Excess Hemlock

[Jack Straw]

I have about a 7 acre woodlot. There too many small hemlock trees that are growing next to good hardwood trees. I have been thinning out the hemlocks. I cut them up and leave them lying there. I consider this a waste but I don't know what to do with them. I have plenty of wood to burn so I am looking for other ideas. Thanks and have a great Thanksgiving!

 

[Jags]

What size of tree are ya talking about?? 2" trees - useless. 6" trees - easy firewood.

 

[Jack Straw]

The trees are anywhere from 1" to 12" but there is no way I could ever burn all of them.

 

[Jags]

Being that easy - maybe consider a small roadside box with an honer system payment?? No big hassle to you and ya might make some toy money. :cheese:

 

[Adios Pantalones]

leave some standing if you can- they're a food source for some critters and are making a comeback I think, as they had some issues for a while. There's areas of NH forest where they replanted them specifically (red pine too)

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Night want to consider leaving a few. Hemlock trees may be few and far between in less than 5 years. Google Wooly Adelgid. It's as far north as Albany and Rensselaer counties.

Matt

 

[Wood Duck]

Hemlock are being decimated by an introduced aphid called the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid. There are lots of stands of dead hemlocks in PA and many other places. I'd save all the Hemlocks because a large percentage may be killed in the next few years, and I think the more you have to start, to more you'll have after the die off (there may not be many left).

 

[homebrewz]

Howdy neighbor. Due to the large amounts of tannic acid in the bark, it used to be used for tanning hides in the 1800's. They would usually strip the bark and leave the rest of the tree to rot, unless it was to be milled for lumber, also an important use. The floors of the house I'm in now are hemlock. The Iroquois and early settlers used to make a tea out of the bark and needles and drink it for the vitamin C content. They also used to make poultices out of it for its properties as an astringent.

I suppose you could cut it up and try to sell it for camp fire wood in the summer and try to put Stewarts out of the bagged firewood business.

 

[firefighterjake]

Around here a lot of the Ma and Pa mills use hemlock for lumber . . . in fact I prefer hemlock for use when building sheds . . . it holds up well . . . not quite as good as cedar, but it's a stronger wood.

 

[Hunderliggur]

If you are going to let it rot, at least build a wildlife brush pile. 20x20x8 high. Crossed 6" poles on the bottom for ground critters to get into the center. Brush piled high on top for birds etc. You can't have too much. When it has outlived its usefulness (compressed too much in a few years), invite the high school youth group over for a bonfire. I got our 4H club to help me start one this year. Boy Scouts are a good source of help also. They'll cut and pile the saplings and tops for you ;-) My state forester reccomended about 5 of the piles on our property. We have about 1/2 of one so far.

 

[Jack Straw]

Around here a lot of the Ma and Pa mills use hemlock for lumber . . . in fact I prefer hemlock for use when building sheds . . . it holds up well . . . not quite as good as cedar, but it's a stronger wood.

I don't know how true it is, but I have been told my hemlock isn't very good for lumber because it is very wet where it grows.

 

[Hunderliggur]

I guess I am in trouble with my Cypress Log House then! They grow where it is very wet.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Hemlock does just fine as lumber. The stuff I've used has been brittle, but that may have been due to the kiln drying process. I have seen lumber yards selling it in the area.


The growing in wet areas is BS. It grows all over the N. sides of mountains in your county. In wet areas, you see them up on decaying stumps and such. They have to start up, out of the water. They can take a stream running over their roots if it is well oxygenated.

Most of the adaptations you would see for plants adapted for wet areas are absent in the hemlock. (Hollow pith, enlarged lenticels, advantitious roots, floating leaves, and a few more I can't think of off the top of my head.)

Matt

 

[RobC]

Bigger hemlock can be a pain to split some times. I second the "easy firewood" approach. I do that with pine. Keep and cut to length anything that is 3 to 5 inches. Split the stuff thats bigger. Harvest the biggest first, if you can, and let the small stuff grow. As well as letting the hard wood grow. I don't burn pine all the time but when I do its real nice not to see your seasoned hardwood pile get smaller.

 

[firefighterjake]

Around here a lot of the Ma and Pa mills use hemlock for lumber . . . in fact I prefer hemlock for use when building sheds . . . it holds up well . . . not quite as good as cedar, but it's a stronger wood.

I don't know how true it is, but I have been told my hemlock isn't very good for lumber because it is very wet where it grows.

Disagree . . . when hemlock is fresh cut it's pretty juicy, but once it dries it hardens up nicely and is wicked tough. I wouldn't use it for building anything really fancy, but for something like a shed that doesn't have to be perfect and where some shrinkage is OK and acceptable -- it's fine.

As for it not being good for lumber due to it being wet . . . one of the best woods in my neck of the woods for rot-resistance and for use when exposed to the elements is eastern white cedar . . . which loves growing in wet areas.

 

[peakbagger]

I helped erect a timber frame barn out of "wet" hemlock (cut 4 months). It was heavy but not hard to work with. The theory is that the barn needs to be built while its wet and then as it dries it tends to warp a bit and lock in the joints. Eastern Hemlock also can get something called "ring shake" where the wood seperates at the grain lines. Papermills ban it as it has small "eyes" that make it through the pulpling process. It also is a real long lived tree that will hang out in the understory for years until the the upper story trees are cut, they then will take over and once they are there, not much will crowd them out. I have seen some real tight ring counts on these understory trees and have read reports of 200 year old trees less than a foot in diameter.

About 25 years ago the chinese were buying every bit of western hemlock they could get. The spotted owl controversy drove up the price of western hemlock so they came east and signed contracts for thousands of cords of eastern hemlock. It was piled up along the Portland Maine waterfront about a mile long and 30 feet high and a couple of stacks deep. After they got the first shipment to China and discovered that is was different wood than western hemlock they changed their minds and backed out of the order, the logs sat out there for a year or so until the brokers found a way to get rid of it.

 

[smokinj]

Hemlock makes good lumber!