RE: Wood lot size

I live on 20 acres, about 1/2 is wooded, and I cannot keep up on the stuff that falls on its own. Iv cut almost 20 cords since December, and haven't cut a standing tree yet. There is no end in sight

Thanks for everyone's replies . . . looked at a couple of lots.

I liked the location of one . . . but it was a bit swampy and has been cut hard in the past . . . mostly a lot of small growth coming up . . .and the price was expensive.

The second was a bit larger than I was looking at . . . but had promise . . . until I got part way in and discovered that the present owners are actually harvesting the wood right now . . . guess they figure on getting as much money as they can in the short run.

I'll keep looking and bide my time . . . I figure the worse that can happen is I resort to buying tree length wood which right now is going for about $100 a cord.

I've got only one acre, including a house and small lawn. Between storm damage and removing trees that overhang the house or power lines, I've had enough to burn about 2 cords each year for the last 8 years, and have given plenty away to friends. I can't imagine ever running out of wood at this rate. Having the wood already so close to the house is great, but my skills don't extend to accurately dropping 90ft oaks, so I have to get a tree service out for the scary ones. This eliminates wood burning as a cost-saving exercise, but it's cheaper than having the house flattened. 10 acres of quality trees must surely be capable of supplying all the wood you could possibly burn in one house.

TE

Hi Jake

As Dennis said it depends on the types of trees, growing conditions and the length of growing season. It also depends on how tall the trees are. The trees on my property are 40 to 60 feet tall. And down the road at my cousins his are 70 to 90 feet tall. When we cut over there we get 1/3 more wood per tree for the same size and number of trees cut. At my house I have seven acres that was only slightly wooded. But if I was cutting off of it I would want at least 10 acres of woods. So I could spread out my cutting and not have to clear any one area.

Last week my brother and I cleared about 3/8 of a acre to open up more of the gravel pit. And I did not get as much wood as I had expected to get.

We cleared this




And only got this for wood. Which isn't as much as it looks like as its only about 4' high.



Billy

We have 5 acres, all hardwoods, sitting in about 12, to which we have full permision to clear, clean up, whatever. I am sure we could never run out just with clean up. This year, because myself and two neighbors who heat with wood decided to try to get a few more years ahead, we have been scrounging and doing some late ice storm cleanup on a couple local farms.

Depending on density but I would think 10 acres would be sufficient if it were solid standing timber and you selectively cut it thinning the larger trees every year. I think eventually you would work your way out of any trees though. Couldn't go wrong with keeping 10 acres as your minimum and purchasing what you can afford. Usually larger tracts of land get cheaper per acre. I've got 80 acres for sale here with about 30 acres of hardwood on it and the rest native pasture. Asking $240K.

This seems to be close to you..

Remote hunting cabin with 107 acres of hardwood forest. Nice 2 bedroom cabin with wood stove and outhouse. You will enjoy the meandering brook and lots of wildlife. Excellent hunting. Access is with atv or 4 wheel drive only. This is a very nice piece of land. Wonderful spot to get away from it all!

http://www.landandfarm.com/property/107_acres_in_Waldo_County_Maine-330030/

If you buy a lot that has some really straight hardwoods, you might be able to nurture those while cutting the ones around the high quality trees for firewood. An occasional timber sale could cover your property taxes. This magazine has a good article on how to make your best trees grow. Unfortunately, the article isn't available unless you purchase the magazine for $3 bucks online. I got mine as a hard copy as a member of the New England Forestry Foundation. The gist of the article is to reduce competition (for light, nutrients and water) by cutting lower quality competing trees and it can increase the growth rates (in diameter) by up to 80%.

http://northernwoodlands.org/issues/issue

If you get at least 10 acres, you can put it in current use which knocks down your taxes.

http://www.maine.gov/revenue/propertytax/propertytaxbenefits/CurrentUseLandPrograms.htm

good luck

Interesting . . . a little more land at a little higher price than I am looking at spending (although it's in the right area and at the right price per acre) . . . what is most interesting is that I didn't see this on the Maine real estate listings site . . . and for the life of me I don't remember seeing any signs for this property . . . which makes me wonder what else is out there and available. Thanks for posting.

The rule of thumb is 1 cord per acre per year. Some areas do a little better, some a little worse. You burn 5-6 cord per year so you'll need a 5-6 acre woodlot.

My dad owns 40 +- acres, and about 20 of it contain good hardwood (mostly ash, cherry, elm, and oak). The rest is yard, mowed pasture, or pasture on it's way back to becoming wooded. I'd say we only cut on 15 - 20% of the total land...some is just not accessible enough (read giant ravines) or doesn't have anything worth cutting. We've been cutting on it for 30 years and can't keep up with the standing dead/down. There's a lot of wood there that lays and rots.

I should also mention that, up until about 10 years ago, he heated entirely with wood using an pre-epa stove and monster wood furnace. Both were complete pigs...growing up we easily burned 8 - 10 cord per year, maybe more. After I moved out and the "help" dried up, he retired the wood furnance and got a heat pump...although the stove still does the bulk of the heating. We heated both of our houses for a couple years (probably 12 cord total) and still couldn't keep up with the dead/down. I'm now cutting on my neighbor's wood lot since it is much closer to where I live, but there's no reason his land couldn't heat both of our houses (10-12 cord per year) into perpetuity.

10 acres should be more than enough...and I doubt you'd ever need to cut a live tree if you didn't want to.

I'm not sure how wooded real estate works in your area, but you can pick up "logged" woods around here much cheaper than something that hasn't been gone through. Some folks will buy a parcel, rape it for the timber, and turn right around and sell it. The woods will be junk for a while, but a wood-burner's dream with all the tops. You could buy it, "re-hab it" buy cutting tops and cleaning up after after a few years you'd have some decent wooded land, minus any valuable timber. You'd get a lot of firewood and increase the value of the land.

Buddy is currently looking at 196 acres, 45 or so clear, rest in "woods" logged about a decade ago. If they get it, I and his sister get full rights to fire wood it..lol

but more importantly.. to hunt it.

The property has a small house, several fair shape out buildings, and a 5 acre apple orchard (deer love apples!!) My guess is they will get it for 280-300k..

@FFJake: contact with local farmers.. around here, many won't list it, they try to find friends or friends of friends.. so it doesn't go to a develpoer.. That is how we stumbled into ours, and how above friends did too..

Jake, you're welcome. Landandfarm is cheap to list on, so that's why you'll find stuff there and not on the MLS. Here's another site to look at.. http://www.fountainsland.com/properties.aspx They represent the sellers and sell based on value of the land for timber production most of the time, so the prices are reasonable. Parcels do tend to be larger though. Download one of their property reports to see the detailed information on a parcel. The idea to approach a farmer or large landowner is a good one. You can offer to pay the fees for a survey and new plot plan for the subdivision if they give you a reasonable price. Just find someone who needs some cash. Another approach is to go to the tax collector in the town and find out if anyone is delinquent on their taxes. You can contact the owner and offer a price that will pay off their taxes and put some coin in their pocket. That's how I got my lot in MA. It was cheap. And two years after I bought I sold less than 20% of the timber and made back 40% of my purchase price. We cut the lower quality stuff (mostly white pine) to let the hardwoods put on some diameter.