Yes, very different, hardwoods are the exception on our land...and while not steep at all, you can tell the land has never been cleared/cultivated as it is very uneven...lots of ledge near the surface.
So we have a contract to have our forest harvested, they should start in 3-4 weeks. Our neighbor is harvesting her property too, we have agreed to split the cost of the landing and the harvesting company can access our land through hers, this works well for me, otherwise access to most of my lot would be directly by my house. Ours is 43.5, hers is 41 acres, they estimate 4-6 weeks start to finish. They are doing what is called a select harvest. Most of the trees are Fir which have a natural lifespan of about 40-50 years. This land was likely last harvested about 35 years ago. Many of the Fir are dying and falling over creating a jumbled mess on the forest floor that inhibits new growth. There is a lot of ledge so blowdowns are a particular problem. The forester said this will also direct which trees they cut as they don't want to create more of a blowdown problem. So they will harvest most of the Fir and many of the other larger trees, Pine, Spruce, Red Maple and Birch mostly. It should be about a 50% reduction overall. They like to leave a good number of larger trees as "seed" trees. The goal is to harvest what is dying and to create some space for new growth and have another harvest in 10-15 years. The forester from the harvesting company showed me a mapping app called Avenza that uses gps coordinates to plot the property lines on a Sat photo. I tracked my trails on the map, they are in orange. The blue dot is our house, our drive is along the property line, the yellow L is the landing they will make on the neighbors land to get the trucks in to get the logs out. Luckily the property abuts a cul-de-sac so they won't have to cut a huge landing in the woods for the trucks to turn around in, they will turn around in the cul-de-sac and back down the landing road. Our property line is pink, the neighbors is red. Yes, I know one of my trails ventures over onto my neighbors land, I was using bad data when I made the trail last year, its just a foot trail, I've talked with them about it, they are fine with it, their land has been vacant since they bought it 30 years ago, they are happy I'm keeping an eye on things. The harvesting company uses a strategy called "cut to length". This harvester makes a trail through the forest about 12 feet wide, the trail is based on the terrain. The harvester has an arm that can reach 30 feet, it cuts the tree and pulls it back to the trail, limbs it and cuts the trunk to lengths that are useable based on the species and the individual tree. It leaves the logs and the brush in the trail. Then a Forwarder comes by and picks the logs up and loads them on its bed and carries them to the landing where the logging trucks pick them up and hauls them to the mill. This method of harvesting has a much lower impact on the forest as they don't have to drag out full length trees, this keeps the logging trails much smaller and doesn't disturb or compact the ground as much. It also spreads the brush out and compacts it as both the harvester and forwarder machines drive over the brush in the trails. I posted a video of this earlier in the thread. The brush and tops is still a large concern for me as I am in the woods with the Hounds daily, 3 hours minimum. I'm thinking of spending some of the revenue from the harvest to hire another local company to come in and mulch the logging trails after the harvest. They use a small bulldozer like machine that has a rotating drum on the front with teeth on it that can chew up just about anything. Here is a video of the mulcher machine, it costs $2500/day. The forester thinks they could do most of the trails in one day.
Yes they also make them in a disc layout as opposed to a drum. I think the machine in the video probably has more ability to deal with the terrain than a skid steer...IDK I've never operated a skid steer.
Looks fine Dave. Be sure though that your forester is a Consulting Forester Maine licensed . The contract should specify that the forester checks and controls ALL revenue from each load as well as that the harvest uses proper management including stumps. It's what we did on our woodlot 20 years ago when pulp and sawmills were still paying well. It's the job of your forester to supervise, and worth the small extra paid. We had spent 3 days transecting the woodlot with our forester before the final plan. We got our share from the harvest after all was done. Best of success. We had a friend near you who had a couple of hundred acres harvested about 16 years ago WITHOUT using a Consulting Forester.
Harvest started yesterday. My neighbors land is first so I should get a good idea of how they work/what things will look like before they start on my land. Harvester Landing road off cul de sac
Nice harvester there Dave. It looks like a big update from our 1999 cut with a Finnish harvester. How is the estimated take from your forester for you ? The wood market seems to be down in our area, with pulp pretty much dead.
I watch commodity prices and lumber prices through the roof compared to 6 months ago. Not sure about pulpwood prices. One guy told me there's a waiting list at Lowe's for lumber.
Looking good, Dave! Here’s a pic I took while mowing a friend’s woods roads. The first time I went down this road, 10 years or so ago, I thought he had made it too wide, and couldn’t have imagined it looking like this now.
A few woods roads is what I am hoping to develop by paying for the ground mulching of the harvester trails. This is a long term project for me, i am less concerned about generating revenue than i am about increasing my access to the woods and the overall health of the forest. The ride along in the harvester was very enlightening. The regular harvester operator was out for the day, the guy I rode with usually runs the forwarder. He said to make sure I get a ride with the regular operator so I could really see what the machine can do. It is quite impressive the way he can wind through the trees. I was surprised to learn that they dont even carry a chainsaw, pretty much the only time he gets out is to change a chain. He said the head alone is $150K. Here is the finished landing road. Being on a cul de sac, the trucks can turn and back down the landing road so they didn't have to cut a turn around in the woods.
Dave, don't see the the line flagging or blazes. We had to clearly mark the lines with paint and flagging for the harvests. It is so the harvester operator can easily see where to stop cutting. Maine reg was that the cut had to be ~ 10' from the lines. Nice pics BTW...thx.
The lines are clearly flagged, hard to pick up on the video I guess. Also the harvester has gps and a map to show the operator where he is.
I commented on that too...he said wait till you meet Dave the regular operator, I guess he's quite a character...can't be all that bad ifin his name is Dave
