RE: Wood lot size

I think it's been asked before, but I think it bears asking again.

I would like to buy a woodlot of my own to pull firewood off . . . and maybe build a house some day. Obviously there are a lot of factors in determining how large a lot a home owner would need to have a sustainable harvest (amount of wood used, hardwood vs. softwood, woods vs. fields/open area, tree density, etc.) but in general how large a lot would you folks suspect would be necessary . . . assuming most 5-6 cords a year, mix of hardwood/softwood, more woods vs. fields?

Ten acres would be about right. Ten management units. Cut each unit every ten years. County extension would be able to tell you their experience in your area.

Jim . . . I was thinking between 10-60 acres would be good. I figured like you that at a minium I would want 10 acres . . . but thought I would throw out the question to other folks. Thanks for replying.

I think 10 would be enough for a single family obviously if you can afford more that would also work.

My neighbor to the south has just shy of 30 and it's not even all wooded.(maybe half and half) He's lived there since the late 60's, I don't think he'll ever have an issue. He uses it to supply his household and I believe one or two of his kids also cut off it although I'm unsure how much the kids burn. He's also offered to let me cut off it since I've lent him a hand in the past but I haven't called in that favor yet.

I've cut 2-3 cords a year for the last 12 years on 8 1/2 acres that is 1/2 wooded. Still haven't cut a tree down that didn't "need" to go (lots of ice storms in the last 12 years) . Haven't put a noticable dent in the supply yet. My red oaks average about 1 cord per tree, so I only need 2.5 trees/year at that rate.

A buddy of mine did a paper in collage on this. His studies said that if you bought a 15 acre wood lot of established hardwoods, an average house hold would never use up the wood off it, if you only cut what you need, and use all useable wood.

We had 2 acers going up and was way more than we need, but the trees where very large and old growth.

Along with the size it's also important to consider the terrain. We have about 4 wooded acres but about half of it is very hard to access. Fortunately that's where our softwoods are located.

I read somewhere that you could harvest 1 cord per acre each year. on an established wooded area.

If you buy a lot with large trees , your way ahead. 15 acres of wood, you'd get enough when you cleared for the house & yard & driveway for a few years. Then just manage the property taking the dead, sick, blow down, & cleaning up the woods. You'd always have big trees to for the critters & you enjoy. 15 acres would be plenty, but after the shop goes in, a big garden area (has to have full sun so no shade trees on the south side of the garden), nice big yard, burn pit/picnic area, fire breaks far enough from buildings, a few trails & a wood storage area, you're down a few acres of woods. 15 acres sounds right.
But if I were dreaming of a perfect size piece of wooded property, I'd go with 20 acres at least, with a small creek running thru it

Right. The first factor is what kind of trees? The second is how big are the trees? You also need to factor in how much clearing you would want for the house and other buildings. Still, in most places, and it seems for sure in yours, that 10 acres would give you plenty and then you also would not have any bare areas. Just cut what needs to be cut first and rather than cutting off an acre this year and off a different acre next year, just cut what really needs to come out. On the 10 acres though, I would highly doubt you'd ever run out of wood.

Also take notice of many areas in the US that are farm areas. Many moons ago they cleared land for housing, barns and such plus clearing land to farm. But they always left a woodlot. Of course the reason was not only firewood but they used to have more need for wood for other things along with the need for lumber. In our area, many of these type of woodlots tend to be about 20 acres in size.

I was always told a 20 acre lot would keep you in firewood for life, at 5 cord per year.
But I've been told a lot of other things that I'm not too sure about....

When I looked into this question, it seemed like two acres of forest would be needed for each cord. This was for eastern hardwood forest and not cutting live trees--only dead standing, deadfall, and blow downs. Some actually estimated under 2 acres per cord. Not a scientific study, but I did read it on the Internet.

We have 22 acres, about 1/2 that is woods, and we have plenty of wood. In New York you need to be careful, if you build a nice house on 60 acres the taxes can be very high. You may need to consider building your house on 5 acres and getting a separate wood lot. My house is on 14 acres and I have a separate lot that is 8 acres. The 8 acre lot is only assest at $7k.

I've read the 10 acre stat a few places, and felt secure with my mature 11 acre lot. BUT....
I didn't figure the steepness factor and "rockyness" of my land. I can reasonably access only about 6 acres, but can scrounge nearby national forest thankfully. Factor ease of reaching the trees in your decision.

This won't give you your number, but it will give you some things to think about.

http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/live/g1554/build/g1554.pdf

The topography also plays a role in wood production. More water and more fertile soil grows wood faster. If you buy clearcut land, you'll be waiting 15 years for logs. Already forested land puts you way ahead. Consider taxes. Sometimes it's cheaper to buy more land and get farming tax rates or conservation status than to buy a few less acres and get charged full residential tax rates. Taxes can be much higher than the cost of c/s/delivered firewood.

Not to sounds like a complete idiot on this....how long does it take the average tree to grow to a harvest size and at what size would you harvest?

Growth varies greatly among species. Conditions like soil, moisture, temp, and sun exposure also make a difference. I'm guessing harvest times could vary from 10-40+ years.

Around here, I've seen select cut harvests (not clear cut) in a mature forest about every ten years. Timber goes to mill. We get treetops for firewood.

That's what my DNR has said for years.Pretty much standard rule - 1 cord per acre yearly without damaging your woods. I normally burn 3-4 cords in a season (about 1/2 that last winter) & pretty much all I cut is dead standing,deadfall & ones that are dying/have storm damage.

As trees grow larger (in a woodlot) they need more room. Thinning of the stand will be required for the health of the trees or thinning will occur naturaly. I manage 55 acres of trees and routinely cut down the lower quality trees to give the best trees enough room to thrive. Foresters use terms like stem density (# of trees in a given area) and meausre the density of trees (basal area). The pines grow twice as fast (or more) as the oaks. Hardwoods can take 30+ years to reach 18" diameter at breast height (DBH), while a pine can get there in 15 years (in ideal circumstances). I use the thinings for firewood if its convenient and large enough to bother with (min. 8" DBH).

As far as what size to harvest at- it depends. Forest owners have different goals. In different regions different species carry higher values for lumber. For example in the Carolinas the hardwoods have a high value for furniture. In other states the hardwoods are worth half as much as pine. Lots of forest owners like/love their trees and only harvest the dead stuff. I have a huge white oak 30"DBH that I'm considering cutting down for firewood. The larger it gets, the more of a pita it'll be to deal with. I love looking at that huge tree (live) but I might like looking at it more after its c/s/s.

jake, I would say 10 acres of easily accessible wood would be fine, but I say grab all the land you can while watching the taxes. God isn't making any more and the price has continually gone up and they are finding gas everywhere and you could always harvest some trees for profit in the future. And besides, it is great having land. I just bought 66 more acres myself in NY where you can still get the Oil and Gas rights at a cheap price, if they do not kill you on taxes.