Timber Harvesting

[The Engineer]

Has anyone harvested timber from thier property? I have a lot of Ash , Hard Maple and Cherry that are a good size. Any companies better then others.

I live in Delaware County so I dont have any restrictions.

I do not want to just take the money and run. I love my woods and I am looking to make them healthy and keep them going. If I can make some money why not but it is not the driver.

If anyone knows who is good out there and more important who is not please let me know.

Any questions I should ask?

Should I cut down the trees and seller to the highest bidder?

Is that worth it?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

[Phillygunns]

I would suggest contacting the Dec to see if they can recommend a company. If not you could check with lumber yards, Farmers or Developers to see who they use.

[tughillhunter]

Call around and get the highest bidder... If you can handle cuttin your own and taking it to the yards, go for it, keep the tops and sell for firewood for a lil extra profit or if you burn wood, there you go. I live in oswego county, so I cant help you there.

[max3]

If you love your property do yourself a favor & thoroughly research which ever company you choose.. A lot of realy bad contractors in that line of work. I would suggest asking lumber mills. Your in Delaware county so maybe check Quaility Hardwoods in Sidney or Whightmans lumber in portlandville they may be able to point you in the right direction. Good Luck !

[jusputtn]

I suggest finding a Forester. They'll come up with a plan, give you an idea when to expect to be able to harvest again, require erosion prevention measures, put the timber out to a list of bidders, etc.

[burmjohn]

I suggest finding a Forester. They'll come up with a plan, give you an idea when to expect to be able to harvest again, require erosion prevention measures, put the timber out to a list of bidders, etc.

Agree, looking into this also for our property. Plus they will mark the tree's and make sure (at least a good one will) that it doesnt destroy your property rendering it useless for years to come. Expect to pay a % and or a flat fee, its well worth it from what I read and heard.

[wdswtr]

Yep contact a forester and then tap those maples and make some syrup instead of cutting them down. Or find a local maple syrup maker and see if they are interested in doing a tap lease. Its very possible to get 1.00 per tap on a tap lease. If you have any good number of maples you could create some annual income versus a one time check. Also alot of syrup producers will buy the sap from you if you wanted to tap them yourself and not deal with the expense of the equipment. Or you could tap them yourself with some used equipment and sell the syrup yourself. Lots of options, but a forester is a great step to point anyone in the right direction for a well balanced woods. If there is any interest in the tapping route you could shoot me a PM and I can put you in contact with local producers for you.

Edited April 14, 2012 by wdswtr

[G-Man]

Will Pm you a number of forester i use and highly recomend.