Where can I find Cherry Tree Buyers?

[Tye Wintersteen]

I have a bunch of Cherry Trees that I need to get rid of here in Northern Virginia area. If anyone knows of a company that would purchase and take them, I would greatly appreciate any names. Thank you so much. Have a great day! ---Tye Wintersteen

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Tye,

Welcome to the creek! If you post some details of the trees, some of the creekers may be interested.

Generally it is hard to get a production saw mill to come and get trees from a yard or smaller property. There is too much risk that metal will be in the tree. The best bet will be to find a local band saw mill that would be interested in them.

[Tye Wintersteen]

Jeff,
Thank you for the information. I can post some pictures of the trees by tomorrow. Thanks for the welcome, have a great day. --Tye

[Mike Circo]

Doesn't WoodMizer do referrals?

Contact www.woodmizer.com and see if they have an owner in your area who might be interested in milling the trees.

I'm just guessing based on similar requests I've heard in the past.

[Tom Sontag]

Mike,

They do refer sawyers, but this guy is asking about tree buyers (ie. loggers). The value of a tree is much less than the value of a log, given the cost of dropping them. I don't know how many or what size or grade Tye has, but asking the Woodmizer referral for the name of a logger might be part of that conversation. Northern VA will have plenty of candidates willing to look and bid.

Tye,

IF you have only a couple or low grade or small trees or difficult (near a house e.g.) removals, the cost of cutting the tree and moving the logs could exceed the value of the timber. Keep an open mind - not all "valuable" species pay. Good luck.

[Martin Shupe]

You might try asking your county or state forester for a list of loggers in your area. Then, have the state forester come out to your land (most states do it for free) and evaluate your trees. Ask it if they are mature enough to log, how much they might be worth, and if he can help you with a sealed bid timber cutting contract. Most states can supply that information, via their landowner assistance programs.

If the trees contain merchantable lumber, you want to get competitive bids. If you just need to cut them down to build a house, it is a whole different ball game.

Make sure any cutting contract has a defined period for logging, and if they exceed that time, the contract is void, or penalties are applied. Also, if you want them to clean up the mess, that must be in the contract as well. Mark all trees that you want cut, and it might help to be around a little while the cutting is going on. You would be surprised how many times the "wrong trees" are "accidentally" harvested.;) Typically the trees to be cut are marked with spray paint both on the stump and at eye level (and most folks have their own special color that cannot be easily copied). That way you can tell if they cut the correct trees when you are done.

Again, I cannot emphasize enough that you should consult a state or private forester to help you with this.

Martin, former forester