An Idiot's guide to Ancient Woodland management

[woodland dweller]

Why don't you sell your timber to the firewood guy's unprocessed and let them do all the hard work ?

Most end users won't know a quality log and won't know it came from you !

Great thread by the way !

 

[Stere]

What type of bio oil do u use?

 

Heard it was complusory in some SSSI ?

[the village idiot]

1 minute ago, woodland dweller said:

Why don't you sell your timber to the firewood guy's unprocessed and let them do all the hard work ?

Most end users won't know a quality log and won't know it came from you !

Great thread by the way !

 

Thanks woodland dweller.

 

We need something to do in the summer months when it is too hot for forestry cutting. Adding value to the resource by processing it is a good option for us. 

 

It's not hard work either. We enjoy the process as we get to catch up on our audiobooks.

 

I take your point on customers' log quality savvyness, but feel it is still good to produce a quality product. If people receive good logs they will come back for more and the market will remain buoyant. Crappy logs might well cause customers to rely more heavily on fossil fuel heating. There will always be poor quality logs out there but I don't want to contribute to the problem.

 

Do you literally dwell in a woodland?

[the village idiot]

7 minutes ago, Stere said:

What type of bio oil do u use?

 

Heard it was complusory in some SSSI ?

We use Oregon Arborol.

 

I don't know about the rules for SSSI's. You may well be right.

[the village idiot]

BRUSHCUTTER.

 

One of the other engine powered 'small' tools that we use a lot is a brushcutter. Primarily we use this for clearing bramble to give us access to trees we want to take out. Up until recently it was also the tool we used to mow the ride edges (before the stumps were removed). We also use the brushcutter for keeping an open margin around the newly restored ponds, it is a bit treacherous taking a tractor mower right up to the edge of the water.

 

Below is an early picture (2013) of a small pond after being opened up with my ancient Komatsu brushcutter. You can see one of the last stands of conifer in the background. The small diameter Alder and Ash lengths were destined for the charcoal kiln.

 

 

Since this picture was taken I have upgraded to a couple of larger machines that can plough their way through surprisingly large material.

 

In a woodland environment I would not like to be without the cow horn type handles. You often hit old stumps hidden in the undergrowth and the cow horns give you more control. The harness is also must. It transfers the majority of the weight of the machine to your back and hips whilst also allowing for safer operation.

 

The guard positioned 'upshaft' of the cutting blade does sometimes get in the way, but it is highly advisable to keep it on as brushcutters have a fondness for flinging up wood and stones towards the operator at very high speed. We always wear our chainsaw helmets when brushcutting.

 

By far the best blade we have found for woodland work is the 'mulching' type. This is a largely flat metal blade with two or three prongs that are turned down through 90 degrees at the ends. These mulching blades are fantastic on bramble but also cope well with grass and small saplings. We have found that the only time we need to swap blades over is when the old mulching blade wears out and we need to put a new one on.

 

A clearing saw is basically just a slightly more powerful brushcutter. These are often used in forestry for spacing stands of young trees (essentially just a very early thinning). It is very rare to use a stimmer line head on a clearing saw. A brushcutter can use either a blade or a strimmer line head. It is probably not wise to put a blade on a dedicated strimmer. These are just general rules. There is a fair amount of crossover between strimmers, brushcutters and clearing saws, people tend to just use the name they like the sound of best. Ask your machinery dealer for advice on the best tool for your particular circumstances.

 

 

[Bolt]

Hopefully there are not too many dogs in your woods.

 

Nothing like blundering unexpectedly into a clutch of dogseggs to rudely snap you out of your brushcutter musings.

[the village idiot]

2 minutes ago, Bolt said:

Hopefully there are not too many dogs in your woods.

 

Nothing like blundering unexpectedly into a clutch of dogseggs to rudely snap you out of your brushcutter musings.

Too true!

 

There is no public access in the Wood so canine clearouts are not too much of a problem thankfully.

 

We get a few 'right to roamers' with their dogs but there's not much we can do about that.

 

We do have some plans for getting more people into the wood in a controlled fashion. More on this in the 'social forestry' sections to come.

[Mick Dempsey]

I hate strimming with a blade or line or whatever.

 

Hard on the hips and everything else.

 

Haven’t  you got a flail for the alpine?

 

 

[the village idiot]

3 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

I hate strimming with a blade or line or whatever.

 

Hard on the hips and everything else.

 

Haven’t  you got a flail for the alpine?

 

 

Yes, we have a chain swipe for the alpine. Even though the tractor can get most places, it can't get everywhere.

 

Sometimes the brushcutter is the only tool for the job.

 

Quite often the brushcutter is the first port of call in an area, then it is maintained into the future with a tractor mower once we can get at and remove closely packed trees etc.

[woodland dweller]

yes i do dwell in the woods, cottage and workshops in the middle of 23 acres, once ancient wood cut down and replanted with Douglas 50 years ago, owned by FC then i purchased 10 years ago.

Restoring it slowly, when you have to earn a living it takes time.

Big J did a lot of thinning / clear fell earlier in the year.