To have a part time firewood processing operation? I know the more land the better, but for a smaller one man operation is my situation.
Thank you.
Thank you.
How much land do you need....
- Thread starter tlhfirelion
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
iLoveWood
Member
Are you talking about acres to sustainability harvest wood from or how much space is needed to process wood?
I'm a scrounger, Theres a good road by my place that reliably provides windfalls each winter, no houses, its refinery land so I try to get it b4 anyone else. No tresspassing, i only take whats on the road or in the ditches.
I'm a scrounger, Theres a good road by my place that reliably provides windfalls each winter, no houses, its refinery land so I try to get it b4 anyone else. No tresspassing, i only take whats on the road or in the ditches.
depends on your thoughts of operation - Typical cut today, split tomorrow ,sell the next day or truly Cut, split and stack for at least a year or more before selling?
I wouldnt sell it unless it’s truly seasoned or someone specifically requests green if I had an operation. I’m looking at some land of various sizes and was just curious what those here that process have acreage wise. Thank you.
Its one of these "It depends" Big difference if you are starting with a well stocked or possibly overstocked woods and you elect to improve the stand while you are at it or if you are just going to clear cut and sell the place when you run out of trees to cut. It also depends on the location you are at and the variety of trees present. It also makes a big difference if the existing stands have good quality wood that is better sold for saw logs. Ideally you want to improve the stand, remove the lower grade trees and hopefully sell them as saw logs and then take the low grade tops and leftovers and convert it to firewood. The problem is if you are running a firewood processor they really want straight logs to run well so you are probably processing the pallet grade logs in the processor and hand processing a lot of the top wood that isnt straight. I think a lot of folks just set up in a fixed spot and buy the wood from local loggers.
In the northeast one acre of hardwood forest will produce around 1 full cord of wood a year sustainably. The US forest service has a lot of information on how to measure woodlots, manage, and extract lumber relatively sustainably.
Last edited:
Interesting information. I hadn’t taken it quite to that level as far as selling logs and buying logs, etc.
I hadn’t planned on doing it any other way but sustainably. Leaving scorched earth in my wake doesn’t go by my mantra or leaving it as good or better than how I found it. I’m the guy that borrows a tool, returns it a day early, cleaned and with new oil and ethanol free fuel in it. Lol.
How many acres equal this “forest” you mention? I’ll take a look on the US forestry page, that’s a good idea. Thank you.
Sorry I left out the most important part. I meant to say one acre will produce one cord. Edited the first post to clarify too.
Also just to say, the US forest service calls clear cutting 'even aged management. In the north east, Cherry lumber is the most valuable forest product. Black Cherry being a pioneer species will generally lose out to oak beech birch mature forests eventually. So if you want to sell cherry hardwood to a saw mill you clear cut a couple acres at a time so that the pioneer species shoot back up.
Ok, that makes sense. I’m looking at an acerage of about 100 acres, 90 or so is heavily wooded, very dense and almost hard to walk thru with so much brush.
If the lot hasnt been managed and therefore overstocked you will get far more than 1 cord an acre. A rule of thumb is you are going to remove about 2/3rds of the standing wood to free up the growth of remaining selected trees and then depending on the species you may do it again in 20 or 30 years befoe a commercial harvest. The goal typically is get a few big trees enough room to stretch out their canopies so they grew well and have some replacements developing so that when the big trees get mature, the next generation is ready to move in. Unless you are youngster you will probably never see the end of the timberstand improvement phase to get into the sustainable phase. Hardwood timber stands rotate over many decades. A good entry level book is this one. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0874516226/?tag=hearthamazon-20. It will get you up to speed.
Be aware in some state there is extension agent who is assigned to working with small landowners. I there is one they are great unbiased source of information. Dont trust a logger or even a forester who claims they will give you a free evaluation of your land. Best idea is get forest management drawn up by licensed forester freuently there is cost sharing for a forest plan.
A few things to keep in mind, One veneer quality hardwood log can be worth a couple of thousand dollars. Some folks who dont know any better might pick a veneer tree to cut as firewood as its good and straight and easy to cut (or if its a sugar maple drill a tap hole) That is a very expensive decision. Hardwood saw logs can be 500 bucks a piece. Figured hardwood logs can sell for thousands, its almost impossible to determine if there is figure until its on the ground. Figured or not, its a bad idea to cut into firewood. Ultimately realize that a logging contractor might sell the tops and junk that can not sell as logs for possibly 10 bucks a ton at the yard and biomass boiler operator may pay $40 a ton chipped and delivered. Therefore your profit is mostly the labor you put into it and if possibly how long you can season it dry. Mostly folks just split it quick and sell it green. The ones that truly sell seasoned wood will have loyal customers but they wont get much more per cord than the guy selling green. The only way someone gets rich owning timberland is sell it for development and then clear cut it. Otherwise its a long term investment that if managed properly will have some low rate of return most years and then eventually will have some larger payouts at intervals. Most timber investors just have cash in the bank and try to pick up well managed land whose owner has to sell due to death or old age and then move in and grab the value inherent in the lot.
If you aren't aware of it Northern Woodland magazine is great resource for woodland owners in New England over into the midwest. They have back issues on line. I am a long term subscriber and each issue gets read cover to cover. https://northernwoodlands.org/
Be aware in some state there is extension agent who is assigned to working with small landowners. I there is one they are great unbiased source of information. Dont trust a logger or even a forester who claims they will give you a free evaluation of your land. Best idea is get forest management drawn up by licensed forester freuently there is cost sharing for a forest plan.
A few things to keep in mind, One veneer quality hardwood log can be worth a couple of thousand dollars. Some folks who dont know any better might pick a veneer tree to cut as firewood as its good and straight and easy to cut (or if its a sugar maple drill a tap hole) That is a very expensive decision. Hardwood saw logs can be 500 bucks a piece. Figured hardwood logs can sell for thousands, its almost impossible to determine if there is figure until its on the ground. Figured or not, its a bad idea to cut into firewood. Ultimately realize that a logging contractor might sell the tops and junk that can not sell as logs for possibly 10 bucks a ton at the yard and biomass boiler operator may pay $40 a ton chipped and delivered. Therefore your profit is mostly the labor you put into it and if possibly how long you can season it dry. Mostly folks just split it quick and sell it green. The ones that truly sell seasoned wood will have loyal customers but they wont get much more per cord than the guy selling green. The only way someone gets rich owning timberland is sell it for development and then clear cut it. Otherwise its a long term investment that if managed properly will have some low rate of return most years and then eventually will have some larger payouts at intervals. Most timber investors just have cash in the bank and try to pick up well managed land whose owner has to sell due to death or old age and then move in and grab the value inherent in the lot.
If you aren't aware of it Northern Woodland magazine is great resource for woodland owners in New England over into the midwest. They have back issues on line. I am a long term subscriber and each issue gets read cover to cover. https://northernwoodlands.org/
peakbagger, that is a great post.
NYS has a lot of volunteer foresters, but I tried for 3 years to contact them, once even in person at a farm show, and I never got a call back. Trying to teach myself now, I will check out the Northern Woodland Magazine.
There is maybe nothing so humbling as forest management.
NYS has a lot of volunteer foresters, but I tried for 3 years to contact them, once even in person at a farm show, and I never got a call back. Trying to teach myself now, I will check out the Northern Woodland Magazine.
There is maybe nothing so humbling as forest management.
Similar threads
