A little help please. Want to cut a UTV trail

[JustPlainJeff]

Hey guys, I just bought a home in MI on 40 acres (I've got a post about that as well). Anyway, my property is probably 65% wooded or so. I want to cut a trail, starting around the perimeter to ride our UTV on, so we can enjoy our property. I've dropped, limbed, and bucked plenty of trees, but I'm no "expert" by any means. I'm ordering a Wolfe Ridge log splitter to make firewood out of the hardwood that I cut, but there's about a six month waiting list for them. I don't want to spend money on a big box store brand to hold me over when I'm already spending a pretty big chunk on the Wolfe Ridge. So, would it be okay if I start dropping trees where I want the trail to be now, and just leave them until Spring when my splitter arrives? Will bugs get into the logs before then? Or maybe if I waited and started cutting them down next month or in October, when the cold evenings should kill the bugs? Bottom line, is it okay to drop logs that you intend to use for firewood, or in a wood boiler, 6 or 7 months prior to splitting them? Also, do you prefer to split your wood when it's freshly cut and green, or after it's dried for a few months? Does it even make a difference? Thanks for any help, I appreciate it.

 

[sean donato]

Normally I get log lengths and let them sit for about a year. Off the ground about 6 inches or so.
If it's just over winter I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Then they get bucked, split and stacked. In the shed or on a pallet outside depends on how full the shed is and what time of year it is.

If your intending to split by hand till your splitter arrives then yes green wood typically splits easier then dry wood. Not a hard and fast rule, but generally easier. Once you get the splitter it will make little difference. I mainly split with a splitter so I don't worry about it being dry.

Bugs don't typically become a major issue unless it's left for a few years. (Depending on wood species, and if it had issues to begin with) I won't let a pile sit for more then 2 years, normally it's getting cut and split before then of I can help it.

 

[Mad Professor]

Cut it into rounds and stack and cover the top of the piles. It will season and won't rot.

Try lumber companies for used lumber covers. They save them at a nearby place and give them away free.

Splitting goes easiest in the winter when the wood is frozen.

 

[JustPlainJeff]

Some guys have told me that if I'm just splitting for personal use, that a regular County Line, or big box store splitter will be fine. Is this true?

 

[sean donato]

Yep prolly would have been fine for what your doing.

 

[square1]

Drop, limb & buck into rounds. Go beck in January split, haul & stack.

 

[old CB]

Your cut wood will not suffer if it's not processed immediately. It's good to keep that wood propped up off the ground so it won't absorb moisture from the ground. Just lay out some small branches or whatever, and lay your wood on top.

A nearby Ace hardware rents splitters--I recommend this to folks who ask in my neighborhood. It was $90/day last I heard.

But if you have a splitter coming, I would not lose sleep over your wood sitting in the meantime.

 

[sean donato]

Drop, limb & buck into rounds. Go beck in January split, haul & stack.
View attachment 925491

I have the iso core maul, man it's all I split with on the rare occasion I split by hand, it doubles as a wedge driver in a pinch too. They make some darn nice splitting tools.

 

[Brushwacker]

Most wood splits reasonably easy with the fiskars isocore maul. Personally i feel money spent for a large chainsaw is much better of an investment then a splitter unless you plan on selling much wood and have an extra person or 2 when using a splitter . Difficult and large heavy rounds can be sized down with a big saw to firewood size in a reasonable amount of time, 1 person without straining moving and loading large blocks on a splitter. I like the wood noodles to for animal bedding and starting fires also.

 

[iowagold]

Hey guys, I just bought a home in MI on 40 acres (I've got a post about that as well). Anyway, my property is probably 65% wooded or so. I want to cut a trail, starting around the perimeter to ride our UTV on, so we can enjoy our property. I've dropped, limbed, and bucked plenty of trees, but I'm no "expert" by any means. I'm ordering a Wolfe Ridge log splitter to make firewood out of the hardwood that I cut, but there's about a six month waiting list for them. I don't want to spend money on a big box store brand to hold me over when I'm already spending a pretty big chunk on the Wolfe Ridge. So, would it be okay if I start dropping trees where I want the trail to be now, and just leave them until Spring when my splitter arrives? Will bugs get into the logs before then? Or maybe if I waited and started cutting them down next month or in October, when the cold evenings should kill the bugs? Bottom line, is it okay to drop logs that you intend to use for firewood, or in a wood boiler, 6 or 7 months prior to splitting them? Also, do you prefer to split your wood when it's freshly cut and green, or after it's dried for a few months? Does it even make a difference? Thanks for any help, I appreciate it.

sure drop the trees in mid oct to spring...
mark any dead trees now with red paint band.
and mark harvest trees on the trail path with bright orange or yellow band....
how many trees are you dropping??? best to count them!
more than 40 at 20+ inches in dia at 20 foot up to what ever...
yea some equipment and a saw party is nice!!
get together all the friends and do a cook out work day with rented heavy equipment with good operators
lots of good saw buddies (skilled folks)
and you can make short work out of it... space them out as groups of two...
one for safety watch and the other as saw operator and switch back and forth to help on rest time...

also think on renting a drive set style stump grinder for getting rid of the stumps in the trail.
so have you walked the area and done the measurement yet?
now many miles of trees?
yea a small 4x4 tractor with a skidder sled as well as pull chains with grabber attachment is a great idea...
and or a 4x4 telehandler works well on flat ground for take the logs out of the fell area to the store and stack area up by the garage or work shop.

if you store the larger logs stacked right they will go 2-3 years on good hard wood as logs.

oh yea what are the dia size on the trees in question??
that makes a difference on where and how to store them..

a good shelter shed works for a drying shed for the wood after it is split...
we use the industrial racking rated for 5000 lb or more with grated racks...
on concrete pad or pilons.
we spray it down with bug dope to help on wood roaches , carpenter ants etc. that like to live in the wood and bark.

save the wood shavings for floor sweeping compound for garage and work shop.
pm if you need to know the formula on that stuff!
easy to make!
and biz folks buy it by the 50 lb box!

 

[ArtB]

I want to cut a trail, starting around the perimeter to ride our UTV on, so we can enjoy our property.

You need a serious machine for 40 acres.
Do you have a garage and any skills at machinery repair? For what a new WR splitter costs you can find a used small dozer or bobcat and have a versatile machine. On a bobcat you can even add a cutter/splitter attachment if high volume ever needed. I keep an old JD440 dozed at my cabin on 32 acres just to keep the access lanes clear of winter deadfall and spring growth.

These type bobcat attachments have recently sold for as little as $112 at auctions. Short work of pulling anything uner 12"

 

[JustPlainJeff]

You need a serious machine for 40 acres.
Do you have a garage and any skills at machinery repair? For what a new WR splitter costs you can find a used small dozer or bobcat and have a versatile machine. On a bobcat you can even add a cutter/splitter attachment if high volume ever needed. I keep an old JD440 dozed at my cabin on 32 acres just to keep the access lanes clear of winter deadfall and spring growth.

These type bobcat attachments have recently sold for as little as $112 at auctions. Short work of pulling anything uner 12"

I've got a small, Kubota BX tractor now. I have skids for work that I could use, but my property is bumpy as hell, and I don't feel like using a skid on our property as there is also a large hill running across the entire backside of our property, and divots from blowdowns etc...I plan on getting a larger tractor next year, somewhere in the 60Hp class, that will have a legitimate 2K lift. I figure I'll put a grapple on it when I get it. Then as I cut down trees, I'll pick them up, and carry them to the splitting area by the house. I think I'm going to skip the expensive splitter now, as people have advised me that if I'm not selling wood as a business (which I have no plans of doing), that a cheaper big box store splitter will work just fine for my purposes.

 

[holeycow]

Be wary of sidehill on your trail. NO SIDEHILL

 

[cookies]

rent a forestry mulcher first to clear whatever path your heart desires, rent a excavator with a bucket thumb to push down and move and hold trees for sawing then stacking them.

 

[JustPlainJeff]

Be wary of sidehill on your trail. NO SIDEHILL

LOL, yes, I'm well aware. I was back there brush-hogging the areas that aren't filled with trees already on my little Kubota. I had a few butt-puckering moments! Trails will be cut straight up and down the hills, for sure.

 

[old CB]

As to some of the advice above . . . Yikes. You have all the time in the world to enjoy and work on your 40 acres. There's no time crunch, and no reason to bring in tons of steel and a dozen crew. Spend a few seasons just getting in touch with your land, learning what it does through the seasons, learning what your neighbors have to say about things. Cut your trails. Drop enough trees to keep you well supplied with firewood. Beyond that you have no real need to do anything.

Stump grinders are for suburban residents. Leave your woodland stumps to rot--nature will dispose of them. The only stumps that concern you are those in your woods road(s). And those you just cut flush to the ground, or as close as you can manage. Your tractor(s), pickup, 4-wheeler will get along fine.

Seek out a state forester, or someone equally knowledgeable, to advise you on how best to manage your woods. But do not be in a hurry. Nature isn't. And nature has managed without our input for far longer than we've been mucking about.

 

[iowagold]

it all depends on the time frame as far as renting the equipment.
if you have a short window on time then yea rent the gear and get it done fast.
but if you have the luxury of lots of time to get this project done..
take your time and spread it out over the next 3-4 years.

the stump grinder is for a right now solution to get a atv road right now with out any stumps.
in some areas of the country to rot a stump naturally you car looking at 2-5 years or more depending on if it gets help
and the type of wood.
we have a few stumps on the tree farm that were from oak trees fell back in 1985 and are still solid!
they are not in an area where we need access right now.
so no hurry.

you can use natural items to help break down the tree stumps...
but in new road areas a stump grinder is a handy tool...
a couple of day's rental and you could have a nice road or trail.

 

[fordf150]

if you want a trail fast....rent a tracked skid steer with a forestry mower on it. i just cleared a path around 25 acres in a day with mine......spent another week of evenings with a chainsaw opening the trail up from a winding utv sized trail to a 10-50' wide straight as an arrow path. compare that to the path we did around 46 acres 20 years ago.....that was 3 to 4 months of evenings and weekends with just a chainsaw and there are still parts of it that are tight.

make your path wide enough for a tractor and brush hog to get thru. makes it easy to keep the trails brush free

box store log splitter will work 2 people half to death if you have everything cut into rounds and ready to split....we used to do 60+ cords a year. first couple years we did it with just a 25 ton box store splitter and 3 people.....