I have a few standing dead trees that I intend to use for firewood 2-3 years out. They are typical Inland Northwest varieties, lodgepole, tamarack, and douglas fir, and have been dead anywhere from 6 months to 2 years. I will not buck and split until spring '16, but my question is - drop them now, drop them in winter, or drop them in the spring? I am planning to do it in the spring, but is there any advantage to cutting them earlier? I suppose they will dry better and rot less standing dead than on the ground?
I would not drop them until you are ready to stack the wood in rounds or splits it does not matter as long as it is off the ground to prevent rot of the wood. Leave them on the ground and they will begin to rot. You will not be able to tell if there is rot because the wood will rot from the inside out.
With any standing dead I would factor in rotting limbs or tops becoming a danger. If you said it was birch I'd say get it on the ground immediately.
As you know we both burn the same kind of wood and most of my stacks are from standing dead trees of the same variety. I would leave them until the spring, especially considering when you plan on burning them. If they are a danger to you and your family I would drop them now.
Spring should work great if you got enough to make it through winter. Pine doesnt do very good laying on the ground in winter rain/snow conditions. The tamaracks are somewhat resistent to moisture rot.
Yeah I agree with that. I do find that out of lodgepole, larch and doug fir standing dead trees the fir tends to rot the quickest. Im not saying thats a scientific analysis just my experience when dropping standing dead trees.
I think it could depend on alot of factors. If they get blown down or fell and lay in deep snow, or directly on the ground for more than say 3 or 4 months it kinda ruins them.also seeems if they are dead when they fall they do better that way too. Also i think its better for down trees if the winter is mostly below freezing instead of 40 degrees and rain.
Lodgepole seems to do pretty good on the ground also. I dont cut much of it because there aint much of it in our forest. The usfs had a bonanza on it in the 80s, for pulpwood for the mills and commercial firewood permits for anyone who wanted to cut.
I'm not sure I'd ever drop a dead tree unless I planned on cutting it up right away. And this is whether or not it would be flat on the ground. Even if it laid on other logs so as to be off the ground, it will rot faster laying than standing. Of course the thing to be really careful with is possible widow makers which tend to be on dead trees.
I dropped a 36 inch hickory last weekend that has been standing dead for 5 years. Outer 1 to 3 inches is rotten, but inside is great. I will have it all split and stacked next weekend since the rot seems to suck up the water like a sponge. I say new or old, get it off of the ground ASAP
I, of course, intended to write Spring '17. It seems the consensus is to leave them standing until ready to process, and watch for widowmakers when I do take them down. Thanks for all the input.
That is interesting because I cut a lot of lodge pole every year and that stuff always rots from the inside out, but your hickory starts from the outside. Different woods in different parts of the country. I sure like this forum.
Best way for them to come down. Be real careful dropping dead trees. I don't do any tricky cutting with them at all. I notch with the lean only and back-cut looking up the entire time.
Yeah i agree, dead standing is like a nightmare for me because as soon as i set a wedge the top branches start coming down and here you know there is rot somewhere but where and how it will affect the tree falling is always a concern
A tree company is going to be here in the next couple of weeks to take down some dead elm trees that are close to the house. That answers the question of when to have dead trees cut, (when they threaten buildings). I have marked them for takedown on a priority basis. You may see the numbers 1,2,3 on the 3 largest and closest to the house. I will be doing all of the cleanup and the wood coming from the trees will be burned in a few years. Kind of recuping the expenses of having the trees taken down.
Woodsnwoods Lets just say it wouldn't be pretty. If it isn't pretty, the insurance company would not be happy and you know it is a good thing to keep them happy
I get it. I have one right behind my house and one right next to the power lines that have a gravity problem. Luckily they are fully alive. You can always rent a man lift. I did that once for a large tree at my dads. Made for a fun day
