Questions about Ontario

[perchhauler]

I havent been on in a while, busy, busy..... Hope everyone here had a safe winter in the woods!! Now to my questions, I just need some general info concerning logging in Ontario... I am a part time horse logger in Pa., weekends, and hit er pretty hard all winter, try to stick to timber/ saw logs in the winter, and paper wood, and fire wood in the summer... I am planning on moving to Ontario to be with my girl friend/ wife to be... I have heard that here in the states regulations/ legal issues vary from state to state.... What should I know about Ontario?? Keep in mind I'm just a little guy working by myself, I do usually hire a feller for hard wood on a cash basis, he just knocks them down and leaves, I do all the limbing, bucking, skidding, and selling to the mill.... Here I have a contract the land owner signs that covers me for liability.... We are planning on looking to buy land to build on once we decide on an area to settle in... Is there much public wilderness land north of London?? Or would we have to look more to the north east, above Toronto?? Here in Pa. the public/ hunting land is state land, out west its blm land ect., what about Ontario?? How does the public land work, and where is it?? My Sweetheart doesnt know much about it as sh was raised on a farm in western Canada, and moved to a city in Ontario for work..... Thanks for any info!!!! Steve

 

[Buzz 880]

Public land here is called crown land and to cut timber on the crown in the north you have to buy a crown license witch will set you back $30000-$1000000 but that will give you timber for the rest of your life if you can find one for sale.But south of muskoa the public timber is tendered out and you have to pay up front for the timber it seems to be hard because the mills pay so much for it on the stump that the logger can't compete.As for the private timber there is some around but same thing with it because of the mills as far as i know there is still a lot of timber in south western ontario.It's just sometimes is hard to get ahold of.Anyways good luck to you and if you do look at timber in the south make sure you check into the by-laws you don't want to cut anything your not allowed to the fines are huge nowadays

 

[IndyIan]

I think in southern ontario you'll be dealing with private landowners and relatively small woodlots, it would be pretty rare to find a 100 acres of good hardwoods in my area atleast. Search Gypo's posts, I think he's near Erin and has lots of pics of nice sticks he's cut. Mostly from farm woodlots from what I gather.
There are more people buying farms these days that don't want a skidder in their woods so you might find a niche there too.
I would go for a couple days and drive around and see what you like, S. ontario isn't really to big and you could get a good feel for it.

 

[perchhauler]

Thanks for the info.... We are going to do some riding around, and see what we both like.... By-laws?? Just concerning the public land?? Thanks, Steve

 

[Buzz 880]

Thanks for the info.... We are going to do some riding around, and see what we both like.... By-laws?? Just concerning the public land?? Thanks, Steve

There is by-laws on public land almost every where in ontario now and were the isn't it won't be long till there is but it's not a bad thing this way they will be timber for us to cut forever.Which area are you thinking of checking out?

 

[IndyIan]

There are a few by-laws for private property harvesting. Depends on the county. Most of them have a minimum diameter limit, I believe something like 8" or 10". What was happening, people would buy a woodlot and then strip it of every tree worth anything, then resell the property once it greened up a bit. Overall they are to promote a bit of common sense for landowners to follow when they are doing a harvest and prevent clear cutting.
Check out http://www.ontariowoodlot.com/ for a bit more info.

 

[Buzz 880]

Southern Ontario there are lots of by-laws dia size Basil area you have to have a RPF mark some in different areas you are not aloud to mark them your self anymore unless you are a licensed tree marker.Most areas you have to mark the bush first then file intent to harvest the the county forester will approve or not.The dia by-law in the south on most timber is 18inc at 18 inch's off the ground.You have to be careful now adays there are changing the laws all the time.

 

[perchhauler]

Thanks again for the info. I was told there is no public (crown) land in Southern Ontario?? Everyone must have to obtain permission and hunt on farm land in Southern Ontario?? Is this correct? I know this varies from area to area, but in the northern part of southern Ontario how much per acre would a person pay for farmland with a small house/barn and a few acres. We are just trying to get a rough idea of what land sells for as we have no idea.

Thanks for the info on the bylaws, we'll have to read up on those ahead of time....cause I don't think I want my fiance visiting me in jail..... It's definately different in the U.S. as you can cut any diameter on private land there. What about casualities due to felling ?

Thanks for all your help....appreciated muchly!

Horselogger & Betterhalf!!!

 

[Buzz 880]

Thanks again for the info. I was told there is no public (crown) land in Southern Ontario?? Everyone must have to obtain permission and hunt on farm land in Southern Ontario?? Is this correct? I know this varies from area to area, but in the northern part of southern Ontario how much per acre would a person pay for farmland with a small house/barn and a few acres. We are just trying to get a rough idea of what land sells for as we have no idea.

Thanks for the info on the bylaws, we'll have to read up on those ahead of time....cause I don't think I want my fiance visiting me in jail..... It's definately different in the U.S. as you can cut any diameter on private land there. What about casualities due to felling ?

Thanks for all your help....appreciated muchly!

Horselogger & Betterhalf!!!

Here were i live 2 hours north of Toronto you can cut what ever dia you want on private land in most area's.In Muskoka they have a Basel area limit on what you can take.But just south of use is where the by-laws change as for the south there is county land all over they tender out bush's to harvest and you can hunt on them if you what.As for land down there i'm not sure on the price but i know here the real estate is hot for sellers and not so hot for buyers a far.If you go on www.mls.ca it has all the real estate in Canada you should be able to find what you are looking for there good luck.

 

[IndyIan]

Eastern southern ontario can get pretty cheap (100k ish)and farther north a house and land can get really cheap depending on when the local mine is going to be done producing...
I assume you need to be in an area of higher value hardwoods to make horselogging viable? I think this limits you to well south of sudbury but guys that live north of me know better.
Ian