The Forestry Forum

Greetings! Been lurking for a while, but signed up to post a question finally:

2 years ago, bought 4 acres of nearly 60 year old planted red pine. Had it thinned this year (Basal area from 200 down to 130ish, 315 Trees/Acre down to 175 or so) The cutting was in late June/early July. Last week, I had someone come out w/ an ASV120 and Fecon grinder and grind up a lot of the slash and some stumps.

One of the operators scraped a couple trees with the back of the ASV, one I didnt' notice until later. One of the red pines that was scraped is RIGHT on the border of an area where we want to later build a cabin. I'm guessing an area of bark about 8" x 6" has been removed entirely. What can I do to maximize the potential of keeping this tree alive and healthy? I've read about chiseling the bark smooth/straight around the wound to allow for better healing of the edge, and otherwise, just monitoring the tree from there. Given that this is red pine, and not hardwood, do you still think I should chisel around the wound? Anything else I can or should do? What should I watch for to determine health of a 70 ft red pine? (Hard to see the needles up close!)

Thanks!

-Nate

I wouldn't do anything with them. Red pine is quite resilient. I've seen Red pine with extensive fiber damage, 1 or 2 inches deep, that survive just fine. Just a bark scrape will seal over with pitch and won't be a problem.

If its just a scrape of the bark and not a deep cut into the cambium (outer wood layer) the tree should be alright. The "shinny wood" will heal over soon.

Nate R,welcome to the forum.
That time of year the bark comes off REAL easy. Hard to work around trees without hitting them.