Mark trees, or let sawyers choose?

[old CB]

Moved out here from WY, we didn't know **** about local timber, and here was all this hardwood they left 3-4' diameter stuff, dozens of logs.

And nobody was cutting it!

Well... it was cottonwood, and its different here than it is in the high plains, squishy, stinky, and soft... 14 cords later... house smelled like dog poo for 2 years, only way it would burn is with the vent wide open so that eventually cooked the stove...

Couple years ago i was scouting a dnr firewood "sale" there was a guy with a brand new poulan wild thang, a van with a utility trailer bragging about how the loggers left all this maple... I just smiled nodded and drove on...

Them damn loggers don't know squat. Lucky that a smart guy like that showed up with his toy saw to make use of that maple.

 

[madhatte]

I know I sound backwards from most but I was always taught no matter what you leave the quality wood and only cut a quality tree if there's no choice for a trail. I've seen jobs that are garbage from the contractor also seen garbage from the marking job because they forget about the yarding end of the job. Tree length I'll cut a high stump or leave a rub tree that will be removed once a trail is done.

And much appreciated, too. Rub trees are a good practice. Note that on our sales, some of the "garbage" that is marked is done not for the log but for the shadow that will lift up off of the ground when it's gone. We try to take a bit of everything and focus on the light we can get to the forest floor for the residual stand. Of course, our strategy would be totally different if we were expected to turn a profit.

 

[bnmc98]

The National Forest around here is pretty much managed by an enviro group. They are set on only using basal area thinnings. That means it is fairly easy to decide which trees are cut as the only determination for a leave tree is the diameter at the stump and if it is alive. No need to look up, except to make sure the tree is alive. Pick the biggest diameter at stump height live tree, and cut ever other tree around it for a determined distance. This keeps the birds and the enviros happy, I guess. It does make for a more diverse stand because multi-topped trees, broken topped trees and deformed trees are left along with healthy trees.

Thats funny, around here they they seem to look up and make sure they keep all the straight ones too and give the crooked junk to be harvested. No wonder they don't have bids on some sales.
I've walked through several sales here to look it over and no way would I ever bid on them... no pulp market here.

 

[Gypo Logger]

Without having read said thread, I'd be cutting something, even if was a low grade thinning of the stems that don't appear to be thriving or have any reason to live. Leave the good stuff on the stump and dont sell those ripe pumpkins until you find the best market. Twere my bush, I'd enjoy every tree while it was still standing. You can always cut them down, but you can't stand them back up again. If we want good carrots, we need to weed our garden.
A rich person is one who is gaurdian over our trees.Trees represent a whole lot more than just a bunch of ripe bananas.

 

[slowp]

Thats funny, around here they they seem to look up and make sure they keep all the straight ones too and give the crooked junk to be harvested. No wonder they don't have bids on some sales.
I've walked through several sales here to look it over and no way would I ever bid on them... no pulp market here.

Sounds like your enviro group needs to talk to our enviro group. The bad thing is, they only want to use this method. Its a one size fits all for them but does not address problems like rootrot patches that have trees falling on roads, or making openings for wildlife, berries, or views.

 

[madhatte]

See, that's why we do it the way we do it -- we can address those things as part of our normal process without having to pretend that it's new or exceptional.

 

[RandyMac]

I've done it both ways, I believe I can open a stand better than someone who breezes through spraying paint.

 

[northmanlogging]

Went up on the annual family scare the wifes trip today...

Passed through several FS thinnings, some looked good, some not so much.

2 were done with yarders 1 everything looked nearly natural unless you know what your looking for, the other, a half blind school marm could tell were the yarder was set up, big huge cable paths, lots of junk just over the edge of the road... not horrible but not the best either.

The first one on the way up was mostly flat, who ever did it managed to scar up most of the trees along the main road, and probably half of the leave trees are critically damaged.

 

[Gologit]

Went up on the annual family scare the wifes trip today...

Passed through several FS thinnings, some looked good, some not so much.

2 were done with yarders 1 everything looked nearly natural unless you know what your looking for, the other, a half blind school marm could tell were the yarder was set up, big huge cable paths, lots of junk just over the edge of the road... not horrible but not the best either.

The first one on the way up was mostly flat, who ever did it managed to scar up most of the trees along the main road, and probably half of the leave trees are critically damaged.

Wonder why the SA let them get away with that?

 

[Skeans]

Wonder why the SA let them get away with that?

Wonder if it's like that government job we did for a few years where damage was acceptable and to an extent promoted?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[slowp]

Wonder why the SA let them get away with that?

Maybe the SA did not use bribery cookies?

 

[northmanlogging]

No idear, the damaged stuff is at a pretty low elevation only like 1-2 miles in, used to have epic paint ball wars in there... the yarder units are a bit farther up but not much, been a couple years since they did them, though the slash poles are still pretty obvious, most folks that go up there get it... but its not leaving the best image in folks minds