I have about a half acre of young maples (probably 10 years old or so maybe older). They are located on a little knoll on the top of my ridge. Can someone convince me to cut the whole lot of them down and plant oaks? Haha. I hate cutting down nice trees but honestly these are doing next to nothing for habitat. No understory, no mast. Does the future timber value outweigh the destruction? Would you leave a few? Thanks for the advice. (Btw, I would plant a mixture of oaks in their stead).
Question about young maples
- Thread starter nateb440
- Start date
j-bird
Moderator
I have a TON of sugar maple as well and I agree in that once they exceed the deers reach they are of little value. Timber size around here is roughly 24" DBH. Hard maple brought me like $100 to $150 a 12 foot log when I had my place cut - so they can add up. If you have other ideas for the place from a wildlife perspective.....buzz, buzz goes the saw as far as I am concerned.
Yes I'm sure they're sugar maples. There are a couple nice coffee trees mixed in and some mature elm. I like coffee trees but the majority of the others need to go. I have about 50 acres of forest so the maples can grow elsewhere. This little knoll is right by my orchard and food plot. I'd love to thicken it up and make it more wildlife friendly. There's a 300 foot elevation drop from the top of the ridge on both sides. I don't venture down the hills too often and try to do most of my habitat work on the top and around the couple acres of precious cleared ground I do have. Thanks for your help.
tynimiller
5 year old buck +
Maples are candy for the deer browsing if hinged over. I concur with some others...I'd at least pick out the biggest and seemingly best growing maybe 6 - 12 and keep em for future sugar maple or logging but each year I'd hinge over more and more of them for great understory browsing.
bwoods11
5 year old buck +
Totally agree on this, maple will probably always have logging value. They grow fast and like others said, the syrup!
1/2 acre of sugar maple will never hurt your woods.... hinge the poor ones, keep the nice ones!
M
MoBuckChaser
Guest
Soft maple are worth a lot more than oak in Missouri right now. Its a good commodity to have on your land!
swat1018
5 year old buck +
MDC just marked about 200 trees on one of my places, mostly soft maple. You know any trusted loggers? Probably around 40,000 BF.
M
MoBuckChaser
Guest
Trusted Loggers?...............In Missouri?...............Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
That is not possible!
What I can say is this, very few of them have insurance, and learn how to read a scale stick! Call the MDC forester and see what the current rate is for your good trees and bad trees. Get a price quote before the first tree is cut. When they cut the trees down and bring them all out to the landing, no trees leave until you are paid. Stand right there when the log buyers show up, and Get a minimum of 3 buyers to show up. Make sure they scale every tree! Don't let the logger buy them from you himself until after you see what the log buyers offer. And remember these are guys that can care less about your property, they will drive over trees everywhere that you may like, and tear the shit out of your land with their log skidder! Be prepared for a mess and expect it when the job is completed! Anything better than what I just said consider a gift!
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
What Mo said happens a lot. Get EVERYTHING in writing. Specify how you want your land, skid trails, etc. to be graded/seeded/ drained, etc. If at all possible - BE THERE when logging is being done , or have a trusted person be there for you. Get several buyers quotes. My camp went through this twice.
Soft ( red ) maple is used to imitate cherry in furniture & cabinet making. ( Mo mentioned a good market for it ). The grain looks very similar & when stained it can fool many people. On cabinets, the door fronts may be cherry, but the frames are likely to be red maple. " Soft " maple isn't really all that soft - like pine, spruce, or hemlock - but it's softer than " Hard " maple, which is sugar maple. Apologies to any that already knew that !!
Soft ( red ) maple is used to imitate cherry in furniture & cabinet making. ( Mo mentioned a good market for it ). The grain looks very similar & when stained it can fool many people. On cabinets, the door fronts may be cherry, but the frames are likely to be red maple. " Soft " maple isn't really all that soft - like pine, spruce, or hemlock - but it's softer than " Hard " maple, which is sugar maple. Apologies to any that already knew that !!
