Proper thinning of sugar bush

[Dave Shepard]

I have an eight acre parcel of woods that I would like to develop into a sugar bush. It is a mix of maple, ash, black cherry and white pine. I have been culling the ash for firewood, but that hasn't made much of a dent so far. The pines I haven't touched as they add a good bit of diameter every year, so I am going to wait until I have a plan before I cut them. I don't know what the best way to approach the thinning of the non desirable species from the sugar bush, and could use some advice. The SMs range from several mature trees along the field borders, some of which are about 36". There are many SMs in the middle that are 8-16" DBH, so there will be some tappable trees coming soon. I believe that the ideal is to start when the tree is at least 12"DBH

My main concern is what is best for the health of this woodlot. I am not particularly concerned with producing trees for timber, although there are many ash and cherry that will make logs. Here are a few things that I am unsure about. 1. Should I try to remove all non maples from this stand ASAP, so as to release the small maple saplings and reduce non maple competition? 2. Is a maple only forest going to be the healthiest way to go, or should I have a mix of species? 3.Should I remove log and firewood trees a little each year so that I will don't upset things too much at one time, and also so that I get more yield out of these trees as well?

I would appreciate any input on this. Thanks.


Dave

[Reddog]

Not much help on the thinning part. But keep in mind once you tap them they are no longer veneer grade. So if you have some top quality veneer trees you may want to pass over them for tapping. And only tap the lesser trees. Just some thing more to think about.

[Dave Shepard]

Thanks Reddog. I don't think there are any veneer logs in there, at least not maple. There are a few smaller cherry, but I doubt they are veneer either.


Dave

[BBTom]

Dave, I am not a forester, so my comments are more about the sugarmaking.  If the terrain allows, use tubing to collect your sap.  Sugaring is done at the worst time of year to be driving around in the sugarbush.  Compaction around the roots causes lots of problems, and hauling a load of sugarwater will definitely compact. 

I also highly recommend the "health spouts"  that only require a 5/16" tap hole.  They will almost always heal over the first year, where the 7/16 tap hole for the old style taps normally require two years or more to completely heal over.

We do remove most of the Beech that start in the sugarwoods as they are "hog trees" and will spread out take over an area that can support several other trees.  I shy away from monoculture, so we allow most specie to come in naturally.  From time to time, we also remove the SM over 24" to allow fresh new growth. 

Good luck with the sugaring, holler if you want some advise.  Not saying it will be good advise, but it is free.

[WAP Man]

I play around with a few taps also .  The big guys on the field edge  probably have large open grown crowns. These are perfect for sapping and will be heavy producers . As for the " other trees " my take on it would be to leave a range of maple diamters .  If you open things up to much there is a chance you'll be invaded with a lot of undersirable species and you may get some blow down

The best way to achieve a healthy lot would be to clean up any dead or dying trees as well as poorly formed ones. You'll be surprised at how much material you'll salvage .

Pines have tap roots . These tap roots also help firm up the roots of the maples and make them less suceptable to blow down , so you may want to keep those , unless some are interferring with the Crown Developement of the maples. 

Just my 2 cents.

Wapman   :P