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Help Pricing a Standing White Cedar Woodlot

Started by Smith2627, October 09, 2017, 04:31:07 PM

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Smith2627

Hello everyone, happy thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians!

I have recently came upon 25 acres of cedar that I am looking to purchase from a fellow down the road. I have no idea what to pay for this woodlot though.

The 25 acres consists of all sizes of cedar (saplings to 16-20" trees). I mainly sell Posts, Rails and pickets for fencing materials. My pricing consists of $6.00 per Post (8'x6" top) $9.00 for rails (12' x 4" top) and 2 or 3" for pickets (6' x 2-4" tops). I understand most people appraise woodlots by board feet per tree but I will be cutting thousands of trees off this lot and dont want to have to measure each tree. Is there a similar way of appraising this lot? If i were to appraise each log, what is the going rate for standing cedar in your area? I am located in southern Ontario so the cedar is white cedar not western Red cedar.

Any input is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Chris

nativewolf

You could hire a consulting forester or contact your local forestry agency (board?).  They will conduct a Timber Cruise, which is a statistical sample that is extrapolated to give an estimate of the volume of the forest.  You'd want their estimate to give you the volume of timber, there will be a market value associated with that volume of wood and that would be a fair price plus the value of the land.  Now, you'll likely get more $ from the woodlot than the estimate because you can merchandize it more effectively. 

A consulting forester will charge a few thousand dollars typically but you'll get a lot of value and have the beginnings of a plan for how to harvest. 

I am not sure but I think with Atlantic White Cedar you could harvest on an uneven basis, no?  By that I mean selectively culling the larger stems, will young AWC regenerate under the canopy? 

Sounds exciting and good luck!
Liking Walnut

nativewolf

Oh, maybe i misunderstood, thought you were going to buy the land too?  If not, simplifies things, buy timber cut it all. 
Liking Walnut

Smith2627

Thank you very much for the great advice! I will just be cutting the wood off the lot not purchasing the land itself. Cheers

nativewolf

In that case, just hire the consulting forester.  Get an agreement from the landowner to share the costs if you buy the timber. 

Can you cut the 25 acres?  That's quite a bit of timber, especially cedar that grows pretty densely. 
Liking Walnut

Smith2627

Yes we can certainly harvest the larger trees before the smaller ones, although where I am the larger trees do not allow any undergrowth at all. The medium to small trees all grow outside of the densely packed mature trees. Yes all 25 acres is up for clearing. I know quite a lot of loggers will calculate what their cost is and then tack on the margin they'd like to make on the wood. Do you have any experience with this method Nativewolf? Thanks for all the help!

TKehl

I know nothing of white cedar, but around here, I get paid to clear small red cedar.  Any saleable material is bonus.  Only the bigger stuff would have value and landowner split is small.  May be similar in your area?

Is a clearcut required or desired?  I don't know your volume, but I could see cut as needed and pay as you cut being valuable on both sides.  You may pay a bit more in total, but lower initial capital outlay and alleviates inventory storage.
In the long run, you make your own luck – good, bad, or indifferent. Loretta Lynn

Smith2627

The landowner wants all 25 acres cleared due to a project he is getting into. He has been offered $500 CAD plus de-stumping per acre. The other logger cannot get started until next year though. And the landowner wants it all cleared within 8 months.

mike_belben

Offer him $400/ac starting immediately, stumps stay put.   See if he counter offers.
Praise The Lord

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