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?
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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