Value of 400 tree spruce grove near Chateaugay, NY UPDATE

[Danno77]

If he wanted 100 trees by the road then I'd say it was a good deal. If he didn't want 100 trees by the roadside, then i'd say he got screwed. easy as that.

 

[JustWood]

Eye thought it was 400 trees x $20=$8000!!

 

[leftyscott]

Eye thought it was 400 trees x $20=$8000!!

That's where it started , I think...... Where it ended was logger gets 100, f-i-l gets 100 and no $ exchanged.

Old man now thinks it may have been $20/ton instead of $20/tree He is 84 years and 3/4 deaf.

 

[Sharp]

My father in law has 400 fifty year old spruce trees in upstate NY. Some logger offered him $20/tree. Is this a ripoff? Anybody know what"s a fair price?


Logger by the name of Malcolm Frye worked out this deal with my father-in-law. Frye harvested 200 trees, kept 100 for himself and piled 100 at the edge of the road for my father-in-law. No monies exchanged hands. Anyone heard of this guy or this kind of deal?

Father-in-law lives in Arkansas so there was no type of supervision going on.

Hi According to your post/s you say your father in law received 8,000.00 but then also said no money was exchanged that it was a trade off deal. So to be clear here, if your father in law had 400 trees and only half of them were harvested even at the amount you said he would have been paid (20 dollars a tree) that would have only been 200@20 which equals 4,000.00. Now aside from that your logger harvested 200 trees, kept 100 and gave your father in law 100.......... that is 50/50 and equals 2000 dollars according to the deal you said he made with your father in law. If that was the case why did the logger go and tell him Ill give you 20 dollars a tree? Why not do what many loggers do and say I will give you 50 percent of what I make. It seems this logger backed out of the deal probably due to a squabble over money. How do you know what he piled along the road? He could have taken the best of the best and left your FIL the shyte stuff. Having been in and apart of logging my whole life, I will say this is a bad deal from the start. Not because the money was bad, but because none of this seems right. No contract, no references, no agreement other then money at all? Was your FIL so desperate for money he couldnt be bothered to check this guy out, or have a neighbor or friend oversee the operation? I mean seems like he was sold magic beans, and maybe he deserved it. Why didnt he say to the logger okay I will take a check for 8000 and you can have the logs? Either way what has probably happened here is the logger pulled off, left shyte wood for your FIL (which with the bark left on has a shelf life) and since there was no contract or witnesses its the loggers word against your FIL.

To address messes left by loggers.............. as a home owner it is your responsibility to work out the details of how well you want something cleaned up. In my experience the color of money is all homeowners care about until it runs out, then its the logger made a mess etc.

Dont expect any logger to chip brush, or smash brush down to less the 12 inches, unless you expect to have it taken out of your end. It cost in time, fuel and equipment no one is going to build roads, cut, skid, truck and then out of the kindness of their hearts remove your brush..... thats right "your" brush. They paid you for the logs and sometimes firewood only. That said most loggers will cut down the top so some things to discuss or think about when selling the logs is how low you want the brush cut down to. 2-3 feet isnt bad on the logger and with in a few years will be almost half that, so doesnt look like a disaster area. Make sure the logging roads have swales to divert water and eliminate erosion, and no brush in the road. The next and most important thing is never trust any logger ever. Hire an independent forester to 1) mark what trees should be taken, 2) mark out areas for roads to cause the least amount of damage, 3) get you a ball park on stompage, and 4) oversee the work being done. It will cost you money for the forester but well worth peace of mind...........or you can be like nearly every other homeowner see dollar signs and then bish after the money runs out.

 

[begreen]

Good advice, thanks. With that final comment I'm closing up this thread, it's 4 yrs old.