There isn't alot of beech in my immediate area. Today where I was cutting was this fairly hefty tree that stood maybe 25' and had been snapped off clean. My dad often says that beech was their wood of choice when it presented itself. So I decided to drop this stump/tree. Everything went fine and I wedged it over to where I was hoping it would go. Proceeded to start bucking it up from the top to the stump. About 3' from the top I noticed it was starting to be hollow in the middle. I kept going...and as I was about halfway thru a cut, all of a sudden a black squirrel came flying out of a know hole at a rapid pace. It pretty much scared the bejesus out of me. As that had never happened to me before. I cut the next 18" piece and it was full of leaves and plastic and shavings after a close inspection. Then I started to cut right beside the knot hole that the squirrel came out of. As I'm sawing away on this piece reflecting on how the squirrel came flying out of the hole, all of a sudden another squirrel comes out of the hole to beat the bear, using my saw as a launch pad to run away.......my heart skipped another beat as I sure wasn't expecting a second squirell....the things that happen in the bush are great.....
A beech full of surprises
- Thread starter mcdougy
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No doubt one to remember.
We did a big red oak once, it was hollow and when we dropped it, it split open and many gray squirrels came boiling out.
We did a big red oak once, it was hollow and when we dropped it, it split open and many gray squirrels came boiling out.
These fellas held tight for a good 20minutes or more after I started the notch to take it down. Scared as all get out or big walnuts??
Did you cook it up on the hot muffler? I'm always hungry while out in the woods
MoDoug
Minister of Fire
hickoryhoarder
Minister of Fire
That doesn't sound good...the big beech make sick young? And they make so many that there isn't room for the maples? I've heard of the beach blight, but since they aren't prevalent in my woods, I have yet to see whats going on. What are the signs of the blight?
The blight has been expanding over North America, the trees have different responses to attack. Normally beech has smooth bark but it scars easy, the local bears will claw they way up when the trees start bearing nuts and the claws will create permanent scars. There are claims that there is some genetic resistance to the blight so some trees seem to make it through while others show the signs real early. Its starts out as black spots, then scars and then pockets of decay to the point where it kills the tree. Beech have very extensive root systems and the roots will remain alive long after a tree is cut down or dies so when the primary tree is stressed it will send up shoots that are clones of the original tree. These sprouts have the benefit of a big root system so they can spring up quickly and out compete all the other trees that will try to move into the area after the big tree loses its canopy.
On my lot it was mostly big sugar maple with a mix of white birch beech ash and a bit of cherry prior to a major ice storm in 1998 (long before I bought the land) that wiped out 75% of the maples and the canopy. The beeches sprouted in and shade out the other species of trees. So I end up with big stands of sick and dying small beech. The only way to knock it out is girdle or cut the beeches and then apply herbicide to the scars. There are usually some other species mixed in, so by killing the sick beeches, the remaining species can grow up and eventually shade out the beech. The problem is that this takes decades and except for firewood, the diseased trees are not worth much. That is why most folks girdle the big trees and let them rot in place and cut the small stuff. One or two acres is a great project for firewood but 40 plus acres with marginal access is another story. The reality is with my lifespan, anything I do in the next 20 years will be for some future owner. The lot adjoins a town forest (largest one in NH) and all they did was clear cut some of the worst patches and brush hog it every few years to kill off the beech roots and keep at as a wildlife opening.
On my lot it was mostly big sugar maple with a mix of white birch beech ash and a bit of cherry prior to a major ice storm in 1998 (long before I bought the land) that wiped out 75% of the maples and the canopy. The beeches sprouted in and shade out the other species of trees. So I end up with big stands of sick and dying small beech. The only way to knock it out is girdle or cut the beeches and then apply herbicide to the scars. There are usually some other species mixed in, so by killing the sick beeches, the remaining species can grow up and eventually shade out the beech. The problem is that this takes decades and except for firewood, the diseased trees are not worth much. That is why most folks girdle the big trees and let them rot in place and cut the small stuff. One or two acres is a great project for firewood but 40 plus acres with marginal access is another story. The reality is with my lifespan, anything I do in the next 20 years will be for some future owner. The lot adjoins a town forest (largest one in NH) and all they did was clear cut some of the worst patches and brush hog it every few years to kill off the beech roots and keep at as a wildlife opening.
Maybe we should learn from this, always have TP and some extra underwear with you when cutting beech.
I would always leave the beech alone and wait for mother nature to fell it but since they just get hollow and more dangerous, I started taking some when I notice they're going bad.
Caw
Minister of Fire
I came here for bikini pics but the squirrel story was a pleasant surprise! 
Buddy of mine who has/had a sugar bush farm had me cull all the beech in a certain section. Worked out great for him and I. Free beech wood for me, cleared section for him. He said the same as you about beech not being good for sugar maple in terms of blocking out the sun, competition for the nutrients and something about the beech can affect the taste or production of sap. In any case, most all of the beech was blighted.
I would invite you over and point you at a patch but the drive from the Bangor area is a bit long and most folks would be scared off by the logging roads needed to get to the worst areas inside the lot 
Still a great deal for you and your buddy. I swear that blighted beech tends to dry a bit quicker since the bark is disrupted but it also rots quicker.
No doubt any non maple species in a sugarbush will eat into sap production. Sap production is mostly a function of how many green leaves are getting sun. Get rid of competing species in the canopy and the maples will have more space for leaves. Once the canopy is filled out with maples there are not many competing species of trees that can grow in but most sugar bushes start as either natural or unnatural disturbance. In my case it was an ice storm but a clear cut can do the same thing. The problem with sugar maple reproduction is they like the soil "sweet" (alkaline) and eastern New England can have "sour" soils. Some of that is just geology due to the underlying rock but there is also an impact from years of heavy acid rain deposition. I think red maples are more tolerant of sour soils and seem to regenerate from sprouts far more than Sugar Maples.
Still a great deal for you and your buddy. I swear that blighted beech tends to dry a bit quicker since the bark is disrupted but it also rots quicker.
No doubt any non maple species in a sugarbush will eat into sap production. Sap production is mostly a function of how many green leaves are getting sun. Get rid of competing species in the canopy and the maples will have more space for leaves. Once the canopy is filled out with maples there are not many competing species of trees that can grow in but most sugar bushes start as either natural or unnatural disturbance. In my case it was an ice storm but a clear cut can do the same thing. The problem with sugar maple reproduction is they like the soil "sweet" (alkaline) and eastern New England can have "sour" soils. Some of that is just geology due to the underlying rock but there is also an impact from years of heavy acid rain deposition. I think red maples are more tolerant of sour soils and seem to regenerate from sprouts far more than Sugar Maples.
Caw
Minister of Fire
As a fellow New Englander who lives in a red maple strand I agree with that assessment. The majority of the trees on my 2.5 acres are red maple with some oak and yellow birch mixed in, plus two random giant poplar trees that someone likely planted back in the 80s during construction. We used to have a fair amount of ash but its all long standing dead now and the red maples took over. Ive taken down 5 x 15" ish diameter ash trees alone this year...all sub 20% fresh cut. The ash borer does serious work around here.
We have a few sugar maples in the neighborhood but they are mostly yard trees that were planted at some point. The surrounding areas are mostly pine, oak, maple, and trees formerly known as ash. Ive made a lot of friends in the area taking away their fallen ash!
I make syrup from the red maple and it always turns out pretty well, I just need to use more like 50-60:1 gallons versus 40:1 ish for sugar maple. I also thoroughly enjoy the early dropping/colorful leaves in the fall from the maples/birch. Wayyyyyy less work than oak. Freaking oak leaves/acorns suck to clean up.
We have a few sugar maples in the neighborhood but they are mostly yard trees that were planted at some point. The surrounding areas are mostly pine, oak, maple, and trees formerly known as ash. Ive made a lot of friends in the area taking away their fallen ash!
I make syrup from the red maple and it always turns out pretty well, I just need to use more like 50-60:1 gallons versus 40:1 ish for sugar maple. I also thoroughly enjoy the early dropping/colorful leaves in the fall from the maples/birch. Wayyyyyy less work than oak. Freaking oak leaves/acorns suck to clean up.
You also have a major beneficial introduced invasive animal in your yard, the earthworm. In any of the areas of New England impacted by glaciers (all of Mass VT NH and Maine), the last glacier removed all the native earthworms. The worms were brought back with farming of the low lands but the woods in the hills were not farmed (they were cut for fuel and used for sheep pasture but no farming). Earthworms convert the leaf litter quickly into soil making a thin duff while areas without worms tend to have a far deeper "duff". Sugar Maples and Yellow birches will only naturally regenerate in deep duff. They can be planted elsewhere but if there are worms around they tend not create seedlings naturally.
I would invite you over and point you at a patch but the drive from the Bangor area is a bit long and most folks would be scared off by the logging roads needed to get to the worst areas inside the lot
Still a great deal for you and your buddy. I swear that blighted beech tends to dry a bit quicker since the bark is disrupted but it also rots quicker.
No doubt any non maple species in a sugarbush will eat into sap production. Sap production is mostly a function of how many green leaves are getting sun. Get rid of competing species in the canopy and the maples will have more space for leaves. Once the canopy is filled out with maples there are not many competing species of trees that can grow in but most sugar bushes start as either natural or unnatural disturbance. In my case it was an ice storm but a clear cut can do the same thing. The problem with sugar maple reproduction is they like the soil "sweet" (alkaline) and eastern New England can have "sour" soils. Some of that is just geology due to the underlying rock but there is also an impact from years of heavy acid rain deposition. I think red maples are more tolerant of sour soils and seem to regenerate from sprouts far more than Sugar Maples.
Good point about drying and rotting . . . I know my buddy suggested processing the beech sooner rather than later due to his experience with the wood rotting relatively quickly when left in the round.
P.S. Thanks for the invite . . . always thought some day hearth.com should host a get together . . . post-Covid of course.
Caw
Minister of Fire
Thats very interesting about the worms. Come to think of it, my yellow birches are in a very specific I'd say 20x40' area by my pond/brook/road in the front of my house but nowhere else. They are pretty big at this point but sounds like they were likely planted wheras the ash/red maple/oak is definitely native.
The poplars are huge and nice shade trees but they are both females so it in June or so it starts snowing in my yard for a couple weeks. Literally the whole lawn will look like we got a dusting of snow.
I have a very cool butternut tree on the side of my property but I'm not sure how long it is for this world. Its large but at a weird angle. Ive had to take 2 big limbs off and we lost another to snow this year. We'll see. Its crummy firewood so I hope it survives. I have one healthy American elm and black cherry as yard trees up front which are fun...not many healthy elms left here, I put a tire swing in it for the kids. No hickory on my property but there is some in the neighborhood. I wish the ash was still around but its toast.
I'm not sure I've seen a single beech anywhere.
The poplars are huge and nice shade trees but they are both females so it in June or so it starts snowing in my yard for a couple weeks. Literally the whole lawn will look like we got a dusting of snow.
I have a very cool butternut tree on the side of my property but I'm not sure how long it is for this world. Its large but at a weird angle. Ive had to take 2 big limbs off and we lost another to snow this year. We'll see. Its crummy firewood so I hope it survives. I have one healthy American elm and black cherry as yard trees up front which are fun...not many healthy elms left here, I put a tire swing in it for the kids. No hickory on my property but there is some in the neighborhood. I wish the ash was still around but its toast.
I'm not sure I've seen a single beech anywhere.
Caw
Minister of Fire
Everyone bring their favorite splitting axe + whiskey and we have have a big bon fire, drinking, and wood splitting evening!
Sounds like Saturday night during splitting season at my house lol.
