I have a question about the utlity of loppers. It seems that you could hire a crew, buy some loppers and get a bunch of selection, thinning and pruning done in a young stand. I have thought about hiring a boy scout troop or a bunch of sophmores. With some fundamental instruction they could really clean things up.
Typically I see people waiting until the stand requires chainsaw use for thinning. Chainsaws are far more expensive and dangerous. Chainsaw crews are harder to come by. I would use chainsaws as a second entry, when we selected the best trees and establised a pre-harvest spacing. Eventually you would have the commercial thinning event. Then a maturing and superb stand of timber.
Have you seen this type of early intervention work in a young stand.
Thanks Kderby
sounds like a good plan! but only one thing ,where do you find people that realy want to work with manual tools? doing manual labor for what would be cheap wages??then have to worry about a law suit over everything else that comes along with sharp equipment ?? " NOT ME "!!!
QuoteHave you seen this type of early intervention work in a young stand.
Basically thats how everyone grows Radiata pine here in New Zealand. The market here is geared to having that first butt log being 90% clear timber. 75% of the trees value is there, mess up and dont prune the trees early enough and the stand may hardly be worth harvesting.
Labour intensive, yes.
Basically the trees are lift pruned untill the trunk dia is aound 4". That leaves 6 to 9 ft of crown on the tree. The tree may be pruned 3 or more times to get that clear butt log. Unless the the whole length is cleared then you have wasted your time as you dont get a high grade log.
Here is an old post with some pics.
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,2170.0.html (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,2170.0.html)
Ian
When I was in FFA we did that kind of work you might find some out of those classes as most have a forestry class in them may be a little easier to explain what you want assuming ya'll have FFA out there
Chico
Hi,
North West Youth Corps operates out of Eugene Oregon and they do that kind of stuff with youngsters all the time. The run several 6 week sessions spring thru fall. They also have a winter time outdoor school that depending how close you are to Eugene may be feasible for you.
I bet they would give you anywhere between a day and a summer if you wanted them to. Yes you will have to pay them, but like you said, it won't be the same as hiring a pro crew. They will have the lopers and safety gear and all that so you won't have to sweat that part of it.
In other areas Youth corps and outdoor schools exist and might offer similar services...
I wish many landowners would do that. I've recommended to quite a few to thin out overcrowded stands in the 1 - 2 inch diameter size with hand tools. Very few do it. What a shame. They could do a lot of good in a short time and wouldn't have to do anything else in the stand for probably 10 - 15 years.
Boy Scouts can use such projects to meet requirements for a couple of merit badges and rank advancements. Just don't expect too much out of them. Teenagers wear out very fast. If you can get 1/2 a day out of them that will be good. About safety, space them out far enough apart that they cannot touch each other's tools with their tool, 10-15 feet or so. Go in a straight line, don't cross over your buddy's line. Emphasize that this is work, not play. Keep as many adult eyes on them as you can.
Thanks Ian, a picture is worth 1000 words . :)