Timber Harvest

[Snoop]

The year after our timber harvest on our 280ac was the best hunting we’ve ever had in the 40 years we’ve hunted it.

 

[TreeDaddy]

Bucks during rut loooove to cruise just inside timberline against a clear cut on downwind side.

On my property clear cutting was like putting deer hunting on steroids!

Mapping Trophy Bucks by B Herndon calls that a breakline

I highly recommend this book

bill

 

[Brian662]

Supposed to be getting one of my properties a select cut next week if the forecast cooperates. Hired a forester who marked the trees a few years ago, had three bids from different loggers and I took the one I felt most comfortable with.

Allegedly burr oak and walnut are at record highs and I have both of those in pretty good numbers. Taking about 65-70% of the burr oak off a south facing slope which should crown release the rest and help it get super thick.

Will be going back this summer to do some bedding cuts and set up the place for hunting traps.

On the menu (marked) to be logged:
Burr oak
Walnut
Elm
Ash
Box elder
Maple
Cottonwoods

 

[omicron1792]

Supposed to be getting one of my properties a select cut next week if the forecast cooperates. Hired a forester who marked the trees a few years ago, had three bids from different loggers and I took the one I felt most comfortable with.

Allegedly burr oak and walnut are at record highs and I have both of those in pretty good numbers. Taking about 65-70% of the burr oak off a south facing slope which should crown release the rest and help it get super thick.

Will be going back this summer to do some bedding cuts and set up the place for hunting traps.

On the menu (marked) to be logged:
Burr oak
Walnut
Elm
Ash
Box elder
Maple
Cottonwoods

You’ll love it. Sounds like you did it the right way.

My slopes are pretty much all white oaks now. Ha. I keep a few tulip poplars and dogwoods just because. Ha.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I’ve never gotten a timber cut done personally but I’ve owned three properties in the last 5 years that all had portions cut in the last 10-15 years.

Some things I’ve noticed on the backend.
Loggers are slobs. There’s areas I can’t walk 50 yards and not find oil bottles or drink bottles or broken equipment parts.
Their roads are always a disaster a couple years after they are done. I had to buy a mini ex just to work on roads basically. Even if they put them back, it’s just a patch job. They don’t care about drainage issues, even if they have it in their contract to fix, they just want to make the landowner see a pretty, smooth road when they leave.
Piles of tree debris don’t breakdown as fast as you like. I have areas where you can’t walk due to tops and logs they didnt want. Plus the push piles of cut logs never ever breakdown in our lifetime. So I have berm piles of logs.
The regen if left unmanaged (which is the case in 99% of properties) is so stemy and thick a d impenetrable that no deer will or even can use it. These areas are wastelands on my property which sucks cause we all only have so much land. I attempted to cut a trail through the middle of one of mine the other day. It was so painful. Used the brushcutter attachment on my stihl. Between the 2-4” saplings every 6” and the briars I needed to go to church to repent for the words I said. I need to have it aerially sprayed at this point. It’s a lost cause for the next 15 years if I don’t (too steep for a brushcutter on a skid steer).

What I would/will do if I ever harvest timber. Get in the contract that all trash will be removed when they leave. Hold the last check and do a thorough inspection before releasing.
Have it in the contract to where roads will be shaped to get water off them and not just cut smooth to give the appearance of fixed.
Have their dozer cut a break around every block so I could burn before it gets out of hand, which will happen fast.

Anyway that’s my .02 being on the receiving end of some cuts.

 

[SD51555]

I’ve never gotten a timber cut done personally but I’ve owned three properties in the last 5 years that all had portions cut in the last 10-15 years.

Some things I’ve noticed on the backend.
Loggers are slobs. There’s areas I can’t walk 50 yards and not find oil bottles or drink bottles or broken equipment parts.
Their roads are always a disaster a couple years after they are done. I had to buy a mini ex just to work on roads basically. Even if they put them back, it’s just a patch job. They don’t care about drainage issues, even if they have it in their contract to fix, they just want to make the landowner see a pretty, smooth road when they leave.
Piles of tree debris don’t breakdown as fast as you like. I have areas where you can’t walk due to tops and logs they didnt want. Plus the push piles of cut logs never ever breakdown in our lifetime. So I have berm piles of logs.
The regen if left unmanaged (which is the case in 99% of properties) is so stemy and thick a d impenetrable that no deer will or even can use it. These areas are wastelands on my property which sucks cause we all only have so much land. I attempted to cut a trail through the middle of one of mine the other day. It was so painful. Used the brushcutter attachment on my stihl. Between the 2-4” saplings every 6” and the briars I needed to go to church to repent for the words I said. I need to have it aerially sprayed at this point. It’s a lost cause for the next 15 years if I don’t (too steep for a brushcutter on a skid steer).

What I would/will do if I ever harvest timber. Get in the contract that all trash will be removed when they leave. Hold the last check and do a thorough inspection before releasing.
Have it in the contract to where roads will be shaped to get water off them and not just cut smooth to give the appearance of fixed.
Have their dozer cut a break around every block so I could burn before it gets out of hand, which will happen fast.

Anyway that’s my .02 being on the receiving end of some cuts.

I spend it seems at least a half day every year with machinery fixing old logging ruts. I’ve got more to do this year. There’s about 300-400 yards of meandering trail I’m gonna see if my neighbor will run his disc over it to fill in the ruts. Then I’ll hit it with the leveling bar and finish it up.

And there will be more after that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Supposed to be getting one of my properties a select cut next week if the forecast cooperates. Hired a forester who marked the trees a few years ago, had three bids from different loggers and I took the one I felt most comfortable with.

Allegedly burr oak and walnut are at record highs and I have both of those in pretty good numbers. Taking about 65-70% of the burr oak off a south facing slope which should crown release the rest and help it get super thick.

Will be going back this summer to do some bedding cuts and set up the place for hunting traps.

On the menu (marked) to be logged:
Burr oak
Walnut
Elm
Ash
Box elder
Maple
Cottonwoods

That's good that your logger was willing to take the other less desirable trees in addition to the oak and walnut. It is a good idea to cut as many elm, ash, boxelder, and cottonwood as they can so future oaks and walnuts have a better chance of growing.

How many acres of woods are you cutting?

 

[omicron1792]

Mapping Trophy Bucks by B Herndon calls that a breakline

I highly recommend this book

bill

I’m gonna check that out! Can’t find it in e book.

 

[omicron1792]

I’ve never gotten a timber cut done personally but I’ve owned three properties in the last 5 years that all had portions cut in the last 10-15 years.

Some things I’ve noticed on the backend.
Loggers are slobs. There’s areas I can’t walk 50 yards and not find oil bottles or drink bottles or broken equipment parts.
Their roads are always a disaster a couple years after they are done. I had to buy a mini ex just to work on roads basically. Even if they put them back, it’s just a patch job. They don’t care about drainage issues, even if they have it in their contract to fix, they just want to make the landowner see a pretty, smooth road when they leave.
Piles of tree debris don’t breakdown as fast as you like. I have areas where you can’t walk due to tops and logs they didnt want. Plus the push piles of cut logs never ever breakdown in our lifetime. So I have berm piles of logs.
The regen if left unmanaged (which is the case in 99% of properties) is so stemy and thick a d impenetrable that no deer will or even can use it. These areas are wastelands on my property which sucks cause we all only have so much land. I attempted to cut a trail through the middle of one of mine the other day. It was so painful. Used the brushcutter attachment on my stihl. Between the 2-4” saplings every 6” and the briars I needed to go to church to repent for the words I said. I need to have it aerially sprayed at this point. It’s a lost cause for the next 15 years if I don’t (too steep for a brushcutter on a skid steer).

What I would/will do if I ever harvest timber. Get in the contract that all trash will be removed when they leave. Hold the last check and do a thorough inspection before releasing.
Have it in the contract to where roads will be shaped to get water off them and not just cut smooth to give the appearance of fixed.
Have their dozer cut a break around every block so I could burn before it gets out of hand, which will happen fast.

Anyway that’s my .02 being on the receiving end of some cuts.

All spot on.

First growth year after cut I mark and protect the good tree regrowth (oaks) and broadcast spray triclopyr and imazapic in about May. Then burn it the following off season. If not it will be exactly as Dawg said.

 

[Brian662]

That's good that your logger was willing to take the other less desirable trees in addition to the oak and walnut. It is a good idea to cut as many elm, ash, boxelder, and cottonwood as they can so future oaks and walnuts have a better chance of growing.

How many acres of woods are you cutting?

Not many. Probably 15 acres in total but it's a pretty select cut with the idea of opening canopy being the main thing in strategic locations. 80% of the trees to be harvested are in a 8 acre section they are the burr oaks and walnuts on the south facing hillside.

 

[omicron1792]

Not many. Probably 15 acres in total but it's a pretty select cut with the idea of opening canopy being the main thing in strategic locations. 80% of the trees to be harvested are in a 8 acre section they are the burr oaks and walnuts on the south facing hillside.

What has been your deer use of the walnuts?

 

[Brian662]

What has been your deer use of the walnuts?

Non-existant for browse and the nut itself. Lots of squirrels in there though.

Once the canopy opens a bit and there is regen, I'll be able to tell a little more about how deer browse the young walnuts. For now though, it is closed canopy mature trees.

 

[Skye King]

All spot on.

First growth year after cut I mark and protect the good tree regrowth (oaks) and broadcast spray triclopyr and imazapic in about May. Then burn it the following off season. If not it will be exactly as Dawg said.

If I could sell my logs to the mill myself, I would thin my woods and take the logs to a mill. But, here in La one can't cut his own timber and take it to the mill.
1. Gotta have a contract with the mill before they will buy your logs.
2. According to the forester's that I have talked to, there is some kind of stupid law here that prevents a landowner from marketing his own logs.

Another option that I have thought about is to cut the trees and haul them to an independent sawmill to be sawn and try to sell the lumber myself.

Yep, loggers will leave your woods and roads trashy you with a lot of work.

 

[omicron1792]

If I could sell my logs to the mill myself, I would thin my woods and take the logs to a mill. But, here in La one can't cut his own timber and take it to the mill.
1. Gotta have a contract with the mill before they will buy your logs.
2. According to the forester's that I have talked to, there is some kind of stupid law here that prevents a landowner from marketing his own logs.

Another option that I have thought about is to cut the trees and haul them to an independent sawmill to be sawn and try to sell the lumber myself.

Yep, loggers will leave your woods and roads trashy you with a lot of work.

There are some people around here doing some kind of mobile mills that will come to your place. I don’t know much about it.

 

[Skye King]

There are some people around here doing some kind of mobile mills that will come to your place. I don’t know much about it.

Yeah, There are some portable sawmills around here too. That is a better option than hauling the logs.

 

[Skye King]

One other idea that just hit my soggy head,, Hire a forester to mark the trees to be sawn then hire a crew to cut the trees. Maybe even have the saw crew bring the logs to a staging area then get a portable sawmill to come in and saw the logs.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Non-existant for browse and the nut itself. Lots of squirrels in there though.

Once the canopy opens a bit and there is regen, I'll be able to tell a little more about how deer browse the young walnuts. For now though, it is closed canopy mature trees.

If you leave some seed producing walnuts, you might be surprised how many young walnuts grow in your logged out area. I'd recommend leaving the tree tops where they land since that provides a natural tree cage for both the walnut and oak seedlings. Deer love to browse and rub on young walnuts, but the tree tops should give the trees a head start before the deer can reach them.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

One other idea that just hit my soggy head,, Hire a forester to mark the trees to be sawn then hire a crew to cut the trees. Maybe even have the saw crew bring the logs to a staging area then get a portable sawmill to come in and saw the logs.

I always thought it would be cool to have a few trees cut into boards to make some type of furniture, but I haven't done it yet. The portable sawmills aren't too common in our area, so I don't know if that is even an option.

I don't think that would work well on a larger scale logging operation of even 10 acres since it would take years for a portable sawmill to cut all the trees cut. When I had about 15 acres of woods logged, I ended up with a log landing site that was probably 2 1/2 acres and the logs covered nearly every inch of dirt. It would take a pretty large building to hold all of the boards created when those trees are cut on a portable sawmill.

 

[Brian662]

If you leave some seed producing walnuts, you might be surprised how many young walnuts grow in your logged out area. I'd recommend leaving the tree tops where they land since that provides a natural tree cage for both the walnut and oak seedlings. Deer love to browse and rub on young walnuts, but the tree tops should give the trees a head start before the deer can reach them.

I posted these photos in another thread about walnuts, but there will be dozens of "seed" trees left that need 10-15 more years. This cut is just an initial canopy opener to get a boost on the rest of the near mature walnuts.

 

[Brian662]

Also, I will add that maybe there is already walnut regen in areas and the deer are keeping them held back, the tops on these and the burr oaks will be mostly staying where they were harvested for side cover/seedling protection.