# My Trees



## slipshod (Jan 2, 2010)

I own some properties. On my flat farm that is 3 miles from my house I have a mature wood lot that is approximately 20 acres. There is shag bark hickory, sugar maple, iron wood,ash, bass wood, and tulip that are harvest size. Also on another section of the place there is pine of several varieties, including white, black, and red pine. It is frozen and dry enough to get in and take some trees. Other then cutting some honey locust at the front of the property for my floor project I do not have anything ear marked for projects.

My son and I did a walk through and marked several trees that we are going to cut. Our plan is to log these and move them to a staging area that can be reached at any time. Then harvest the fire wood from the tops, haul this home and split it later. My goal is to open some canopy and remove the trees that really should come down. Nothing has been done in this woodlot for about 45 years.

Silly me, I wanted to do everything right so I contacted an expert. He wanted to know where the property was and I told him. WE were going to get together and take a look. He went on his own, I did not give him permission to do that. Called me and made an offer to cut everything 14" and over. What a jerk! I sent him packing and told him if he came back on my land I would have him arrested. I was under the impression that he would assist me with a plan to manage my trees and I would pay him for his knowledge. If I wanted to hack it down I did not need him to figure out the size of my trees and ruin my woods.

Property number 2 

It is 40 miles from my house and I bought it as a get away about 8 years ago. The place is 89 acres and at one time was farmed, but not since the 40's. I bought it from a man who loved trees and planted thousands. He lived 100 miles away and owned it since the 50's I am told that there is every type of tree that will grow in the area on this place. I have cut some trees here, but not many. I am taking a worst first approach and cutting thorn apple for fire wood.

The gentleman across the road is in his 90's and a great guy. He worked the timber industry for years. he was a horse logger! I learned more from him in one trip into the woods then from the expert I tried to hire. He showed me how to trim apple trees. There are thousands of them on this place. I have ear marked several that I will take saw logs from.

Also there is black cherry, he estimates that in the next 10-15 years I have about 3000 trees that can be taken. So far I have cut 8 trees and have 30 long logs stacked up waiting for me to haul the mill up there and make some boards. My goal is to move onto this land and live out my days there. There is so much lumber standing, everything from Hemlock, to White oak that sometimes it over whelms me just to think about it. But I do know I will not cut and run just for the bucks. After the cash is gone I will be left with stumps. No Thank You!

That is my pleasant problem. Sorry for the rant.


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## slipshod (Jan 2, 2010)

Here is a picture of the small place I built on the place to be able to enjoy my land!


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## slipshod (Jan 2, 2010)

I also do not know what this tree species is? I have several and they are huge.


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

I would say just looking at the bark, without seeing the crown/shape, twigs or leaves that is beech.


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

If the bark changed to scaly on bigger ones (don't have a sense of size in the photo) that also looks like young wild cherry bark. It gets much different looking, vertical scales, on the big/old trees.


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## garryswf (Aug 17, 2009)

*Good for you*

Slipshod,
First welcome to the forum. As for the jerk that came on your property and offered to cut your timber, 14" and over :laughing:. Let me tell you about this type of logger :thumbdown:. They tell you they will only cut a specific dia. tree in your case 14" and over. What most of them do is cut anything that measures 14" at ground level even if it is only 10" in dia.four inches above the cut. I too had a small wood lot on my property in Ohio, a dear friend who was a timber cutter walked through the woods with me and actually discourged me from cutting trees that i thought should be cut, my woods was about 60 old. In the end, after my friend cut what he thought should be cut i still had a nice woods with lots of red and white oak left. Don,t let one person change your mind about getting help with select cutting your timber, there are guys out there that will assist you without destroying your entire woods. Good Luck


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## slipshod (Jan 2, 2010)

Daren said:


> If the bark changed to scaly on bigger ones (don't have a sense of size in the photo) that also looks like young wild cherry bark. It gets much different looking, vertical scales, on the big/old trees.


The bark is the same even on the small twigs. I thought sour cherry but I have not seen any fruit on these trees. Where ever there is a wound the trees put out amber sap that hardens up.


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

slipshod said:


> Where ever there is a wound the trees put out amber sap that hardens up.


Ironically both beech and cherry do that. A couple pictures of cherry bark, one young-one old, quite different like I said. And cherry twigs will always look like the smooth bark.


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## slipshod (Jan 2, 2010)

I would think maybe a type of birch or cherry but not a beech. At least not any beech I have seen. What has me wondering is that the bark does not peal back like the other birch I have.

Also I have black cherry like the second picture by the 1000'S


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

Black birch is not peely, it's tight and smooth like your picture. Paper and river birch are very peely. This stuff varies from region to region making some ID harder. But it looks like my local beech more than birch, which we don't have a ton of either species really so they are not my best one to positively ID from one photo. Just throwing my opinion out there, others may have firmer feelings on the species.


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## slipshod (Jan 2, 2010)

here is another couple for you!


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

Anyone who had seen the second one should know it right off, it's unique. Not native to my area though.(and I do not know it) The 3rd could be yellow birch, but the picture is fuzzy of the bark. Here is a link that you may find useful, click your area on the map and it gives you a list of tree species to look at...I did a quick scan for what I thought the second one was and came up empty. (I was thinking some weird elm)


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## djg (Dec 24, 2009)

It's nice to see that you're selective about which trees you are havesting and that you're trying to preserve the woods. I also give you credit for cutting the tops up for fire wood. Some guy approached my Dad about his trees years ago. Was going to give him $20 a tree he took. The adjoining property was havested by him and it was a mess afterwards. He dropped a tree top right in the pool from an underground spring we use to go to when we were kids. The turkeys used to water there. Can't get to it anymore. You've made the right choice. Also nice building you've built. I wish we could put something like that on our property, but the locals would just vandalize it. Good luck with your project.


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## dirtclod (May 7, 2008)

If I had to do life all over again and could choose, I would do what you are planning on doing as a big diversion from the other things in life. Getting out in the woods is very relaxing.

Each person has their own ideas and own ways of doing things. What are your plans and goals? I wonder if you're looking to set up a preserve or have a sustainable harvest?

Most of us agree that wolf trees need to be removed asap and turned into firewood and logs. Same with the leaners. Malformed trees can also be removed, but some may be retained to grow their unique character. Monocultures are usually frown upon. A mix of species and sizes will provide a continueing yield and less disease problems. Saplings that are growing too thick produce little. Trees need to be growing close enough togather to cause their lower limbs to self-prune so they will produce clear boules and an understory that has room to walk through. Fire breaks and logging trails need to be considered. Invasive species such as honeysuckle and rose bushes need to be removed. Reading a few good books on forestry would be a good start.

You've got the right attitude.

Oh, and I also think your mystery tree is a cherry. It could be a birch, but they are rare around here and my id skills on them are poor. Got a shot of some twigs?

Daren, the bark on young beech trees around here look just like the mature tree. That sure is a shaggy cherry in your picture.


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## dirtclod (May 7, 2008)

Here's a mature cherry showing bark that is typical in our local area:


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

dirtclod said:


> Daren, That sure is a shaggy cherry in your picture.





Daren said:


> This stuff varies from region to region making some ID harder.


Yea and we are not even that far apart really (compared to slipshod, he's clear on the east coast) Here are some cherry logs in my yard from last summer. I don't have any close ups or any cherry logs right now, but you can see even from a distance the cherry bark around here gets pretty chunky.


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## jeffreythree (Jan 9, 2008)

Slipshod, I love to see other owners treating their forest the way you are. i had a similar experience with a state forester. He said cut it all down and plant pine when i told him i just wanted to improve for wildlife and cut for improvement. He just looked at me weird and left shaking his head. There are foresters out there with the same ideas as you, and once you find one get a plan written that you can follow. Also, remember that some trees like oak need a clearcut to regenerate, and it is not a bad word when used appropriately.


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## slipshod (Jan 2, 2010)

Daren is that a big Tulip Poplar your Cherry logs are stacked against?

Dirtclod My plan is to do what is needed to maintain a healthy forest. The flat farm is rather straight forward, the hill farm is much more of a challenge. 
DGJ I will not make that mistake. I have seen so many woods ruined for greed. Then they don't even finish the harvest. Leave soup holes from skidders, garbage and a mess.

Gary I am more likely to undercut. What ever I take I will use. I am not in the business of selling my woods. But I love making and building with my own lumber!

I have a nice set-up for harvesting, if I have to leave footprints I can do it another time.


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

slipshod said:


> Daren is that a big Tulip Poplar your Cherry logs are stacked against?


Yea very big. 40''+ diameter at breast height...it shades 1/2 the yard...and drops 2 semi trailer loads of leaves in the fall :blink:


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## wood player (Jan 21, 2011)

I know this is an old post that I am replying to but wanted to put in my 1/2 cents worth. That tree does look somewhat like a type of birch, but have you considered the possibility of a sweet cherry? Back in the early to mid 1800s cherry trees that we consider fruit trees grew wild in the woods.There is a log cabin in heritage village in Battle Creek Mi. that is built of cherry not the type of cherry that we normally use for lumber.


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## cw log&veneer (Mar 7, 2011)

not sure but i think it is a quaking ash?


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## Hammered Toes (Mar 16, 2011)

It looks like Yellow Birch to me. Some Yellow Birch trees have a little paper bark on them and some don't. At least they did in Wisconsin. I have even seen White Birch up there that was relatively free of "paper."


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## Jammer (Jul 15, 2009)

Looks like cherry to me.


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## Jammer (Jul 15, 2009)

Wow!

I've been looking for that map (or something like it) for WEEKS!

Thanks!


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## Jammer (Jul 15, 2009)

I know this is an old post, but just so you don't feel bad, about ten years ago, something similar happened to our family here in Washington.

We had 20 acres, we wanted a bid on trees we had marked, we called three guys.

One guy came out, walked around, mailed us a ridiculous bid.

The property was about 35 miles out in the sticks (The Sticks, to us, is anything outside a 20 block radius from the freeway bridge in the middle of Seattle) and at that time, we didn't go out there very often. There was dangerous animals out there, then. Things like wild cats. And deer. And squirrels. You could get killed and eaten out there, and no one would ever know the difference.

The next time we went out there, to show another logger the trees, we found that every last tree was gone.

Gone. Like the sun at night. No trace, except the branches.

Asking around, they had told everyone they had a contract with us to clear the land.

And that's what they did.

So there you go, I say we shoot them all.


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## Hammered Toes (Mar 16, 2011)

cw log&veneer said:


> not sure but i think it is a quaking ash?


Is there Quaking Ash around here? I don't believe I have ever heard of them. There was a tree in Wisconsin the people called Quaking Aspen that would shimmy and quake when there was no noticeable air stirring at all. I still smoked at the time, and I was astounded that my cigarette smoke would be floating straight up and the leaves on these trees would be shaking and trembling as if they were alive.


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## cw log&veneer (Mar 7, 2011)

theres a ton of it in wv bark is similar to the pic in question except it is not as shiney,maybe not as dark,proper name for it is big tooth aspen i think,old timers called it quaking ash i know if you saw it you have to put it inside to dry or it will rot just setting around and it does it quickly.


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