How'd it go today?

We are logging in such a small area, that there is not room for all of us.
So, to show that I'm not the kind of boss that hogs the good work and delegates the shit, I took my new apprentice and went to do pre-commercial thinning in some larch stands.
Rain all week, with intermittend sleet......pure misery.
My new gal enjoyed the mental aspect of it, if not the physical one...........being wet all day.

See, when you do the first thinning, it is about leaving the most vigourous trees at a certain distance to each other.
In a clean stand that is fairly easy, but when the Larch trees are mingled in with other species, it becomes tricky.
Then you have to decide which specie to cut for, which depends on the soil type and how wet the area is.
Also, you have a mental list of species, that are preferred for their ability to make valuable logs.
Beech is top of the list, Birch bottom.
If the Beech has already lost canopy space to Maple, we'll cut for Maple.
Unless it is wettish ground,which Beech and Maple don't tolerate well, then Oak is better.
Ask used to be top of the line for wet soil, but they are dying out because of a fungus, so we treat those the way the Qur'an treats jews.
Now Red Alder is tops for really wet ground.
We have some Doug fir in the mix. They are about twice as valuable as Larch, when mature, so when they have proper form, we cut for those.
So you are constantly balancing those mental lists against each other and trying to come out with a result, that suits the area.

Different species need more or less room, Maple needs to grow fairly close, untill about 30 years of age, then you hit them hard, or they stagnate.

Even after 40+ years, I often have to take 3 steps back, look at the trees and try to get a feel for what I'm doing.

For a new apprentice it is a really challenging job.

On a sunny day, it is fine work.














Did I just bore the frig out of y'all?
 
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It's actually pretty interesting. I'd like to walk with you to see the selection process. What size are the trees you're culling?
 
Went to Mike's parent's place again, and did the other silver maple. Same deal as before, and I'm still not comfortable with pruning. It was fun though. Started with a disaster of me getting three throwlines stuck. Mike had gotten his line set, so he was able to climb up and free the best shot. Used my ≈34' mercury lanyard. It's a bit much to manage, but it was kinda nice having a microclimbline ready to go. The small diameter wasn't terrible, but I need more time with it. Good day.

IMG_20230121_110825960_HDR.jpg
 
We are logging in such a small area, that there are not room for all of us.
So, to show that I'm not the kind of boss that hogs the good work and delegates the shit, I took my new apprentice and went to do pre-commercial thinning in some larch stands.
Rain all week, with intermittend sleet......pure misery.
My new gal enjoyed the mental aspect of it, if not the physical one...........being wet all day.

See, when you do the first thinning, it is about leaving the most vigourous trees at a certain distance to each other.
In a clean stand that is fairly easy, but when the Larch trees are mingled in with other species, it becomes tricky.
Then you have to decide which specie to cut for, which depends on the soil type and how wet the area is.
Also, you have a mental list of species, that are preferred for their ability to make valuable logs.
Beech is top of the list, Birch bottom.
If the Beech has already lost canopy space to Maple, we'll cut for Maple.
Unless it is wettish ground,which Beech and Maple don't tolerate well, then Oak is better.
Ask used to be top of the line for wet soil, but they are dying out because of a fungus, so we treat those the way the Qur'an treats jews.
Now Red Alder is tops for really wet ground.
We have some Doug fir in the mix. They are about twice as valuable as Larch, when mature, so when they have proper form, we cut for those.
So you are constantly balancing those mental lists against each other and trying to come out with a result, that suits the area.

Different species need more or less room, Maple needs to grow fairly close, untill about 30 years of age, then you hit them hard, or they stagnate.

Even after 40+ years, I often have to take 3 steps back, look at the trees and try to get a feel for what I'm doing.

For a new apprentice it is a really challenging job.

On a sunny day, it is fine work.














Did I just bore the frig out of y'all?
Certainly not for this old forester. I know well the mental gymnastics of that job. Did more than a bit of it myself, of course.

An additional challenge presents itself when your task is the contract inspector, after the thinning is done. You have to figure out what species are lying on the ground, where they stood, what their place in the pecking order would have been and what effect the ground conditions and their individual form would have had on that order of preference. Then judge if the decisions the sawyer made were in line with the contract specs.

Sometimes it's black and white...but more often shades of gray. I think it would be very difficult to do that inspection job well, if you never had stood there with saw idling in hand with your mind churning about all the factors in play. If you keep a generally decent working relationship with your contractors but have them fairly miffed at you from time to time, you are likely hitting the target pretty close :).
 
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Certainly not for this old forester. I know well the mental gymnastics of that job. Did more than a bit of it myself, of course.

An additional challenge presents itself when your task is the contract inspector, after the thinning is done. You have to figure out what species are lying on the ground, what their place in the pecking order would have been and what effect the ground conditions and their individual form would have had on that order of preference. Then decide if the decisions the sawyer made were in line with the contract specs.

Sometimes it's black and white...but more often shades of gray. I think it would be very difficult to do that inspection job well, if you never had stood there with saw idling in hand with your mind churning about all the factors in play. If you keep a generally decent working relationship with your contractors but have them fairly miffed at you from time to time, you are likely hitting the target pretty close :).
Amen to that!
But then I figured you would be one, who understood the process.
 
It's actually pretty interesting. I'd like to walk with you to see the selection process. What size are the trees you're culling?
5"-10" DBH.
Next thinning will be commercial.
Feller buncher with the cuttings made to biomass.
Helping us keeping free of dependance on Russian gas :)
 
Forgot. I got home and cut up the longer pieces of wood that were removed today. My right hand neighbor heard the saw and came over to offer me use of the splitter he bought whenever I wanted. This is the guy that's scared of trees, and doesn't burn wood inside. It's for an outside firepit. Said he's making payments on it. Who the hell buys, much less finances a splitter when they aren't intrinsically involved in wood somehow?! I could hand split firepit wood for the whole street, and not have a problem keeping up. It's not like you're running cords through the thing. Some people...

It was nice of him to offer though. He also asked again about removing a limb on my maple that's overhanging his property. I was hoping he'd forgotten. I guess I'll do that some time before spring. I don't want to, but he's within his rights to cut it, so I'd rather it be on my terms. It's pointless. Removing the limb will accomplish nothing since there's a whole rest of the tree above it, but I guess it'll make him happy.
 
I think you made them last longer than most do Rich.

If I recall correctly, the guy who had that machine before you didn't do them any favors. :/:
 
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Interesting post Stig, gives us an insight into other aspects of the work that some of us have never seen.

Our back paddock gets wet in the winter, the local nurseryman also recommended oaks.Q robur, rubra,
cocccinea, palustris
 
And today I did housework. Grumpy housework, leave me alone when I'm doing housework. Some cold caller got an earful on the phone, interrupting my grumpy housework.
Hubby disappeared for the aformentioned work period.
But my goodness it's nice when it's done ☺️ So am I.
 
Both Rubra and cocchinea are beautiful in fall, Fiona.
Hence the names, red and scarlet Oak.

Years ago I did a plan for replacing some old and dying trees in a castle park.
Made a combination of Q. cocchinea and Acer plantanoides, so they'd have the contrast of deep red and bright yellow in fall.
 
Climbed all through a beautiful 120’ high,100’ spread red oak for a neighbor as part of an inspection. Looked at all the major crotches/unions for proper formation, deadwood with targets underneath, fungus, quantity and location of deadwood, insect damage, hollows, etc. Did some small handsaw deadwooding while aloft. Took lots of pictures. The tree is in very good health as far as I can tell (not a seasoned expert). This was the first climb I’ve done with a focus on studying the trees health and structure. Twas a good time.
 
This was the first climb I’ve done with a focus on studying the trees health and structure.

It's not a bad idea to have that focus on the way up each tree you work in, or during bids.

Sometimes spotting something early can save a lot of headaches.
plus it's great practice for jobs like the one you just posted about.
 
Plenty of snow here. That apparently doesn't stop us from taking down Christmas lights. Chained up the five day old bucket and headed up a driveway that would make an Everest expedition proud. This was before the snow started.



 

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Happy young man there Jim! :thumbup:

Got a bunch of financial stuff done with the medical folks this morning. My "advocate" kicked ass.

Wrote a rather scathing letter to a Doc. who didn't want me to have a LD blood test without making another appointment for in a month or so to "evaluate the need". . So much money & time wasted already on treatment and testing for things that didn't match up with my "symptoms & exposure" (his words) any more (or as much) as Lyme's, and they have no idea what's going on yet. Guess I got a little pissed & conveyed the feeling. Oh well...

Been a fair day in all. Managed to stay functional through it anyway.
 
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