Logging Rejects and Slash Bonanza

[jebatty]

We have a Golden Wing Warbler and wildlife management logging plan being implemented on our property, along with a pine and spruce thinning, which also is resulting in a bonanza of rejects and slash for stovewood, far more than I need or can use. The upside is that I don't have to bear the risk of cutting down the trees. The downside is getting the wood out. Most of the birch I sell to neighbors for their fireplace burning, aspen (popple) for our wood stove in the living room, and mixed pine and hardwoods for our Tarm gasification boiler in the shop. A few pictures tell the story.

 

[Jon_E]

Holy cow, that seems like a crazy amount of work to clean up that mess for firewood. I'm just lazy enough that I'd try to rent or borrow a mini excavator or something with a grapple to pick up all of those pieces and stack them so that they would be easier to cut. I hate dealing with the little stuff, even though it's always good firewood.

 

[jebatty]

I'll just be taking the bigger stuff. In 2-4 years that "mess" will be lush, green new growth, perfect for woodcock, grouse, deer, and the ground nesting Golden Wing Warbler. Deer already are browsing the fresh slash.

 

[iamlucky13]

Aside from the nice haul of wood, I'm confused.

So the state is doing this on your property but on their dime? Is it compulsory or voluntary?

The warblers must nest in mostly open ground?

What are they doing with the wood they're hauling out on that articulated truck...assuming that's not your fancy piece of equipment?

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Man, that Birch looks real nice.....great picture!

 

[jebatty]

So the state is doing this on your property but on their dime? Is it compulsory or voluntary?

Our logging is purely voluntary, except for an incentive payment, and we pay 100% of the costs and we receive 100% of the proceeds from the logging. The USDA/NRCS provided the educational material and forester assistance to plan a harvest in the aspen/birch area that would provide both high quality breeding habitat and also cover habitat for the fledged young warblers, along with an incentive payment. The incentive payment helps to offset the loss of timber value related to mature trees cover habitat which are left in the harvest area. We also set aside surrounding forest cover area for 10 years for no logging, again to insure maximum quality habitat for the GWW. Our set aside area is generally young forest and we normally would not be logging this area anyway within 10 years.

Our area of MN, as mentioned in the reference which follows: "Minnesota has the highest remaining density of Golden-winged Warblers, with about half the global population." And the involved area of Minnesota is roughly the NE quadrant which is heavily forested." [URL="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Golden-winged_Warbler/lifehistory/"]GWW[/URL]

The warblers must nest in mostly open ground?

Tangled thickets, as the GWW article states.

What are they doing with the wood they're hauling out on that articulated truck...assuming that's not your fancy piece of equipment?

The machine shown in the picture below the birch picture is a cut-to-length harvester. It grabs the tree, cuts the tree at about 6" above the ground, rotates the tree to a horizontal position, simultaneously shears the branches and cuts the stem of the tree into 100" lengths. The tree stem is usable down to about 3-5" depending on its condition at this point. The sheared branches are dropped in front of the harvester so that as it moves through the forest it drives over the branches rather than tearing up the ground. Driving over the branches also breaks them up to a fair extent and scars them, which aids a speedy decomposition of the slash. The harvester then drops the logs in piles through the harvested area.

The articulated machine is a forwarder. It drives through the cut area, picks up the logs, and then forwards the logs to a landing area and stacks them. Logging trucks then arrive, load the logs, and haul the logs to the mills. Different mills take different species (pine, spruce, aspen, birch are the primary trees in our forest lands).

The slash area is not "pretty" immediately after a harvest. I scavenge this area for rejects and trimmings for stove wood. But in 1-4 years new growth of young trees and shrubs springing from the roots in the aspen/birch area are abundant, the slash is not visible, and the slash soon decomposes to add to the soil and support a new forest.

The pine thinning harvesting operates similarly, except that our pine/spruce thinning is from densely planted trees planted years ago. Not too much grows in the understory of a dense pine/spruce forest. The thinning leaves quality trees with adequate exposure to sunlight and soil resources so that they continue to grow into future, high quality mature trees for lumber, etc. [/URL]

 

[Knots]

Thanks for the informative post.

 

[peakbagger]

Looks like you are processing the white birch quickly but if you do have to leave it log length, run a chainsaw down the length of each log about 3/8" deep. It will substantially delay if from rotting.

 

[ozzy73]

Looks like you are processing the white birch quickly but if you do have to leave it log length, run a chainsaw down the length of each log about 3/8" deep. It will substantially delay if from rotting.

Curious how does this help ?

 

[peakbagger]

White birch bark acts like wrapping a log in plastic, the moisture in the log rapidly moves to the inside of the outer bark and is stopped there. The log starts rotting quickly under the bark. In a tree length log, rot will start in months. If you score the inner bark, the moisture has a way to migrate out of the log. On larger logs the bark will start peeling along the score and further allow moisture to escape. On large logs I double score and have waited over a year to cut and split with no sign of rot. This type of rot can occur with birch rounds cut 16" long as well as long logs. Cutting and splitting so that at least 1/2 the face of the split is raw wood is the way to go but scoring buys you some time. I find that if the birch is cut and split it lasts in a wood pile just as long as maple but if its just unsplit rounds the pile is just about useless in a year.

 

[jebatty]

I thought about scoring and decided not to, and yes, I am processing the logs quickly. I'm almost done sawing the logs into 16" lengths. Those about 5-6" diameter and above will be split, many less than 5" diameter also will be split, and the rest will not be split. Split pieces may be stacked and left outside to dry or may be moved into the wood shed. Non-split pieces will be moved into the wood shed and out of the weather. I have not experienced any rotting from small diameter birch left to dry in the woodshed and not exposed to the weather.

 

[blacktail]

Looks like a win on many levels! I see firewood, habitat, and venison in the future.

 

[jebatty]

The aspen clear cut already was one of our favorite venison sites, and with the new growth, other access to cover, and being next to an alfalfa field, it should be much better. Looking forward to future hunting.

 

[iamlucky13]

Thanks for the additional info and pictures. I found it very interesting.