How many acres of timber would it take?

[knuckledragger]

This may be a hard question to answer, but if you can, just ballpark it. If you own land, how many acres of timber would it take to have enough to build your own log home (35x35 let say)? 1-3 acres? 3-5 acres?

I have 20 acres but not all of it is good timber. I am just curious.

[sparky]

Honestly I think you have answered your own question. In my experience I have been on a two acre lot in northern Montana and counted over 80 picture perfect Lodge-pole pine just begging to be made into a beautiful log home. (at least that what my ears heard them saying :lol:) I have also walked a ten acre lot in Oregon where I had trouble finding a dozen nice straight and tall Ponderosa pine worthy of building with. Both species of tree worthy of building with, but the number of acres had no bearing on the outcome. You may find a two acre site with all the trees you need, on the other hand you can buy 10 acres and need to find your logs elsewhere, it just depends on the plot of land.

Sparky





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[rreidnauer]

Interesting question which I've pondered myself.

I figure I'm looking at 150 logs for my home. (log walls, rafters, gables, 2nd flr joists) and wondered just how much land I'd need to extract that quantity. Depending on species and conditions, probably only 20~40% would meet size/quality requirements. So, averaging 30 feet between trees, and acre might hold 50 trees, and 20~40% is 10~20 usable trees. So I'm looking at 10 acres to be in the middle of that band.

I'd be much more comfortable with 15 to 20 though. (so I'd have plenty of room for my free and nenewable heating fuel source :wink: )

[Basil]

I can only answer to this as it relates to south central kentucky and north central tennessee. I've never really seen a lot of high quality white pines around here, so what I'm telling you will have no bearing on ANY softwood variety. While looking for poplar, I covered probably 200 acres, in three tracts separated by a mile or more. I found 80 usable trees, some of them only good for shorter lengths (20-30 feet). Many trees in this area won't grow tall, straight, and with little taper unless they are in a hollow-also called a draw. This draw must be north or eastern facing to force the trees to grow with this habit. Some will grow the way you want even without the draw, but to find a "grove" of these type of poplars this is what you need.

I don't think there can ever be a general answer to your question. Last logging date, soil quality, slope of the land and direction of slope, genetics, weather, environmental factors, Whether cattle have access to the trees, local diseases... the list of things to consider is huge. The only way you will know is when you see the land. If you ever get up this way I'll show you some things to look for when cruising timber.

[adubar]

In some locals, the acreage that has the good timber can't be built upon, so watch out for a "catch 22"

Around where I live, just about every acre is filled with usable trees. However, the powers that be would let me buy the land and log it, but would prevent me from building on it.

I think the trick is to know what species you are dealing with, the sizes you want and then research the land use laws before buying.

As the other posters have stated, it is pretty relative. Some people sometimes do buy a bonanza and others may have to supplement what their property cannot provide. It would not hurt to plan for both avenues.

With research and effort you most certainly can find advantageous property.

-A

[rocklock]

I saw a discussion that stated something like " in the past old growth would have 35 to 40 mature trees per acre, but tree farms will harvest 400 per acre...".
So, In my experience, I cleared a space that was about 120 by 75... I got 23 house logs of which I can really use only about 12... Several Doug Fir made two house logs... I could use all 23 if they were the only ones that I had... but I bought more...
I really think the land will tell you more about your house than anything else... Get some that you really like and then listen...
Dave