Small acreage logging???

[Leslie Dunn]

My husband and I have purchased 43 acres outside of the Springfield, MO area and I am looking for helpful advice. We are trying to decide which direction to go with clearing some of the land and I would welcome anyone's feedback. We would like to Clear about 5-7 acres (with the exception of a few trees) of land that is heavily wooded with large Oak and Hickory (12" - 16" diameter). This is the first wooded acreage we have owned so we aren't sure if we could get a company to come and log such a small area (5-7 acres) and it be profitable for ourselves and the logger of if we should consider cutting the trees ourselves and sell them to a mill, and perhaps even use some of the logs for building our own cabin......... please any feedback and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[treeslayer2003]

12-16"  is not large trees.........are they all that size?

[John Mc]

Leslie -

You mentioned the possibility of cutting the trees yourselves and selling them to a mill. Have either of you done this sort of thing before? There is a difference between just getting a tree on the ground, and getting it ready for sale to a mill. If you have trees with significant value, you want someone with experience to handle getting them ready for the mill. That may be the two of you, but you should be certain you know what the mill's requirements are, and what things you can do to maximize the price you get for your logs.

One option you may want to consider: Find someone with a portable sawmill to come and cut the trees for you, and saw them up into lumber that would be useful for you or them. I know a few folks in my area who had trees cut, sawed, and processed into flooring which they used in their home.  If you know any woodworkers, you may find some of them are also interested in your lumber.

[hollywoodmfg]

John gave you excellent advice. It takes some know how to  properly prep trees for the mill. The more important part is safley getting trees on the ground. Iknow where im at it's very normal to log 5-6 acre pices.  Good luck

[thenorthman]

5-7 acres is perfect, for most small to medium outfits. (tis the kind of thing I drool over...)

Anyway, doing it yourself I'm all for ya, just remember its a lot more work than it looks, getting em on the ground while is very dangerous, moving them is not a real easy task especially without any kind of equipment.

That being said, step one call the mills, find out what species they accept, lengths plus trim, they will take and what they prefer... and most important what they are paying...
Second find out what kind of permitting you will need if any,
Third figure out how your going to get them from the landing to the mill, be it self loader truck, or car trailer or what?
Forth get some kind of formal or informal training on falling timber, and chainsaw safety... be it game of logging (... yeah I said it, and I feel a little ill for it...) or a local logger willing to spend a weekend or two training ya up.
Fifth... wear gloves... and bring some band aids... did I mention its hard work...

[terry f]

   What is the game of logging?

[HiTech]

5 to 7 acres can produce a lot of wood. Equipment will be needed. We cut a piece that size last year an averaged about 3 tandem loads per acre. The owner wanted the logs hauled to a mill and gave us the firewood and x number of dollars to cut and haul. I saw some of the wood after it was sawed and kiln dried and finished. It was beautiful wood especially the wormy soft maple. This guy told us it was cheaper to pay us to cut it down and haul it and have it sawed, dried and finished, than it was to just buy finished lumber at a store. I never did find out how much lumber he actually got but I know he had 15,000 feet as we hauled the finished wood to his storage facility. Do your homework and you can end up a happy camper. lol

[rockwall]

When you say clearing what do you mean? Do you want to end up with fields, pasture or just open woods?

[thenorthman]

   What is the game of logging?

GOL, Game of logging is the full name, also known as the swedish stump dance or SSD... face, bore, trigger on every tree regardless of lean or tendency to chair or split...

[John Mc]

   What is the game of logging?

Game of Logging is a chainsaw safety/tree felling class consisting of four all-day classes, all with hands-on experience. The techniques they teach are a bit different than what is probably shown in the manual that came with your saw. Some folks only take the first class, or perhaps the first two, some end up taking all four. The classes can be tailored to landowners or to professional loggers. All of the classes I took has a mix of ability/experience levels (the higher levels tended to be heavier on the forest professional attendees, but we did also have some serious landowners).

The classes are a great intro to someone who has never used a saw before, as well as a good expansion of the skills in your toolbox for professional loggers. I've heard more than one long-time logger say that it has changed the way they work in the woods. That's not to say that GOL is the ONLY way to do it, but it does give you a good set of useful techniques to get trees on the ground safely, efficiently, and with precision. One of the things I like about the classes I took were that they were not just a matter of "do this"; they took the time to explain why they were doing something a certain way. This understanding has helped me to adapt the techniques learned to different situations.

I've been through levels 1 through 4, plus their "Storm Damage" training. I found all of them worthwhile. A lot depends on the organization actually doing the training - there are about 7 "franchises", mostly in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. I'm fortunate to live in an area served by a great organization (Northeast Woodland Training. I've only heard comments about a couple of the others, but what I have heard has been positive.

Here's the national website for the Game of Logging "umbrella" organization.

I'm not saying it's the ultimate answer to everything you may run into in the woods, but it's definitely worth a look - whether you are someone just getting started, or a more experienced person looking for a few tools to add to your toolbox. Not all of us had the benefit of growing up with a chainsaw in our hands, or working with an expert to learn the ropes.

John Mc

[bill m]

Leslie, welcome to the forum. I would recommend that you find a private forester in your area to walk your property. He can advise you on what your trees may be worth and how much work is involved if you should decide to harvest and sell the logs yourself. He will also know of any loggers who may be interested in this job and which mills that would pay the best for your logs. Don't be afraid to ask a lot of questions and try not to rush into this project if possible. Bad logging decisions can have long time effects that may take many years to correct.