Logging ERC

RedDirt Cedar · May 02, 2022, 10:36:27 PM

Has anyone ever used a timber processor to cut and limb cedar trees? I'd like to find something more efficient than a chainsaw.

Southside · May 03, 2022, 12:11:13 AM

I have cut some with my Fabtek

nativewolf · May 03, 2022, 08:35:03 AM

@barbender spent a few weeks in the Dakotas on an ERC job and posted some pictures. Not sure he has insight into how well the processors did on the project. We're thinking of doing some in July this year, about 30 acres of so so ERC but it will sell well as fence posts if nothing else.

barbender · May 03, 2022, 08:50:18 AM

Yep, it was in Nebraska actually. On the Missouri River. The processor worked great on the red cedar.

doc henderson · May 03, 2022, 10:16:18 AM

I reach in with a Stihl pole saw to trim the branches, so I do not get green stuff down my neck. 8) 8) 8) It is hard to trim branches with the tree on the ground.

barbender · May 03, 2022, 10:30:20 AM

The stuff we were cutting, we felt sorry for anyone that felled them by hand. It would've been a real battle just getting to the trunk, there were so many limbs!

Cedarman · May 04, 2022, 06:22:34 AM

We used a Patu processor for a few years. Stroke delimber. Worked great. Learning curve is there though. Now most of the cedar comes in tree length that has been run through a pull through delimber. One company can cut, pull out delimb and load 22 ton in 2 hours. 4 loads a day. they can cover us up when they get a good patch.

doc henderson · May 04, 2022, 09:18:01 AM

any pics Cedarman?

barbender · May 04, 2022, 03:10:54 PM

Cedarman, I thought a Patu or similar would be a good answer for that red cedar, on a smaller scale. The Ponsse Cobra with an H6 head devoured it but we were demoing a $1 million harvesting solution...stroke heads look like they have a lot of limbing power for their size, just because of the different way they function. Limby softwoods like plantation white spruce, red pine, and that red cedar don't limb worth a hoot in a roller feed processor head, especially when it gets warm. The limbs get to be like noodles on spruce! I always thought one of the stroke heads would work well in some of these first entry thins we do. BTW, when thinning red cedar in Nebraska I could've swore it was just another northern MN white spruce thin😊

barbender · May 04, 2022, 03:16:03 PM

From my gallery, this was 2 years back I think

Nebraska · May 04, 2022, 03:49:29 PM

I recognize that country.

Resonator · May 04, 2022, 06:48:24 PM

Those were some nice looking logs.

Not all rotten in the center like so many red cedar.

GRANITEstateMP · May 04, 2022, 06:53:34 PM

barbender did it smell good after cutting all that red cedar?

barbender · May 04, 2022, 06:57:27 PM

I actually don't like the smell of red cedar, only because it reminds me of my sister's stinky little hamster when we were kids- red cedar is used for their bedding. But if I put that memory out of my mind, yes, it was quite aromatic! It was a unique experience, no doubt.

Those logs were very nice. There was ugly ones too, I just didn't take pictures of those😊 I sorted for saw logs, posts, and junk that they didn't know what they were going to do with.

Now if anyone thinks they're going to set the world on fire going cut to length in red cedar, hold on a second. With a brand new Ponsse Cobra processor, and one of the most experienced Ponsse harvester operators in the Lake States, we were getting about 25 cords in an 8 hour day. The terrain was extremely challenging (Missouri River breaks), and it was a demo so there was a little bit of stopping to do show and tell. On flat ground we might have done 40-50 cords. The locals who had been cutting cedar for posts were amazed at any rate, the most mechanized ones were using a skid steer, chain saw, and a pickup and figured we did about 2 weeks worth of posts in a day😂 But then, our equipment was a bit more $$