I Bought 42 wooded acres and its a mess.

[City Farmer]

Hi everyone, I bought 42 wooded acres last week(I close Thursday or Friday of this week) and need a little help/guidance on the best way to attack it and clean it up. Any and all input is greatly appreciated so thanks in advance. The good, its ALL hard wood (mostly oak, maple and a lot of standing dead ash) its completely wooded from one end to the other, 35 minutes from work, 2 miles from the St. Clair river/lake (thats where we fish and boat all summer). Now for the bad. At some point there were loggers in there and they made a horrible mess of everything. They took all the big oaks 4'-5' diameter and left everything they didn't want. Most of the trees are mature 10"-20" round. I have a lot of time, in a few years I plan on building the last home I'll ever live in. In the mean time, I think I have to go in to the fire wood selling business and I'm not sure on how to do that. I have a small dozer Case 350B, Ford 4400 TLB, Ford 3000 to get me started. I'm thinking my 2wd tractors will be ok because the land is completely flat. I think a grapple and a fire wood processor is in the near future. FWIW here's a few pictures from this afternoon. There's piles and piles of wood like this everywhere , some huge oak logs are already cut, stacked and sorted. Piles of 8'-10' long 12"-20"dia already stacked.

 

[wmonroe]

Congrats on your new property. The amount of firewood there makes me jealous. Did they leave the stumps from the trees that were cut?

 

[crazyal]

I would start off by getting a good chainsaw (unless you have one). Be careful of anything standing that's dead. If I'm not sure about a tree I'll tie a rope or chain around it and try to shake it with the tractor from 40' or so away from it. If there are any widow makers you should be able to shake them loose before cutting the tree. Just be careful you don't pull the tree down on top of you. I think I would cut up those tops and drag them near the road and see if you can just sell it for cheap and let the buyer pick up the wood. Just make a couple of piles with the brush and burn it while you have snow on the ground. You can either dig the stumps up in the summer or rent a stump grinder and not have to deal with the stumps.

 

[City Farmer]

Congrats on your new property. The amount of firewood there makes me jealous. Did they leave the stumps from the trees that were cut?

Thanks, I flipped a house that I've worked on for the last year and bought it. The stumps are everywhere but they're only a couple of inchs off the ground. The good thing is, they're not in an area I plan on building so I'll just leave them.

 

[City Farmer]

I would start off by getting a good chainsaw (unless you have one). Be careful of anything standing that's dead. If I'm not sure about a tree I'll tie a rope or chain around it and try to shake it with the tractor from 40' or so away from it. If there are any widow makers you should be able to shake them loose before cutting the tree. Just be careful you don't pull the tree down on top of you. I think I would cut up those tops and drag them near the road and see if you can just sell it for cheap and let the buyer pick up the wood. Just make a couple of piles with the brush and burn it while you have snow on the ground. You can either dig the stumps up in the summer or rent a stump grinder and not have to deal with the stumps.

Not a bad idea on dragging the tops to the road, I'll keep that in mind. No chain saw yet but I'll be getting 2-3 in the near future for sure. There's just so much wood out there, I have no idea what to do with it all.

 

[yomax4]

I did the exact same thing. 40 acres of woods that had sloppy logging done on it. All you can do is enjoy burning brush pile after brush pile till the brush is gone. Then get used to burning wood for heat. It's awesome and you will never run out. With trees dying and blowdowns, You will have wood. I love what mine has turned into after 10 years...Pure Animal Habitat that helps fill the freezer for winter.

 

[JD 4520]

If you build a simple wood shelter, the hard wood will last for years if kept dry. Keep it in longs if you can and it will last longer than rounds or split. I have some hard wood in dry storage outdoors and have had much of it for up to 15 years. I also live in wet country.

 

[TomSeller]

For most of the wood I see there, if it were me, a Stihl MS261 would be perfect. I like to have a top handle saw, like the MS201 if you feel comfortable with the dangers of a top handle, or maybe a rear handle MS180 for the small branches. Maybe a MS362 or 441 if you need something larger, An L bottom grapple on your TLB would be perfect. Get one with a large opening in the over 40" range, not the little 30" models. Width is less important. With the backhoe on the rear you should have plenty of traction with your current 2wd Most grapples are quick attach, but you can adapt older loaders in most cases. Keep us posted, this sounds like an interesting venture. You are living the dream, good luck.

 

[weedpharma]

For best burning, make sure the wood has been dried well. I mean not fresh cut but has been cut down for at least a year. Green wood makes a lot of smoke and can clog the chimney with flammable deposits.

Weedpharma

 

[lockhaven]

be sure to drag the tops before cutting by the butt. Even then be watchful a limb can be bent cutting it will release the energy causing severe injury. MS362 would be a very good choice in a saw it can handle up to a 25 inch bar and with a second 16 or 20 inch you are covered. Along with the saw a pair of chaps and helmet with face and ear protection. I also like steel toe boots and cut resistant gloves. A good set of tongs and a cant hook or peavey should also be on the list. If your new home will have a stove or fireplace you may want to keep the wood, it takes 2 years to dry out AFTER IT IS SPLIT.