Land clearing with a 562xp

[JakeG]

This will be an on going thread to document the progress of a good friend's recently purchased 10 wooded acres.

They want a house right in the middle. Thus far, he and his 17 year old son brought in gravel to extend the county road to reach their property. This weekend they pushed all the brush along the southern property line and popped out the small (very small <5") trees. They plan to clear the entire perimeter as well as join the corners via an extremely large " X ", pile all the wood/brush into piles and light 'em up... Talk about a waste of wood!! What they have for equipment is a nice 1989 JD 310C (no grapple or hydraulic thumb), a husqvarna 450 single bar nutted saw, no steel toe boots, no chaps, head gear, ear protection nor hard hats.

For their safety, (and for the sake of not wasting wood) I offered to lend a hand. So the deal is, I get to keep any/all wood. My hope is that they learn something about PPE and basic chainsaw safety/maintenance. I'm not a professional by any means, just a wanna-be weekend warrior.

Here's the 10 acre plot.



Today was day 1 for me, I spent about 90 minutes on the property mostly surveying and getting a plan together. I managed to drop several sub-10" trees that were in the way or blocking escape routes as well as three pines.

All pictures are facing due east along the southern property line.



Lots of nice pine. According to my little cruise, the majority of pine trees are in the 16-24" dbh while several are on either side of the spectrum. There are several white & red oaks along with sweet gums, tho none seem to be straight.

QUESTION: This makes me wonder if any local sawmills are buying. I might have to make a few phone calls. I've never called a sawmill before so I'm not exactly sure what to ask other than the obvious, "what kind of wood are you looking for and what dimensions?" Any suggestions here??? Is it even worth selling or should I use it for my own consumption? I AM working on getting a larger saw (80-120cc's) and building a CSM out of aluminum with my wife's uncle who is a metal fabricator.





#1 - Property line on the right: I made a mistake right off the bat by starting the back cut level with the face notch and had to stop and adjust, which I hate... but it came down within 2' of where I wanted it.



#2 & #3





So, should I try selling the wood or mill it up myself for personal lumber? Again, I've never sold logs so I don't know what to expect. opcorn:

Thanks for your input and/or comments and suggestions. I've always been teachable and have thick, thick skin.

I'll update later this week if possible!

 

[rdtreewalker]

i wouild definately get in contact with the local saw mills and see what they are taking. any logs you can sell is extra money to feed the cad bug

 

[HuskStihl]

Looks like fun!

 

[parrisw]

Looks like good work to me.

 

[Philip Wheelock]

Looks like a nice project. I'd definitely call the local sawmills, describe what you have, and see if anyone will take it off your hands; not sure you'd enjoy getting into the sawmill business. Is there any danger of forest fires in this area that might influence how far you clear trees from the house location?

 

[apn73]

I'm writing to agree the posters above, talk to the local saw mills. I dropped six dying and/or dead poplars last year and found out that a guy I work with would have bought them from me to mill down for furniture. I found this out after I had bucked them down to handling size and had given most of it away.

 

[XSKIER]

I'm really "digging" that 310! Looks like you'll be able to get some work done.

 

[JakeG]

Looks like fun!

So far! We'll see just how fun it really is in 100*+ heat!

i wouild definately get in contact with the local saw mills and see what they are taking. any logs you can sell is extra money to feed the cad bug

:hmm3grin2orange:

Looks like a nice project. I'd definitely call the local sawmills, describe what you have, and see if anyone will take it off your hands; not sure you'd enjoy getting into the sawmill business. Is there any danger of forest fires in this area that might influence how far you clear trees from the house location?

I'm not sure about forest fires in that specific area. I haven't seen nor heard of a wild fire in this area. But let me ask you this... If there is even a remote concern of forest fires, what is an adequate distance to clear from the house? I would assume ~ twice the length of the tallest tree left standing in the woods. I definitely have no experience in clearing with forest fires in mind.

 

[Philip Wheelock]

...If there is even a remote concern of forest fires, what is an adequate distance to clear from the house?...

Perhaps contact your local fire department and forest service for best practices for local conditions. I can tell you with some authority that the choices of exterior materials for the new house and the availability of water for emergency situations are equally important.

 

[CJ1]

Get in contact with the mills/buyer and find out what they want for lengths, you may have some pines that will go for poles. You have to do the sorting. Most big mills will not work with a private individual so check with the small ones first to find out what is needed. Most will want a full truckload before they buy also. Just some of the fun dealing with mills. If you can get a buyer/forrester to come out and help you mark trees for what they want, that would be your best bet. That is what I do and it saves everybody headaches. For 10 acres you should be able to do that if the trees are good enough. CJ

 

[nmurph]

Those pines look like Loblolly and probably aren't much good for anything besides pulp bc of the number of knots, and around here most mills won't take anything over 28" for pulp. It certainly won't hurt to ask, but that is the story in SEGA.

 

[JakeG]

I'm writing to agree the posters above, talk to the local saw mills. I dropped six dying and/or dead poplars last year and found out that a guy I work with would have bought them from me to mill down for furniture. I found this out after I had bucked them down to handling size and had given most of it away.

Lovely! I've been there and know the feeling...

I'm really "digging" that 310! Looks like you'll be able to get some work done.

Me too, the fresh paint looks nice. Pretty soon I'll see if she works as good as she looks.

Perhaps contact your local fire department and forest service for best practices for local conditions. I can tell you with some authority that the choices of exterior materials for the new house and the availability of water for emergency situations are equally important.

Excellent points. I'll pass this on to my friend and his wife, thank you.

 

[JakeG]

Get in contact with the mills/buyer and find out what they want for lengths, you may have some pines that will go for poles. You have to do the sorting. Most big mills will not work with a private individual so check with the small ones first to find out what is needed. Most will want a full truckload before they buy also. Just some of the fun dealing with mills. If you can get a buyer/forrester to come out and help you mark trees for what they want, that would be your best bet. That is what I do and it saves everybody headaches. For 10 acres you should be able to do that if the trees are good enough. CJ

Those pines look like Loblolly and probably aren't much good for anything besides pulp bc of the number of knots, and around here most mills won't take anything over 28" for pulp. It certainly won't hurt to ask, but that is the story in SEGA.

Thanks CJ1 & murph, later this week I'll swing by the sawmill on my side of town and see what he has to say.

 

[nmurph]

In response to CJ-

pole mills want clear wood. Most loblolly grow limbs from almost the dirt.

around here, and in Tx as well I suspect, pine that is cut more than a couple of days will begin to attract beetles making it worthless. If he is cutting by himself, he is going to have a hard time geting the timber on the ground in a timely enough manner to make it feasible for anyone to come by and pick it up and still have bug-free wood.

OP, I certainly hope this works for you. I work at a college where we have a forestry program. The instructor also operates a logging operation. He and I talk timber a lot and subjects such as this one come up often. This is his take on the situation as well.

 

[HuskStihl]

I work at a college.

I knew you had to be some sort of perfesser to know all the stuff you know about all sorts of stuff

 

[JakeG]

In response to CJ-

pole mills want clear wood. Most loblolly grow limbs from almost the dirt.

around here, and in Tx as well I suspect, pine that is cut more than a couple of days will begin to attract beetles making it worthless. If he is cutting by himself, he is going to have a hard time geting the timber on the ground in a timely enough manner to make it feasible for anyone to come by and pick it up and still have bug-free wood.

OP, I certainly hope this works for you. I work at a college where we have a forestry program. The instructor also operates a logging operation. He and I talk timber a lot and subjects such as this one come up often. This is his take on the situation as well.

That's darn good information. A few things came to mind after reading this post:
1.) So the wood can only sit for a couple days before being potentially compromised? If the pine is 2' off the ground, how much will this delay bug infestation? I realize this question may be subjective or hard to answer, kind of like, "How long is a piece of string?". But I'm askin' anyway.

2.) I recall one of the 3 trees I took down Monday already had pine bark beetles.

3.) If the wood must be pulled asap, I have a big/old single axle C30 Chevy flatbed with stake pockets ready and waiting for my phone call. All he wants is fuel money. Also have access to a 24' gooseneck.

I knew you had to be some sort of perfesser to know all the stuff you know about all sorts of stuff

What I'm about to say has no reflection on murph, it's just something that came to mind when I read your post. Anyway... It made me chuckle.

He never said "he" was a professor. Just that he knew one! Even colleges/universities have custodians! :biggrinbounce2: I'm full of it.. But aren't we all?

 

[nmurph]

That's darn good information. A few things came to mind after reading this post:
1.) So the wood can only sit for a couple days before being potentially compromised? If the pine is 2' off the ground, how much will this delay bug infestation? I realize this question may be subjective or hard to answer, kind of like, "How long is a piece of string?". But I'm askin' anyway.?

I don't know if height has anything to do with how quickly the beetles set in. I know that if I drop a pine this weekend that by next weekend it will have beetles.

2.) I recall one of the 3 trees I took down Monday already had pine bark beetles. ?

Yep, they are everywhere and are just waiting for a pine buffet.

He never said "he" was a professor. Just that he knew one! Even colleges/universities have custodians! :biggrinbounce2: I'm full of it.. But aren't we all?

I'm not a teacher...I don't have the patience it takes for stupid, and unfortunately our teens are infested with it. Dealing with adult adminstration is hard enough for me.

 

[JakeG]

Teens are of a different breed these days, no doubt about it! There are some good ones though.. And I thank God for that.

I'll try getting the wood off the ground by the weeks end. Not sure if it'll happen, but its worth a shot!

 

[JakeG]

Update with pics

After a month without touching the land, we had the brush cutter ran through... What a difference!





All in all it's been a relatively easy job. I dropped ~45 dead standing trees this week, mostly pine 20-30" dbh. I'm amazed at how well the 562 sips fuel. I'm asking a lot out of 60cc's and am always impressed with how smooth and powerful the saw is. Thumbs up!

After dropping the two pines in the background, the one in the foreground fell merely from the vibrations.




Had a little hang up today, thankfully it fell on its own 30 minutes later.





Countless Swiss cheese trees



Last picture for today, 23"er

 

[mitch95100]

Teens are of a different breed these days, no doubt about it! There are some good ones though.. And I thank God for that.

I'll try getting the wood off the ground by the weeks end. Not sure if it'll happen, but its worth a shot!

Hope im a good one then


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