Hinge cut height for bedding?

[Big Snow Man]

I have mostly oak and a few cherry and they both work great.

 

[bwoods11]

If you have any boxelder on your farm, they are great to hinge, and they are a worthless tree anyway, but be careful they split weird sometimes.

 

[scott44]

I've recently asked a similar question and Bill and MOBuckChaser seem to be very knowledgeable in this area. If you look at some of the videos they've done on other threads you can actually see a sampling of their hinge cuts in some of them. I'm planning on trusting their advice and will be hinging from 4 feet to my chest height in my first experimented area this winter.

I'm handy with tools of all sorts but honestly am not too experienced with a chainsaw beyond cuttting firewood. I too will be hinging lots of 4" plus or minus trees. For most of those I plan on using a silky zubat handsaw rather than a chain saw. I still have to be careful of the trees but removing a chainsaw from the equation unless necessary and without skilled assistance is probably a good decision. If a certain tree or situation is even a little sketchy I plan on leaving that one alone. I think those of us new to hinge cutting need to proceed cautiously until we've experienced just how a tree, and the trees around it, will act when it's hinged and starts to fall. Take that for what it's worth from a newbie!

I use a combo of chain saw and silky while hinging, silky works great on smaller trees.

 

[Tap]

I think hinge cutting height is not as important as what trees you are hinge cutting. Maybe guys should be talking about which trees give them the best/worst results. You can cut all you want for not if the tree you picked has a zero survival rate........just sayin!

I hear you, but I would also add than with a high cut, if it lays upon another cut, and keeps 50% or so of the tree above browse reach, helps the tree from being browsed to death. Lower cuts put 100% of the tree (and any high sprouts near the cut) all within browsing reach. Deer will often eat it to death.
A higher cut will put 50% of the tree within browsing reach to provide some food, but it also keeps a lot of the new growth out of a deer's reach.
I get better survival with higher cuts. On low cuts, the deer eat it to death in a couple years.

 

[Tap]

As for what time of the year is good...whenever you have time. But when is better??...deep freeze tends to have more trees snap because they are brittle and frozen.
I'm becoming a big believer in late summer hinging on the tree species that deer eat.
It's usually the time of year that is a 'tweener". It's between the time when summer/perennial plots are becoming less lush and before mast and when fall plots start getting desirable.
If I hinge cherry during that time, the deer pound the leaves. And some trees like Tree of Heaven, don't hinge, but cutting them in early September puts favorite food within their reach. Waiting until winter to cut provides some browse but all that leaf tonnage was missed out on. Cutting in September (in my zone Mo:)) provides not only twig browse for later, but also leaf tonnage immediately during the time plots are less desirable.
IMO, late summer is the best time to hinge.

 

[MoBuckChaser]

As for what time of the year is good...whenever you have time. But when is better??...deep freeze tends to have more trees snap because they are brittle and frozen.
I'm becoming a big believer in late summer hinging on the tree species that deer eat.
It's usually the time of year that is a 'tweener". It's between the time when summer/perennial plots are becoming less lush and before mast and when fall plots start getting desirable.
If I hinge cherry during that time, the deer pound the leaves. And some trees like Tree of Heaven, don't hinge, but cutting them in early September puts favorite food within their reach. Waiting until winter to cut provides some browse but all that leaf tonnage was missed out on. Cutting in September (in my zone Mo:)) provides not only twig browse for later, but also leaf tonnage immediately during the time plots are less desirable.
IMO, late summer is the best time to hinge.

I hunt sept, never would even consider going near the woods with a chainsaw until the middle of Jan.

 

[Tap]

I hunt sept, never would even consider going near the woods with a chainsaw until the middle of Jan.

I don't start hunting until around Halloween when the bucks start moving during daylight more consistently, but (I'll call early September off sesson) habitat work doesn't seem to bother my deer much. In fact, it's almost like baiting...cut trees in late summer and they will come. But I wouldn't be spending valuable rut hunting time doing hinge cutting, though. Either do it in late Aug/early Sept, or my 2nd choice is during a warm spell in mid/late winter. 3rd choice is whenever I have time or convenience.

SW Pa

 

[MoBuckChaser]

Sept and soybeans, deadly combo before those bucks figure it out. I have so much hinged every year in jan and feb, they will never run out of browse!

 

[Tap]

Sept and soybeans, deadly combo before those bucks figure it out. I have so much hinged every year in jan and feb, they will never run out of browse!

No crops here. Just my small acreage plots, scattered hayfield and natural foods. But even when my plots are prime, deer really key in on fresh sources of native foods.
That's the thing to remember in ANY of these threads...different areas/zones = different behaviors and preferences.

SW Pa

 

[MoBuckChaser]

No crops here. Just my small acreage plots, scattered hayfield and natural foods. But even when my plots are prime, deer really key in on fresh sources of native foods.
That's the thing to remember in ANY of these threads...different areas/zones = different behaviors and preferences.

SW Pa

Yep different zones is why I am hunting sept, and you are logging......

 

[stevenk03]

Anyone ever hinge cut sassafras, and if so how well do they hold up?

 

[chickenlittle]

I've not tried much sassafras. I think I found it to be a snapper. Different times of the year might be more successful. Deer really like the stump sprouts.

 

[Tap]

Anyone ever hinge cut sassafras, and if so how well do they hold up?

They don't hinge well because they are so brittle. We did cut a bunch last winter just to put the highly desirable browse on the ground so we just (very cautiously) cut them as if we wanted them to hinge. A few hinged, but most broke-off. Be very careful when dropping brittle specie trees if you aren't cutting with "proper" methods of a face cut (the wedge) and a back cut to form a felling hinge. Sassafras (ash, too) is very brittle and can barber chair and do all kinds of crazy stuff when it's falling. Trying to hinge large, brittle trees is very dangerous.
The last time I checked (a few years ago) Sassafras had medium to low timber value so we don't worry about just dropping mature trees to allow sun penetration and create cover. Our deer absolutely hammer the tops. I don't think we have a species that they like more during winter. It's also low in BTU so it isn't much good for firewood. But the lumber is really pretty...I don't know why it doesn't command a higher value.
And as chicken little said, they stump sprout well and they also sucker. Cut down a patch of mature sassafras and within a few years, you should have a sassafras thicket from suckering.

 

[j-bird]

Anyone ever hinge cut sassafras, and if so how well do they hold up?

I tried to hinge some once and they just tend to snap off. Hinging in the summer time may help matters, but those I have cut in the winter tend to snap or the top does not survive. When I cut it now I just cut it off build a small brush pile and let it stump sprout. The additional light will get other plants growing in the area as well.

 

[stevenk03]

Thanks everyone for the advice, I have never done any hinge cutting and was hoping they did well to create bedding and browsing , the patch of sassafras trees is about a acre and a half and the majority of my other trees are all oaks which I hate to cut .with the execption of a small strip of old white pines. Most of the deer all bed on the neighbors property and just cruise through my property.

 

[Tap]

Cut some of those Sassafras. But don't try to hinge them. Just put them on the ground. The tops will provide 3 things...instant food, bedding among the tops, and sunlight for mother nature to thicken it up.

SW Pa

 

[westonwhitetail]

I have some clusters of large basswood trees that seem to only shade things up. Would these be an option to hinge?

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[westonwhitetail]

I have some clusters of large basswood trees that seem to only shade things up. Would these be an option to hinge?

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They are anywhere from 6" round to 18"

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[NE PA QDM]

I know nobody wants to cut them down. But a 4 inch white oak cut and pulled will survive for a while. If they don't their children will overwelm you.

I know its just me. I can't throw a stone without hitting a white oak. Their my favorite tree until October when i want the deer in my plots.

I've had good luck with all hickory. Again small diameter. Pull them over and the deer just crush next years buds.

Glad I'm not the only one who will hinge a white oak!!! I do it very selectively; to "cull" a smaller white oak that is immediately north of a better or bigger oak, or if the top of the tree has been killed (lots of gypsy moth damage in NE PA).

I hinge a ton of hickory and have to say that they are my favorite for hinges but a very close second is a white oak. Red oak snap off and are dangerous. White oak and hickory (not as true with shag bark) hinge slowly and predictably and safely and stay alive for years with an amazing amount of growth from the fallen tree and the stumps.

 

[NE PA QDM]

They are anywhere from 6" round to 18"

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I would NOT try to hinge any basswood or sassafrass, no matter the DBH, but especially not any tree bigger than 6". We have a few of each species and they stump sprout like nothing else. Just cut them down during the winter and they will grow from the stump just fine. I have tried stubbornly to hinge sassafras. It is surely a fool's errand. There is NO benefit to hinging them over just cutting them off clean.