Lost 200 trees in high winds/tornado

[Ruttin1]

Lost ~200 trees to high winds/tornado this past Monday (4/28). I was just up to the land yesterday for a look. I could tell I lost a few from my camera picks, but didn’t expect anything like this. It is a disaster area in some parts.
Most of the trees lost were mature sugar maples and hemlocks. Looks like I have my to do list figured out for a couple years.
I swear that storm hand picked my property to f%&k with. Didn’t look like the neighboring properties were tooo bad from the road.

 

[TonySoprano]

Sorry to hear that, My land was hit by a tornado 3-4 years ago and it was a mess...but nowhere near 200 trees.

I just left the trees where they fell in the woods, and only cut the ones across my trail. Had to hire somebody to remove the large trees , roots and all that blew over in the yard.

 

[Bill]

Sorry to hear it. I know it looks bad. But it might make some nice habitat getting some sun to the floor.

 

[Ruttin1]

I’m trying to look on the bright side and I know there is one. That first look is tough though.
There is only so much I can do. I have 8 of them down across logging roads and two in the neighbors field I will have to deal with. Maybe a few others to try and move deer one way or another.
Other than that, it becomes browse and bedding I guess.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Sorry to hear of your trees - but you're already looking at the positives, browse & bedding. Maybe sell some for firewood, or the bigger stuff for lumber? Sunlight on the ground = new growth. Good luck with it.

 

[bwoods11]

I had a bunch of trees snap off in Iowa in a bad ice storm !!

Sucks

 

[SD51555]

What are your constraints to cleaning them up? Time, money, or what to do with all of it? All of the above?


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[matinc]

Sorry about the devastation. Here are a couple of pics of a 100 foot white pine destroyed by a lightning shot

 

[jsasker007]

That's a shame man. Hope you can come up with a way to turn it to your advantage if possible. A mulcher could make piles and piles of mulch if that is something you could use? I would try to push it into some really big piles if possible. Please let us know what you end up doing with this new "project".

 

[SD51555]

It’s a shame all that blow down happened, but it did. New opportunities now, and new things are gonna be discovered. 200 is a lot of trees, but with the right equipment, that can get cleaned up quickly.

So what to do with all that stuff?

1. Fill and pack washed out gullies with logs and tops.

2. Pile up softwoods to rot and become mulch later, mulch that didn’t require mechanical shredding.

3. Use logs to make a corduroy road thru a low spot.

4. Bury debris under a low spot to raise up the soil level.

5. Make strategic brush piles for small game habitat.

5a. Use the logs to build raised bed gardens.

6. Burn it.

7. Give it away. Free to whoever comes to get it.

8. Knock it down with a saw and leave it lay.


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[Howboutthemdawgs]

Clear your roads and let nature take care of the rest. I go through that about once a year. Found these in an area of tornado blowdowns

 

[Baker]

I feel your pain and know what you are going thru. Hurricane Laura blew down from 30-50% of the trees across my farm. After decades of careful timber mgt. it was heartbreaking. For the first couple yrs. it was a briar jungle very ugly and as briars got higher pretty much worthless habitat. Now 4 years later what I see is the remaining trees are crowning out nicely and the woods are beginning to open up. Some of the property is starting to look as good as before the storm. I did go into the worst areas with a forest muncher and made a savannah out of it. Today I think it is outstanding habitat. This is the Deep South with relatively high growth rate.

Still hurts though!

 

[matinc]

We had a tornado go through just south of where I love. Trees were devastated. That was last May it's impossible to walk through it but one year later the new growth is starting up with the sun light and its a jungle. Every time I drive by you see the canopy change. I will shoot pictures next time and post it