Anyone ever cut up tree tops, unusable logs etc. From a logging site? I obviously don't know much about it, betting it'll have to be done after the crew has finished the job and you probably get the most twisted peices ever but I'm curious. I'm in northern indiana and logging isn't really a huge deal but I have seen some going on, I'll bet if I found the right property owner or logger they'd tell me go ahead. Sent from my LE2127 using Tapatalk
I have cut after loggers. You will have the tops primarily but that's fine, it all burns. You'll have less to split and it may take a bit longer to get that load but I really like to cut on tops. Some of them may be tough to access because they usually leave the tops where they drop and dont pull or drag them out to edges. I say go for it. Sent from my SM-G930VL using Tapatalk
Some I have seen look like good sized logs honestly, they just have a curve or twist to them. Like I said if I find the right person and I have a tree guy I can get from too. Sent from my LE2127 using Tapatalk
A lot of landowners won’t mind and it will help reduce the way it looks post-loggin. That has been my saving grace- landowners on two sides of me have harvested. As far as the logger- the log yard will have rejects and cut offs that are a great source of easy pickings, sometimes they like to doze them in a pick pile. You may want to hit those on weekends and when evenings when they are gone.
The neighbor had about 7 acres clear cut by a logger and they harvested whatever tree's they wanted to take...unfortunately the rest got pushed into a huge tangled pile...we went in and cut what we could off the pile, then pulled a bunch more out with the truck...in the end we didn't even make a noticeable dent in it before they dropped a match on it...that pile did get me 3 years (+) ahead though.
For me it would depend on the logging operation. Is the wood skid out or forwarded? Will you be taking what’s left on the deck or going out on skidder roads to collect? Lots of variables here.
I cleaned up after logging jobs with my father 40 years ago. He knew several loggers (he logged in the 1960s and early 70s but had switched to full time excavating) and they let him have tops from their jobs. Logging contracts gave the loggers a year to get the logs out, and the loggers actually purchase the whole tree. We would cut the tops within that time. Two things that made Dad different than most wood hoarders is he had insurance as a business owner, and he had a dozer to skid the tops to a landing, and a backhoe to load them onto a 6-yard dump truck to haul home. The first may be required by the logger and the second made working on tops much easier. Tops can be quite difficult to cut.
I'm cutting in tops piles right now. It's a little more work but theres a lot of good wood left behind. If you can get to it pretty easy I say go for it.
Cleaning up logging sites can be good but having a way to pull the tops definitely helps. Also if the trees they are logging are pretty big they leave some nice sized limbs.
I do it a lot. Just be careful with your footing in the tangles and around the stumps, and take a little extra time clearing your paths.
Had some 12 acres of mine logged after a small tornado; I live on property and could not get it all!! Keep That in mind
I've done plenty of it. As has been said it can be real work. Usually good trails cut by the loggers, but tops are messy to work in. If you can pull them out and cut what you want, not so bad to do.
Like many have said, a little more work, but lots of good firewood. Most of the tops I’ve processed are the perfect size and only require 1 or 2 whacks of the splitting maul. I was back in the woods the other day and checking out a few tops I couldn’t get to before they were too far gone from a few years back when the woods was logged. Just was too wet down in that area. That was very rewarding to take what was such a mess after the loggers came through and to see it begin to look somewhat normal and groomed again.....man, I could go for some more tops
My woods were logged with a cut-to-length harvester this past summer. There are a lot of poles out there that were delimbed but were too small or were short cut-offs. I expect to get several cords of those once my roads dry out, and they will be super easy. These types of operations use a forwarder rather than a skidder (maybe keep an eye out when scouting locations) - picking behind this type of harvest is somewhat easier.
Went to a charity cut at a property that had 90 acres logged. It looked like a war zone; there was a lifetime of wood laying everywhere, lots of decent sized stuff too. I have never seen anything like it. It is a shame most of it was going to waste. It was fairly easy cutting imo.
A lot of wood like that will be taken at this year's GTG. A few logs and some tops. We'll have some fun.
The place I'm cutting now is the same way. They came and got what they wanted and didn't care what happened to the trees left standing. Big scars in trunks of trees left standing, tops busted out so bad I'll be taking some of them in the next few years as they die from the damage. This is the second sight I've been on that the amish loggers did and its obvious they don't care about anything but what there taking out.
Same deal with the property I cut on. Only 100 trees were selected to be cut on 13 acres. Over 25 trees were over 45" DBH. Lots of scars/rash left on existing trees. There were existing trails that could accommodate a pickup truck. They left some huge berms that could not be driven on with a truck. After some complaining, they sent a check instead of fixing the trails. I used a pick and shovel to make it passable. This was a Mennonite outfit out of Lancaster County.
