How long can my tops stay on the ground? Black cherry and red pine.

[grandgourmand]

Hi all,

I had my woodlot selectively harvested this year.  The majority of the trees taken out were black cherry and red pine.  Not that it matters, but the Red pine is in a couple stands that were planted many years ago by the government to prevent erosion.  Anyhow, now I've got a couple hundred tops from each species and wondering what to do, and how long I have to do it.  The wood was cut this past June, and the tops have been on the ground since.  I've been cutting a very small amount of cherry for personal use (recreational...I live in Toronto, no wood heating).  Ideally I'd sell the hardwood (there's some maple in there too) to a firewood seller and the red pine too, though I think that's probably worth less.

It's perhaps a bit late to sell this year (I've also got my day job that keeps my busy).  Hoping I can still sell the wood next year.  Is that possible?  I'm afraid the red pine could get punky. 

A local farmer has offered to take all my wood tops to burn.  he uses wood to heat his kilns and greenhouses.  MAybe I'll tell him he can take the pine and leave the rest.  I'd rather someone get use out of it than see it go to waste. 

Anyhow, I'm new to this.  Just wondering if anyone has any advice.

Thanks. 

[beenthere]

A local farmer has offered to take all my wood tops to burn.  he uses wood to heat his kilns and greenhouses.  MAybe I'll tell him he can take the pine and leave the rest.  I'd rather someone get use out of it than see it go to waste. 

It wouldn't go to waste if the farmer took all of the tops and made use out of them.
So let him have the good stuff with the pine, IMO. Won't go to waste, and you won't have a pile of tops laying about to rot down.

[VTwoodworker]

There is not much value in the tops that is why they were left in the woods when the lot was selectively cut.  If you have some one that will take them for them, I would go for it.  It will take a lot of work to pull the tops that are tangled and make wood.

The red pine will rot down quickly and will not be worth anything for firewood soon.  It is not great to begin with as it is my least favorite soft wood to burn in my OWB.

The cherry will be fine until next year.

Good Luck.

[grandgourmand]

Thanks for the advice.  I'll get back in touch with this farmer and let him know he can take the wood.  At the end of the day, all I want is for him to leave behind a few logs for my personal use, which is pretty minimal. 

Might set me up with some free vegetables next year.  My farm is located in a pretty good area for a variety of produce.