My wife doesn't understand.

[bfrazier]

You're right Al; the woods in the first couple pics really need to be thinned out. Kind of a pain to cut that stuff. Have to work in and create some "drop zones". All smaller trees like that have very little top weight to push there way down through even small branches and love to get themselves hung up.

Out here in Western Oregon we use the rule of thumb for every 1" in diameter breast height provide 1' of spacing diameter, so a 14" dbh douglas fir gets (very roughly) 14' diameter of spacing. Your mileage may vary. And it IS hard to kill (per-commercial thin) live trees when there are plenty of dead ones already needing harvested, but you'll just make matters worse waiting.
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And oak, cut split, delivered is well north of $300 per cord.

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Here's some winter burning at my place, piles made and covered with plastic this summer easily go up now while it's soaking wet to reduce fuel load and give the very best trees spacing.

Same place from a different direction a few days after the burning - the blacktail doe and I are on speaking terms - she seemed curious about it all - obviously timber management doesn't have to scare the critters away - it makes things better for them too.

And there's also one of her two twins playing "Where's Waldo" in this photo.

 

[066blaster]

Ash borer will be keeping me busy for years to come. I actually had to create a plan, and prioritize. I didn't realize we had this many Ash trees. I have some big dead Elms as well.

 

[mijdirtyjeep]

I thought I read somewhere that 10 acres of woods could supply a life time of heat to ones house if managed properly. My in-laws property is over a 100 acres and it’s just us cutting on it for wood to heat our houses. He is not a fan of non-straight trees so all we cut is bent/leaners. We have not even made a dent in his woods over the 10yrs I have been cutting on it.

 

[Ptsiteworx]

I'm having my property surveyed right now to avoid any future issues with her. i let a good family friend hunt our property and she wasn't happy with that either, or the fact i shoot my guns in the back either.

 

[Deleted member 117362]

I've hauled a couple loads of chip board out of that Auraco plant. Place is frickin huge.

$450+ million spent on plant, plus money to upgrade utilities and roads. Using over 500 truck loads of various wood products WEEKLY.

 

[SS396driver]

I'm having my property surveyed right now to avoid any future issues with her. i let a good family friend hunt our property and she wasn't happy with that either, or the fact i shoot my guns in the back either.

I have one neighbor like that she is constantly calling the police when were shooting in the back field. She even called the DEP about the deer hanging in my barn . They came just to check that the deer kills had been tagged and reported to the DEP which they were. So now we hang them in the tree near the property line . Real city people.

 

[fishercat]

I'm having my property surveyed right now to avoid any future issues with her. i let a good family friend hunt our property and she wasn't happy with that either, or the fact i shoot my guns in the back either.

You ever considered getting her an apartment in the city?

 

[Ptsiteworx]

this will be my last vent on the topic but she is always complaining about the twp we live in. she grew up here and doesn't like the people, doesn't like the rural setting, likes the diversity of the city etc... I'm not sure why they moved here

 

[alleyyooper]

Wife doesn't mind me shooting my guns at my back yard range. Killing pussoms, coons and skunks that mess with our bees and I have live trapped. Doesn't mind My friends coming over for a 6:30 AM breakfast I make before we go coyote hunting here and around the area.
Doesn't mind me deer hunting but she knows I don't shoot doe's either, leave them for the city slicker next door that can't really hunt a corn field in his back yard.

Neighbour to the south is a crazy woman but has only siced the cops on me once. We bought the 10 acre parcel that had been between us, I felt she had been doing stuff on the place the absent owner never knew about.
We hired a survey company to survey it. took a couple months for them to arrive and do the job so I went by her horse pasture fence to try to clear a path for the survey crew. She saw what I was doing and said to knock down all the autum olive because they stink in the spring. So I widened the clearing I was doing.
She called the cops and said I was way over the line.

This passed spring I was over there cutting a Dead Elm from where the fence line will run. She came over and asked when I was going to take care of the brush pile on her place.
told her I wasn't going to come on her place and do any thing, YOU CALLED THE COPS when I was clear like you asked.

So back to the wife. She has seen finally how the EAB has killed all the Ash and how open the woods is now and under stands if I clear out stuff like the Elm and Maples it will open the floor to the sun and every thing will grow in thich and make wild life habiat, homes and food.

Brush pile she complained about is to the left of the standing tree.

I still had to widen this area.

Wife was a big help when we drove the fence post.

Al

 

[svk]

Fences make great neighbors. Especially when the real neighbors are weird.

 

[bfrazier]

Al,

You have an interesting story here with interesting parameters. I enjoyed the pictures - thank you.

And I have a question - do you plant trees, or is all your production natural regeneration?

It's important to get the family moving the same direction on farm decisions, and I'd say including neighbors that act like children, but they are optional.

Planting trees might (and what do I know) help with that, especially if the wife had some say as to what to plant or where perhaps. You'd have to make some parameters, but giving her some choice between, for instance, something with higher wildlife value versus something that will burn better or make good lumber could get her more on board with the cutting end of the business.

And we're all getting older, but there's a saying somewhat like "Only old men plant trees." Have you heard that one? What do you think?

 

[bfrazier]

 

[alleyyooper]

Yes I plant trees. I have maples I started planting 30 odd years ago when we moved in. those maples are now provideing me with seeds I grow seedlings from.

the deer love for me to plant the seedlings to as they start by nibbling the leaves about all off then trim them down to about 4 inches tall.
LOL I should just plant them and then prune them saveing the deer the trouble.

Al

 

[svk]

I thought I read somewhere that 10 acres of woods could supply a life time of heat to ones house if managed properly. My in-laws property is over a 100 acres and it’s just us cutting on it for wood to heat our houses. He is not a fan of non-straight trees so all we cut is bent/leaners. We have not even made a dent in his woods over the 10yrs I have been cutting on it.

10 acres to how many cords per year?

 

[alleyyooper]

20 Acres have been giving me around 15 face cord per heating season.
15 divided by 3face cord per full cord equalls 3 full cords.

99% has been EAB killed Ash, about 1% dead Elm..

Al

 

[svk]

20 Acres have been giving me around 15 face cord per heating season.
15 divided by 3face cord per full cord equalls 3 full cords.

Wouldn’t that be 5 full cords then?

 

[alleyyooper]

Each full cord makes me 3 face cord 18" long.
So ya my math is wrong. Must be why I am not a math school teacher.

Al

 

[mijdirtyjeep]

10 acres to how many cords per year?

I cannot remember how many cords per year. Heck, for all I know it’s not even true. I can’t even remember where or who told me that.

 

[Matt93eg]

Neighbor that moved in on the property a little ways behind me called the fire dept on me couple months ago. I was burning brush behind my house in my yard on a wet calm day and she seen it and freaked out and called the fire dept. Royally pissed me off. Damn city folk

 

[bfrazier]

Neighbor that moved in on the property a little ways behind me called the fire dept on me couple months ago. I was burning brush behind my house in my yard on a wet calm day and she seen it and freaked out and called the fire dept. Royally pissed me off. Damn city folk

Oh yeah?

Well, here's my idiot of a neighbor burning a quarter mile below my house on September 1st 2019 in Oregon, no rain for months, dead grass, everything dry, and an uphill run all the way to my house on steep ground and timber. Some people have no god-damned sense at all.