by Jon
(Portland, MI)
I had some of my beech trees harvested. I have all of the tops remaining. I am interested in selling the tops. I was wondering about how much they would be worth and or about how many cords of wood generally comes from a top?
Answer
Jon,
I wouldn't expect the tops of the beech trees to be worth much. The reason that the tops of the trees were left there to begin with is because that don't have much worth. The trunk of the tree is where the value is for both saw logs and firewood.
Of course this depends of how large the diameter of the wood is that is left. Do the tops have some large branches (6+ inches in diameter)? If so, you could cut up what is there for firewood and sell it that way.
The amount of firewood that can be found in the top of a tree is entirely based upon the size of the tree. Most smaller trees are basically just little limbs in the top (crown) of the tree. Really large trees could have a few cords of wood just in the branches. So it really depends.
Other than trying to sell the firewood, you could also chip the tops and sell the biomass. This would only work if you have a lot of tree tops. In this case, after you pay someone to chip up the trees, you still aren't going to make much money. Wood chips can be sold to biomass plants and mulch yards but unless you have a lot of chips, don't expect to make any money.
I hope this helps!
-Firewood Matt