweet gums that I don't need.

Any ideas on what I should expect?


I will give him a call. Thanks!

How many trees are you taking about?

I bet the cost of cleanup will be more than you get for trees.

Honest question- you think someone will pay you to cut down a few trees like that?

I could see black Walnut, but sweetgums and hickory? I think you'd be very lucky to get it done for free.

If they're anywhere near your house, good luck getting anyone to pay you to cut them down. Logging crews and tree removal services carry different kinds of insurance...couple years back, I had 40+ 22"x80' pines that I just wanted to give away...took almost a year to find one guy that said he'd take them, but because the trees were in the yard (not near the house, mind you, but just 'in the yard'), his insurance wouldn't cover his crew to cut them. I wound up cutting them myself, then having him pick them up...the last 2 trees, a HUGE pine and a big red oak, were real close/involved with some power lines/tv cable, and having those 2 cut down and us doing the removal was $1800.

This^

Insurance plus the cost to move a crew in and out are going to eliminate just about anybody in the pay for timber business. You might find somebody with a short wood truck, but they are all but extinct in this part of the world.

You will have to pay to get them removed. We got a bid on a big pine tree leaning over our skinning shed. Best price we got was $800

Well, I'm currently paying around $1600 to have about 20 oak trees of various size cut down, hauled off and stump ground...so I think that you will end up somewhere around between negative $1-5k in profit on them.

breaking even would be just fine with me. honestly haven't decided how many. This isn't a suburban yard. it's 5 acres, mostly wooded and even the "yard" is basically wooded. mostly it's a few poplars and a couple others. I know the sweet gums aren't worth anything... that's why i threw it in on the tail end. don't really expect that to pan out. breaking even on the others would be nice though. figured someone might take them. or maybe pay depending on how much I let them cut.

as for those that border on implying that I am dumb for asking such a question....... I have never had any trees cut down. I don't have any way of knowing WHAT the deals could be. That's why I asked here.

Everyone's question on any subject is a stupid question to SOMEBODY. from tree cutting... to hunting... to rocket science.

I guess i will keep my dumb questions down to rocket science here.


Thanks for the other helpful info guys!

It's not a dumb question, in fact it's a very common question. But the economics don't add up in your favor on small jobs unfortunately. Folks barely make a dollar on thinning sho nuff plantation pines these days.

Modoc, I originally hoped to sell the trees I had, too. My "yard" is also about 5 acres, and I was looking to turn an acre of it into a fruit orchard, well away from the house. I went from hoping to sell the trees, to trying to give them away, to just hoping I'd eventually be able to get rid of them! Finally found a guy that came and got the pines, and I cut up and split all the hardwood into firewood. My ex-wife has an aunt who's widowed and has only a wood stove for heat...we gave her 8 full cords of wood, and I traded another 3 cords for some grading/leveling after all the stumps were dug.

We'll probably be cutting a little more hardwood later this year around the edges of the yard, if I can get the splitter again...all of it will go to the same widow lady.

Now...if you have access to a splitter and don't mind putting in the labor, when I had all that firewood piled, I had people stopping every day asking about buying it. I had a guy stop and ask about the unsplit boles...gave those to him, and was happy to be rid of them...he turned out to be another ALDeer member!

Cut down the hardwoods, split it and sell it, or have a kid/grandkids split it and tell him he can have the profits. That's most likely the only way you'll come out close to even.

I got roughly 50 acres of mares tail and thistle weed if anybody wants to come bale it, and I'll take 30 a bale once you get it rolled .

If only you were closer.

If you knew a supplier of herbs/herbal medicines, you could actually probably find a buyer for that mare's tail and thistle...both are useful and edible.

no splitter, kids, or grandkids! haha. Some of these trees are pretty big. over 100ft. beyond my comfort level anyway.

Daaannngggg...you even have to get your own beer, and stuff...

In my opinion you have one option aside from paying. Seek out someone in your area with a portable sawmill that has insurance to fell trees. You damn sure won't find one that will cut them by a house but from what you've described they're are not close to the house. Talk to them and see what your options are before you go spend $ on a feller that's gonna cost you $ to have removed. Someone is gonna make money, try your best not to be the provider and not receive anything but a bill.

Wish it was Hedge or Holly.

If I still had my equipment I would come drop them for you. I used to do a lot of it back in Va but I sold all my gear.

by gear, do you mean a chainsaw?

25 years ago it would have been easy to find someone with a big stick type truck to come in and cut them. Now, all those guys have been put out of business by the Man. Finding someone to do a first thinning on 40 acres can be very challenging now.

I'm afraid the day will soon come when a small landowner won't be able to get his timber cut for any price.

What the hell? Is this Bazarro World? Some pays you to come cut trees down?

Well played.

I had a 1/2 mile ROW cut across my property by the power company. I told them to grind what they could of the limbs and limbbs that were too big to grind to cut up for firewood and to leave the tree trunks laying. I couldn't find anybody to come load up about 50 oaks and give me a few dollars for them. I finally found a guy who would load them up for free to cut up in his sawmill. I couldn't even give all the firewood away. People are lazy as he**.

I have a chainsaw. I had several Large saws, bucket truck, climbing gear and so on.

Yes. You can certainly make some money selling big popular and gum for cross tie logs. As long as they aren't too close to a dwelling and you can find someone that'll move in for that small of a tract. I had some big gum and popular cut around my house 5-6 years ago. Local guy, cut with a saw and had a loader truck. Just ask around.

2008 done away with most guys with small operations, at least around here.

I used to buy timber. A yard job like what is described here was a no-no, because the guys on the crew could never get it all done without tearing something up (mailbox, waterline, powerlines, septic tank, etc) or they could never leave the yard or small wooded area in decent enough shape to satisfy the landowner. The few I tried, we wound up losing significant $$$ because I had to bring in a landscaper to rake and pile the needles, small broken limbs, and debris, and all but re-sod the area after the job was done to keep the landowner from calling the sheriff or threatening to post something in the local paper about so and so's timber company is a bunch of low-life thieves.

Anything around a house or yard was politely passed on because the owner rarely could live with the 'carnage' that is timber harvesting that close to the aesthetic zone.

And don't get me started on the entry point for trucks conversation. "Why can't you bring the trucks (80,000 to 90,000 lbs loaded) in here at my nice 3-inch thick white concrete driveway?" And followed shortly by, "Oh heck no, I'm not going to let you make a new, ugly driveway here with rock and dirt... holy crap! how much did you say a culvert costs?"

Well I certainly didn't ask just to be ridiculed. Honestly I expected better. I know a pine near the house costs money to remove. Someone told me the big pollard might have a buyer though. Obviously most here disagree. A couple say it used to be the case but no longer. It was an older guy that told me to check so maybe his info or experience is outdated. I really did expect better from the group here though. It's not s huge forum. Mostly local hunters. I thought I could come ask a legitimate question without being ridiculed and embarrassed. I know some trees in large enough amounts are worth money. I know the other end of the spectrum costs money. I don't know where the line is between the two. I have never had to deal with this before and got some less than well informed advice. I didn't know that meant that I deserved to be ridiculed and embarrassed. O don't troll these forums or play the role of the bully here or in my real life. I try to treat others with respect and act as close as I can to how my Bible teaches me treat others. I honestly am shocked. Thank you to the gentlemen who tried to help and even delivered bad news in a considerate way.

This makes a lot of sense.

Up till a few years ago. We had 2 brothers here locally that still logged with horses. Had no tractors or loaders. Just the horses and a truck with a winch. One of the brothers was trying to stomp out a fire and had his worn out ragged libertys on that were soaked from years of oil and gas from saws. They caught on fire and he was already an older fella in not that great of shape. He died before any help could get there.

modoc_333: hope my light hearted response was worth something to you. I learned the hard way to avoid those type jobs, but that doesn't mean you can't find somebody who might do it for you. I wish you the best.

In my early years of procurement, I had a guy who was interested in selling 20 acres of timber behind his house. He had the drive-way I described above, and I knew what the log trucks were going to destroy it. He adamantly told me that there's no way a log truck could destroy 3 inches of concrete. I finally convinced him, but he almost had a heart attack when I suggested putting a culvert in and making an entrance on the edge of his yard. He almost blew a fuse, then (rookie mistake) I mentioned to him that the culvert and dozer work would have to come out of the total value of the timber. He did come unglued then, asking me why he was on the hook for the cost of the culvert and work. My response was that it was a necessary in order to get the timber from behind his house to the road, which lead to the mill. He fussed for a while longer and I finally asked him if he eats cereal for breakfast. Puzzled, he said he did. I then asked him if he thought he was just buying the milk and the cereal, or was he also buying the plastic jug and the box the goods came in too. He lost it then and I was invited to leave. A month later I drove by his place and someone was cutting his timber, and coming out a new entrance on the edge of his yard, complete, with culvert in place. I guess I blew my chance to by his timber, all the while educating him on what it would take to get it out and to the mill.

Modoc, I don't think anyone meant to hurt your feelings or be rude; it's just that the crews that used to do jobs like that are now out of business.

Thinking back over my life, I've had 5 different timber removals done close to my houses. The first 2 were back in the 80s. One of them was about 10 big pines right in my yard next to the house. The crew got 2 loads of wood and left the limbs for me, but I didn't have to pay them. I later had some trees behind that house cut, again for free.

In the 90s, I had about an acre clearcut for a house site. There was nothing dangerous about it, so I got a check for just over $100 for stumpage. I made the mistake of leaving 4 sweetgums close to the house, and last year paid a guy $500 to cut them and he sold the logs and left the limbs for me.

I also had some trees cut by the camp by a guy from Selma. He had to use a bucket truck on some of them and spent most of the day on it. He got 2 loads of wood, and I paid him $900.

If you really want them moved, I could pm you his name and number. He isn't that far from you and would probably do the job, but it sounds like from your description that it's likely a deal where you give him the trees and some money too. He has a truck the holds about 8 tons, so he ain't gonna get rich hauling from Chilton co. Good luck getting them cut.

I appreciate the guidance guys. And sorry if I got sensitive about it, I just hate to see that when anyone asks questions. I needed the answers and turned to who I thought might know but also give me an honest answer. I guess it just rubbed me wrong to be the punchline. I appreciate the help and the PMs with suggestions! Now this thread can die. Haha

Yep, these guys are heartless

Pal, this is ALDEER, not Romper-Room. Even the best intended question will be mowed down by this crowd. It's all just meant to be good humor. Don't wear your feelings on your sleeves. In most cases, if there are 50 responses to your post there will be 4-5 answers that will be sincere and help. Don't take offense and just roll with it. You will enjoy it so much more!!