Help me work a deal

[brdmkr]

I have an opportunity (Maybe).  I need some pine for a pole barn, a kiln, and siding for my shop.  Neighbor accross the road has 20, all better than 16" dbh.  Let's say that 8 of these will need a bucket truck to remove safely.  The neighbor wants the trees gone an cleaned up.  He wants nothing for the trees.  He will also not be too particular about the clean-up, but it is a yard and I wouldn't want to leave a big mess.   Conservatively, I should get 8 - 9000 bdft (really I should get much more than this, but I don't want to count chickens before they hatch).

I have a good friend that does tree removal.  He is hinting that he could fell the trees in exchange for some lumber, but he just wants to put the trees on the ground.  I would have to do clean-up and get the logs to my land.

Now here is where it gets interesting.  I have about 2 acres of pine pulp that I want cleared.  These trees are really thick and should produce a good bit of pulp.  I plan on contacting a couple of pulp-wooders this week about removing these trees.

Now to my questions.

1.  What would be a fair amount of lumber to offer in exchange for felling the trees? 
2.  Do you think it would be fair for me to offer the pulp wood in exchange for the pulpwooder moving the logs to my land (4 miles)?
3.  Does anyone know what SYP logs are going for by the bdft?  (i.e., would buying logs be cheaper?)
4.  Am I off my rocker? (not really wanting an answer to this one, but I am sure this one will be most frequently answered)

[rebocardo]

> What would be a fair amount of lumber to offer in exchange for felling the trees? 

Take his time at $50 an hour.

Go to Home Depot and price a 2"x6"x8' ($4.50 at mine) and give him 1/2 off ($2.50 for a green 2x6x8) and give him his worth/fill at the $50 an hour.

[WeeksvilleWoodWorx]

Sounds to me like the neighboor is going to get a deal of a lifetime! Twenty yard trees removed, with stumps ground, about $5000-6000 worth of tree work around here. All cleaned up of course.

[maple flats]

Don't know about the exchange agrement but keep in mind that 99.9999% of yard trees of any size have metal or porceline in them, or stones or ..., you get the picture. ???

[jon12345]

99.9999% of yard trees of any size have metal or porceline in them, or stones or

or...may have some other internal defect from a young 'lumberjack' and his trusty hatchet   :D :D

[getoverit]

ok, here is another angle to consider....

have the friend cut the trees down, then buck them to about 15' to 20' (whatever length your mill will handle) and take the prime trunk wood to your mill.  Trade out hour for hour of labor with him (how ever long it took him to cut the trees down, saw that long on the mill and give him that amount of lumber) I figure about 2 logs worth?

time it right so that the pulp wood guy can go by and pick up the remnants of the trees (I assume that there would still be some good pulp left in the trees and worth his trip) and let him pick up the rest of the trees, leaving you with the cost of stump grinding and limb pickup as your costs for the logs. The pulp wood guy may even be able to pick up most of the limbs and tops with a grapple and load it on a trailer for you, saving you the effort and cost.

This should leave you with 18 or so good logs.

I dont know what stump grinding costs in your area, but it is relatively cheap down here and pine stumps are easy and quick to grind.