Hi all,
I am new to all this and just bought some land in New Hampshire to build a cabin on (Thornton, near Welch-Dickey trailhead). I don't have any family or friends who do forestry, and though I've cut down a few small trees before, there are a lot of widow makers on my land, which makes me too nervous to jump right in. When I say a lot, I mean like 3 out of 10 trees in some spots, kinda close-packed. Mostly ash dead from emerald ash borer, but a few other species as well (beech, birch, maple). The ledge is only a few feet down in most places, so a lot of shallow root systems as well.
Are any of you local and willing to give some on-site guidance? And/or paid help? Better safe than sorry, and I've read too many stories and seen too many videos to think that it's a good idea for a beginner.
Thanks!
L
Congrats on the new place and welcome to FF @WoodenFeet (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=53585) !
I'm not helpful other than saying good on you for knowing how sketchy cutting trees down can be. I hope you find some help!
I am just over an hr from you. I will come over for a consult/walkabout if you make a small donation to the forestry forum.
PM me for more communication
Good on ya for asking for help!
Tried to PM you, chep, not sure if it went through (Tacotodd told me there might be a minimum amount of posts I'd need to make before being able to use the pm function of the website).
Welcome to the forum woodenfeet! When you get a chance, fill in some of your profile info so folks can answer your questions easier or more specifically. You are a smart man asking for help and recognizing the hazards. Is it all ash? Or do you have a mix? The tightness of the stand will also affect how easy it is to get it all on the ground. Take your time and walk away when you have the slightest doubt. Ash is very unpredictable. Not sure if you saw this one, but this happened to me on Monday.
Dead Ash Gone Wrong - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XDM6hB_n9M)
So never assume anything except perhaps that something WILL go wrong. Be safe, keep looking up. I'm sure Chep can help you make an assessment on getting started. Good Luck.
That's pretty wild!
OG's example there is text book. You can not trust a dead ash. They also have a tendency to snap off part way up the trunk. I have bumped them with the cutter head on my buncher and 20' up they just break off, they also like to rain down limbs.
You have come to the right place for the right reasons.
Welcome to the forum!
Quote from: Southside on May 05, 2021, 10:36:43 PM
You have come to the right place for the right reasons.
Learn something new everyday here
Well that did not take long to find some help!!!
Since we go that out of the way. How do you feel about grits? :D
Well as I politely ignore the previous reply ;D I just wanted to say please let us know how this progresses. Photos would be nice as you make progress.
If you are planning on stumping the area where you will build, consider that probably means a large excavator. You might want to consider just notching and back cutting those trees and pushing them over with the machine (assuming it has a forestry cab). Much safer and it can go pretty quick.
I didn't mention in the video above, but just 15 minutes before that tree went sideways I had put a 90' 22" DBH ash right down in the pocket as planned, well mostly. (my notch was aimed such that the top landed about 8' further to the west than I wanted. Normally that would be within my specs (10%), but the top cracked right smack over the center of another stump shattering the top into a bunch of pieces. All good, it was/is just firewood up there. The saw logs are perfect and I think that tree gave us 5 10 footers before the first leader.)
Just take your time, learn the lessons, have a good plan and the right gear, start on smaller safer stuff to get yourself in the groove and get good help. Walk away from anything that makes you say "HMMMM" and revisit it another day with better & bigger tools.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/63585/20210516_171122~0.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1621479224)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/63585/20210516_171005~0.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1621479222)
So what happened is Chep cut a bunch of stuff and I watched and learned. Lots of practice to be had cutting up all he felled, though.
I had a great Sunday fun day on woodenfeets rocky mountain side up there in nh.
The place was chock full of wind throw, dead ash poles, dying ash and widowmaker etc. It was quite a challenging site.
We had a good consult (thanks for your donation to the forum!) Walkaround and then we did some chainsaw safety, situational awareness etc. And got to work.
Now the place looks like hurricane chep swept through!
5 hrs on the saw and the place is a lot safer then it was. A wee cabin site has been opened up. And there is tons of wood on the ground to play with.
Good stuff! Be well
bon_fire
Good on you @chep (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=8183) looks like you got a lot done!
That was nice of you to take time to help a FF member!!
Yeah, 100% appreciated, chep. Looking forward to being part of this community, learning a lot, and paying it all forward some day!
Looks like you got some extremely valuable work and information! Very nice, the FF is awesome.
Be careful out there! Here is a pic of a 100% sound and live ash that I took on the side of the road yesterday.
They put in a very shallow notch 2" into tree and barely two kerfs at widest, and got a serious surprise when it closed up fast and chaired the tree into oblivion
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/37318/IMG_20210519_144536815_HDR.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1621525242)
On chair happy trees get your hinge back to the 50% mark. If youre gonna bore cut the center out, then come in with your back cut an inch or two ABOVE the plane of your borecut, still horizontal. This will leave a step to the hold side of the stump. A mechanical lock or keyway i guess that inhibits barberchair. Credit to loggerwade on that.
One may wish to borecut and set a hinge then cut straight out the back if the lean is favorable to your target and no fancy swinging is going on. I wouldnt try that with dead fiber anyhow.
Good on you chep , and good on you WoodenFeet. Now it looks like you need a mill. 8)