65 yards and 600 cedar logs

[Maddog66]

Last year on our property in Northern WI we had some small scale cedar logging done and I’m left with about six hundred 8’ un-peeled, air dried poles ranging in diameter from maybe 3” to about 12”. Many in the 5-9” range. All stacked in neat piles.

On the other side of my property there is a 65yard long moss bog that has and old stick-built “boardwalk” traversing from the solid ground on both sides of the wet spot. It’s the only trail linking 2 large sections of my property. That boardwalk is now garbage and I want to replace it this coming summer somehow, hopefully using all the cedar logs i mentioned above.

My goal is to have a good enough crossing to get across with a ATV / UTV / Snowmobile year around. In the summer, I need to pull an atv rough cut mower across it to mow the trail system on the other side.

Time horizon is 20 years that I need it to last. I should get that easy with cedar, right?

I’ve done some research online for build ideas without much luck at all. A local guy I know told me about a method involving steel anchors on either side with a certain kind of rope essentially “weaving” the logs together to span the gap. I think I have enough logs to lay them crosswise across the entire 65 yards giving me an 8’ wide deck…..but I’m absolutely open to other ideas.

Can anyone offer advice or resources I could look into myself?

 

[BuckSutherland]

What about some chain-link fence underneath or on top of the cedar logs?? I know a bunch of the roads up by me they buried logs in the road and then covered them with gravel where they went through the bog. Sometimes in the spring there are piece of tree branches that heave through the road. They get pushed out by the frost. I would think about gravel or the chain link in addition to the logs.

 

[Maddog66]

No need to get into regulations, but using any type fill can’t happen. It needs to do minimal damage to the underlying wetland and be as “natural” as possible. No culverts.

That’s why my mind keeps going to a “floating” log concept on top of the deep moss.

 

[SwampCat]

I doubt they will last 20 years - the heart might - not the sapwood

 

[BuckSutherland]

Can you throw the logs down and then staple the chainlink fence to the logs??

 

[rocksnstumps]

Google using corduroy road. Even some youtube videos but they like to put dirt or gravel on top if possible.

Without that can you think it would be ok to use geotextile underneath. That was a suggestion for really boggy areas.

I had a pdf of a forestry service series on road and trail building, I'll see if I can dig it up and find anything useful

 

[SwampCat]

Be careful with wire on top. Probably be alright without much use. I put some wire over the top if some 4” rock and after a couple years, wire had rusted in a few spots and broke and started puncturing tires

 

[Maddog66]

Thanks all. I’m pretty sure I could use something like hurricane fence under the logs. I do like that idea for helping them float on the moss better.

Anybody know anything about using 2 pieces of rope on each edge of the “road” decking being used to weave the logs together without drilling holes…..to create a makeshift forestry mat? Is it polypropylene rope that handles moisture best?

I might be able to get away with some hardware to “connect” the logs side by side without rope…..but don’t know what that hardware would be other than lags.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Dont know about weaving the rope but yep most rope for marine use is polyprop. Edit: mooring lines and such for boats tend to be nylon, better sun and uv resistance.

My thought would be to go with 1/8 SS cable and use fence staples on each post edge. Might be able to rent a cordless staple gun or just a lot hammering.

 

[Dogshooter]

I would bet those logs are going to settle into the soft ground and you won’t need to attach them at all.

Wouldn’t be the worst idea to get a dump trailer and spread a little fill on top to tie it all together.

 

[Dogshooter]

I am doing something similar with slab wood. I laid the mat of slabwood this winter (8 feet wide). My plan is to walk a mini excavator on the mat of slabs and cover them with fill from the sides of the road. I will do this in the summer when it’s dry out. This will create a ditch on each side (where I pull the fill from) and the road will be built up. The ground is heavy clay and when the clay dries out it makes a great road. This will just be for my light tractor and 4 wheeler access.

I laid the slabwood down because it’s too soft to drive a mini excavator on with out it.

 

[Tree Spud]

I would bet those logs are going to settle into the soft ground and you won’t need to attach them at all.

Wouldn’t be the worst idea to get a dump trailer and spread a little fill on top to tie it all together.

Wetland areas are very controlled and monitored by the state. With satellite monitoring they will find out if you have built some thing on the wetland. Putting non-approved materials in can create a nightmare. In Wisconsin, any soil you pull out of a wetland has to be relocated to non-wetland classified ground. I am having a drainage dike cleaned out and you can no longer mound removed soil on one side of the dike. Has to be moved to non-wetland classified soil.

 

[Maddog66]

That’s a fact Tree Spud! No secrets anymore for sure.

But I did talk to the Local DNR and since it’s already been there for a long time and as long as I don’t compact, fill, or drain anything, and use as many natural materials as possible…….I’ll be ok to build a “boardwalk”. As long as I don’t call it a “bridge”,

They also actually said using natural materials from the property itself is a plus.

I’m going to figure it out and am now wondering if I really need to connect them at all. Maybe they’ll just lay on top loose like the rough cut lumber above?

I might just start laying them out over this winter and see what happens come spring.

 

[Jerry-B-WI]

When I bought my property the previous owner had built a "boardwalk" across a swamp. They laid three rows of an unknown species of trees across the swamp and nailed treated 2x6's across the logs to create the deck. I've had to rebuild the whole thing and I've used cedar as the base logs. I rebuilt it in sections as it was needed, the first section was done in about 1995-guestimate-and should be redone again. The 2x6's hold up pretty good but will get some what slippery over time.

The deck is 6 feet wide, buy 12 footers and cut them in half, and I drive my atv across it regularly. When I used to burn wood in my old cabin I would also transport the wood across the "boardwalk', either on a trailer or drag it across in full length with a log puller. Some of the cedar logs are submerged for part of the year until it dries up in the summer.

I would think that if your deck isn't fastened down it would be hard to walk across. I have the 2x6's spaced so that you can walk across the deck and not have to look down at where your feet are.

I'd get a picture and send it but it's under about 1 1/2 feet of snow right now.

 

[Fair oak]

Thought I would post this just to show what can be done if someone needs to fix or cross a mud hole or swampy area. This area got tore up pretty bad during spring breakup while I was getting equipment, lime, etc back to remote food plots. It’s approximately 300’ long and 8’ wide. I used 6-10” logs and made a borrow pit at 1 end to get my fill for over the top of the logs. I did put a couple inches of better sand/gravel fill over the top of the clay to cut down on mud and ruts. No clue how long it will last but I could drive a tank across it now that the clay has set-up. Always a good idea to check out rules and regs before proceeding with a project like this though.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

I live in a spruce swamp and have been making these corduroy roads for 20 years out of spuce and fir. In my experience, as Dogshooter commented, the logs do settle into the ground and there is very little need, if any, to secure them. After several years of use, the valleys of the parallel logs tend to fill in with debris, dirt, leaves and the corduroy looks begins to look more smooth. They are more than adequate for ATVs, UTV's and snowmobiles. My oldest sections are going on 20 years and the logs are certainly getting a little punky and soft.

 

[buckdeer1]

At least in Kansas there is a difference between a wetland and wetland,A wetland certified by the state is different then a wet area.Everyone wants to be careful and not get a wetland certified unless they want for long term

 

[buckdeer1]

It won't do any good to put fence on top.I would put underneath or use the driveway fabric

 

[b116757]

Buddy of mine builds and leases log flotation mats to pipeline and utility companies to cross wet ground mostly down in Louisiana. He lost thousands of them in that last hurricane they floated out to sea. Anyway he has a sawmill and squares up the logs at about 8” square idk for sure never measured one then he drills them about every 4’ and sort of bolts them together I’ve not looked really closely at how he does it but I’d run rebar through the mat and weld a nut and washer on each end his are I think 4’ wide 16’ long but you get the idea just scale it down a bit to your logs.

 

[b116757]

Here is a photo of a stack of them these are not my buddies but pretty much exactly what he builds.