Hurricane Tree Help

[Ihookmup]

Hi everyone, new guy here and needing some help. 

We are in North Florida and were recently hit with the eye of hurricane Idalia. We now have 20 acres of massive uprooted oaks and split bent over pine. I would like to save as much of it as I can to use for projects around the property but I have a full time job and will be traveling over the next couple of months. 

The pines; many are 40-70' and are hinged within 7' of the base. Can I debark them where they lay since the trees aren't really on the ground? Then transport them to a stack in a month or two for lumbering/use?

The Oaks;  Most of the Live Oaks are massive and too large for any of my equipment to move. I know at some point I will have to either rent equipment to move them or something. For now, how long until these 4-8' diameter Oaks start to rot?  Would debarking areas of them help slow rot?   And here is my crazy idea; Can I do deep wedge cuts and then use a chainsaw mill to pull as many slabs off as I can?  

[beenthere]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum.

The pines will be the first to "go south" and need your attention. The live oaks will not need that attention and will not decay in your lifetime. So attend to the pines first and salvage what you can in your time frame. 

Some pics of the devastation will help with more suggestions of what and how to get some help from others. Many here are willing to help with your decisions. 

[customsawyer]

Welcome to the forum.
If your pines broke off as in the root ball didn't come up with the tree then they are usually split pretty bad and there won't be much good lumber in them. As to the live oak they will be able to last a while but will have the most value the sooner you can get them dealt with. Don't plan on trying to get any lumber from their limbs. To much stress. They can be marketed to some old time boat builders if you find the right market though. I made some nice quarter sawed paneling from some live oaks that were taken down in Sav. They had to come down for a new school to be built, so they brought them to me to saw and  they put it on one of the walls inside the school.
What part of FL. are you in?

[Don P]

If they did tip over with the root ball bear in mind the root ball can flip back upright into its hole as the weight/stress is relieved, don't find yourself in the path or in the hole. Also look out for anything trapped under tension as you release it. One of my partners friends recently had his face rebuilt from a springpole, we are tiny creatures to those kinds of forces, be very careful in storm damaged woods.

[Ihookmup]

Live Oak, FL 



 

 

 

 I figured out the uploading of pics to my gallery, but can't attach them here. It's difficult to get a scale of the whole property but basically everywhere you go is the same of at least one of these pics.

I am being super careful with all the tension that even some of these little trees are under and definitely appreciate the cautionary advice. I have no ego in this. I'm new, and don't know anymore than I've watched on the interweb about tree felling, bucking and all.

[Ihookmup]

 

 

 

 

 

[beenthere]

You have great pics in your gallery. Done good getting them there.

Now just "click here to add Photos to post" blue highlighted bar. Then on what opens up, click "My Gallery". There click on your pics and then the line that states "Click here to insert image in post".  

Say a couple words for each pic posted (rules are at the bottom of every page) and insert a line or two between pics to keep them separated.

Okay, see you got it done. Awesome

Dangerous work to get done there, be careful and let us know how it goes.

[Ihookmup]

Thanks,

I'm definitely taking it slow, and staying away from the ones I'm not comfortable with.  Luckily those are mainly big Oaks and sounds like I have some time which will give me options for help.

[Ron Scott]

As previously stated. Very dangerous trees to salvage, especially if you do not have experience in harvesting storm downed timber.

It is best to obtain the services of an experienced professional logger who has experience and the proper equipment to safely salvage such timber. 

[Ihookmup]

I wish that was an option for all of it. It is for some of it for sure. Unfortunately, hiring a company to do 20 acres is a cost prohibitive. 

[Southside]

Lifetime nursing care is quite costly too.  Seriously, that is no job for someone who has no actual experience cutting timber, no offense intended.  The problem is the combination of tension, springpole, crown support, root ball weight, compromised integrity.  Endless combinations of the worst situations there.  You need a skidder, ideally a grapple but a cable would go a long ways too.  There will be trunks you need to nudge, lift, roll, root balls that need support.  There will be tops that you need to push out of the way.  That's a mess, and a dangerous one too.  I suspect the pine is going to be a disappointment given the looks of things.  

We had a 30 year ice storm roll through here two years ago, I have seen acres and acres of what you have there.  Some of my own I was stubborn enough to try and salvage, it wasn't worth the effort.  I tried to leave some trees that weren't destroyed but badly damaged - again, not worth the effort as they all either broke off or died in a year or two.  

[lxskllr]

Storm cleanup is some of the most dangerous work you can do in forestry. A guy I knew online was killed this year doing storm work when a hanger no one saw hit him while he was cutting a tree. Killed him instantly. This was a professional that did some very fine treework.

What I'm saying is you need to carefully consider where you're going with this project. I'm skeptical you'd get much good lumber. The oaks have the most promise, but you have to get them down and move them. Big saws and big machines. There's a lot of good firewood there, but Florida...

You could work around the margins taking care of some of it, but 20ac is a lot to do by yourself, and working alone is ill advised. If you take it on, I hope you're at least fully geared up. Chaps, helmet, cell phone, first aid kit, the usual...

[barbender]

 Guys with years of experience wouldn't want anything to do with cutting that. Maybe a couple of trees, but that's about it.

 If you're new to chainsaw work, that is about the worst possible scenario to start out in. I'm not trying to be dramatic, every stick I see in the pictures you posted is loaded with energy. It's like diffusing a bomb on every tree.

 I've hand cut a little bit of salvage. It is slow, slow going. I've worked a lot of it in cut to length equipment. To start with, our stumpage rates (what was played for the wood) were usually half or less than standard rates because of the decreased production. It was a good place to damage machines because of all the bent tree stems sticking out at all angles. 

 Not trying to sound like too much of a Debbie Downer, but it is what it is.

[customsawyer]

There is a lot of work in there with very little reward. I would maybe try to get the few best oaks out of there and that would be it, if that. I don't see much that is worth risking ones life for. Why don't you get one of local state foresters to come out and look the site over with you. He might even have some advice for you. There should be some other clean up crews working around you. Go sit and watch them for a while and you will get a better idea of the dangers we are talking about. Please don't go out there with little experience and alone. Just about every tree in those pictures can be a widow maker if you don't understand the forces being applied. Maybe go rent a good sized excavator or dozer and get after it that way.

[NE Woodburner]

I'm not a professional logger, but I've been cutting wood for almost 50 years since I was a kid, so I have some experience. I recently helped an elderly neighbor who had a micro burst or something similar come through his property. It affected less than an acre, but some of the trees were quite large and it was a twisted mess. A few were uprooted and I got a couple of decent logs for him out of those, but the rest of it was cracked or otherwise damaged. It took me a lot longer to clean the mess up than I thought it would. You really have to untangle the mess methodically and try to anticipate what is going to happen with almost every cut you make.

I was able to do the work for him with no one getting hurt, but it was a challenge and I'm not sure I would do it again.

[Ihookmup]

Thanks again everyone for taking the time to extend your knowledge and your concern for a guy you don't even know, I do truly mean that.

No offense has been taken to any of the words of caution and the very accurate statements about my lack of experience and skill in this area. So please, do not feel like your being a downer, hurting my feelings nor otherwise offending me by saying it how it is.  It truly is what it is and I am where I am.  

I may have painted a broader brush with my DIY plans than I intended to in my first few posts. I do not have any intend on trying to clear my entire 20 acres, most of it will be left to slowly rot away, determine the most worthwhile areas to pay professionals to come in and clear/haul out for me, or work itself out with the normal weather cycles.  

My hope was to start learning how to harvest/lumber on some of the less complicated trees that are bent over access roads or are already on the ground well clear of other trees and such.  It sounds like most of the wood is better used as firewood and not very lumber worthy?  It is positive to hear the oak may last a while as it may take a while to have them hauled out to a place that I can work on them.  

Because we are using this as an agriculture/christmas tree farm we were able to apply for some assistance and hopefully that will assist in defraying the cost of professional removal/clean up. Unfortunately, that process is very slow and some of the available programs are not retro-active to work already done.  I was hoping to preserve some of the wood in the event it could be used once it had been cleared out.  Again, I hear you all, maybe just the Oaks will make it.

It's so upsetting seeing all that good pine go to waste.