Sweet Chestnut

[Robbie]

Hi all

First of all I would just like to point out I am not a forester/woodsman/tree surgeon but am very interested in it all. I have recently moved back to my family farm in west Dorset. We have a small bit of woodland (between 4-5 acres) of mature sweet chestnut the trees are very large and straight, access is OK but not special would definitely need some large kit. The trees are I would say overcrowded and need thinning out. So was wondering if anyone could offer some help with a few questions. Are there any recommended woodland management companies in my area that would help draw up a management plan?Would it be worth getting a contractor in to thin out the chestnut, financially would I be able to cover costs. Could you sell them as standing timber? If so would I need to obtain a felling licence or the person that wants them? And anything else that I may have missed off, I will be very grateful for any comments or suggestions. Thanks in advance

 

Rob

[muttley9050]

Very sought after wood if there good enough for saw Logs.

[kernowstu]

Google Ian Hampshire four marks nr Alton Hants top bloke also vastern timber company wilts top company

[agg221]

How large is very large (diameter), and are the multi-stemmed (i.e. former coppice) or standards?

 

If they're overstood coppice of up to say 18in dia trunks there is a pretty good chance of getting it back into coppice rotation if you want to. This could be useful to you, if you fell a modest area every year and use it on the farm as fencing/posts etc.

 

The problem with sweet chestnut larger than this is that it has a strong tendency to ring shake, which is where the tree breaks all the way around one or more of its growth rings when felled, making it pretty much useless for milling, although you can still sometimes get a few bits from inside or outside the cracks, and there are sometimes good blocks for making shingles.

 

If you're looking at sawlogs, be aware that sweet chestnut can move about a lot when milled. This can cause bending and twisting, even straight off the mill. If you can see a spiral pattern in the bark it will be twisted in the grain. Still OK for fenceposts though.

 

Alec

[Robbie]

Most are standard not been coppiced, I don't think my family has ever touched them, will get the diameter of the average size tomorrow. thank you.

[N1ck]

Top tip don't bother with a woodland management company, they will charge you lots of money to do something you are capable of yourself with a bit of research on the internet etc. If you do pay someone you are likely to end up with a fairly generic management plan and trees marked for felling with no thought to the practicalities of how they can actually be felled and extracted.

 

Find a good experienced contractor you can trust, listen to their advice and cut out the middle man.

[Robbie]

Average Circumference is 230cm of the sweet chestnut.

[openspaceman]

Average Circumference is 230cm of the sweet chestnut.

 

That's a significant size, 22 Quarter Girth, if they are sound and clean they'll go for export.

[muttley9050]

Why would the best option be export?

[openspaceman]

Why would the best option be export?

 

I didn't mean it was the best option but up till 30 years ago English sawmills wouldn't pay much for chestnut ( because of shake??) and then a couple of firms realised there was a demand from Portugal.

 

The interesting thing was that the Portuguese would mill short logs and butt joint random widths for things like drawer bottoms. Also around this period I started noticing pub table tops in chestnut.

 

We were able to sell sc coppice that had gone over rotation length and all the time the bark remained smooth there didn't see to be any shake even on sandy ground and the Portuguese would by sawlogs at 8"qg where British mills would not accept butts less than 12 or 15 "qg.