Thinking ahead for a harvest

[Mountain View]

New to the forum and looking to tap into the vast knowledge within the membership.
I have a 100 acre parcel which is @70 acres hardwood (mainly hard maple, beech, some ash, oak, yellow and white birch) with the remaining being old pasture.
I am at a high point of land therefore the beech do very well.  The property was raped by poor logging @45-50 years ago therefore most of my trees (I have only had the property 4 years) are close in size.  There is a fair bit of crowding in my bush due to similar size trees. Eventually (In my lifetime I hope , just turned 50) I hope reap some financial benefit from the maples being logged. They are tall and straight but all around that 10" at BH.  Thoughts on thinning. Way too much for me to do I would have to bring someone in. I am an hour and a half west of Ottawa.
Paul

[Tarm]

It sounds like you have a classic northern hardwood even aged stand. It was probably given a diameter limit cut 50 years ago. If you have a hardwood pulp/bolt market in your area then a thinning is in order. It is best to get a forester to mark an improvement cutting. The idea is to remove the poor quality, low vigor and value trees, giving the high value (maple, oak, yellow birch etc.) more room to grow. Get the job done by a logger with a processor. That should leave you a stand with minimal damage. Maple trees grow slow but you should be able to turn a 10 inch tree into a 16 inch tree in your lifetime.
Good luck.

[Magicman]

No advice, but Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Mountain View.   

[Mountain View]

Thanks for the advice and the welcome. I am enjoying catching up on the thousands of posts.

[Clark]

You aren't in the exact same area as ehp but he has shown some spectacular logs he has cut (closer to Toronto). It sounds like where he is at has forest management down so that landowners can't high-grade a stand and leave it for whomever comes next.

Be that as it may, I would also suggest a forester. With higher quality timber they will pay for themselves in short order and the continued benefits of growing the best timber will pay dividends over time.

Clark

[Mountain View]

Thanks Clark, I planned on having a forester come in an walk the property with me and discuss what is best.  Have the trees marked then open it up for bids would likely follow.  I have heard horror stories of landowners having the logger set the price only to discover later they undervalued the harvest by thousands.  Does anyone have any ideas on hardwood pulp values, a rough estimate?

[Ron Scott]

Sounds like you are on the right track. Get yourself a certified forester and seek their professional advice in managing your property to meet your objectives. They will know the current prices for the marketable timber products by species for your area.

[WildlandFirefighter912]

New to the forum and looking to tap into the vast knowledge within the membership.
I have a 100 acre parcel which is @70 acres hardwood (mainly hard maple, beech, some ash, oak, yellow and white birch) with the remaining being old pasture.
I am at a high point of land therefore the beech do very well.  The property was raped by poor logging @45-50 years ago therefore most of my trees (I have only had the property 4 years) are close in size.  There is a fair bit of crowding in my bush due to similar size trees. Eventually (In my lifetime I hope , just turned 50) I hope reap some financial benefit from the maples being logged. They are tall and straight but all around that 10" at BH.  Thoughts on thinning. Way too much for me to do I would have to bring someone in. I am an hour and a half west of Ottawa.
Paul

Check the basal area. More than likely thin out the inferior trees.

As others said...find a consulting forester

[Mountaynman]

you wont make much money on the current harvest of pulp but find a forester that has a good reputable cut to length crew with an awesome operator go look at some jobs that they have done and turn the man loose you wont find someone to mark pulp wood anymore or want  to pay the man to do it marking the leave trees wd take as much time the good operators tday make a forestors job a little easier not sure about up there but here after a good thinning we can put a 1/3 of an inch of growth on a tree in the best conditions making a 10" tree a 20" tree in ten years

[lshobie]

HI Paul, did you ever find anyone to check out your property?  I am in the renfrew area and know some people you can trust.

Cheers.

Louie