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Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 885
6 point
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6 point
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 885 |
Operator select operations in good hardwood stands are always tricky due to what MBrock mentioned. If you have the resources and contacts, I'd suggest getting a consultant to mark and sell the timber for you. Paint on trees with butt marks are pretty solid prep work to ensure that what you want cut gets cut and what you want to stay stays.
Two things to remember. If its a fairly dense stand, the equipment will need room to work and not skin up the leave trees. The loggers will almost always need to cut corridors through the stand to allow for adequate access (similar to pine plantations). Harwood tree tops are usually bigger than pine, so unless they are topping them where felled, the skid rows will need to be a bit wider than usual to accommodate the woolier tops coming back to the deck.
Secondly, be prepared to have a solid vegetation mgmt plan ready to go in the years following the cut if you want to try to maintain the herbaceous ground layers. Specifically, something that will handle the robust hardwood stump sprouts that will most certainly come. Great points. Thanks for the advice
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Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 2,254 Likes: 11
8 point
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8 point
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 2,254 Likes: 11 |
I would like to reduce the stand density by 30% or so…but am afraid that may provide enough timber to attract a buyer. My 2 cents: I would get a forester to conduct a solid inventory cruise on the tract before anything else happens. It's hard to plan for harvests if you dont have a real good idea of what's there to start with. I saw your reply to CNC.. you have an idea, but to me, I'd want to know what's there with better accuracy and precision. Most any forestry consultant will be able to provide you with a breakdown of species, products, and diameter distributions for all the species and products you have following a good cruise. Once you have that, you will know what is feasible and what is not regarding any proposed timber harvest.
You gonna pull them pistols, or whistle Dixie?
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 29,452 Likes: 100
Dances With Weeds
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Dances With Weeds
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 29,452 Likes: 100 |
Do you have an idea of the stand makeup??......Meaning, what percentage of the trees are oak, poplar, sweetgum, etc?? Percentages are a rough estimate but say at least 50% oak (mostly water/red and some pockets of white oak), 15% sweetgum, 10% pine, and the remaining 25% would be a mix of poplar, hickory, dogwood, elm, magnolia, etc I think I would shoot for taking out all of the pine, sweetgum, poplar, elm and enough of the oaks to make the sale worthwhile…….I’d leave a nice mix of all species of oaks as well as the dogwoods…..Not sure that hickory and magnolia are very mechantable from a timber standpoint.....Sounds like you have the makings of a really pretty stand once its finished 
"For what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?" .....Mark 8:36
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Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 885
6 point
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6 point
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 885 |
I would like to reduce the stand density by 30% or so…but am afraid that may provide enough timber to attract a buyer. My 2 cents: I would get a forester to conduct a solid inventory cruise on the tract before anything else happens. It's hard to plan for harvests if you dont have a real good idea of what's there to start with. I saw your reply to CNC.. you have an idea, but to me, I'd want to know what's there with better accuracy and precision. Most any forestry consultant will be able to provide you with a breakdown of species, products, and diameter distributions for all the species and products you have following a good cruise. Once you have that, you will know what is feasible and what is not regarding any proposed timber harvest. You are correct. Any answer I have on the specific makeup is nothing more than a rough estimate. I did have it cruised about 6 years ago but could not tell you any details other than how many tons of pine and hardwood pulpwood and sawtimber were on the property and what the estimated timber value was at the time. This cruise also included other blocks of timber so it would not necessarily help with any specifics on this particular block.
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Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 885
6 point
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6 point
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 885 |
Do you have an idea of the stand makeup??......Meaning, what percentage of the trees are oak, poplar, sweetgum, etc?? Percentages are a rough estimate but say at least 50% oak (mostly water/red and some pockets of white oak), 15% sweetgum, 10% pine, and the remaining 25% would be a mix of poplar, hickory, dogwood, elm, magnolia, etc I think I would shoot for taking out all of the pine, sweetgum, poplar, elm and enough of the oaks to make the sale worthwhile…….I’d leave a nice mix of all species of oaks as well as the dogwoods…..Not sure that hickory and magnolia are very mechantable from a timber standpoint.....Sounds like you have the makings of a really pretty stand once its finished That has been my thought as well!
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Joined: Sep 2023
Posts: 991 Likes: 54
6 point
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6 point
Joined: Sep 2023
Posts: 991 Likes: 54 |
JD, I’d say to just remind yourself that you are still in a very enviable spot versus the guy who just inherited 80 acres of clearcut. You have many more options.
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Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 20
spike
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spike
Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 20 |
I'm in a similar boat. I have 100 acres that is about half hardwoods and half pine. Pine portion was select cut about 13 years ago (before i bought it). The select cut was really close to a clearcut in my opinion and it has became kind of a mess. I'm really confused on hiring a forester consultant. Do you pay them to come out and give you an overview of you property and give you an opinion of if there is any value for a logger as the first step? I want to really thin the 50 acres of hardwood but leave the big white oaks but I would guess a logger aint gonna want the non-white oak hardwood. Or maybe there is a market for the other trees as well? Just no clue on my part.
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Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 1,580 Likes: 35
8 point
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8 point
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 1,580 Likes: 35 |
You pay them at the end after they hire a crew and oversee the cutting on your behalf. Im not sure what qualifies as too small a tract, maybe they can couple it with another cutting in the area, and would come out and look to see if it is worth it first.
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 6,839 Likes: 25
14 point
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14 point
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 6,839 Likes: 25 |
Do you have an idea of the stand makeup??......Meaning, what percentage of the trees are oak, poplar, sweetgum, etc?? Percentages are a rough estimate but say at least 50% oak (mostly water/red and some pockets of white oak), 15% sweetgum, 10% pine, and the remaining 25% would be a mix of poplar, hickory, dogwood, elm, magnolia, etc I think I would shoot for taking out all of the pine, sweetgum, poplar, elm and enough of the oaks to make the sale worthwhile…….I’d leave a nice mix of all species of oaks as well as the dogwoods…..Not sure that hickory and magnolia are very mechantable from a timber standpoint.....Sounds like you have the makings of a really pretty stand once its finished I sold Hickory, Sweet Gum and some oak saw timber for a little over $50/ton a couple of years ago. At the time I think the hickory was being used in the core of laminated flooring. Not sure that market still exists but last I heard mixed hardwood saw timber was only about 60% of what I got paid. Glad I sold when I did. Okatuppa or Sanderson may be able to give a better idea of current market value.
"Cull" is just another four letter word...
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