I have a friend who has bought a farm in northern Harford county,Maryland. I live 8 miles from the farm. When I talked to him yesterday about cutting some of the less than healthy trees he told me to take whatever I wanted. So....thinking ahead I get him to jump in my truck so we can mark what he is willing to let me have. I bring a can of spray paint and start Xing heck he would have let me clear cut the site but I really want to save as much as I can that are healthy. I'm going to fell buck and split and haul home everything I cut . Would it be greedy of me to take as much as I can even if it would not be burned for 8years? The trees marked are Cherry,white oak, hickory and ash 24-30inches across
a little help with greed
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that's what i call the motherload. get a couple of years worth. you want it nice and dry. after seeing what your doing he might decide to start burning.
after seeing what your doing he might decide to start burning.
That will not happen. He lives in a water front condo and is only interested in Sub-dividing into "Farmettes" and flipping.
That will not happen. He lives in a water front condo and is only interested in Sub-dividing into "Farmettes" and flipping.
Sounds like you have a good deal worked out. If it were me I would try and stay low impact, low profile and unobtrusive. Get on site, fill my PU, clean up, di di mau let my host scratch their heads wondering... 'was he here or not'? ...and do that to the stars burn out.
I agree you should try to keep the mess to a minimum, but if he is planning to flip the property, I'd take all you can now. This will take longer than you think, and a year or two from now the real estate market might turn around and he'll want to sell. Chances are many of the trees will be cut once the property is sold, so you're not cutting trees that would otherwise survive for long. if you think time is running short, move short log lengths to your place and cut/split/stack at your leisure.
Never mind how many years worth of wood you are taking.
What you should be concerned about is what would make for the healthiest surviving stand of trees. This is really what is best for your friend.
If the trees are really overgrown, and you hestitate on thinning because you feel greedy you won't be doing your friend any favors. If the stand needs 40% taken out and you only take out 20% the surviving stand is only going to grow unhealthier as the years go by.
Now, if the stand needs 40% thinned and you take 60% you're either greedy or ignorant.
What you should be concerned about is what would make for the healthiest surviving stand of trees. This is really what is best for your friend.
If the trees are really overgrown, and you hestitate on thinning because you feel greedy you won't be doing your friend any favors. If the stand needs 40% taken out and you only take out 20% the surviving stand is only going to grow unhealthier as the years go by.
Now, if the stand needs 40% thinned and you take 60% you're either greedy or ignorant.
I agree, but only to a point. It sounds as if there is a possibility that it needs 40% thinned to be a good healthy stand, but his friend wants 80% gone so that it looks pretty. if that's the case then I recommend taking whatever the friend wants gone, even if it's overkill. If you don't do it, then he'll hire it done and it'll be chipped into a dump truck. (otherwise, I totally agree with Black Jaque)Black Jaque Janaviac said:
I've had cherry last 10 years c/s/s.
(pretty much out of the rain)
C/s/s seems to add to longevity from what I've seen, but I've only had oak, cherry and pine stored for a long time.
I've only lost rounds that were left on the ground and got full of termites and rot.
(pretty much out of the rain)
C/s/s seems to add to longevity from what I've seen, but I've only had oak, cherry and pine stored for a long time.
I've only lost rounds that were left on the ground and got full of termites and rot.
mtarbert said:
It seems to me that the key to this whole thing is not what you want but what the owner wants, not what you want. If he wants x many trees cut, then if you can use them you should figure on cutting x number of trees. It seems to me that greed has absolutely no part in this transaction. After all, he told you which ones he wants out.
On the other hand, after cutting for a time, I would than double check with the man and have him look to make sure he still wanted the rest of the trees taken out.
As far as the wood keeping 8 years, I have no problem with that at all and have done it for many years, however I do cover the top of the piles because leaving wood that long out in the weather will potentially make some of the wood go punky by the time you use it. But cover the top and there should be no problem. Also, while you are cutting, cut some poles; either from limbs or some saplings (with permission) and lay those down under your wood before stacking. This will avoid contact with the ground, allow air circulation under the stack and will keep the wood from going bad.
Good luck.
fbelec said:
Bigger saw makes sense also.....May as well buy a splitter while you're at it....Heck, how about a dump trailer?
mtarbert said:
Backwoods Savage is spot on.
Also, look around the farm and look at buying a site? I know quite few guys that do just as your friend is doing, and they do some owner financing of land. Sometimes it's good for their cash flow. just a thought. They're not making land anymore. Buy a section, cut the wood as you need it, yrs down the road, resell. You cut the wood right, and it should help make the lot more attractive.
"interested in Sub-dividing into “Farmettes” and flipping" - cut what you can as your time allows. To be nice, cut buck and haul as you work so there is not a "mess" of down trees around. I agree with the other posters - it is not what you want but what the owner wants. However, you may have an opportunity to educate him on forest management if you have the information for a better stand. I had the Maryland State Forester for my area prepare a Forest Stewardship Plan for my property. The plan calls for harvesting 5 to 10 cords per year to keep the forest healthy. I am also making about 5, 2 acre meadows which will work for my livestock and vastly increase the forest edge area for wildlife. I am working on the first one this year. The 4-H club help me build a wildlife brush pile (20'x20'x8'high, on crossed bottom logs). That took care of 8 trees on the first 2 acres! I have a lot of wood to harvest and braches to chip. Waiting for the trees to leaf out more now so I can feed the tops to the goats before I chip the tops.
If you are trying to leave a more attractive forest (for increasing real estate street appeal or potential backyards) then you might want to cut a lot of the smaller trees, leaving the larger, straighter trees. Most eastern forests have more trees than you would want in a residential setting,and it is easier to handle smaller trees if you are doing it on a small scale. I find 12 inch or smaller trees a lot easier to process than larger trees.
Talk to your friend about what ever you are doing. he'll appreciate that you are looking out for his resale value.
Talk to your friend about what ever you are doing. he'll appreciate that you are looking out for his resale value.
All of the answers to my post have been good ones. Thinning is what this 20+ site needs and I am going to give it a good try. The trees I have felled so far have all had problems of one kind. There are not any really big ones .... most are smaller than 30 inches across lots of cherry...oak and hickory. I started with cherry tomorrow I will cut a few hickorys
get rid of anything that leaves annoying nuts like acorns or walnuts. people don't like to mow over that crap. Seriously, sell the excess stuff to buy yourself bigger better tools (saw, splitter, stove, etc)
Backwoods Savage said:
+1 . . . as Backwoods mentioned . . . If I were in the same situation I would recognize this as a great opportunity . . . possibly with long term consequences that I would not want to jeopardize . . . much less risk jeopardizing a friendship . . . for these two reasons I would make sure that whatever I did and whatever amount of wood I took and how I left the lot met with the owner's approval first and foremost.
RE: Long term storage . . . shouldn't be an issue if under cover or covered . . . and if the wood is off the ground.
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