Thinings value

[drinksloe]

If it was just done the right and proven way in the first place all these crazy, labour and machinery intensive ideas would be completely unnecessary.

 

Some people got time and money to burn.

 

 

 

Ur right but sometimes even with all the gear u have to resort to that sort of stuff.

Usually ground to steep or wet. And it is a PITA

 

I spent 1 very unpleasant day scrambling up and down a sheer face with a wire rope pulling already proccessed logs down (harvester got up but no way could the forwarder follow) Wouldn't have been so bad if trees were converted

 

If its just for amenity value.

The onwer might actually be cheaper just cutting the timber to waste and leave it there as extraction could very easily be a PITA.

The litte he gains in timber value is offset by labour saving?

[axehaircut]

Rack it

Curve in the top and bottom of the lines, looks great. Reduces wind tunnels.

Once it's second thinned using the rack system it'll look very pleasing.

Funnily in the long term aesthetics of Sitka etc it's more a question of the neatness of the work. Little tricks of turning in the lines will help the owners feeling towards the job. Also racks then mean you don't hack the monkeys out of what's left at 2nd thin. Once neatly done and brash is handled correctly it will look great. I presume there's no mounding drains. I'm sure some of the other guys have photos of very neat jobs at 2nd thinned state to show you and the owners of what can be achieved with rack system. It can and will look natural down the line. Everything in forestry takes time.

 

 

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[Mambus]

If they are after a continuous cover system (never clear felling) you're just helping with a means to that end. You need to persuade them that it's not really important what the crop looks like at this stage.. You're just getting it on its way in the most practical way you can, like many of the boys here have already referred to.

They're not even 1/3 of the way through the project. Good luck.

 

 

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[oldwoodcutter]

The sweat is running down my back just thinking about you doing that lot that way.

[hplp]

Im sorry, but Id be another saying rack thin it, with a selective thin between the racks. Then you can skidd/forward it out quickly with the least damage to the remaining crop.

 

Once at roadside you can then decide to either sell it whole tree for chipping or cut products out of it.

 

Id be suggesting either a 360 or a small harvester.

 

With doing a entirely matrix thin you will damage the remaining crop badly from all the knocks and scrapes.

 

H

[drinksloe]

I may be wrong here but i sort of get the impression that the owner puts no commercial value on the wood so it doesn't need to be 2nd thinned or even ever felled and is just wanting some more light in about it for looks/conservation.

 

Obviously it may impact on future price if he ever sold the wood if not done by a more normal method, but i bet a lot of folk buy woods without ever looking at them anyway

[Stubby]

So , is it a " wood " or a commercial " matrix " plantation ?

[Andymacp]

I may be wrong here but i sort of get the impression that the owner puts no commercial value on the wood so it doesn't need to be 2nd thinned or even ever felled and is just wanting some more light in about it for looks/conservation.

 

Obviously it may impact on future price if he ever sold the wood if not done by a more normal method, but i bet a lot of folk buy woods without ever looking at them anyway

 

 

 

 

Spot on, not a commercial wood.

[axehaircut]

The op question was whether the timber had commercial value.

The owner wants CFC. There is a better long term chance of this by racking it and selective irregular thinning there after. Only trying to be helpful but if you go ahead with your original plan I'd be very curious to see how you get on with it.

 

 

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[matelot]

There not looking for wide rides put into their wood want it looking natural but with the ability to walk in amongst it.

Don't worry mate I'm one of those guys that'll try a job and learn that way done it my whole career and it's got me pretty far.

 

I remember the first tree I ever cut down. I was 15 and cut down this spruce that was in a wood. I was so excited as I cut away with my bow saw as I expected the tree to fall over like in the movies. The saw eventually went right through the tree and the tree just stood there. It looked like the tree had grown magically up through the middle of my saw Obviously I never considered that the neighbouring trees would hold the tree up

 

If your client wants a natural looking wood that he can walk through perhaps you should be considering a fairly heavy thin and replanting with native trees?

 

In an ideal world I think you should clearfell the lot and plant with native trees. However if your customer wants to keep some trees perhaps you could clearfell the centre of the wood and leave the perimeter trees? The perimeter trees are likely to suffer windblow but they will still shelter any trees you plant.

 

PS

 

I've learned a fair amount on this thread. So thanks everyone for posting