So with the weather finally starting to get a bit cooler at night, and with me finally working on clearing up the several cords of old rounds/logs in the woodlot, I'm starting to think more about all the standing dead I have on the property that will eventually have to come down thanks to the #&@%* caterpillar defoliation/devastation. Over the eleven years prior to the caterpillar Armageddon, I had cleared my property (a mostly wooded five acres) of any useable dead hardwood trees. I only cut a few live trees down over the years, and those were primarily due to storm damage. With other productive offsite scrounge locations for firewood, there was never any reason to fell live trees on my property. Fast forward to today, and after taking a tally on a good chunk of the property, my count of standing dead that need to come down is: Red Oak: 34 White Birch: 12 Red Maple: 6 Ash: 2 Beech: 1 Thats a total of 55 standing dead (hardwood) trees that have all died off since 2021 thanks to the caterpillars. And that's only a rough count of around 2/3 of the property that I mapped out so far. It's a shame that I lost so many trees to the defoliation, but at least I won't have to go far to scrounge firewood for the foreseeable future (not that it will stop me from still looking for good scrounges). It'll take a long time to drop all of these, and it'll be lot of work to get some of these out of the woods. With so many red oaks (and most are huge, old trees), due to the volume of eventual splits I'll probably start doing Holzhausen oak stacks once I start getting them processed. Additionally, there are a lot of standing dead conifer trees (primarily hemlock and white pine) that I will also be processing over time to mix in with the shoulder season firewood. In just a few years, I went from having my property clear of standing dead (not counting softwood) to having years' worth of future work (looking at all those red oaks). Some of the oaks may end getting milled for a future pole barn or garage-type structure, but most will end up as firewood.
I've been burning firewood as my main source of heat for 15 years now, and being a hardcore firewood scrounger, it is tough to not subconsciously gauge dead and down I find while out walking (or hunting) in the woods for its potential BTUs as well as how easy it is to get the scrounge home. While beech is my #1 local wood to burn, one of my favorite dead and down to scrounge is long-dead red oak, the kind with the bark long gone and hard as driftwood. Sometimes I'll take a BAHCO timber saw with me when going for a walk in the woods in case I come across some of the red oak and can snag a piece to carry home. Granted, most people wouldn't do this, and I'm not talking about long distances, but I can understand how most people (even hoarders) wouldn't go this far for small sections of firewood. For me it's all part of the firewood hoarding fun. I'm already out in the woods, I get some additional exercise, and over time, those small pieces add up (plus I have a long way to go to build my current hoard back up to my previous 20 cords CSS). The pics are just from a few days of grabbing pieces while going for walks in the woods (maybe have about six or so miles total walking in round trips). Beats going to a gym and that long dead red oak seasons fast and burns great.
That’s some of my favorite too. Branch dies. Bark falls off. Sapwood rots off. Nothing left but pure bone dry BTU’s. Just gotta wait for them to fall off of the tree..
It’s amazing how much damage bugs can cause. I’ve got mulberry, oak and ash that all need to be cleared prior to building. so I get it with the concern of tree removals around buildings.
It seems the red oaks took the brunt of the caterpillar damage with white birch coming in second (most of the other hardwoods bounced back much better). During 21 & 22, there were so many caterpillars competing for food, and every deciduous tree had been stripped, that they were even defoliating the conifer trees. I lost several hemlocks, pines, and spruce to the buggers. In my local geographic area, there are probably thousands of red oaks that are now dead. Such a shame.
Sometimes you just get lucky. A local logger was taking down some caterpillar-killed trees at a camp at the end of my road. I had the chance to chat with him yesterday and he said since he's already in the area with his heavy equipment, it would be no big deal to take down the six dead oaks closest to my house (for a total price less than what most tree companies charge for felling one tree, and I keep all the wood). He came by this morning to drop off his CAT and quickly took down four smaller dead white birch that were right near the power lines (I think he just likes operating the machine). If the weather holds out, he plans to take the oaks down on Monday. With over 55 caterpillar-killed trees that have to come down, taking these nine down is a good start (especially because they're the ones most likely to cause problems).
I usually run the brush through a chipper and use the wood chips around the property. It'll definitely by nice to have all that oak CSS and ready to burn in a few years! These guys move quick! Just talked to the logger yesterday and he already took down the four birch trees and had a bucket truck come in to do some limbing on the oak closest to the power lines!
Wow! That’s awesome! Glad you were able to speak with the logger and get a good price on taking down those trees. When life gives you lemons…
When he was leaving, the logger told me "the keys are in it, have at it", however, as tempting as it may be, I will err on the side of caution. The guy is somewhat of a local legend with his knowledge and ability to do just about anything. For example, he purchased the pincer mechanism for the CAT, but made his own 360-degree swivel mount, hydraulic system, control system, etc. for the pincers at his shop. He also has a full-blown mill, so not a bad person to have broken bread with.
Poured yesterday and there were some high winds this morning, so the carnage didn't start until this afternoon. Still, three of the six oaks are down with the remaining three coming down tomorrow. Thanks to those gypsy moth caterpillars, the property is going to look completely different. The logger is going to take a look at some of the felled trees to see if there is any mill value but the majority I'll just be turning into firewood.
I'll finally be rolling in red oak like MikeInMa! I was thoroughly impressed with how he dropped that third tree (the one my dog is on in the picture), which had a slight lean to the left. Power lines and my apple trees to the right and the well head to the left (behind the firewood shed). The logger rested the pincer from the excavator against the trunk about 20 feet up, walked out and put an aiming stake in the ground at the edge of the grass, came back, made his face cut, two bore cuts (with wedges), made the final cut and dropped that tree right on the stake. Whole thing took him less than five minutes.
