Ring barking to aid drying before felling.

[Woodworks]

About to start this years work on our hedges. I will be thinning and coppicing with all the cut wood being used for fire wood. I was wondering if it would be worth ring barking all that needs to be done this winter now and then cutting and clearing when I have time. Would the ring barking speed up the drying process?

[Stubby]

About to start this years work on our hedges. I will be thinning and coppicing with all the cut wood being used for fire wood. I was wondering if it would be worth ring barking all that needs to be done this winter now and then cutting and clearing when I have time. Would the ring barking speed up the drying process?

 

I suggested the self same thing to a guy I was working for . I felled a few to get him started and said to ring bark what you want down to kill it and fell it when you need it ./ He liked the idea . After all dead standing is the best fire wood i recon. Elms a good example

[Woodworks]

I suggested the self same thing to a guy I was working for . I felled a few to get him started and said to ring bark what you want down to kill it and fell it when you need it ./ He liked the idea . After all dead standing is the best fire wood i recon. Elms a good example

 

Thanks mate

 

How deep do I need to cut as never done this before?

[woodyguy]

I suppose if you did it when the leaves were green then it must reduce a few percentage the water content of the wood. I'd like to see some evidence before spending much time on it though. Same idea as felling and leaving on ground whilst leaves on. Hard to see it making more then a couple of weeks reduction in drying time though.

[Stubby]

I suppose if you did it when the leaves were green then it must reduce a few percentage the water content of the wood. I'd like to see some evidence before spending much time on it though. Same idea as felling and leaving on ground whilst leaves on. Hard to see it making more then a couple of weeks reduction in drying time though.

 

If you don't need to clear fell the sight then its a good way of " storing " your wood till you need it . Keeps it off the ground and the bark on .

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

About to start this years work on our hedges. I will be thinning and coppicing with all the cut wood being used for fire wood. I was wondering if it would be worth ring barking all that needs to be done this winter now and then cutting and clearing when I have time. Would the ring barking speed up the drying process?

 

 

the Romanians did this a lot, leaving them to fullydie and dry before they harvested. saves weight on transport too which was another incentive in the mountains.

 

takes a while if no drought period, as the phloem is the only real link broken and the roots carry on pumping water

[arbmark]

its a bit early for laying hedges but anyway how are the root systems going to store energy over winter if you are cutting the bark away now. good idea thinning in a forest, not great for a hedge/coppice is my thinking.........

cheers

mark

[Woodworks]

its a bit early for laying hedges but anyway how are the root systems going to store energy over winter if you are cutting the bark away now. good idea thinning in a forest, not great for a hedge/coppice is my thinking.........

cheers

mark

 

Interesting food for thought.

Is it too early to start the hedges? The sycamores have already shed most of there leaves here.

[arbmark]

Well you are supposed to wait till leaf drop - but hey - you didnt say it was sycamore - Get choppy! Nothings going to set them back nearly enough! I'd be ring barking them all year

[Le Sanglier]

It would seem to me that if you're running a saw around the base of a tree you might as well fell it while you're there.

If you've ringed up a oak which has lain for years you'll see it's still as wet inside as the day it fell over.