# Cutting down trees in winter



## Starstuff (Dec 14, 2015)

This question has probably popped up a lot, but I'm not yet a hearth.com search Jedi and had trouble finding discussion about it, so please bear with me.

Anyway, I've been told that sap and moisture in a tree tends to descend into its root system during the winter, thus greatly reducing the seasoning time required if the tree is felled during this stage. However, how much it reduces the seasoning time seems to be subjective. I've been told that oak can be ready to burn the next season if cut in the dead of winter. I just thought this was an old woodsman's tale, but now I'm not so sure...

So I cut down a healthy, medium size white oak in March this year. Keep in mind that last winter was brutal here in the Midatlantic. Lots of snow, perpetually freezing temps from December to Feb, with even a couple weeks seeing single digit and negative temperatures. Fast forward to today. and the couple splits I just freshly re-split were in fact down to 17% moisture! Of course, we all know how (in)accurate these meters are, but the wood definitely smells and feels dry. I was also only testing wood on the outer edge of the stack. 

I find it hard to believe that cutting in winter can reduce the seasoning time so much, but not sure what else can explain it.

What are your observations?


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## Lake Girl (Dec 14, 2015)

That may only be part of the consideration ... stack configuration, sun vs rain, average temps, air flow.  

I know the appeal of colder weather (no bugs) and being able to access more remote areas that are low lying (wet) once the freeze hits are factors here.


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## Starstuff (Dec 14, 2015)

Lake Girl said:


> That may only be part of the consideration ... stack configuration, sun vs rain, average temps, air flow.
> 
> I know the appeal of colder weather (no bugs) and being able to access more remote areas that are low lying (wet) once the freeze hits are factors here.



In my case, I cut In early March after the last snow. Sat piled in rounds for about a month getting a bit of rain, sun, winds etc, then I c/s/s on pallets in an inefficient tight square pattern (my property does not allow for long narrow rows of wood stacks) and top covered. So really, not anything in my processing that would favor a fast drying time. We did have a relatively dry summer.


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## Montanalocal (Dec 14, 2015)

If you want to get into old wives tails, I have heard that cutting in the dark of the moon facilitates drying.  Never tried it myself.


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## peakbagger (Dec 14, 2015)

I cut in the winter so I don't have to deal with leaves. A lot easier to pile the trimmings without leaves. The local old timers believe in dropping them in late winter and waiting until the surrounding leaves are out claiming that the buds will pull the sap out of the tree.


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## saskwoodburner (Dec 14, 2015)

Lake Girl said:


> That may only be part of the consideration ... stack configuration, sun vs rain, average temps, air flow.
> 
> I know the appeal of colder weather (no bugs) and being able to access more remote areas that are low lying (wet) once the freeze hits are factors here.



I know one thing, the green poplar I cut in late Oct. early Nov. was heavy as can be, so even if some moisture vacates, there's still a fair amount.

As Lake girl points out, the hard to reach stuff is now easy pickings....slough logging rocks!


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## kennyp2339 (Dec 14, 2015)

I've heard of this before myself, I don't know how much weight this hold though, seems logical. I remember 15 years ago during a severe cold snap, highs in the single digits lows well below zero while working for my old boss him telling another co-worker that a friend of his dropped a huge "live maple" and was able to burn it that night because all the sap ran back to the base of the tree.
To me its kind of a folklore now since I'm heavily addicted to firewood and wood stoves, but I do have a couple tree's lined up in the yard that I want to drop this winter, hopefully it will be real cold and I can see if this holds and weight.


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## Applesister (Dec 14, 2015)

My thoughts about the mythology of tree harvesting is that it is more closely linked to processes of the human mind and emotions than scientific explanation. Our collective unconscious. Which makes it all more limitless but less comprehensible. 
There was some previous research into the term "seasoned" which was believed to historically refer to wood that was collected in the proper season (winter). That this practice occured most likely because all other chores of existence were at a seasonal close, when humans stopped being nomadic and became aggrigarian and started growing food sources. Wood gathering perhaps became a winter activity because time allowed it. It is still widely practiced. I still believe psychologically that I am harvesting trees in the proper time.
Im beginning to grasp the concept that any particular time of year is not any more prudent for harvesting wood over any other time.
I know pruning trees in winter prevents the death of trees thru sap loss and deters the spread of bacteria and fungus. To keep trees healthy and allow them to heal.
I think what trees do in the winter to keep from freezing and exploding like a water pipe is to remove an H- molecule from the H2O molecule and hold the hydrogen molecules and OH molecules in cells as "bound water"
I read an article in Northern Woodlands magazine that the moisture content of trees remain constant (makes biological sense) like humans. A constant percentage of body weight. 
Trees release oxygen that contributes to our atmoshere. To me its just beyond my grasp exactly how dormancy occurs how trees stop taking up water to produce sugars and produce more cells and grow.
Trees use the hydrogen and release the oxygen, I dont know exactly the chemical path that all the elements take or how it works exactly.
The water content of the tree remains the same, its the speed at which the tree takes up water, minerals, sunlight and produces sugars and produces more cells that fluctuates with the seasons, AKA growth rings. Early wood vs late wood.
What I was told was that water does not go down into the roots. In most respects it flows upward and aspirates thru pores in the leaves and bark and out into the atmoshere as oxygen. 
I think the water table in the ground has more bearing on dry wood vs saturated wood(growth rate). In the spring when you cut a tree and sap literally pours out of tree wounds is when the tree is at its highest levels of biological activity.
If what I understand is correct then maybe cutting trees in the spring would expidite the seasoning process by virtue of the tree being at its most chemically active.
This "perspective "is my theory. Its open for despute.


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## johneh (Dec 14, 2015)

Cut all my wood in December and January bucked split and stacked February, March
piled north, south and top covered at all times , Just pulled 2 splits from the
Red Oak and hand re-split moisture content at 18% . This is one year from felling
tree in dead of winter well below 0 this time last year
So maybe it is true about the old wives tail !


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## Starstuff (Dec 14, 2015)

kennyp2339 said:


> I've heard of this before myself, I don't know how much weight this hold though, seems logical. I remember 15 years ago during a severe cold snap, highs in the single digits lows well below zero while working for my old boss him telling another co-worker that a friend of his dropped a huge "live maple" and was able to burn it that night because all the sap ran back to the base of the tree.
> To me its kind of a folklore now since I'm heavily addicted to firewood and wood stoves, but I do have a couple tree's lined up in the yard that I want to drop this winter, hopefully it will be real cold and I can see if this holds and weight.



Like you, I have some trees lined up for cutting: two maples, a cherry, and a beech--all very mature trees. Will be interesting to see what happens and if last year was just a fluke or if there is some truth to all this. I might even get scientific and fell the two maples at different stages of the winter to see if there is a difference.


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## Applesister (Dec 14, 2015)

I had a logger guy tell me something similar to what peakbagger said, who cut trees all year round saying that cutting the tree in full leaf and letting the tree dry out thru the leaves expidites the seasoning. For spring cutting techniques. 
I personally like working in the cold over humidity and bugs. But lately like selecting and marking in August, cutting in September. Better for IDing and culling sick weakened trees. Also have Oct 12th as my deadline date for having wood cut and stacked for following year.


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## woodsHAM (Dec 14, 2015)

I cut throughout the year as the oppurtunity shows. But the bulk of my cutting is done in the winter. I heat with an indoor clayton furnace and do not have a moisture meter so my practice may not work for everyone. Even without a meter, you will still be cutting wood that has a whole year to dry and thats plenty of time for most any wood to get ideal.


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## BenTN (Dec 14, 2015)

I am no expert on this but I think the water will be traveling more during the colder months. The sugar content is higher and the reason they tap for syrup during the frost/thaw cycles of late winter. I think the freeze/thaw is what makes the sap move. I would think a prolonged deep freeze would cause the tree to keep the sap in the ground. Just might work. I do know cutting in the winter helps logs keep their bark, trees cut in summer months tend to shed their bark after little drying.


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## English BoB (Dec 14, 2015)

Montanalocal said:


> If you want to get into old wives tails, I have heard that cutting in the dark of the moon facilitates drying.  Never tried it myself.



I have cut with a half moon showing, damn chicken pants............we now have suspenders


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## Applesister (Dec 14, 2015)

Well I guess there is some science involved in dormancy,  some biology, some chemistry. What happens to frozen water,  in and outside of wood cells, in root cells, in the ground. The theories I've read was the ionized molecule thing. The biological life thing between carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. 
I was told by foresters that logs sell better with bark intact, and Spring makes the bark vulnerable to damage due to the pronounced growth rate of the living cells in the cambium layer just under the inner bark. Where all the tree growth occurs. The cells can seperate very easily then. 
Also,  if you like doing craft work with furniture and logs and want bark to remain on the log it had to be cut in dead of winter for hardwoods that go dormant,  mostly birch. 
But as you guys all know,  all bark comes off wood eventually.


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## Applesister (Dec 14, 2015)

English BoB said:


> I have cut with a half moon showing, damn chicken pants............we now have suspenders


Is that like plumbers butt? 
Or is it Roofers?


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## Oldman47 (Dec 14, 2015)

One thing I noticed when I cut down some mulberry in the spring around budding time was the leaf out that continued on completely severed branches. That has got to be pulling some moisture from the main branch.
At least I thought so and I let it finish.


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## barmstrong2 (Dec 15, 2015)

Applesister said:


> I think the water table in the ground has more bearing on dry wood vs saturated wood


I cut a sugar maple blowdown in October which was on the waters edge. The roots of the tree hung in the water. That was the heaviest damned wood I've ever moved. CSS in early October. I split a piece of it this past Sunday and checked mc, playing with a new meter. It's at 37% now. Wish I'd had the meter when I cut it.


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## firefighterjake (Dec 15, 2015)

I've noticed that whenever I've cut down a tree, bucked it up, split it, stacked it and then waited for a year or two (or three) that it burns quite nicely.


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## MJSully (Dec 15, 2015)

peakbagger said:


> I cut in the winter so I don't have to deal with leaves. A lot easier to pile the trimmings without leaves. The local old timers believe in dropping them in late winter and waiting until the surrounding leaves are out claiming that the buds will pull the sap out of the tree.


It is my understand, as well, that felling a tree in the winter and leaving it is good for deer as they will feed on the buds during the winter.


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## Wood Duck (Dec 15, 2015)

For me the question would be "is it better to cut this tree now (summer, winter, whatever) or should I wait until the preferred season so that the tree will dry out sooner?". Regardless of any advantage that one season has over another, I think the firewood will be ready sooner if you cut, split, and stack as soon as possible rather than wait for a preferred season. The advantage of winter versus summer cutting, or vise versa, doesn't outweigh the benefit of the extra seasoning time gained by cutting rather than waiting. Of course I am just guessing - I haven't actually done a controlled experiment.


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## FaithfulWoodsman (Dec 15, 2015)

Maybe this is only applicable to ash trees, but typically ash seems to be about 10% less wet/heavy in the winter vs. the summer (mid 20's vs. mid to upper 30's). About 70% of what I cut is white ash. This has been true for trees with and without EAB.


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## Applesister (Dec 15, 2015)

firefighterjake said:


> I've noticed that whenever I've cut down a tree, bucked it up, split it, stacked it and then waited for a year or two (or three) that it burns quite nicely.


The 3 yr plan has its merits, the biggest one being that it overrides scientific speculation. And a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush....
Just do it?
Just do it and stop speculating about it?


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## gerry100 (Dec 15, 2015)

Another advantage of cutting in the winter is that its easier to see the trees that should be taken out without the leaf canopy.

I don't often cut my woodlot in the winter but I will "X" the trunk at eye level with my saw so I can just start cutting in the warmer months


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## CentralVAWoodHeat (Dec 15, 2015)

I start cutting firewood from the time all the leaves are down, until roughly the end of March.  All the wood I cut is ready to burn the following season.  Yes, it would burn better if left to season for an additional year but cutting in the winter has always yielded a warm home and a clean stove pipe the following year.  This is especially true for things like pine and poplar.  I purposely cut pine and poplar in huge chunks because of how quickly it dries.  All my oak has higher moisture content but still burns fine.

That being said, I clear trees year round and notice absolutely no difference in the moisture content/weight/appearance of wood based on what time of year it is felled.

When it comes to preference, I prefer to cut in the winter because I am personally very heat intolerant.  Anything over 50F and I seriously overheat.  I'm right at home when it is 10-20F while working in the woods.


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## ADK_XJ (Dec 15, 2015)

Montanalocal said:


> If you want to get into old wives tails, I have heard that cutting in the dark of the moon facilitates drying.  Never tried it myself.


What might the dark of the moon be exactly? Or cutting on the dark side of the moon, perhaps - bet there's low moisture content out there...


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## firefighterjake (Dec 16, 2015)

gerry100 said:


> Another advantage of cutting in the winter is that its easier to see the trees that should be taken out without the leaf canopy.
> 
> I don't often cut my woodlot in the winter but I will "X" the trunk at eye level with my saw so I can just start cutting in the warmer months



Although playing Devil's Advocate here . . . cutting in the summer lets you see which trees are truly dead if there are no leafs on the branches vs. in the winter when most deciduous trees are leaf-less.


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## FaithfulWoodsman (Dec 16, 2015)

firefighterjake said:


> Although playing Devil's Advocate here . . . cutting in the summer lets you see which trees are truly dead if there are no leafs on the branches vs. in the winter when most deciduous trees are leaf-less.


True, which is why I mark them for removal with marking paint. I have had to cut in the warmer seasons to get ahead, but now that I am, most of my cutting will happen in Jan/Feb. Ground is normally frozen, no bugs/briars, and everything is easy to see. Mostly I cut in the dead of winter because not much else can get done outside and I have a little more time, any moisture loss that may or may not happen is a perk.


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## BoiledOver (Dec 16, 2015)

Add me to the list of cold weather loggers, for many reasons. Hard ground, snow cover, no skidding though mud, and less water in the tree. Also, splitting in the coldest temps is best and it is way easier for the Fiskars. A busy firewood processor (human) will appreciate the cold of the winter as opposed to hot summer any day. Brush pile burning in the snow is less likely to cause wildfires.


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## sportbikerider78 (Dec 16, 2015)

I cut trees in fall and winter just to avoid the weight of the leaves and the mess of the leaves.  I burn all my tops and burning leaves just makes a smokey mess and sends ash all over.


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## ADK_XJ (Dec 18, 2015)

sportbikerider78 said:


> I cut trees in fall and winter just to avoid the weight of the leaves and the mess of the leaves.  I burn all my tops and burning leaves just makes a smokey mess and sends ash all over.


second that. Among all the other reasons mentioned, my biggest motivation for cutting in winter is that the foliage is already on the ground and off the trees. Couldn't give evidence but I feel like it saves me TONS of extra time.


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## xman23 (Dec 19, 2015)

Cutting when the tree is not pushing water up the tree is what I do. I haven't tested the seasoning time, but it only makes sense that it helps,


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## JR4AL (Dec 20, 2015)

Interesting read...I am new to using a stove, not so new to heating with wood (open fireplace). My grandfather who heated his home for 90+ years,primarily with wood, told me the best way to harvest firewood was to fell the tree in June and leave it alone until the first frost. Then saw, split and stack it for the following winter. He never told me why but I assumed the summer heat and intact leaves reduced the moisture between felling and sawing. One thing was certain, the sawing after the frost was much easier to handle due to the temps but the bucks were considerably lighter, too. Either way, when he died he was 4 years ahead on his firewood. A hero of mine and he would have fit in nicely here but, he never owned a computer!


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## kennyp2339 (Dec 20, 2015)

While my grandpa never had any seasoning / felling tricks up his sleeve, I do remember watching him help my dad in the late 80's split a ton of logs by hand, his weapon of choice was a double head axe on a 350" hickory handle, he would take a medium split and get one side of the axe head stuck in it, then he would flip it over and split a huge round, usually both logs would explode on impact, it was cool watching him.


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## Vikestand (Dec 20, 2015)

Add me to the list of people who cut whenever I can. I hate cutting in summer but sometimes that is what it takes! 

One thing about winter, my beer stays colder longer!


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## Pat32rf (Dec 20, 2015)

My first experience with "organized woodcutting" was at my Dad's fly in hunt camp. They would arrive on Saturday, then on Sunday they would cut and split a bunch of 6-10" white birch. Burn it for the rest of the week. Been doing this for years because anything left after the hunt would disappear within a week after the hunt...Truly a case of cut when you can.
I cut whenever I can get the tractor up the hill (whenever the snow is not too deep) to the bush and have the help to fell the trees. Skid them out then block at our leisure. 
My helper/tennant/woodburning neighbour feels that if we block,  then the exposed ends absorb rain so he will not help block until the snow comes. Like I say, its free help and I am 70 with next years wood in the shed so we do things his way.....


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## Poindexter (Dec 21, 2015)

I try to do all my wood processing when the stove is running.  Summer is too short up here to be fooling around with a splitter when I could be hunting or camping or boating or fishing.  No mosquitoes to deal with either, processing while there is snow on the ground.

According to the local university foresters, felling in winter with "sap down" cuts two weeks off the seasoning time compared to felling "sap up" in the other three seasons.  With our local birch and spruce anyway.  Dunno about oaks and etc.


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## ADK_XJ (Dec 21, 2015)

kennyp2339 said:


> ...his weapon of choice was a double head axe on a 350" hickory handle...



A 350" axe?! Was your grandpa Paul Bunyan?


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## D8Chumley (Dec 24, 2015)

Vikestand said:


> Add me to the list of people who cut whenever I can. I hate cutting in summer but sometimes that is what it takes!
> 
> One thing about winter, my beer stays colder longer!


X2 or 3? If I can, I wait until cooler weather but if I can score some wood from a job I suck it up. I've split in August to get ahead, and I now know I need to avoid such silliness


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## peakbagger (Dec 24, 2015)

I also like to cut in the winter as I think its easier on the chainsaw then cutting in the summer.

I usually look over potential white birches for cutting in the summer and if I see any crown die back, I try to cut them that winter or just after leaf drop as they will start rotting standing even when there are still some growth. I have few picked out that I may cut next week.


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## Dobish (Dec 30, 2015)

we had the local power company send out a crew and started chopping things left and right that were close to the lines. i told them to leave anything that they thought was burnable, so they left me a pretty good pile. they also may have cut down a bit more than they would have if i hadn't told them that!  The nice thing about having it cut in the winter was it was easier to drag the brush out, and i could hear every profanity they said since the air was so clear and crisp!


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## heavy hammer (Dec 30, 2015)

I prefer to split and stack my wood when it is sunny and dry.  I like running the saws when it is a little cooler, but working in the rain or mud are a thing of the past.  Being two to three years ahead has made that possible.  But don't get me wrong for the right score you have to do what you have to do.  This past spring we had cold and very rainy weather, and I had a black locust tree come available.  I didn't want to do it but to good of wood to turn down.  It seems like my father waits for the worst weather to then go play in the woods, and it's always an adventure then.


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## peakbagger (Dec 30, 2015)

Some winters I end up cutting trees with snowshoes on. Last winter I was cutting with about 4' on the ground. The trees make a swoosh and a thump when I drop them. If the snow is right it makes bucking the wood up quick as I don't need to worry about hitting dirt with my bar. I do need to be careful that I don't catch the tips of my snowshoes.

My brother had me leave the stumps high so he can get them out with his bulldozer. I usually leave them high but with 4' on the ground they end up real high.


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## gerry100 (Dec 30, 2015)

firefighterjake said:


> Although playing Devil's Advocate here . . . cutting in the summer lets you see which trees are truly dead if there are no leafs on the branches vs. in the winter when most deciduous trees are leaf-less.



I cut live trees as part of a thinning/wood lot mgt approach, look at the bare crowns shows which trees are growing into and around each other


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## Easy Livin’ 3000 (Dec 31, 2015)

I prefer to cut when the sap is down.  Even if the drying time is no shorter, the wood is much drier to work with. Last year a white birch fell in the spring, so I cut it up,  and there was literally water pumping out of the layers between the wood and the bark.  It made a mess of wet sawdust.  I also did not get it split and stacked until December this year, and there was already a good deal of rot and fungus in the wood.  Tulip poplar has also been wet when cut at times other than winter.


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## gerry100 (Dec 31, 2015)

ED 3000 said:


> I prefer to cut when the sap is down.  Even if the drying time is no shorter, the wood is much drier to work with. Last year a white birch fell in the spring, so I cut it up,  and there was literally water pumping out of the layers between the wood and the bark.  It made a mess of wet sawdust.  I also did not get it split and stacked until December this year, and there was already a good deal of rot and fungus in the wood.  Tulip poplar has also been wet when cut at times other than winter.



Must split birch right away as it cannot dry thru the bark.

reason why Indians made canoes from the bark


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## Easy Livin’ 3000 (Dec 31, 2015)

gerry100 said:


> Must split birch right away as it cannot dry thru the bark.
> 
> reason why Indians made canoes form the bark


nks Kerry 


gerry100 said:


> Must split birch right away as it cannot dry thru the bark.
> 
> reason why Indians made canoes form the bark


Thanks gerry100.  I assume this applies to white and black birch?  I'm down to my last white birch, and it is about to go as well.  The previous owner threw sticks and leaves into the middle of the three old beautiful white birches that were planted together at the entrance to the driveway, and over time the bugs and rot damaged the trees to the point of no return.  I cleaned it out when we arrived, but too late.  The first one fell two years ago, the second last year, and the last one, any day now.  Once that is done, I'm out of the white birch business, but my woods are full of black birch, and it'll be my main wood (along with tulip poplar) for years to come.


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## peakbagger (Dec 31, 2015)

gerry100 said:


> Must split birch right away as it cannot dry thru the bark.


 Really no need to split white birch right away. Its a good thing to do but just run your saw blade lengthwise along the trunk before bucking it , twice in two places if its big and it will be fine as the cuts let the moisture out even if you don't buck it .  Make sure you cut down to white wood as the underlying red bark is also waterproof. It can sit for a couple of years this way. Frequently when you come back, the bark will have mostly peeled off the tree. I box the bark and use if for a fire starter. Once its split its as good as maple. The problem most folks have with white birch is its rots on the stump and most wait until its completely dead to cut it. If you keep and eye on the crown and see any significant dieback its time to cut it. Let it set until the crown is fully dead and it sometimes is half rotted and hazardous to cut.

I sometimes split large birch rounds and use them for the bottom of a temporary wood pile in the woods with the bark facing down. It keeps a lot of the moisture from coming up through the ground and the bottom row wood is usually solid for at least 6 months which is about the time it takes me to get it back to my property and stacked for good.

I dropped four birches last week, I ran the saw blade down all four and they will sit until spring that way unless we have an early thaw. I expect to be dropping a few more in the next few months. The are 2018 wood so I am not in major rush to get them processed.


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## gerry100 (Dec 31, 2015)

peakbagger said:


> Really no need to split white birch right away. Its a good thing to do but just run your saw blade lengthwise along the trunk before bucking it , twice in two places if its big and it will be fine as the cuts let the moisture out even if you don't buck it .  Make sure you cut down to white wood as the underlying red bark is also waterproof. It can sit for a couple of years this way. Frequently when you come back, the bark will have mostly peeled off the tree. I box the bark and use if for a fire starter. Once its split its as good as maple. The problem most folks have with white birch is its rots on the stump and most wait until its completely dead to cut it. If you keep and eye on the crown and see any significant dieback its time to cut it. Let it set until the crown is fully dead and it sometimes is half rotted and hazardous to cut.
> 
> I sometimes split large birch rounds and use them for the bottom of a temporary wood pile in the woods with the bark facing down. It keeps a lot of the moisture from coming up through the ground and the bottom row wood is usually solid for at least 6 months which is about the time it takes me to get it back to my property and stacked for good.
> 
> I dropped four birches last week, I ran the saw blade down all four and they will sit until spring that way unless we have an early thaw. I expect to be dropping a few more in the next few months. The are 2018 wood so I am not in major rush to get them processed.



You're right about this but my first hand experience is that it doesn't work nearly as well as splitting


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## peakbagger (Dec 31, 2015)

I agree entirely bucked and split is the way to go , but I would rather drop a birch if its looks marginal and score it with saw, then let it sit over the winter standing. If there is any rot to speak of the scoring method doesn't work as well but I generally write off partially rotted birch


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## RyanH0802 (Dec 31, 2015)

I saw on the tv show Yukon Men that one of the guys strips the bark off the tree at the base completely around the whole tree.  They said that it makes the tree die and it will season still standing and the next year he is able to fell the tree and split and burn right away.  Not sure on the truth to this.  I'm very new to this as we just installed our wood stove and started using it this winter.  We have been noticing stuff bubbling out from the ends of the splits we are using.  I just got a moisture meter and our wood is right around 20%


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## CentralVAWoodHeat (Dec 31, 2015)

It is called 'girdling' a tree.  It is both unsafe and ineffective.  You create tons of standing dead and rotten trees that are storm hazards.  For wood to truly dry and season, it must be cut, split, and stacked.


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## gerry100 (Dec 31, 2015)

ED 3000 said:


> nks Kerry
> 
> Thanks gerry100.  I assume this applies to white and black birch?  I'm down to my last white birch, and it is about to go as well.  The previous owner threw sticks and leaves into the middle of the three old beautiful white birches that were planted together at the entrance to the driveway, and over time the bugs and rot damaged the trees to the point of no return.  I cleaned it out when we arrived, but too late.  The first one fell two years ago, the second last year, and the last one, any day now.  Once that is done, I'm out of the white birch business, but my woods are full of black birch, and it'll be my main wood (along with tulip poplar) for years to come.



My experience is with white birch, black birch somewhat different I think


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## TheAardvark (Jan 3, 2016)

This cutting trees in winter thing made sense to me when I thought about it. Today made me question that though. It has been below freezing at night and it was about 35 degrees today.  I cut 3 more Norway Maples down today. Some of the branches had water literally dripping out when cut. The trunk wood was also very wet. After I bucked everything you could see the water starting to seep out the ends.


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