Hey Jason, Im a Forester from UNB, have a woodlot in Truro. For the hardwood (maple, birch) you want to keep spacing tight, (not like the fir/spruce), since if its open grown, it will limb out towards light and develop more crooks. Keeping spacing tight trains the trees to grow straighter with better form since they wont naturally.
@@OakMountainAcotts Hey Jason, I should have clarified that when the trees are immature/saplings, its best to keep spacing tight, as it creates competition in the crown, so that they will grow straighter/taller and not bush out to the sides. As they get more mature, like on your lot, you can open up the crowns, but remember if you allow too big a crown gap, deciduous trees will grow towards it, (as in their whole crown will extend in that direction), creating crooked stems, unlike coniferous trees (fir & spruce), which may bush out their foliage in a canopy gap, but the single leader will still continue its growth straight up. So, what you did in the recent video harvesting the poorer quality mature tree is fine, since its stem or bole likely is almost fully developed so it may not develop poor quality crooks, but its all about crown spacing and anticipating how the remaining trees will respond to the new canopy gap. Its exactly what I do on my lot!
If you have any Black Birch, that stuff has as many btus as black locust, oak, or ironwood. It's also called swamp birch. Not all that common, but very good stuff!
Love that yellow birch. I like hearing about your Managment plan. I am working on getting my trails laid out and working on selective thinning as I see a sawmill in my future.
Does this stuff rot like white birch, if you don't cut it up and split it right away? The bark on white is like wrapping a wet green log in Saran wrap- no water gets through it. So it rots and gets punky quick.
Yellow birch is a very good hardwood. High BTU value and real pleasure to work with. The bark does remind you of white birch but it lasts longer when it isn't split compared to white birch. Of course, it dries really well when split. Take care! Jason
Hi there... if we are cutting the firewood for personal use, we will cut the branches up into 16" wood down to 1" diameter. If we are cutting wood for sale, we will top out at 3" to 4" diameter for the firewood processor. If there is a semi-tree length stick from 4" down to 2", we will cut it and use it for personal use. I always try to cut my remaining tops and brush down into 3 or 4 foot sections so they settle to the ground to start the composting process.
Black birch also has that wintergreen taste and smell
Nice! I just read that wintergreen oil is usually in higher concentrations in black birch as well!
Hey Jason, Im a Forester from UNB, have a woodlot in Truro. For the hardwood (maple, birch) you want to keep spacing tight, (not like the fir/spruce), since if its open grown, it will limb out towards light and develop more crooks. Keeping spacing tight trains the trees to grow straighter with better form since they wont naturally.
Hi Jamie, what would be a good spacing limit for 4" to 10" hardwoods? Thanks, Jason
@@OakMountainAcotts Hey Jason, I should have clarified that when the trees are immature/saplings, its best to keep spacing tight, as it creates competition in the crown, so that they will grow straighter/taller and not bush out to the sides. As they get more mature, like on your lot, you can open up the crowns, but remember if you allow too big a crown gap, deciduous trees will grow towards it, (as in their whole crown will extend in that direction), creating crooked stems, unlike coniferous trees (fir & spruce), which may bush out their foliage in a canopy gap, but the single leader will still continue its growth straight up.
So, what you did in the recent video harvesting the poorer quality mature tree is fine, since its stem or bole likely is almost fully developed so it may not develop poor quality crooks, but its all about crown spacing and anticipating how the remaining trees will respond to the new canopy gap. Its exactly what I do on my lot!
@jamiealguire7190 Excellent. Thanks for the added info!
If you have any Black Birch, that stuff has as many btus as black locust, oak, or ironwood. It's also called swamp birch. Not all that common, but very good stuff!
Thanks for the note. I don't think black birch is really common here... maybe a tree or two once in a while... Thanks for stopping by!
I also love yellow birch as firewood, one of my favorites. Black birch also smells like wintergreen but it is found further south.
Awesome. Thanks for watching! Jason
Great video! Thanks. I like seeing and hearing about your forest improvements.
Thanks for watching and the feedback on the videos. Let me know if they get boring!
Love that yellow birch. I like hearing about your Managment plan. I am working on getting my trails laid out and working on selective thinning as I see a sawmill in my future.
It is a labour of love and always something to do. Thanks for your comments!
Hi again Nice video. 😊
Thanks for the visit, we appreciate the channel support!
Very nice Jason, really like your yarder. New sub from northeast Ohio, I have been managing my forest for a good length of time.
Nice to hear from you and thanks for the comment. Feel free to share some of your techniques with me. Always looking for advice!
Fir is great firewood as well. But a saw log is even better as it can be something more than just firewood..
We will have fir slabs this year from sawing logs. I expect we will process them into firewood as well. Someone told me once that “it all burns”!
Does this stuff rot like white birch, if you don't cut it up and split it right away? The bark on white is like wrapping a wet green log in Saran wrap- no water gets through it. So it rots and gets punky quick.
Yellow birch is a very good hardwood. High BTU value and real pleasure to work with. The bark does remind you of white birch but it lasts longer when it isn't split compared to white birch. Of course, it dries really well when split. Take care! Jason
Great stuff! Question for you: what do you do with the branches? Do you leave them as such in the woods or do you cut them up?
Cheers
Phil
Hi there... if we are cutting the firewood for personal use, we will cut the branches up into 16" wood down to 1" diameter. If we are cutting wood for sale, we will top out at 3" to 4" diameter for the firewood processor. If there is a semi-tree length stick from 4" down to 2", we will cut it and use it for personal use. I always try to cut my remaining tops and brush down into 3 or 4 foot sections so they settle to the ground to start the composting process.