Selling timber in Fairfield County near Hamburg
Reaching out to a forester for help with valuable timber
In July 2025 a man in Columbus reached out to us to ask for an evaluation of the timber on his property in Fairfield County. He explained that is a member of an investment group that had purchased a 139-acre parcel near Hamburg, Ohio and they needed to learn their options for the timber on it.
We agreed to visit the property and give him our evaluation. what we found there was a beautiful forest with several even-aged stands of oaks and other species potentially worth several hundred thousand dollars.
Creating a timber harvest plan to meet the landowners' objectives
The investors explained that they wanted to generate income from a timber sale, but they did not want to damage the overall aesthetics of the property. The property will offer luxury lodging cabins, and the beauty of the property is its main attraction. They also wanted to improve the wildlife habitat in ways that would attract and support more white-tailed deer.
Selecting the timber to sale
In close consultation with the owners, we selected 892 mature trees from 18 different species for a total harvest of 320,738 board feet, using the Doyle Log Rule. Notably, the property contained a large number of yellow poplar trees that were suffering from blight, and had to be removed to protect the property’s aesthetics.
| Species | Trees | Total BFV | % of BFV | Avg. DBH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Bigtooth aspen |
104 |
32,091 |
10 |
21 |
|
American beech |
1 |
174 |
.1 |
22 |
|
Blackgum |
17 |
4,239 |
1.3 |
20.7 |
|
Black oak |
18 |
9,313 |
2.9 |
24.9 |
|
Black cherry |
28 |
6,144 |
1.9 |
21.4 |
|
Chinkapin oak |
7 |
3,185 |
1 |
28.6 |
|
Chestnut oak |
72 |
22,134 |
6.9 |
22.7 |
|
Cottonwood |
1 |
295 |
.1 |
22 |
|
Hickory |
13 |
4,017 |
1.3 |
22.3 |
|
Sugar maple |
7 |
3,005 |
.9 |
24 |
|
Yellow poplar |
181 |
92,922 |
29 |
24.4 |
|
Sassafras |
12 |
1,454 |
.5 |
18.7 |
|
Red maple |
239 |
71,744 |
22.4 |
22.7 |
|
Scarlet oak |
107 |
43,266 |
13.5 |
24.3 |
|
Sycamore |
5 |
1,396 |
.4 |
22.8 |
|
Black Walnut |
2 |
844 |
.3 |
23 |
|
White Oak |
76 |
24,126 |
7.5 |
22.2 |
|
Yellow birch |
2 |
389 |
.1 |
22 |
|
TOTAL |
892 |
320,738 |
100 |
23 |
Getting competitive bids from timber buyers
We prepared a Notice of Standing Timber Sale and sent it (along with a bid prospectus including all you see on this page) to 30 sawmills and master loggers who we know do careful, high-quality work, and do proper restoration work when the harvest is finished.
All the loggers received notice of the sale on October 3, 2025 and were given 33 days to visit the property and asses the quality and accessibility of the timber offered for sale.
Sealed bids were due at our offices by noon on November 6, 2025 and we received bids from 8 loggers in in these amounts:
| Bid amount | $ per BF |
|---|---|
|
$171,900 |
.536 |
|
$127,270 |
.397 |
|
$121,111 |
.378 |
|
$121,108
|
.378 |
|
$119,500 |
.373 |
|
$109,888 |
.343 |
|
$104,550 |
.326 |
|
$92,500 |
.288 |
The seller has accepted the highest bid and the logger has been notified that the contract will be awarded to his firm.
Please notice the bid disparity. The winning bid is 67% higher than the lowest bid — a difference of $40,451.
These are the typical results we get with our competitive bidding process. You simply cannot get full value for your timber when you deal directly with loggers and their timber buyers. Always reach out to a consulting forester like us to help you.
What happens after the timber sale
The winning bidder has 10 days from November to sign the sale contract, and pay the owner a non-refundable 35% deposit ($60,165) of the full sales price.
He will have 12 months to schedule the harvest and complete it. But he must pay the final 65% balance ($111,735) in full to the owner before he is allowed onto the land again to begin the work.
The contract has enforcement provisions to ensure that only the 892 marked trees will be taken. We will make multiple unannounced visits during the harvest to make sure that no additional trees are taken, and that the loggers perform
The logger must also adhere to Ohio’s BMP Guidelines for erosion control and seeding of disturbed areas. And we will take $10,000 performance bond from the logging company, and release it only when we are satisfied that restoration has been done correctly.
We will also file a Forestry Pollution Prevention Plan with the Fairfield County Soil and Water Conservation District so that they can inspect the logger’s restoration work too.
When and how the timber harvest will proceed
The harvest on this property will begin in December 2025 and finish within two weeks. We will oversee the harvest to ensure that the work is done correctly.
Throughout the harvest process, we will keep the family apprised of its progress with video and photo documentation.
Once harvest is completed our foresters will write a new Woodland Stewardship Management Plan for the property. Once approved by the state forester for an official forest land designation, the property will be qualified to enter Ohio’s CAUV Program for timber production and the owners will enjoy a 50% reduction in property tax while growing more timber for harvest later.
We will also show the owner how to qualify the property for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) which offers financial and technical assistance to improve the wildlife habitat on the land.
Key takeaways from this timber sale
- Top-dollar price obtained via competitive bidding
- A hassle-free harvest with proper restoration guaranteed
- Landowners 100% satisfied
- Minimum: 10 wooded acres or 50 mature trees.