I mentioned earlier that I have a crew in cutting some pines. The trees are 24 year-old loblolly pines. They were planted on agricultural land under the Conservation Reserve Program. My father-in-law put his property in the CRP when he got a bad infestation of sting nematodes.
The trees were thinned for the first time six years ago. This thinning will leave a "saw-timber" stand. They should grow another five-to-ten years, at which time they will be large enough to go to a mill and be sawed into dimension lumber.
About 80% of the trees are going to a pulp mill, and about 20% are going to a saw mill as "chip-and-saw." The butt ends are cut into 2x4 lumber, and the tops are chipped for pulp.
The operator of the loader/limber has to sort the logs as they are brought in by the skidder operator. In this case, the operator is stockpiling the chip-n-saw lumber to be loaded when enough is accumulated. The machine that loads the lumber swivels through 360 degrees.
The operator can pick up one tree, or several as he loads the truck. It amazing to watch the dexterity of the machine as the operator manipulates it
The tree cutter is an articulated machine, and the operator harvests the trees and arranges them so the skidder operator can pick them up and deliver them to the loader. The cutter can handle up to three or four trees at the time of this size.
The skidder is also articulated, and climbs onto and over most any obstacles. It appears to be going just about wide open all the time.
Here, at the end of the day, the loader operator has stockpiled two loads of chip-n-saw. It will be loaded first thing in the morning.
I hired a registered forester to come in and mark the trees for thinning. Any trees with split tops, "cat-faces," or other defects, such as a lot of low limbs, are marked for removal. The purpose of the thinning is to remove bad trees, thin to a stand that will allow more sunlight in, and leave mostly quality trees. Here are some trees marked for removal.
Stand before and after thinning.
The stand will be much more wildlife friendly after the thinning. There is a lot of understory as you can see in the pictures, because we have had about twenty months of relatively wet conditions. I will do some controlled burns over the Winter, and I need to tackle some non-native invasive species (kudzu-virginia creeper-Japanese privet, etc.) with chemicals. I have fenced one area with a bad kudzu and privet problem and will use goats to get it under control. And folks keep asking me if I am going to be bored in my retirement.
The trees were thinned for the first time six years ago. This thinning will leave a "saw-timber" stand. They should grow another five-to-ten years, at which time they will be large enough to go to a mill and be sawed into dimension lumber.
About 80% of the trees are going to a pulp mill, and about 20% are going to a saw mill as "chip-and-saw." The butt ends are cut into 2x4 lumber, and the tops are chipped for pulp.
The operator of the loader/limber has to sort the logs as they are brought in by the skidder operator. In this case, the operator is stockpiling the chip-n-saw lumber to be loaded when enough is accumulated. The machine that loads the lumber swivels through 360 degrees.
The operator can pick up one tree, or several as he loads the truck. It amazing to watch the dexterity of the machine as the operator manipulates it
The tree cutter is an articulated machine, and the operator harvests the trees and arranges them so the skidder operator can pick them up and deliver them to the loader. The cutter can handle up to three or four trees at the time of this size.
The skidder is also articulated, and climbs onto and over most any obstacles. It appears to be going just about wide open all the time.
Here, at the end of the day, the loader operator has stockpiled two loads of chip-n-saw. It will be loaded first thing in the morning.
I hired a registered forester to come in and mark the trees for thinning. Any trees with split tops, "cat-faces," or other defects, such as a lot of low limbs, are marked for removal. The purpose of the thinning is to remove bad trees, thin to a stand that will allow more sunlight in, and leave mostly quality trees. Here are some trees marked for removal.
Stand before and after thinning.
The stand will be much more wildlife friendly after the thinning. There is a lot of understory as you can see in the pictures, because we have had about twenty months of relatively wet conditions. I will do some controlled burns over the Winter, and I need to tackle some non-native invasive species (kudzu-virginia creeper-Japanese privet, etc.) with chemicals. I have fenced one area with a bad kudzu and privet problem and will use goats to get it under control. And folks keep asking me if I am going to be bored in my retirement.
