Xmas trees

[spuddog0507]

12 minutes ago, TIMON said:

 

Waiting for a spruce to grow to 30’ just to harvest 8’ off the top wouldn’t make a lot of commercial sense.
My mate planted 900 Nordman firs a few years ago and he’s still got a good few years to wait until he has a crop.

 

so you would just leave the bottom then ?, i think what is being asked is the top ok to use ,which in normal forestry practice would just be a wast product after saw logs fencing taken out of tree, so why not use it for a christmas tree i do just dot to get a good one, 

[openspaceman]

2 minutes ago, spuddog0507 said:

so you would just leave the bottom then ?, i think what is being asked is the top ok to use ,which in normal forestry practice would just be a wast product after saw logs fencing taken out of tree, so why not use it for a christmas tree i do just dot to get a good one, 

Back in the late 70s I used to save a norway spruce first thinning   till just before Xmas just so as to sell the tops at the farm gate, I cannot see the demand now with so many dedicated Xmas tree nurseries.

 

I also went across to the Ardennes in 1982 to load artics with sapin de noel for the UK market.

 

The "bottom" was the normal timber we harvested for poles, bars and pulp.

[TIMON]

Lol. What else are you going to do with the top 8ft of a
an 18” dbh spruce bar burn/shred/leave to rot?
 

Usually yes..

[TIMON]

so you would just leave the bottom then ?, i think what is being asked is the top ok to use ,which in normal forestry practice would just be a wast product after saw logs fencing taken out of tree, so why not use it for a christmas tree i do just dot to get a good one, 

Just a case of finding one at the right time.
Does anyone harvesting saw logs collect the tops and sell them?
Selling Christmas trees and making decent money isn’t as easy as it looks.

[jmac]

I think the tops of mature spruce have too big a gap between the branches to make a nice looking xmas tree. Imo it will look shit! Cheap tho ??

Edited November 15, 2018 by jmac

[scbk]

^There talks a man with experience!

 

Even self seeded saplings, they look good outside, but time you get them in the house it looks like a Tesco value Xmas

[westphalian]

I will do one tomorrow and put a pic up. No tinsel though

[spuddog0507]

45 minutes ago, TIMON said:

 

Just a case of finding one at the right time.
Does anyone harvesting saw logs collect the tops and sell them?
Selling Christmas trees and making decent money isn’t as easy as it looks.

 

on a site tomorrow felling edge trees be hind a harvester and he will take 4-500 trees down tomorrow and all tops just get cut in half and put in to brash matt for machine to drive on, when you look at the state of a machine harvesting site, you have a job just to walk across it yet alone drag tops off for christmas trees, if you was to do this, i would say that you had just been let out from some where, and most of trees now a days on large harvesting sites are stitka spruce that dont make good christmas trees norway better by far,

[spuddog0507]

1 hour ago, openspaceman said:

Back in the late 70s I used to save a norway spruce first thinning   till just before Xmas just so as to sell the tops at the farm gate, I cannot see the demand now with so many dedicated Xmas tree nurseries.

 

I also went across to the Ardennes in 1982 to load artics with sapin de noel for the UK market.

 

The "bottom" was the normal timber we harvested for poles, bars and pulp.

yes norway fine for christmas trees and back then i think that was all there was may be a bit of Noble fir about but not much and you would be hand cutting then, my grandad used to do same take the tops home a couple of wk before christmas and sell from his small holding,

[buffalo606]

Spruce looses its needles quite (very) quickly.  I tried a spruce top one year and bought a nordman a week later.