Selling timber in Hocking County near Rockbridge
Reaching out to us for help with their timber
A family in Hocking County contacted us on September 1, 2025 after finding our website in a Google search.
They own a 38-acre parcel of land near Rockbridge, Ohio and about 35 acres of it is covered with timber. They asked us to visit their property and evaluate the possibility of selling some of the timber.
This stand holds excellent timber
When our foresters visited the property we found that the stand held a large volume of hardwood trees, with an abundance of mature oaks among them. This parcel of land is located in the Glacial Till Zone, where the highest quality timber in Ohio grows.
Meeting the landowner's objectives for a timber sale
The landowners explained to us that they wanted to generate current income from a sale, while reserving the majority of the timber to continue growing. They also wanted to improve the wildlife habitat to hold and support more whitetail deer.
Selecting the timber for sale
We selected 320 mature trees from 15 different species for a total harvest of 150,027 board feet, measured on the Doyle Log Scale. Both volume and variety of species are critical for a successful timber sale.
| Species | Trees | Total BFV | % of Total | Avg. DBH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Blackgum |
7 |
645 |
.04 |
17.1 |
|
Black oak |
27 |
15,154 |
10.1 |
26.4 |
|
Black cherry |
1 |
135 |
.1 |
20 |
|
Chestnut oak |
141 |
58,354 |
38.9 |
24.3 |
|
Hickory |
5 |
1,217 |
.8 |
28 |
|
Hard maple |
1 |
551 |
.4 |
28 |
|
N. Red Oak |
7 |
5191 |
3.5 |
30.9 |
|
Pine |
2 |
486 |
.3 |
20 |
|
Yellow Poplar |
48 |
38,423 |
25.6 |
28.4 |
|
Red Maple |
54 |
16,058 |
10.7 |
21.6 |
|
Sassafras |
1 |
100 |
.1 |
18 |
|
Scarlet oak |
14 |
6,369 |
4.2 |
24.7 |
|
Walnut |
2 |
1,035 |
.7 |
25 |
|
White oak |
9 |
6,085 |
4.1 |
28.4 |
|
Yellow birch |
1 |
234 |
.2 |
22 |
|
TOTAL |
320 |
150,027 |
100 |
24.6 |
Getting competitive bids from timber buyers
We prepared a Notice of Standing Timber Sale and sent it (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 |
|---|---|
|
$101,001 |
$0.673 |
|
$91,289 |
$0.608 |
|
$88,002 |
$0.587 |
|
$82,525 |
$0.550 |
|
$80,300 |
$0.535 |
|
$77,208 |
$0.515 |
|
$62,374 |
$0.416 |
|
$60,450 |
$0.403 |
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 ($35,350.35) 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 ($65,650.65) 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 320 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 loggin gcompany, and not release it until we are satisfied that restoration has been done correctly.
We will also file a Forestry Pollution Prevention Plan with the Belmont 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.