What time of the year to cut the trees ?

[ngzcaz]

Obviously when the sap is at the lowest point but when is that in NE Pa. ?
Further, does anyone know how much it helps vs doing it in the early spring when the juices are really flowing ? Seems to me before the snow flies would be the best time. This should help drying times considerably..

:greenchainsaw:

 

[KsWoodsMan]

After the leaves have dropped off the tree the sap is moving its slowest.

When should you cut it ? (Jokingly) About a year befor you need them for heat.

Depends on the wood , for me.
Anything with thorns or nuts/acorns is usually done in mid winter for the next year.

Anything I want to die is cut in the spring after the leaves are out. Still enough time to use it that same year.

Anything I want to live and I am just trimming is done just before they start to bud out. This gives more than ample time in my area to dry, for this winter. It also gives the tree the best oppurtunity to heal the wound. It also cuts the amount of time the wound is exposed to the elements before it can start healing

I get a some from blowdowns in the Spring. The homeowner generally likes these gone as quickly as possible.

 

[Mike Van]

Every freeze/thaw cycle, the sap moves. Below freezing, it goes down into the roots, above it's back up in the branches. Thats how we make syrup. The sap is only in the sapwood of the tree, the outside few inches. Some trees [ash is one] have very little sap, a broken or cutoff branch won't 'bleed' like a maple will. The best time to cut is early enough in the year so it's dry enough to burn that fall.

 

[savageactor7]

We mostly harvest in the late/fall early winter when the leaves are off. Tree is cut, hauled to a staging area to be limbed then brought to a holding area for the logs. After about 20-25 trees we're done. The logs are C&S's in the spring.

If you cant get to the logs they'll last for a couple 3 years if you cut 'em when their dormant provided you store 'em off the ground on limbs/saplings etc. It's like way so much easier harvesting when there's no leaves on the tree.

 

[iowawoodcutter]

I like to cut in the winter best, because I sweat less and it seems I can work longer when it is cold out compared to hot out.

 

[abohac]

Obviously when the sap is at the lowest point but when is that in NE Pa. ?
Further, does anyone know how much it helps vs doing it in the early spring when the juices are really flowing ? Seems to me before the snow flies would be the best time. This should help drying times considerably..

:greenchainsaw:

I cut when I can. Cut more this summer than I ever have but that was because some very easy cutting was given to me. If I had my choice I'd cut with temps below freezing and with no snow.

 

[chainsawaddict]

I like to cut in the winter best, because I sweat less and it seems I can work longer when it is cold out compared to hot out.

Funny, I sweat way more in the winter. I end up spending a lot of time digging my 2wd ford out of snow banks.

That and I enjoy being out in the woods more in the summer.

 

[Jkebxjunke]

My dad told me the best time to cut... when you have a saw in your hand... :greenchainsaw:

 

[danrclem]

The best time for me to cut is when I can find the wood. I'd rather wait until cooler weather but I cut quite a bit of wood earlier this year when the temp was well over 90 degrees. Most of the time for me it's either cut it or lose it.

 

[Nailsbeats]

Late fall before the snow flies can't be beat, except when you are using a skidder, then snowpacked frozen trails are an asset. Days are shorter too, so you can work a few hours and feel like you worked all day. I cut 24/7, it's a time thing, gotta do it when I can or the jobs will stack up.

 

[litefoot]

September-October in Utah. The weather is cooler. Mosquitos are gone. Campers are gone. Hunting season hasn't started.

 

[Lignum]

Whenever the tree must be punished, or need wood.

 

[Echo-man]

I just cut all day Sat. But that was a log load. When I cut standing or fallen timber in the woods, I like winter the best. No leaves or underbrush and I hate cutting when it's too hot.

 

[Marc]

Cutting for firewood, as I assume (since it's the firewood sub), here are the reasons I've always cut in the winter-

1) No leaves on the tree or the underbrush
2) No sap (or much less)
3) Cut it and just a few days later if the temperatures are cold, split it (which is important to me because I only split w/ a maul, and frozen splits much easier)
4) I'd overheat in the summer doing that kind of work (as it is I sweat like a bastard in the winter)
5) I've always cut w/ my father who was a dairy farmer for the first half of his life... so the fence line trimming, aka wood cutting, was done in the winter when there were no crops to tend to or get in the way... it was just the way things were done

 

[avalancher]

I like to cut in the fall, but have to contend with competition then. Every knucklehead is out looking for wood then, like it will be good to burn for winter anyway.
But in the spring the temps are cool and everyone else is thinking of other things besides wood for the winter and those opportunities to cut unwanted wood last longer before someone else shows up.
I stopped at our local mill yesterday, wanted to see if he had any oak slabs laying around. The owner told me he has folks sitting there in pickups now waiting for the slabs to come off of the mill. Not a stick to be found.
Im glad I stayed on it this summer.

 

[MJR]

There is two times a year to cut:

1) Pre black fly season
2) Post deer fly season

 

[TJ-Bill]

I like Fall or early mid spring. Last spring was a great time here to cut, we had about 3 ft of snow on the ground then a large rain fall. You could walk anywhere in the woods, it was like walking on concrete.