Logging went well for Nordine. He started buying land rather than stumpage. The land was cheap, taxes were low, and owning the land gave him more options. Most of the land he purchased had already been cut-over. The saw-logs had been taken.
Trees suitable only for pulpwood or railroad ties remained.
Land that included good saw-timber was too expensive to buy. Nordine soon found himself in need of a truck to haul his wood. In 1940 he and his first wife, Cassie, sold their car in order to buy a log truck. As the Great Depression ebbed and the wartime economy started to pick up, workers were harder to find. In order to have a crew, Nordine ran logging camps of his own.