Thinning 12ac of white pines, advice needed

[verticaltrx]

On one of our farms we have about 12ac of white pines that were planted some years ago. They are around 8-10" DBH, planted on 8' rows with about 5-6' spacing in the rows. The land is sloping but mostly accessible with equipment. My plan is to take out every other row and the trees in the row to get about 14' spacing between all trees. Based on some quick math that seems about right to me, but I'm no professional.

I think we have most of the equipment to tackle this:
-tractors up to 95hp with 4wd/loader
-large skid steer loader
-two 2-ton dump trucks (one is a flatbed)
-9" capacity hydraulic feed chipper
-small saw mill
-all manner of saws, chains/cables/rigging

We might also get a grapple for the skid steer and a 3pt hitch logging winch for one of the larger 4wd tractors.

I think the best plan of action is to cut the trees as described above, skid or haul them out, saw whats worth sawing on the saw mill, and send the rest through the chipper. We can use the lumber and chips around the farm, and try to sell any excess lumber. I don't think there is any commercial value in this project for pulp or saw logs so I think we'll be doing it ourselves and getting what we can from it. Any advice from those with experience in this field would be much appreciated.

 

[JakeG]

Local forester would have the best advice. It's usually worth it.

 

[verticaltrx]

Local forester would have the best advice. It's usually worth it.

When we are ready to get started we will do just that. For now though I'm just brainstorming and planning, looking for some insight.

 

[Plankton]

I would steer away from row thinning and instead focus on removing the codominant and malformed trees from the entire plantation. Row thinnning may sound nice but it doesn't address the overcrowding and low grade trees in the rows you leave. You would be removing some trees you want to keep growing in the cut row while leaving trees that you don't want taking up nutrients sunlight etc. in the leave row. I would talk with your forester and mark it out for a plantation wide low grade thin down to a proper stocking level. Leaving only trees that will produce the highest quality lumber down the line.

 

[slowp]

Row thinning is used because you need room to maneuver equipment around. I realize you plan to use farm machinery. In the real world of logging rows of trees, 8 feet is not enough room to get a processor or a forwarder through so a row is taken out for a skid trail. Trees that tightly growing may be hard to get on the ground without using equipment to pull them over. In otherwords, it sounds frustrating and time consuming for doing by hand.

The real world takes out a row for the equipment, picks the undesirable trees in the other rows and the processor can get them on the ground without the problem of limb lock. One still needs to mark the trees so they can get to them--know the reach of the machine.

That's all I can say. I'm not local. I don't know the optimum spacing for your site. I don't know the markets or much of anything about there. Consult a local.

 

[treeslayer2003]

na, you'r bout right Ms. P. that's about how it goes here for yellow pine plantations. they plant 8x8 then take every other row and the crap trees in the leave rows. pretty standard. and yes with a feller buncher. mostly whats taken out in a first thinning will be pulp.

 

[verticaltrx]

Seems like I need to do more research and talk to a forester. Taking only the cull trees was my first thought, but that might not get the stand down to a low enough density. My second plan was as mentioned above, take every other row and the cull trees in each keep row.

 

[patconnell]

Took out 2 of 3 rows of pine from my fathers forest 6 or 7 acres last year It was planted 1 oak 1 pine as nurse crop. The pine has smothered the oak somewhat, as is should've been done a few years earlier. Will Have to remove the rest( remaining 1 row of 3, just leaving oak ) this year, knocked almost all myself over a good few months here and there. I was using an oleo mac39 ? at the start not bad but then got a 550xp best decision ever, the thing goes like a hot knife through butter feels light in your hands, have since killed many tens of thousands of trees, some device.
I Threw all the brash to one side leaving a clear side of the row for easier access, then Used a farmi forwarder on a tm130 Newholland for those longest rows. I left the pine full length as possible 15- 20 foot and winched 10 -13 stems at a time on to the forwarder after manually stacking. I reversed the forwarder back up rows empty, It worked ok in dry weather, Then on the steeper hilly bits I used a buck rake on the back of a small tractor and cut the stems the with of the rake, was horrible but cheap and relatively quick during summer while the ground was dry not making rutts.
Some of the pine was sold from road side to fire wood guys. I' ve since put most of the pine through a small Bilke firewood processor into a hay barn which is pretty full, been selling it off gradually and using it ourselves . The oak remaining will not even have firewood potential for the thinning's in this plantation it seems, doubt some of it will recover but there's access to deal with what ever recommendation we get now, it'll be easy to pick pcts and remove the remainder or what ever the experts decide. Soft wood isn't a great seller round here but doubt I ll chip any of the rest though.

 

[gunny100]

On one of our farms we have about 12ac of white pines that were planted some years ago. They are around 8-10" DBH, planted on 8' rows with about 5-6' spacing in the rows. The land is sloping but mostly accessible with equipment. My plan is to take out every other row and the trees in the row to get about 14' spacing between all trees. Based on some quick math that seems about right to me, but I'm no professional.

I think we have most of the equipment to tackle this:
-tractors up to 95hp with 4wd/loader
-large skid steer loader
-two 2-ton dump trucks (one is a flatbed)
-9" capacity hydraulic feed chipper
-small saw mill
-all manner of saws, chains/cables/rigging

We might also get a grapple for the skid steer and a 3pt hitch logging winch for one of the larger 4wd tractors.

I think the best plan of action is to cut the trees as described above, skid or haul them out, saw whats worth sawing on the saw mill, and send the rest through the chipper. We can use the lumber and chips around the farm, and try to sell any excess lumber. I don't think there is any commercial value in this project for pulp or saw logs so I think we'll be doing it ourselves and getting what we can from it. Any advice from those with experience in this field would be much appreciated.

 

[gunny100]

if your cutting down a lot of trees
id buy a out door wood boiler to heat your house barn shop etc