Hinge Cutting Advice

I'm talking the average landowner. Like me. Works everyday, married, two kids, a home, etc. Hard to do enough to make a difference----unless you hire it done.
 
I'm talking the average landowner. Like me. Works everyday, married, two kids, a home, etc. Hard to do enough to make a difference----unless you hire it done.
I'd say you are making a huge difference , by having your priorities in order with work and family.
But hinging can be done as I do, just a few trees at a time in sections of property, coming back each year to take a few more, till suddenly a pocket of growth arises with just a part time effort. That effort is simply mimicking the mature forests that once existed as death, storm, fire allowed a resurgence of growth in pockets within its overwhelming canopy.
I love my farm, but way too many interests and responsiblities that keep me elsewhere.
 
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My little hinge cutting experiment seems to be going as planned. I think it's too wet for much bedding underneath, but the trees are doing what they are supposed to do, and at least one bird seems to like the technique.




Rusty
I had a bird nest a few years ago very similar to the one in your pic.
Pretty cool.

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A busy guy has to be damn organized to make those few habitat days per year pay off. Before I head up to my place, I will start planning my next trip before the previous one is even over. That means making a list of next projects, materials needed, order of operations etc. I order stuff, prep tools, plan quick energy packed meals, etc. When that day comes, stuff has to work, you can't have a dead saw, no fuel, missing tools etc.

I schedule thanksgiving weekend for Operation Sunlight each year. If the family ain't at war with one another, we'll have thanksgiving dinner, and then i'm hell bent for camp. If I can cut for 2-3 days, I can drop the bad, liberate that good, and create lots of food and cover in the process. That will usually yield me 1-2 acres of rebooted land. I have a target area of about 16 acres where I'd like to keep going year by year, and start over at the beginning once I'm through.
 
Great advice Mark Darivin. I was thinking today that I should make a list before hand rather than thinking of it on may drive to the farm. Would be much more productive.


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A busy guy has to be damn organized to make those few habitat days per year pay off. Before I head up to my place, I will start planning my next trip before the previous one is even over. That means making a list of next projects, materials needed, order of operations etc. I order stuff, prep tools, plan quick energy packed meals, etc. When that day comes, stuff has to work, you can't have a dead saw, no fuel, missing tools etc.

I schedule thanksgiving weekend for Operation Sunlight each year. If the family ain't at war with one another, we'll have thanksgiving dinner, and then i'm hell bent for camp. If I can cut for 2-3 days, I can drop the bad, liberate that good, and create lots of food and cover in the process. That will usually yield me 1-2 acres of rebooted land. I have a target area of about 16 acres where I'd like to keep going year by year, and start over at the beginning once I'm through.


ditto the "stuff has to work"......

also add "not losing 1/2 a day getting equipment 'unstuck' in bottomlands".........

bill
 
Just a thought, there was a podcast that land and legacy released recently with Matt Ross, they talked a lot about this topic specifically. Could be a helpful piece of information listening in. I felt they laid out things to some degree of certainty, of course a lot of decisions related to clearcutting or hinge cutting ultimately ends up creating added work by dealing with the next phase of succession growth. Some let it run its course, others (probably most on this website) tend to work to ensure the most preferred forbs or woody growth ensue.

My thoughts after listening to the podcast based on what I have done of the years is a little of each can go a long way. On my land the most important element is access throughout the property for hunting or otherwise (at this point its more to the otherwise than hunting). Regen in areas that have debris can be a major benefit to species that are highly sought after, so eliminating access can be a good thing. If you are creating regen areas as a source of food and want a slower progression to thicker stem then leaving these areas unencumbered is a good idea. A simple means to managing some of these areas that are cut or hinged is positioning them so you can access with a tractor or atv and those trails can act as a firebreak if you choose to reset an area, its really not the best idea to burn through areas with hinges so that's another perspective to consider.

To all the points on planning, plan one, check twice and buy as much backup equipment you can afford. My wife gives me like 3-4 hours a wknd most wks to do work nowadays. I have everything packed, primed and ready to go night before... I'm lucky my hunting grounds are all within 5-10 miles.
 
View attachment 16257View attachment 16258

My little hinge cutting experiment seems to be going as planned. I think it's too wet for much bedding underneath, but the trees are doing what they are supposed to do, and at least one bird seems to like the technique.




Rusty
Watch as those trees eventually flatten to the ground, or perhaps any you have laying on ground already. They will affect the water transition and its perculation and retention which will contribute to greater and more resilient growth on the up dam side. This issn't an overnight occurrence but it is these little things that transition the soil makeup and therefore the plant community in microcosms that affect everything form plant selection to soil micro and macro organisms. Simply replicating in small sections what the mature forests once accomplished before colonial times. I find it cool and interesting, others , like my lady, think pretty boring rambling.
Just cutting a tree has more affect( or any land manipulation for that matter) than just the initial action itself.
 
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I have a question for you gurus. We had a quail buffer for years around our field edge anywhere from 15 to 30 yards wide. It was enrolled in the program by the previous landowner. After the contract was up, we let it go wild. The result has been tremendous cover, mostly made up of softwood trees like willow, elm, and some others I don’t recognize. Would I be wise to cut some of these in sections each year to let the hard wood trees begin establishing, while always retaining very good browse? The deer are still hammering all the young growth. We’re in year 4 since we’ve let the buffer go wild. Some of the willows are approaching 20’ now.
The creek bottom is made up of mostly hardwoods. There are also around 9 acres of old hay meadows that we’ve planted burr English oaks, dco, and pear trees in. Those meadows are made up of mostly warm season grasses that are looking better every year. The deer are packing onto our place, I just want to keep making it better.
I’ll post an overhead pic of the place tomorrow, even though it’s outdated, it will give a visual to what I’m talking about.
 
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