How to Sell Timber: A Guide to Starting Your Own Timber Business

Are you a professional forester or someone looking to make some part-time income? Either way there's good money in timber sales

Timber buyers are constantly looking for places to buy logs, slabs and dimensional lumber.

Who else will meet the demand if not you? As a private landowner, sawyer or part-time timber salesmen you're in the perfect position to make money from your timber. 

A successful timber sale can be tricky to navigate. If successful, both the buyer and seller will be happy, and you'll be profiting from your timber.

How do I get started selling timber?

There are plenty of people who do small-scale timber production, whether they do it as mobile milling services using their Woodland Mills portable sawmill or as slab-producing manufacturers, cutting timbers for woodworkers in their area.

Selling your timber is a matter requiring careful preparation, including coming up with a business plan, researching timber prices and doing marketing and networking to connect with interested buyers.

In this guide we'll go over some quick steps you can take and questions you can ask to figure out how to sell timber.

What is a forest management plan?

Forest planning and preparation are essential steps for any private landowner looking to achieve a successful timber sales and general woodlot management. Before any trees are harvested, it’s important to work with a professional forester to develop a comprehensive forest management plan.

Such a plan will help you determine the best method for selling timber, whether that’s through a sealed bid process or a negotiated sale, based on the unique characteristics of your land and timber.

Careful preparation ensures that your timber sale not only maximizes value but also protects the long-term health of your forest. For example, yard trees may require special attention due to their location near homes or infrastructure, and their value can differ from trees in a larger woodlot.

A professional forester can help you assess which trees to harvest, plan skid trails to minimize soil disturbance, and implement practices that protect water quality throughout the harvest operations.

What is a good forestry business model?

What are you planning on selling? Does your business pitch involve selling:

• • Whole logs

  • Slabs

  • Dimensional lumber

  • Custom-sawn wood

Perhaps you are a forest landowner and are looking to clear an area and make a profit from your trees? Or maybe you’ve come into possession of a large log pile and want to do something with it to recoup your investment? Or maybe you just have some troublesome yard trees and are looking at a way to make some money off them? Managing your lands responsibly is crucial to maintain long-term productivity and protect environmental health.

Regardless you’ll need to think about the scale of your operation and what you plan on doing with your timber. Are you planning on selling one tree or dozens of trees worth of lumber?

The smaller your operation the easier this process becomes. A part-time sawyer making a bit of side cash doesn’t have to worry as much about business planning, but if you’re going all-in on timber production then you’ll want to make a business plan. Start taking notes, coming up with plans and taking into account the cost of equipment, labor, and transportation, as well as projections and potential profits.

What equipment do I need to sell timber?

If you plan on selling timber, you’ll need equipment to fell, transport and process trees. We recommend having:

• • A chainsaw to cut down trees

  • Equipment or machinery to transport logs (like a tractor or ATV equipped with a Multilander Trailer)

  • A portable sawmill (potentially a larger model like the Woodland Mills HM130MAX or HM136MAX)

  • A blade sharpener (one for your chainsaw like the RCS80PRO and one for your bandsaw mill like the RS30PRO)

  • A planer to smooth lumber

  • A kiln to dry lumber

The methods you use for harvesting and selling timber such as lump sum sales, sale by scale, negotiation, or sealed bids may influence your equipment choices.

You may already own some of these pieces of equipment but it’s worth making sure you have everything you need before you start.

If you’re on a budget there are smaller sawmill models available like the HM122 portable sawmill. A solar kiln or air drying can be set up much faster than a dehumification kiln.

There are many resources available, such as guides and professional services, to help you select the best equipment and methods for your timber operation.

I have my timber but now how do I sell it?

Selling timber requires careful preparation, but with the right approach, private landowners can achieve a successful timber sale and maximize their returns.

By following these steps: determining value, selecting the right sale method, reaching out to prospective buyers, and securing a solid contract, you can sell timber with confidence, knowing that your interests and your forest are well protected.

Let's go over the basic steps required to get your logs onto customers' trucks.

Step 1: Make Connections with Buyers

You want to introduce yourself to prospective buyers and let them know you have product. Take out posts on Facebook Marketplace, ads in your local newspaper or put up flyers in places where people might see.

Get to know your local woodworkers. Go to crafts fairs, either as a vendor or a patron, and introduce yourself. Let people know what you have and carry business cards with you. It helps if you have a website or social media you can share with a QR code then people can easily find you to follow up.

Once your customers start to know what forest products you have, engage with them and listen to their needs. If you have a sawmill and you're finding customers want slabs, not whole logs, then offer to make them custom slabs for whatever projects they plan on making.

Step 2: Set a Price

When it comes to market prices for wood they will depend heavily on your area. Look up board-foot calculators online and adjust the prices based on your local demand. Some species are desirable and expensive like black walnut while others are common and not well sought after, like pine.

When you have a ballpark of what you want engage with your customers. Come up with a fair price that's good for them that also recoups your investment and generates a healthy profit.

As a small scale, independent timber seller you probably don't need a written timber sale contract. Just keep track of what you sell, the quantity and how much it sold for. This will help for record keeping, keeping receipts and may be useful when filing your income taxes for the year.

If you're doing this more commercially then you may want something in writing, such as a contract or invoice. This helps cover you if customers complain about not getting what they paid for, giving you a paper trail that proves you're in the right, or lets you know if you made a mistake and gives you a chance to correct it.

Step 3: Maintain the Grind

Once you start building a customer base you'll want to keep it up. If customers know you're a reliable person to buy timber from then they'll consistently keep coming back to you.

If you take long breaks from selling, don't respond to emails or messages or don't keep up with selling your timber then customers will go elsewhere.

You'll also want to ensure you can continue to create enough lumber to sell to your customers. If you own a woodlot or private forest then do some harvest planning to ensure you're not over-harvesting. If you get timber from elsewhere then make sure your costs are low and you're making a healthy profit from your sales.

If you start to notice a lull in business then consider changing your approach. Maybe you should lower prices or talk to your customers and see if you can offer something else they need. Don't be afraid to pivot your business plan to meet the actual needs of your local customers versus your initial perceived needs.

In short, timber selling can be a great way to make money

Lots of sawyers and landowners sell timber and make a ton of money doing it. Sometimes logs or slabs can sell for such high quantities that there are competitive bids between buyers for high-value items. Species like black walnut can sell for thousands of dollars, even standing live trees.

To sum up our tips, for prospective timber sellers we suggest:

• • Coming up with a business plan

  • Getting the right tools for processing timber

  • Network and market yourself

  • Build relationships with local buyers

  • Keep up the hard work and don't be afraid to pivot if things aren't working