Mid log rot

[CCC4]

These last 2 tracts of hardwood have been a real let down as far as rot. Gorgeous timber, 2 different regions, different types of soil and lay of the land...same rot issues.

For one, this big White Oak sale I am on is not impressive at all. Pretty strange set of timber...basically 3 generations all together. There are rows of old timber...no fence so I am going to assume wind breaks for cotton fields. The 2nd gen came in scattered. They are fairly short and wide topped, clear for a ways but taper out or just end at a top. #rd gen came in thick, they are tall and spindly, just around perfect scrag size and they make up 85% of the total timber. The 3rd gen is dying out....maybe 15% or so is dead standing. I am only cutting the 20" and up timber. This cut is really going to improve this stand over the next 30 years or so.

The rot...a lot of the trees have a knot about knee to waist high from a secondary leader that went away and healed over. Everyone of them has a doughty spot in the butt. I actually found this so frequent that I just cut above the bulge and go on. So the butt ends get clear, the top cut on doubles and triples is clear...yet last night a load got culled something terrible...the rot is in the middle of these trees. So frustrating I cant stand it. We only haul on pole trailers and a bunk trailer set up for doubles. If we have to start bucking on the landing, im going to lose time, product and they are going to have to get another trailer...

Any of you guys run into mid tree rot very often?

[Mountaynman]

we have a lot of that up here bub on the abandoned farmland we are cutting with 80 to 100 year old growth sometimes take 2or 3 ft off the but to clean them up then when bucking top logs rot in center cutting a big ash job now just had a patch on hilltop with windshake to shame big wood lots in the 30" range imagine they will send it for scrag all the ash is dying anyways they might as well get something out of it while they can

[treeslayer2003]

sounds like they are way to close together. i run into it once in a while but not the whole stand. happens to tulip if it gets to old.

[RHP Logging]

Last job I cut had a bunch of rot all over the tree. The red oak much worse then the white. It was old wood and definitely pastured in the last 50 years. When you start seeing lots of squirrels usually best to leave them to it.