Went to Check Out a Clear Cut Operation Today

g_man · February 23, 2018, 05:35:37 PM

This is in a neighboring Town Forest. In 1958, so 60 years ago, a dairy farmer planted a matrix of various softwood plantations on his land in a government program that exchanged cows for trees to cut milk production in the slumping dairy market. The town ended up with the land for lack of tax payments and no takers in the tax sale. They turned it into a town forest. The 2 six acre balsam fir plantations were thinned 20 years ago with the goal of producing regen for a final cut later. There was no regen and the open areas became full of elder berries - only elder berries nothing else. Now 20 years later still no regen and the fir started dying. They found balsam wooly aldegid. So they decided to clear cut it.

A two man crew is doing the job. They subbed out the cutting to a feller/buncher guy. He laid it all down first then they came in with a delimber, a couple skidders, and a slasher. They put the delimber in the clear cut and the slasher in the landing. Here is one of the clear cuts with the delimber in the back ground.

A number of Feller/Buncher piles are pulled to the delimber.

He runs the delimber until he has 2 hitches of delimbed stems then gets into the Cat 525 skidder and pulls them out to the landing.
Delimber and a couple of the skidder picking a hitch and heading down the trail. Sorry about the poor photos.

Here is the slasher in the landing making saw log and chip wood piles.

I thought this was all kind of interesting.

gg

mike_belben · February 23, 2018, 07:34:11 PM

Thanks for sharing. I wonder why it only grew berries

Southside · February 23, 2018, 09:04:31 PM

That is some big fir. What is the plan for the next generation?

sprucebunny · February 24, 2018, 07:22:11 AM

Here is a link with more info on balsam woolly whatchacallits.
Adelges piceae (Balsam woolly aphid) identification, images, ecology, control

Not the same as hemlock or alder.

The gout of the growing tips would be a sure sign.