We are getting thinned this year. Good news, bad news. Property will be more open, can see further, more food for deer in the woods, and more open ground for food plots from new loading decks. Bad news is the loading decks will not be ideal planting ground at this time. The logger says he will leave the loading decks pretty clean; expect small limbs and pine needles to be in abundance but large pieces of wood off to the side. Stumps cut off close to the ground but not pulled out. We will see what we will get. Harvest is supposed to be August 15-Sept 15. Assuming ;) he gives us what he says, how is the best way to deal with these areas until the stumps rot enough to disk, lime, fertilize and plant? Thanks "D"
First year loading decks?
- Thread starter D Hunter
- Start date
Nova
5 year old buck +
We had a timber harvest last winter and I am going up in August to disc what I can between the stumps on the logging road/drag trails then plant rye and clover. I have done this before when we had it thinned/logged about 7 years ago and it worked really well. I have already been up once this summer and hit the areas I am going to plant with gly(round up) to kill everything growing in them. In 4-5 years when the clover has run it's course the stumps are somewhat rotten.
Boll Weevil
5 year old buck +
One more thought for you...not sure what type soil you have but in many cases loading decks will be severely compacted and may require ripping or subsoiling after the skidders/trucks move out. If your dozerman has ripper shanks or a root rake might ask if he'll hit each spot as you'll not only bring more roots/trash to the surface for cleanup, but also improve filtration and aeration.
