culling question

[breederman]

I have a stand of mixed aged,mixed species woods. Have been cutting obvious firewood stuff for several years. My question is about taking off large branches that grow off of mainly cherry, should I just take them off to improve growth or leave them on?Some of the trees will never be anything but firewood.Also soft maple clumps should I leave the best  stem or take the whole thing?

[breederman]

Thanks in advance
       Craig

[beenthere]

I think of it as a work of art, and you are the artist. You will need some idea of what you want to manage your timber for - be it pulpwood, sawtimber, firewood, veneer, (and combinations of each), -- a cycle of time involved (payback soon or long term), -- time you have to invest (in between the trips between the bulls and the cows  ;D  ???  :D ).

Regards the specific cherry limb question, I'd leave a good size limb on a tree if it was not restricting the growth of a high-potential adjacent tree, because its adding more wood at a faster rate (larger diameter) for more 'firewood'. I'd remove the limb if it would improve the future quality of the remaining bole of the tree for potential high value sawlog. Likely not the case with a large limb on a tree, as its removal is probably too late.

Soft maple clump: Depends on if removing all but one stem leaves the area productive for your future stand. Maybe it is the best for your remaining stand (surrounding trees) to remove the entire clump. Maybe you are not at that clump with your firewood removal equipment, so it is not cost effective to take any of the stems, or that they are not the right size for your firewood operation.

So, there are no easy cut and dried answers, in my opinion. It all depends on your situation now (need or want firewood, need or want money), your needs and wants for next year and those years in the future, and the overall plan you have (or should have) for your forest. Just remember that large trees put more volume of wood on in a year than do small trees. But that too has its limits.

Good luck. You might even want to get some local forester to help you make some of these decisions.  You will likely get some good ideas from this site too!

[breederman]

thats about what I thought and have been doing.I think that it has been discussed around here but I could'nt find it.I learn alot hanging around with you guys! Thanks

[Ron Scott]

Sounds good! Determine your management objectives for the timber stand and manage for the best tree in place. If you are doing the harvest by hand methods (chainsaw) you can be much more selective in what is done.

As stated, its always good to have your local conservation district forester or consulting forester look at your stand specifics for specific advice.

[woodmills1]

One piece of advice that was very interesting to me was to not make decisions about what to do/remove while the chainsaw was in your hand.  I find if I am looking at my forest while walking through it I think in a certain way.  When I am riding the tractor/loader with the saws ready to cut I am more into a production and maximizing my time thought pattern.

[breederman]

James, I think that is good advice,I like to carry some survey tape with me when walking to mark trees with.I do more walking than working in the woods it seems like and often change my mind about what I want to do. Alot of times, just like every thing else in life, it seems that if you wait long enough the correct decision becomes obvious.

[woodmills1]

In our wood stove and cook stove I like to burn the standing dead wood from our forest.  If I was just going to the woods to cut any old tree for fire wood it would be short and sweet.  Going out to look for the standing dead forces me to do a lot of walking with the tractor shut off and the saws still in the bucket.  This really allows me to get a good overall picture of the woods, like finding the best stands of straight northern red oaks, the black and white birch, the few maples and hickories and the little stand of beechnut.  The tractor loader is very light on the forest floor, but being so long my walks also allow me to plan for future access to harvest saw timber.