Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire How many acres would 400 cords be?

I am looking at some properties in northern Minnesota. I found one that has a great house on 65 acres that has 1000's of acres of state forest lands on three sides.
The price is low for the area but it comes with one catch. The present owner has already contracted with a lumber company to take out 400 cords of wood. I am guessing that it is about all the big timber on the property. Here is a aerial photo.
Do you think 400 cords will wipe out the big timber and how big of a mess do you think it will leave?

No idea what that would be, but generally just taking out the big trees opens things up for deer, turkey, etc. and the tops make good bedding/hiding spots. It usually improves the hunting.

Tough to estimate without knowing the size of the trees, but I would guess they have sold all of the harvestable timber. I would suggest you talk to the timber company or a state Forester to find out what the rules are. In our area they take trees over 14” with the exception of some fruit bearing trees.

I don't know the answer to your question but as long as they leave some standing timber for cover, logging will attract deer to graze on the new browse.

Does the seller know the answer?

I was thinking the same thing. In 5 years it could make for some great grouse, woodcock and deer hunting.

Do they remove the slash or just leave a major fire hazard?

65 Acres is a nice chunk of property especially when surrounded by 1000's of acres of state land. I bet all the harvestable trees on the property are gone. Have you looked at the land and walked it with the owner? Mess left depends on the loggers and most leave a pretty good mess. Good question to ask the landowner as well? There is a reason the property is priced where it is at.

I would find out who's going to clean it up. Usually it's the timber company, after they are done logging they will send in a slashing crew to knock down trees that were damaged and trees on the ground that were missed buckem up for crews to come and put in slash piles. When weather is right they will send a crew in to burn slash piles. Also find out if they are going to replant it as well, usually on the timber company'. Unless the land is forest service then feds do it. Growing up and working in the woods for a few yrs I seen what good timber companies do and I seen the bad. But I imagine west coast logging different than east coast logging

400 cords sounds like clear cutting.

One full cord measures four feet high by four feet wide by eight feet long (4 ft. x 4 ft. x 8 ft.) and has a volume of 128 cubic feet. The amount of solid wood in a cord varies depending on the size of the pieces, but for firewood it averages about 85 cubic feet. Imagine 4' pieces laid out 8' wide and stacked 4' high.

My agent is working on it. That's Highway 53 going past it. It's about 20 miles south of International Falls surrounded by Koochiching State forest.
I am going up there this weekend to check it out. The price is very good.

Unless the timber contract is clear and I could figure out exactly what is being taken and how the property is to be left after logging, and I had some recourse for damages, I wouldn’t touch that unless the price is so low that I wouldn't care what the property looks like after the logging is complete. I would consider paying for an option that is exercisable within a reasonable period of time after the logging is complete. But, that's just me. YMMV.

Depends on tree density, tree height, and average diameter. 400 cords is a lot of wood though. There's 128 cubic feet in a cord, so that's 51,200 cubic feet of wood. Just assume a semi can hold 8'x8'x40' of wood, that's 2560 cubic feet. That's 20 semi's worth. Been a while since I measured midwestern timber for stumpage volume, but I'd estimate that's a pretty healthy thinning on 65 acres. Sounds like the landowner is raping the land for timber value, then ditching it for real estate value.

I'd ask for them to mark the trees that are being cut prior to agreeing to a purchase contract. Stipulate in the contract, if it's not marked, it doesn't get cut. It's pretty typical for a logging operation.

Still doable if the owner agrees to burn all existing slash piles before vacating.

To answer the last question in your original post, the land will look like ground zero after a small nuclear device was detonated.

RS

The seller knows exactly what has been sold. I would ask him. I would guess all marketable timber. Will clean up and replanting be included? Just things to ask.

g

It would take a dozer to pile it up.

or 3 mesicans

Whackem,

PM my Dad OIDabbble I am sure we probably know the owner and the company doing the logging. He lives in Big Falls and if that is 53 it must be around Ray or on the way to Cook. He has been a logger up there for most of his life.

Mack

Thanks, I sent him a PM