Awesome score Greg They will also cut the bases off the logs if there is any pull wood in the hinge. The taper at the base of a tree is usually cut off as well - most mills aren't capable of taking large DBH logs.
Basod and Stuck pretty much nailed it.... Logs that I haul to the mill on occasion (ones that are too nice to hack up for firewood) don't go on the trailer until I have cleaned both ends if necessary. When you use a standard "notch and drop" on a tree you leave an angled end to the log, that takes up trailer space and also adds weight to the load. So that end gets cut off. Or if a tree has had a lean and an improper drop cut had been made (allowing the hinge to pull slivers out of the butt of the log when the tree is felled, as Basod explained) that end should be cut off before a trip to the mill. Most loggers use what is called a Humboldt cut when dropping lumber-grade timber, which is basically an upside down face wedge, thus saving some wood at the butt of the log..... Anyway, great score Greg......absolute JACKPOT! Looks to be a nice variety of species in the pile too.
ok, next question. In a case like this thread, theres all the leftover pieces that didn't make the grade for the explanation you gave, what do loggers do with this? Is there a market (other than firewood or giving it away) for this material?
Sometimes there isn't a market. Local and state laws as well as the contract that the logger and the landowner sign will determine what is acceptable in execution of the sale. Where I'm from, state foresters will engage as necessary to ensure that things are done right. When it's not a chip job, loggers generally leave the tops in the woods. Sometimes the stuff that is culled has to be hauled back into the woods to be dumped. Other times it's acceptable to leave stuff piled up at the landing and over the next 20-30 years until the next sale, it'll rot. Most property in New England is privately held land either by individuals or corporations. Some people will allow cutting of the stuff that is left over. One couldn't run a firewood business with tops and cull but one could certainly scrounge the wood. Unfortunately in opening their land to cutters, they open themselves to lawsuits if a Hoarder was to injure him/herself on the property. Additionally, someone could cut wood that they were not authorized to cut so most of the wood just rots. Some of what is left is good for wildlife. White Pine tops left whole are good cover for birds such as turkey and grouse. Salamanders love the undersides of rotting logs. It all eventually replenishes the forest floor nutrients..
Stuckinthemuck has given some good explanations and it is apparent he has some experience in this. This is great. I remember in those long ago days when I was involved with logging and sawmills we once had some great hard maple. We checked with 3 mills and took them to the highest bidder. Our best log brought $500.00 which was extremely rare in those days (50's & 60's). I do recall one hard maple that had some rot. It was a shame but we ended up getting only one 8' log from it and it brought something like $300.00. Had we been able to cut it longer we'd have really been celebrating that week. We rarely did leave any logs in the woods but occasionally had to leave a couple at the end. If the truck was full, the logs got left and it was not worth it to go back for 2 or even 3 logs unless they were really great logs. However, those, what we called super logs, were the ones that got loaded first! lol As for the taper of the butt, most mills will take that now and the notch usually poses no problem unless it is a really big tree. But those big trees are mostly in the Pacific NW and we find here that the big diameter trees tend to have limbs really close to the ground. For sure an exception is cottonwood but not many mills want that nor do the wood burners. Here is one example. This was a big cottonwood. In two of the pictures my wife is standing in one and laying on the stump in the other so you get an idea of the size. Also take note how much log you'd get below the first limb!
I've got a piece of paper that says that I stayed awake for 3 years of Forestry Classes. This might have been at the tail end of your logging years but when bowling became big in Japan, a lot of our hard maple (sugar maple) was sold off at a very high price to build the bowling alleys over there. I think that was from the late 60's to the mid 70's. The maple syrup industry is still recovering from that although I'm sure the producers who kept their trees were happy for the higher syrup prices..
While I wasn't there to see this happen,you can tell by what was left that the above answers are correct. Most of the pieces have a slight bend, or hollowness at end. But the pieces were pretty long when I got there. Ranging in about 5 feet to 8 feet. And there was not one piece that did not contain at least one piece of good firewood length hardwood. The pieces in pic were after we cut them, the ones to left in first pic were what the pile looked like when we go there. only statistics I know were that logger guy said that they had estimated 70 thousand board feet, and this exercise of trimming produced about six cord of great wood, and all of just about perfect diameter for splitting down. There was no pine, cause forest had little, but there were a few poplar, so far just cutting and loading!
Man, some super good learnnnin here! I had no Idea about some of that stuff! Nice explanation Stuck!!!! You too Dennis! I love the knowledge you guys have…. I feel so puny about that stuff, I'm just a scrounger and a flea on an elephants A$$ when it comes that stuff….. But been burning for 40+ years now, Doing something right
One other thing, being a true scrounger, I followed the tracks a half mile back to the area logged. great tops everywhere. Many dead or crooked trees still standing, and hard to estimate, but I am guessing there are 10-12 cords of very good tops, big enough to mess with and close enough to get gear to. Thicker work than at landing area in terms of brush, so waiting until fall to get those. Some tops began at 12 inch diameter. Anything crooked or bent at all was left. Not sure I have found anything so crooked that when cut to 20 inches long wouldn't be straight enough for me! landowner who I know has said I can have all rather than leaving all to rot. One last thing, I've got the "if you cut your head off, I'll be sued" line many times. So I came up with a waiver that I have not had anyone not sign yet. basically says firewood cutting is inherently dangerous, I'm here at my own risk, hold land owner harmless etc.. I highly recommend carrying one of these in your glove box, then you can use it if needed, and also separates you from every other guy who may stop by and can " lock up sites" until you can get back to get wood. If anyone wants this, I will post on here for you to edit freely. Just like the firewood, use at your own risk!
Thank you for the offer to share the waiver. I would definitely like to see it. That's a great idea to ease peoples minds, even if they don't ask for it
One key part I forgot is this. When I first saw site and the pile of ends accumulating, I stopped and ask what was going to happen to them. Logger said he had to clear landing area when done, because it was right by road etc.. And part of contract. I then asked what " cleared meant". He said pushed into pile at nearby hedgerow. When I said I would take all he said he would leave loose piled very near where they were cut off. This was key because as most readers on this blog will know a log pushed or rolled through mud and covered will eat saw blades. These logs only had very little at one end as they were drug out with skidder with one end in the air. So far pile has not been too hard on chains.
Tops should be left behind to re-fertilize the ground that they were taken from. This was a hardwood stand for the most part(60-80yo), as it appears from the pictures, but down south(here) pine stands are clear cut, replanted and select cut around 20-25yrs(sometimes sooner) 40yrs on timber If you pull all the nutrients stored in the trees from the area and relocate them to a landing it stalls the regrowth of new trees. the land owners down here actually fertilize their pine plantations with planes - urea(pig urine pellets) dropped from above
Leaving the crooked unmarketable trees standing is a very short sighted practice. It is called 'high grading'. They should have gone out as pulp/firewood. Those trees are going to keep growing. The next time that land is harvested they will just be bigger worthless trees. Continue the practice and you will continue to reduce the value of the timber stand.
Thanks Dave and thanks for the feedback Greg. Good stuff. For reference, a thousand board feet or 1 MBF is approximately equal to 2 cords. So it looks like they hauled about equal to 140 cords out of there (probably plus or minus 40 or so due to variation in grading and size of logs)... Peelers and sawlogs are measured in MBF... Pulp and firewood in cords... I agree with everyone, this is a good discussion.. Allows me to show off what I learnt in kollege. Basod, I'd agree with you to a degree. If I was going to use the tops for my own firewood, no problem pulling them out but only what I'm going to burn. I actually go so far as to scatter the ashes from my stove back in the woods... One of the options I had when doing my timber sale in '09 was to have them to harvest whole trees.. Makes it look "cleaner" and "parklike". Well for the reasons mentioned above and what you pointed out, I opted to leave the tops and cull in the woods.. Probably could have gotten 100-120 cords of wood out of there if I had the time but the alternative of having it rot into the soil isn't bad either as it's feeding the next generation of the forest.
