7 Acres of forest with hardly any hardwood. grrr

[nojo]

So I got my Chainsaw, Chaps, Helmet, Axe, Wedges and fuel can. But Wait, my land is full of HUGE pine trees. I look at the satellite shot of my land. Its the ONLY spot in all of this forest land that I see green clumps of softwood. Tons of hardwood on surrounding lands. Kind of a bummer. I guess I knew and I have a place when I can get hardwoods but still I wish I could sustainably forest my land. I could get enough to get me throuhg a couple of years but I would **** the land of hardwoods. Not gonna do it. Ah well just means more moving wood for me.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Burning pine for a few years isn't so bad- replant with hardwoods and keep the pine seedlings down mechanically

 

[nojo]

Burning pine for a few years isn't so bad- replant with hardwoods and keep the pine seedlings down mechanically

I felled one 40 footer with a 24" trunk yesterday as it was steeling the sun from surrounding hardwoods that were getting choked out. I was happ I felled it right when I wanted it to go missing all the standing wood around it. Got my saw stuck and had to wedge it over, but it worked out.

I may just split it and burn it next spring when we don't need as much heat.

How fast does this stuff season/dry?

 

[firefighterjake]

It is far better to have 7 acres of softwood than to have 1 acre of hardwood or no wood at all other than a few ornamental trees in the front yard.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

It seasons lickedy split... once split. Split in the spring, stack etc etc- dry in the fall. I'm taking out the pines here as well- making room for more rare natives (walnut, butternut, etc).

I can burn a LOT of pine in a year, though- and it doesn't need to be 100% seasoned for me

 

[Wood Duck]

I think you are not giving pine enough credit. Sure, it is less dense than most hardwoods, but it still is perfectly useful firewood, and lots of people burn it exclusively with good results. I bet your seven acres has lots of smaller hardwoods, and probably some large hardwoods, too. It is hard to find place in the east without hardwoods, even if the largest trees happen to be pine. If pine is what you have, then I say burn pine.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I agree. Don't shortchange the pine. Just think about how many folks have only pine to burn and they get along just fine. The only thing you have to be careful with is to make sure you don't overheat the stove. By starting to burn it in the fall, as the temperature outside lowers you'll be adding more wood and soon you will know if the stove can handle a full load or not. If you get some hardwood, then burn the pine in spring and fall then mix it with the hardwood in the winter.

Good luck and be thankful for those pines. They are beautiful trees.

 

[nojo]

It seasons lickedy split... once split. Split in the spring, stack etc etc- dry in the fall. I'm taking out the pines here as well- making room for more rare natives (walnut, butternut, etc).

I can burn a LOT of pine in a year, though- and it doesn't need to be 100% seasoned for me

Do you burn any in your house or just your kiln?

 

[billb3]

Sell the pine for lumber? Neighbor had someone come in with a portable saw mill and cut everything big enough.
He has several cord of unusable wood and several big piles of stickered drying lumber. Apparently they went 50/50 with labor and product.


I'll be burning lots of pine.
On 10 acres that was stripped to gravel pine came up with the feline willow first.
I'm removing pine from around oaks and pines that are not straight - and there are lots of worthless crooked and double/triple topped ones.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

About half the wood I'm burning in the house this year is pine. I burn it mostly when I'm home, as reloads are a bit more frequent.

 

[Pagey]

I love pine (even though it causes chimney fires, cancer in laboratory mice, and temporary permanent blindness)! :lol:

 

[ColdNH]

Yah, I will gladly swap my 1/4 acre of hardwood property for your 7 acres of pine!

 

[nojo]

I love pine (even though it causes chimney fires, cancer in laboratory mice, and temporary permanent blindness)! :lol:

They say wood burning in general kills. Theres a lot of sites that claim burning wood kills a lot of people from inhaling the particulates. Dunno if I believe it or not. Any truth to the lab rats thing?

As for the saw mill idea I was thinking about possibly doing that. I have a friend with a portable mill.

 

[Henz]

i AHVE 50 ACRES AND JUST logged 30+ of it..All pine and hemlock, got it out of there. there are lots of smaller hardwoods that havent seen the light of day with the towering pines..they do now. looks like hell compared to what it was but overall better for the land.

 

[peakbagger]

If they truly are huge pines and are straight with out a lot of side branches, its a waste to cut them into firewood. I expect if you look around, there will be folks who will gladly pay you in firewood for large pine sawlogs. A lot of timber framers like working with pine and they have a tough time getting large timbers. Once you clear back the pines, hardwoods can grow in, especially if you mechanically cut back the inevitable pine seedlings.

 

[nojo]

I dont want to cut every pine, but I would like to take out a few of them. I would definitely trade for firewood. Know anyone in my area?

 

[Henz]

All of the pine that cae out of my stand went for saw logs. 90% of if was Grade A.

 

[Wood Duck]

I dont want to cut every pine, but I would like to take out a few of them. I would definitely trade for firewood. Know anyone in my area?

If I was going to have pine cut, I'd try to sell it, not trade. For one thing, you'll end up with lots of tops and damaged trees, even if the loggers are careful. Also, you have seven acres, so you can surely find plenty of firewood yourself. Take the money, if you can find a buyer.