Get Bids On Your Timber
One unsolicited offer is not a market. Put your tract in front of licensed and insured contractors, collect sealed bids, and decide with real numbers in front of you.
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The Bid Board
Open sealed-bid requests from landowners and crews across the country - timber tracts and equipment financing. Bids stay sealed until each deadline passes.
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Request Your Bids
Tell us about the tract. Your request posts to the sealed-bid board where member contractors working your county can bid on it.
AXE USA is not a party to your timber sale. We do not set prices, do not bid, do not represent buyers, and take no commission on what you sell. Contractors pay a membership to bid. Your side of it is free, and the decision is entirely yours.
You Have Three Ways To Sell
There is no single right answer. It depends on your tract, your experience, and how much of the process you want to run yourself. Here is the honest comparison.
Go Direct
You post the tract yourself and collect sealed bids straight from licensed and insured contractors. No middleman, no commission.
- Cost
- Free to you
- Your effort
- You run the sale
- Best for
- Straightforward tracts, clear boundaries, and landowners who have sold timber before.
Hire a Consulting Forester
A consulting forester works for you, not the mill. They inventory the timber, mark the sale, write the contract, run the bid, and supervise the harvest through cleanup.
- Cost
- Commonly 6-12% of the sale, or a flat/hourly fee
- Your effort
- They run the sale
- Best for
- First-time sellers, high-value or mixed hardwood tracts, absentee owners, and estates.
Appraise First, Then Decide
Start with a timber cruise so you know your volume by species and grade. Then choose whether to run the sale yourself or hand it to a consultant.
- Cost
- Flat fee for the cruise
- Your effort
- Low, then you decide
- Best for
- Anyone who has received an unsolicited offer and wants to know what the timber is actually worth first.
One distinction worth knowing
A consulting forester is hired by you and owes their duty to you. A procurement forester works for a mill or a logging company and is paid to buy timber well on their employer's behalf. Both can be entirely honest professionals. Only one of them is on your side of the table. Ask which one you are speaking with before you discuss price.
How Sealed Bidding Works
Sealed bids are the standard in timber sales for a reason. When nobody can see the competing number, each contractor has to bid what the timber is actually worth to them.
Describe Your Tract
County, acreage, timber type, and the service you need. Takes about two minutes. Free, with no obligation to sell.
Bidding Contractors Are Notified
Your request goes out to licensed and insured contractors working in your county. Only members whose paperwork is current can participate.
Bids Stay Sealed
Each contractor submits price, timeline, crew, and credentials without seeing anyone else. Sealed bidding stops token undercutting and puts real competition on your timber.
You Compare And Award
At the deadline the bids open side by side. You award the job, or award nothing. AXE USA takes no commission either way.
What To Ask Every Bidder For
AXE USA does not verify, vet, or approve contractors - bidders state their own credentials. Hiring is your call, so here is the paperwork to collect before you sign.
Active Business License
Ask for current registration in every state where the contractor works.
General Liability Insurance
Ask for a certificate of insurance naming you, and read the coverage limits.
Workers' Compensation
Ask for proof of coverage for every crew member who will be on your land.
Logger Certification
Ask whether they hold State Professional Logging Manager, Master Logger, or equivalent trained status.
BMP Training
Ask for documented Best Management Practices training for water quality and streamside buffers.
Recent References
Ask for landowner references from harvests completed in the last two years, then call them.
Nobody checks this but you. Anything a contractor claims on this site is their own statement - AXE USA does not confirm it, and coverage can lapse at any time. Before you sign anything, request a current certificate of insurance naming you, and confirm workers' compensation covers every person who will be on your land.
Contracts And Price Guidance
A timber sale is a real estate transaction with a chainsaw attached. Never work on a handshake, and never sign a contract you have not had reviewed.
What A Timber Contract Must Cover
- Parties named, plus a legal description and mapped sale boundary
- Exactly what is sold: species, diameter limits, marked trees or area
- Price and payment terms: lump sum or pay-as-cut, deposit, payment schedule
- Contract term, expiration date, and what an extension costs
- Performance and damage deposit held until closeout
- Insurance, workers’ compensation, and indemnification language
- Access routes, log decks, road maintenance, and gate rules
- Best Management Practices and streamside buffer requirements
- Liability for damage to residual trees, fences, crops, and roads
- Cleanup: trash removal, rut repair, seeding of decks and skid trails
- Limits on assigning or subcontracting the job
- Dispute resolution and governing state law
- Records you will need for timber tax basis and 1099 reporting
This is a checklist, not legal advice. Contract law and timber regulations vary by state. Have an attorney or a consulting forester licensed in your state review the agreement before you sign it.
Professional Guidance
Check Price Ranges
Stumpage prices move by species, grade, region, and quarter. Anyone quoting you a single national number is guessing. These are the sources the industry actually uses.
Are You The One Bidding?
Loggers, timber buyers, and forestry contractors bid through an AXE USA membership. File your license, insurance, and certifications once, then bid on tracts in every county you work.
Get A Bidding Membership