Poplar Regrowth

[MNAaron]

Has anyone used a mulcher to perform tsi on poplar? We have been flush cutting them but wow it is slow process. Wondering if we used a mulcher to knock back one acre at a time if that would work and save us weeks of work. The mulcher does not have a nice clean cut does that matter?


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[Howboutthemdawgs]

Has anyone used a mulcher to perform tsi on poplar? We have been flush cutting them but wow it is slow process. Wondering if we used a mulcher to knock back one acre at a time if that would work and save us weeks of work. The mulcher does not have a nice clean cut does that matter?


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I had a mulcher years back do some work. I sold the farm a year and a half later so I don’t know what the future held but I think if an area gets too bad it’s about the only route. You just have to expect it to regrow but at that point you can spray it out. Unfortunately when you spray the regrowth you will get a lot of collateral damage so it may take some time before you can get a nice stand of early succession. Still most likely better than a chocked out stand of poplar

 

[SD51555]

Has anyone used a mulcher to perform tsi on poplar? We have been flush cutting them but wow it is slow process. Wondering if we used a mulcher to knock back one acre at a time if that would work and save us weeks of work. The mulcher does not have a nice clean cut does that matter?


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Foggy had one come do some work about 4 years ago. Maybe he can chime in and share how it came back.

You must be trying to knock back medium regrowth? Cutting shitloads of 2” stem brush is a pain in the ass.

I start my big pre-winter cut work tomorrow morning.


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[MNAaron]

We have pockets in our woods that are 2-15 acres in size and the trees are 4-9 inches in diameter and we want to knock them down to create high stem counts. Just can’t chain saw for weeks are a time.


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[matinc]

Those popple are about 6 years old. Sorry don't have better pics.

 

[MNAaron]

Those popple are about 6 years old. Sorry don't have better pics.

So they came up after you mulched the older poplars?


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[Dogshooter]

9” is going to be too big for a mulcher.

Mulchers will shine in 1-5” material. Any bigger than that and it will struggle.

Regrowth would be fine. Popple sprouts back from the existing roots and it doesn’t matter what the stump looks like. I mulched about 3 acres of tag alders on my property about 3 years ago and it sprouted back wonderfully.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

If you hire somebody with an industrial forestry mulcher I think you'll be fine up to 9", especially since it's softwood poplar.

 

[weekender21]

What’s a reasonable price for a forestry mulcher? I was quoted $3k for a ten hour day for a skid steer sized mulcher.


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[MNAaron]

What’s a reasonable price for a forestry mulcher? I was quoted $3k for a ten hour day for a skid steer sized mulcher.


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We had a mulcher in this summer to open up shooting lanes and I think we paid $200-$250 per hour. Not cheap but they can get a lot done in short amount of time.


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[Howboutthemdawgs]

What’s a reasonable price for a forestry mulcher? I was quoted $3k for a ten hour day for a skid steer sized mulcher.


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Probably somewhere in that range. But make sure you are getting 10 hours worth of work. Equipment guys are constantly dicking with stuff and doing it on the clock. Gotta be careful with that. I pay a lot of equipment time and I’m constantly having to look over my shoulder at them cause they will jump off, get on the phone, walk around the equipment, kicking tracks, yadda yadda. A 10 hour day should be a 10 hour day for that money.

 

[Foggy47]

I paid $1000 for a day's mulching with a 400 HP Vermeer Forestry mulching machine. Huge beast. I did pay him extra for carbide replacement teeth as I got him to go below grade and get the sstumps. He did this as he wanted to evaluate the machine before buying one. This was my logger that was operating the machine. I think I gave him another $900 for the carbide teeth.....and you could certainly see the wear from finding up a few rocks. I doubt many machine owners would do the below grade work that I got done. I got a few acres of nearly instant food plots from this.....and for me it was "worth it" as it's too hard to do. the logging cleanup. I did end up to grind a few more stumps that he missed and cleaned up most with a landscape rake and stick clean up (lite grubbing).

 

[ruskbucks]

What’s a reasonable price for a forestry mulcher? I was quoted $3k for a ten hour day for a skid steer sized mulcher.


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I entered a program this year for cutting tag alders to promote their regrowth to benefit grouse, woodcock, and warblers. The guy doing the cutting charges $ 400 a acre to cut them. They can do around a acre/hr.

 

[ruskbucks]

Has anyone used a mulcher to perform tsi on poplar? We have been flush cutting them but wow it is slow process. Wondering if we used a mulcher to knock back one acre at a time if that would work and save us weeks of work. The mulcher does not have a nice clean cut does that matter?


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I would say yes. I had a habitat guy come out to look at using a skiddsteer mulcher to cut my tag alder. We walked thru a area of aspen that I had clearcut 7 years ago. This area turned out awesome with tall grass and a fairly thick patch of aspen regrowth. The aspen is now 20 ft + tall. He was all excited to run his mulcher through there to get it regen again. I asked him you really think we should cut it already its only 7 years old. He said yes cause at the height they are now they are out of deers reach and they will come back thicker if he cuts them. This area was not marked to be cut by the grouse program I entered but I might have him do a smaller sample . I would recommend using the mulcher. It will come back good and save you alot of time and money. I used one on my land to reclaim a overgrown pasture full of alder, balsam, and aspen. It was awesome, justlike mowing your grass but mowing trees.

 

[MNAaron]

I would say yes. I had a habitat guy come out to look at using a skiddsteer mulcher to cut my tag alder. We walked thru a area of aspen that I had clearcut 7 years ago. This area turned out awesome with tall grass and a fairly thick patch of aspen regrowth. The aspen is now 20 ft + tall. He was all excited to run his mulcher through there to get it regen again. I asked him you really think we should cut it already its only 7 years old. He said yes cause at the height they are now they are out of deers reach and they will come back thicker if he cuts them. This area was not marked to be cut by the grouse program I entered but I might have him do a smaller sample . I would recommend using the mulcher. It will come back good and save you alot of time and money. I used one on my land to reclaim a overgrown pasture full of alder, balsam, and aspen. It was awesome, justlike mowing your grass but mowing trees.

Thanks!!


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[3I0]

In areas where I've had ~20ft aspen mulched, regrowth was sparse in areas where they were able to get into the ground a bit - I think from a combination of ripping roots out of the ground as well as building a thick layer of mulch on top that suppresses regrowth. In a rockier area where the guy was being gingerly with his carbide teeth and left a lot of taller stumps (looked more like a bush hog ran through the area... big chunks of tree and not fine mulch) the regrowth was significantly thicker/faster but the end product looked worse visually and isn't immediately suitable for a food plot or anything.

Best DIY regrowth I have found on the smaller stuff you are describing (at least with the majority of it being closer to the low end) is from winter cutting and leaving high stumps. I use a Stihl FS 560 in the winter, usually on snowshoes as I often have at least 1-2' of snow by the time deer season ends here on December 15th. I don't recommend doing it this way for safety/productivity reasons, but I try and stay out of my property until the gun season is over just so my resident does don't get blasted by neighbours. The pain in the ass with this method though is it makes a tangled mess of everything so unless I don't want deer to be in a certain area I have to go back in during spring and chainsaw most trees into 2 or 3 pieces so they sit flat on the ground instead of a 2-3' high interleaved pile of logs.

Here's a video from 2022 I recorded of part of a 3/4 acre cut I did with my 560. I did piece work pre-commercial thinning 15+ years ago (was also less fat and out of shape) and I'd estimate productivity would be 2-3x higher in the spring/summer/fall for just outright smashing down these types of trees. 4" would be a single tap with this saw to push over, 9" would require repositioning once to saw more around the tree. Stumps in this cut after the snow melted were 2-3 ft high, so I was constantly snagging my snowshoes, etc... blades stay sharper way longer though in the winter as not as much risk of hitting rocks and the bottoms of trees usually have more dirt content from rain/etc splashing it up.

 

[Brian662]

I think the key to getting aspen/poplar regrowth is sunlight to the ground. I would be afraid of a heavy mulch layer slowing that down. Ripping out the roots is also frowned upon because that's where the regen comes from so a clean cut/removal of the tree definitely creates the best results for management purposes.

I do think a mulcher is adequate but you may need to clear debris once finished.

 

[Brian662]

In areas where I've had ~20ft aspen mulched, regrowth was sparse in areas where they were able to get into the ground a bit - I think from a combination of ripping roots out of the ground as well as building a thick layer of mulch on top that suppresses regrowth. In a rockier area where the guy was being gingerly with his carbide teeth and left a lot of taller stumps (looked more like a bush hog ran through the area... big chunks of tree and not fine mulch) the regrowth was significantly thicker/faster but the end product looked worse visually and isn't immediately suitable for a food plot or anything.

Best DIY regrowth I have found on the smaller stuff you are describing (at least with the majority of it being closer to the low end) is from winter cutting and leaving high stumps. I use a Stihl FS 560 in the winter, usually on snowshoes as I often have at least 1-2' of snow by the time deer season ends here on December 15th. I don't recommend doing it this way for safety/productivity reasons, but I try and stay out of my property until the gun season is over just so my resident does don't get blasted by neighbours. The pain in the ass with this method though is it makes a tangled mess of everything so unless I don't want deer to be in a certain area I have to go back in during spring and chainsaw most trees into 2 or 3 pieces so they sit flat on the ground instead of a 2-3' high interleaved pile of logs.

Here's a video from 2022 I recorded of part of a 3/4 acre cut I did with my 560. I did piece work pre-commercial thinning 15+ years ago (was also less fat and out of shape) and I'd estimate productivity would be 2-3x higher in the spring/summer/fall for just outright smashing down these types of trees. 4" would be a single tap with this saw to push over, 9" would require repositioning once to saw more around the tree. Stumps in this cut after the snow melted were 2-3 ft high, so I was constantly snagging my snowshoes, etc... blades stay sharper way longer though in the winter as not as much risk of hitting rocks and the bottoms of trees usually have more dirt content from rain/etc splashing it up.

This is A+ stuff, nice job. That saw cuts that stuff like butter.

 

[MNAaron]

Yeah that is my fear as well with the size trees I have I am afraid of a heavy layer of mulch.

I agree good info and awesome video.


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[Foggy47]

^^ That kind of work would put me down in about two minutes.