Randy,,,I sell walnut every 15 yrs. I use the state forester from my county ag dept to assess. I post on fb marketplace and had bidders from as far away as vermont 5 -6 yrs ago. Sold to walnut creek and keim lumber for the best cash prices. Its your wood..u decide..I averaged around 700 a tree. I have very good b.w. in my riverbottom. Small walnut trees near my house i needed cut anyhow sold for 400-600 ea. same as fur...sell to the one who wants it. My ash is gone.

You'll get a different perspective by state, species and even regional locations within the state. In NW Wisconsin, timber prices are depressed and winter contracts that were issued were very limited, a lot of loggers that are sitting on multi-million-dollar investments in equipment and most are spending more time with bankers than in the woods. The emerald ash borer (although it hasn't reached my location yet) is the boogie man for state owned lands and they're leveling it, flooding the market and further depressing prices. If you're a logger that's not diversified into, excavation, trucking or something supplemental- survival will be tough in this marketplace.

Largest hardwood sawmill in MN is about 5 miles from my house. They haven’t really worked since July ! The demand for hardwood lumber is currently weak in this economy. That results in tough grading for what Timber does enter the yard.

Listen to what some of the other have said. Hire a good forester. “Selective cuts” sound great but it typically leads to high grading. Cutting all the good trees and leaving the junk trees and low quality species meaning the future forest will likely be junk. Need to make sure there is good regeneration present before the harvest especially if you want oaks in the future.

Timber prices are lower right now but not too bad. With the right buyer you can get a good price for your oak and yellow poplar right now.

Don’t forget the larger a tree gets the faster the board footage gains each year!

To get a true estimate of what they are paying you it must cover all the different aspects of what work they are doing It needs to go into details of what they are doing and how much they are paying you Anyone giving you a roundabout ballpark number is planning on taking you across And once the trees are down and removed you will not find it easy to get what they told you or they may short change you other aspects of the job . Beware be very aware

If your select cutting , stick with the walnut and whiteoak the rest is trash right now, asking for timber selling advise on the internet is like what would you give me for my good dog ,i been offered 10 bucks , have i been lowballed ?. can you really give me the right way to go. Ill rephrase that your timber is not trash ,just some woods not very sought after right now.

Make sure to get a hard start and finish date, or they will drag it out forever, and specify about not leaving trash behind, or you'll be looking at oil cans for the rest of your life. Do you want them letting all their kith and kin cutting tops for firewood? Speaking for a friend.

Dang some ones math is way off. Yours or his if that's the total.

Location and local market is everything. I have been logging for 35 years and see how the markets and timber values change depending on the demand. I have give hundreds of quotes over the years and have been praised by some cussed out by others because someone told them what they think it is worth. Local saw mills will almost always give you the current price so give them a call so you know for yourself and a good forester will be able to tell you the approximate grade and quantity. I have only sold a couple of semi loads of logs above $4000. Most of the time the oak market is flooded

Jbyrd, how did you come up with your math? I wouldnt know where to start without knowing the species percentage, height, grade, etc.

My math isn't off. One thing I know is math.

He did tell me he would be taking 18 of the bigger beech trees.

I walked up with him for a little bit and then left him to do his thing. He did point out a big quaken asp tree that was choking out a smaller white oak. He said the white oak would really grow once the bigger tree was cut. He seemed to know his business and he came highly recommended.

I told him I was just starting the process and would be getting several bids.

are you looking at long term forest MANAGEMENT, or just liquidating current timber value?

Well lumberjack UNLESS timber is a lot cheaper there than it is here, ANY tree 20-30 in in diameter will be worth lot more than 152 bucks per. Only way average would be that low is a clear cut were half of them are smaller. 20 in and over and mostly red and white oak ?!! Someone is going to make bank and it ain’t the timber owner. He mentioned 30” trees plus not had any cut for 75 plus years

A 30 in tree with 2 16 ft logs will have around 1000 board ft in it
24 in with 2 logs tad over 500. If same tree has 3 about 600
Not to mention half logs .
Get you a biltmore stick plus a tailors tape measure and have at it .
I got a box of 50 timber calculator pocket digest if anyone wants one

Jbyrd, I think that you speak from limited knowledge. I've cut 20-30 inch oak that would barely make pallet lumber, and some the same size that all graded #1 and better. Just depends on the area, and a few miles can make a huge difference in quality. Not knowing anything about the timber quality in that area, and I haven't kept up on timber prices, I would be unable too say if that price is good or not. All of the bids I have been involved with were either a price per cord or per thousand board feet. What it comes to per tree doesn't matter.

That’s is true. Like buying any sight unseen. Just got off the phone with my buddy that has cut timber fir 50 years TODAY price red oak .65 cents board ft
White oak 1.50-2.00 BF

He recommended finding a logger to harvest it and sell to local mill on halves. Then you know what each tree was worth . Loggers that walk in and give you a flat price can low ball you . His recommendation

I can't sleep unless I'm getting at least 10 bids on timber for a client or myself. Even the honest buyers may not need your timber so you can't blame them for not paying the highest price. Out of say 10 buyers you find out who really wants what you have.

the biggest question remains: what are your GOALS for this sale?

what are you hoping to accomplish?

"That’s is true. Like buying any sight unseen. " That was my point......would you pay 152.00 for that quaking aspen, Beech, most Poplar? To come off like you did sight unseen was jumping the gun I would say. MaYbe CH will let us know eventually how far off that bid was.