I have so many dead standing trees that need to come down and not enough time. Right now I have 24 easy access dead standing. Anybody want to come help? Is it best to leave them stand or to take them down and just put in logs off the ground?
Let them stand as long as you can until you can process them. If felled, and on the ground, they can rot easier, typically.
How long have they been dead? If you know each tree intimately then I would harvest them when they fall down. Obviously it would be better if you brought them down so you can process them but as you say time is the big issue here. In "my" forest I know the standing dead trees that have recently fallen over and will harvest them first before they upload moisture from laying horizontal. I do this because it isnt practical for me to harvest all the standing dead.
Some (15 plus) have been dead over 4 years but not sure how much over 4 years. Some dies in the past 2 years. And a few this year.
I'm in the same situation with ash trees. Except for the few near the house that needed to come down, I'm leaving the rest standing for as long as possible. They're unlikely to rot standing free, and I like the habitat they provide for animals.
Three oaks and a cherry are on the agenda for this weekend. I need to figure out a better way to haul.
I have mixed ideas on standing dead. For sure a lot depends upon what it is. For example, we have a lot of elm that die and we leave them standing until most or all of the bark has fallen and then cut them. If we leave them standing after the bark is off, they will start to go punky rather quickly. Most wood is like this. But the biggest factor to me is that I hate cutting dead trees. The simple reason for that is most times you really do not know what the interior of that tree is like and many times there are weak spots. I really do not want to be cutting a tree and then have it fall from breaking rather than from me cutting it. No, that is not a good thing. So, I usually recommend the tree gets cut. When falling a dead tree if you can not buck it up right away, then it is a really good idea to cut some small logs, say 4-6' in length and lay them down where the tree is going to fall. This will keep the tree up off the ground and will give you much more time to buck it up. You can leave it a couple years like that if need be because it will be off the ground so won't soak up that moisture from the ground which causes it to rot.
Good idea bassJAM. However, with the ash trees, they will stand only so long before the root begins to rot. Then they fall and it has been our experience that when it gets to this point, the wood is still good but not nearly as good as it would have been if they'd been cut perhaps 3-4 years sooner. That said, we have lots and lots and lots of dead ash yet; some standing, some fallen. Some of the trees are to the point where I'm not sure I'll even cut them because of the chance of them falling when I'm cutting. I'd rather they go to waste than for that to happen.
Corey b you could go to a 2 or 3 axle trailer and go get 10 to 16 foot lengths, as many as you could get on. You would need a peavey and some skids or heavy equipment of some kind. Stockpile at your house and cut blocks at your leisure. Or sell it in the log lengths.
