I'll be felling some hemlocks soon!

[maple flats]

I have an addition planned for adding to my shop. Originally it was to happen this year, it's now only getting started this year. Too many things got in the way. My shop is 14x28, the addition will be 14x32'
I'll start by felling maybe 3 or 4 hemlocks in my woods, most run between 18" up to 28" DBH. Then I'll buck them into desired lengths and pull them out to my sawmill. Along the way, I'll make time to hopefully fix my excavator, it won't start. The starter is believed to be the issue but it can't be seen, can barely be reached by removing a service panel in the top of the hood and I still can't see it. Before the recent heat hit I removed the instrument panel, removed the ROPS with roof, removed the seat and started removing about 16 bolts that hold the hood in place. I also unhooked the air filter, bolted to the underside of the hood, disconnected the valve which switches from boom offset to the thumb. I still need to unbolt the associated valve, mounted on top of the hood. Then after those 16 bolts are removed I think I can lift the hood (engine cover) off. That should expose the starter, which is behind the radiator but partially open (I think) away from the end of the radiator. Then I hope it's just a corroded connection, time will tell. If the starter needs replacing I have an original lined up rather than the poor quality Chinese after market ones, however it's $1395.00.
Once I get that and get the excavator to start I'll need to replace everything, I already bought new bolts in 10.9 grade metric because many were very rusty. As I saw the logs from the first 3 trees, I'll drop maybe 2 more, buck them, and saw them. At the very least I want to get the rafters cut and some other 2x lumber. The siding will be board and batton, that can be sawn as needed.
Then I will use the machine to load the logs onto my manual mill. By mid fall I hope to get enough lumber cut and stickered. If I don't get that far I'll need to switch over to maple mode. I will on days of inclement weather set up my new evaporator and convert it to oil fired. That can be done under the roof and I won't end up getting soaked in the rain.
The new evaporator is smaller than my previous one, but since I will only ever have  a max of 425-550 taps, it will be fine. This next year I'll likely only do 2-300 taps.

[SwampDonkey]

You making room for lumber, or more machines?  Good luck with the harvest and milling. 

[maple flats]

Little or no lumber in the addition, might possibly have 3' wide stacks of stickered lumber in 3  different lengths, the rest will all be outside with metal roofing laid on top with some concrete blocks for weight. However the following year I plan to build an open roof, lean to style along the other side of the shop, maybe 10' deep plus overhang. Then I could stack 8' lumber there 90 degrees to the shop, and longer stuff parellel to the side of the shop. But that would all be another year out, and I'm not getting any younger.

[maple flats]

Maybe I should give a few details. I only have 15 acres wooded, and it was described by my forester as he was helping me design a forest stewardship plan as undulating old lake bottom. I never knew that before he wrote up the report and plan. The 15 acres have about 7-8 acres of good wood and the rest is too low and wet, mostly silver maples and a few reds along the slightly higher edges. The 7-8 acres have a good amount of sugar maples on the highest ground, and reds on slightly lower land. The entire woods have no more than 7-8' of elevation change. On the good portion I also have pockets of hemlock , most large enough to cut are 16-25" with 10 or 12 larger than that. I also have yellow birch, beech in a few spots and several nice black cherries. Additionally I have just a few white oaks, burch, yellow poplar, hop hornbeam and an occasional pine plus several ash, which are being used for firewood as needed, most have died or are dying. I also have a couple of elms but they seem to die at about 10" dbh.
My plans are to cut the ash as needed for firewood, or as they fall on their own, plus cut the larger hemlocks. I think I have more than enough without needing to fell and under 18" except ones that are crowding their neighbors. I still have some black cherry on the ground that I'll make into firewood on some and lumder on what's good enough for a sawlog. 
Way back 20 yrs ago when I first got a Peterson ATS 8", I sawed some cherry that had been on the ground since 1979 and after removing the rotted outer portion the heart was still very good. I had 3 logs about 20-28" at the large end with only slight taper.
Now I've sold the peterson and purchased a Woodland Mills HM130MAX, this is what I'll be using to make the lumber for the addition.

[SwampDonkey]

That'll keep you busy enough. 

[thecfarm]

Sounds like you are having fun in the woods.
Hemlock will make somewhat good firewood.
It will coal down a little.
I burned it in a wood stove years ago,

[maple flats]

I'll only be using it for the lumber, my save a little for diag. bracing. Since I'm trying to get my evaporator set for oil, I won't burn much in the sugarhouse. But I do have a small woodstove for times when I need heat but am not boiling, a little hemlock may end up in their, the slabs, and I'd generally remove the bark.

[Freedy201]

I have an addition planned for adding to my shop. Originally it was to happen this year, it's now only getting started this year. Too many things got in the way. My shop is 14x28, the addition will be 14x32'
I'll start by felling maybe 3 or 4 hemlocks in my woods, most run between 18" up to 28" DBH. Then I'll buck them into desired lengths and pull them out to my sawmill. Along the way, I'll make time to hopefully fix my excavator, it won't start. The starter is believed to be the issue but it can't be seen, can barely be reached by removing a service panel in the top of the hood and I still can't see it. Before the recent heat hit I removed the instrument panel, removed the ROPS with roof, removed the seat and started removing about 16 bolts that hold the hood in place. I also unhooked the air filter, bolted to the underside of the hood, disconnected the valve which switches from boom offset to the thumb. I still need to unbold the associated valve, mounted on top of the hood. Then after those 16 bolts are removed I think I can lift the hood (engine cover) off. That should expose the starter, which is behind the radiator but partially open (I think) away from the end of the radiator. Then I hope it's just a corroded connection, time will tell. If the started needs replacing I have an original lined up rather than the poor quality Chinese after market ones, however it's $1395.00.
Once I get that and get the excavator to start I'll need to replace everything, I already bought new bolts in 10.9 grade metric because many were very rusty. As I saw the logs from the first 3 trees, I'll drop maybe 2 more, buck them, and saw them. At the very least I want to get the rafters cut and some other 2x lumber. The siding will be board and batton, that can be sawn as needed.
Then I will use the machine to load the logs onto my manual mill. By mid fall I hope to get enough lumber cut and stickered. If I don't get that far I'll need to switch over to maple mode. I will on days of inclement weather set up my new evaporator and convert it to oil fired. That can be done under the roof and I won't end up getting soaked in the rain.
The new eaporator is smaller than my previous one, but since I will only ever have 425-550 taps, it will be fine. This next year I'll likely only do 2-300 taps.

Hey!

Sounds like you've got a solid plan for your shop addition. Good luck with felling those hemlocks and getting the lumber cut. Hope you can get your excavator fixed without too much hassle - fingers crossed it's just a corroded connection!

You're taking on a lot of work yourself, but it'll be worth it in the end. Board and batten siding will look great, and prioritizing the rafters and 2x lumber is a good call. Mid-fall seems like a realistic goal, and if not, you've got a backup plan.

Good luck with the evaporator setup too!

[Ron Scott]

Many of the old barns and sheds still standing in this area were built with hemlock.

[SwampDonkey]

I always hated nailing dried eastern hemlock. The nails always bend over or split the board.    One thing them old timers knew was nails, square cut nails, they'll go into that hemlock a lot easier.

[NCWoodsGuy]

I just felled a small Hemlock last week, about 16" at the base. Didn't plan on sawing til fall but here in NC we had a cold snap last few days so I sawed it already. I like milling Hemlock, it's real nice to work with.

[AndyVT]

I just sent off a tri-axle truck and pup load of hemlock pulp and have most of a truck load of hemlock sawlogs ready to ship to the mill. I have been working in my hemlock stand of around  8 acres for the past couple of years. It was heavily overstocked and very dense, dark and crowded. I have been thinning it according to the forest management plan and opening it up for future regen. The majority of trees are small and poorly formed  thus the pulp harvest and the sawlogs are thinned out according to proximity to other quality trees or if they have logging related damage.

[mudfarmer]

Porcupine damage on many of the poorly formed trees? I had big problems with that. And deer get the youngins if they can. Have been doing some studying on hemlock regeneration but need to do more and then DO more. Really beautiful trees, long lives, nice lumber, cool micro ecosystems, just good stuff.

One thing we did a couple years ago is sampling of sap sucker damaged hemlock looking for ring shake vs controls. I have not done anything at all with the data....

[SwampDonkey]

Mostly what I see regenerating under opened up hemlock is fir and red spruce, also very shade tolerant. I see very few new hemlocks. The rabbits will make a few into bonsai. A lot of old hemlocks are left on cut blocks up here, they usually blow down in a cross pile. Makes it impossible to thin the new growth. Has never been much for $$ for hemlock, less than aspen pulp. Can't sell it at all locally, long trucking distances.

[Ron Scott]

Not much hemlock is cut here anymore due to its low market value and lack of regeneration and its sawlogs being prone to heavy shake. Most scattered trees and small stands have more value being left for wildlife wintering and escape and cover areas.

[maple flats]

I use hemlock mostly because it's what I have the most of, I have no pine. Most of my woods is maples, cherry, a few oaks and some beech. But I have about 35 Hemlocks from about 14" DBH up to 28 or 30" DBH, with most in the 18-24" range. Those will be more than enough for the addition and the second roof  a year later. My sugarhouse is all hemlock except for the PT posts, and it's been good, but then it's only 20 yrs old. I made the trusses for a 16' span plus 3' overhang on each side. 2x6 rafters and 2x4 bottom cord and 3 webs on each truss. I did get some shake on just 1 2x4 bottom cord, which I then sistered a second 2x4 to it.
The addition will be 14' wide with 1' overhang, but the rafters will be 2 piece. The shop has a hip roof, I'll run a short rafter (2x4) from the hip to a knee wall, then a 2x6 rafter or maybe a 2.5x6 rafter from the knee wall to the outter wall then out another foot. There I want a short overhang because it will have a driveway running back into the woods beside the addition, and at that point the underside of the roof will only be 7.5- 8' high. Just to keep the hip roof profile. When I add another roof on the other side it will be designed the same, but only 10' wide.

[maple flats]

I had scheduled my granson to help me next Monday, felling some Hemlock and a few dead standing ash for firewood. Now I got a huney do list. I'll need to see if I can get my list done. It will get too hot for me to work after lunch, the forecast calls for 92F, I no longer do those temperatures , about 85 is my max. As such I will likely be done by lunch. We'll see.
After 57 yrs of marriage I know not to blow off a honey do list, or I may not get to 58 yrs.

[maple flats]

I didn't get any hemlock down, but I taught my 15 yr old grandson how to fell a 16" at the stump dead ash. I taught him step by step, he did the cutting. So he could hear my we were using a DeWalt 60V 18" cut saw, freshly sharpened chain. I first taught him to cut the knotch, and how to get it facing the right way. Then I started a plunge cut, and once in about 6" I let him finish it, leaving about 2-3" uncut on the back side and I had him work towards the proper hinge size. While I would have left about a 1.5-1.6" hinge I had him leave a 2" hinge. Then we attached the Tractor PTO winch cable and choker chain on the tree about 8' up. To reach that, He's 6'1" and I had him drive in 3 wedges in the off side. I'd had him cut all but about 2.5" width from the back side. He stood on those wedges and pushed the choker up at least 8' maybe 9'. The winch cable was redirected using a 20,000 lb pulley and a HD 3" sling strap around a 10" hemlock Then I went to the tractor, to run the winch while he cut the remaining back side. I instructed him to run 45 degrees away from the back side of the tree fall, then the winch had no issue pulling the tree down. I had also instructed him to look for falling limbs as and after it fell. All went well. While, using one of my gas saws I could have dropped the tree in about 1/4 the time, I thought it far more important he be taught some safety points. In the end it turned out his hinge was not aimed perfectly, the tree fell about 10 degrees clockwise from the target, but there was no harm. He had the hinge about 2.5" on one side and 1.75" on the other. But he learned a lot about the dangers in felling trees. We then cut the trunk into 5 logs, between 14' and the last one was 20' long This ash was quite straight and was still sound having only died last summer, thus the center wasn't rotten. All saw dust was good color.

[maple flats]

After many delays I'll be dropping some hemlocks next week, I think!

[maple flats]

At least that's my plan. Likely only 2 then start bucking and milling and stickering. Once done I'll drop 2 more and work like that, my available space is liited.