Too thick to hinge cut?

[Brad Bryant]

First post. I have enjoyed following all the other habitat threads.

I have 40 acres of bottom land in north east Texas. About 30 acres is very densely timbered. My guess is that it was clear cut many years ago and left un improved. All the trees are about 2-6 inches in diameter and very close together. You cannot walk through it without ducking and crawling. The trees are so stunted that they do not form a dense canopy and there is thick grass that grows throughout the 30 acres. Not much woody browse but a lot of grass. Deer do bed in here but I cannot tell to what extent


I was messing around with a chainsaw and realized that this area cannot be easily hinge cut due to how close the trees are. You cannot lay a tree over because they get caught up in the other trees. My question is since this is so thick do I need to hinge cut it at all or is there another technique to use in this situation such as clearing small areas then doing a hinge cut. I may be overthinking it as I am not sure if the thick growth is beneficial over the hinge cut.

Any thoughts?

 

[Coop]

The super thick, high stem count is often times what guys aspire to create for bedding. At this stage of your forest succession, hinging might not be the right tool. What is the goal you hope to achieve?

 

[Brad Bryant]

Thanks for the response.

I am new to owning property and habitat improvement. Being as my place is really small my goal is to make my place more attractive to hold deer. Since this was my first season I wanted to see what the deer were doing on my place so I did not go into the thick stuff to really see what I have but at the same time I have been planning for 6 months what I was going to do.

All the excitement crescendoed into a bull rush into the thick stuff….with a chainsaw, which was quickly squashed as not one tree would fall. I chuckled to myself for not realizing what was going to happen in advance.

I think you may be right, I may just create a few steering trails to some of my plots and go from there. Shame, I really wanted to cut some stuff!

 

[Bill]

I wouldn't put the saw away just yet. I would at least make one experiment somewhere in that tangle. Does like to bed together. Doing the opposite of what many guys are trying to do with hinge cutting may work better in you circumstance. I'd cut them a 15 yard opening and see if they bed in it. Sounds like work though because you would have to get the trees out of there to provide an open space so they can lay down.

I've always wanted to experiment with something like this. Just dont have anything quite that thick to try it in.

If you do try something like that, report back if it works or not.

 

[Tap]

Knowing what species of trees are in there will help with opinions on if/how to hinge cut.

And I assume that you aren't using a hook to pull trees down. Regardless of what your goals are for hinging, a hook is priceless for precise laying of smaller trees. And you may need to take down (completely cut) a few trees in order to make a landing zone for the 1st trees that you want to hinge. Once you open up a bit of an opening, then a hook will allow you to put tree exactly where you'd like them to lay. I'm telling ya... If you plan on hinging, get a hook. You won't be sorry. It's safer, less tiring, and you can lay trees in the opposite direction of the way they "want" to fall. Try pushing a leaning 4 inch DBH, shoulder-high hinge, in the opposite direction of the lean...You have very little leverage and it can be exhausting or even impossible without a hook. Even low cut hinges can be tough to push over.

And depending on what species of trees you are dealing with, it may not be too many years until they are no longer easily hinged or form a dense canopy. It's amazing how fast some species turn into a mature stand.Black locust comes to mind.
Planning for the short term is great but keep a vision on what it will look like 10 years from now.

The concept of "edge" might not seem applicable for that thick patch right now but edge is always good. Creating some edge for travel lanes within thick cover will help encourage movement the way you want.
I'd also consider some micro clearings within that thicket.

 

[tynimiller]

I wouldn't put the saw away just yet. I would at least make one experiment somewhere in that tangle. Does like to bed together. Doing the opposite of what many guys are trying to do with hinge cutting may work better in you circumstance. I'd cut them a 15 yard opening and see if they bed in it. Sounds like work though because you would have to get the trees out of there to provide an open space so they can lay down.

I've always wanted to experiment with something like this. Just dont have anything quite that thick to try it in.

If you do try something like that, report back if it works or not.

To go along with this as it was what popped in my head....remove cluster pockets and then hinge high over them. Overhead cover is a lovely thing and then don't be afraid to cut and remove arteries throughout this stand connecting these clusters and also allowing parralel trails to them.

In a Wisconsin woods that had thousands of maples all forearm size we did not only open clusters but also simply fell circles of trees in on each other to get more light coming in to which the landowner was going to encourage other non-maple shoots to grow.

 

[Brad Bryant]

Thanks for the responses. I may try to create a couple test pockets as suggested and clear those to do some hinging. I am also going to educate myself identifying trees but definitely having trouble doing so now. Pretty easy on the oak and hackberry species but those are the minority on my property.

 

[wiscwhip]

If you start on the "edge" of where the woods gets thick, then lay those trees on the open edge down, you can lay the remaining trees down on top of the ones that have fallen completely over, working your way deeper into the thick stuff as you go. Where there is a will(and a need, which you may or may not have), there is a way.