Which tree to keep
- Thread starter Mark1427
- Start date
Depends on what you are wanting to do...
If logging for cash take the biggest DBH.
If thinning the woods to open the canopy for deer I would take all of the crowded oaks leaving the ones with better tops and also the ones that are crowding my top mast producers.
Myself I only cut oaks if they are crowded post oaks or have very poor form or very poor tops...
If logging for cash take the biggest DBH.
If thinning the woods to open the canopy for deer I would take all of the crowded oaks leaving the ones with better tops and also the ones that are crowding my top mast producers.
Myself I only cut oaks if they are crowded post oaks or have very poor form or very poor tops...
Okie, thank goodness I didn't log last year. Both farms around me will be clear cut. One farm was done last year and the other is going to be in the near future.
I'm hacking the undesirable trees to open the canopy. My interest is for mast production and rejuvenate the understory. This spring I will also be direct seeding sawtooths in cages and weed mats. Id hate to take out the wrong trees.
If there's such a thing. Lol
Thanks Okie.
I'm hacking the undesirable trees to open the canopy. My interest is for mast production and rejuvenate the understory. This spring I will also be direct seeding sawtooths in cages and weed mats. Id hate to take out the wrong trees.
If there's such a thing. Lol
Thanks Okie.
dogghr
Well-Known Member
There are good producers and poor producers with oaks. Keep an eye and determine which are the best. A mature white oak doesn't begin its massive acorn drops until 20-30 yo. A mature oak can drop 10000+ acorns in a good year. Whites tend to produce every 2 years and reds nearly every year.
Like Okie said, best thing to do is remove competition that crowds canopy of your best producers. A good old white oak can be a Yuge magnet for deer as it will/can produce even in off years of hard mast production. I use to hunt such a tree and killed bucks on it nearly every year. Nearly cried, ok I actually did, when the landowner logged and cut it down. I can assure you , the resulting MFR never provided the attraction as that big ass oak.
A mature oak will not be cut by me or a logger on my land if possible, but those smaller ones competing with it, yes.
Like Okie said, best thing to do is remove competition that crowds canopy of your best producers. A good old white oak can be a Yuge magnet for deer as it will/can produce even in off years of hard mast production. I use to hunt such a tree and killed bucks on it nearly every year. Nearly cried, ok I actually did, when the landowner logged and cut it down. I can assure you , the resulting MFR never provided the attraction as that big ass oak.
A mature oak will not be cut by me or a logger on my land if possible, but those smaller ones competing with it, yes.
Dogghr, the tree in question is still holding acorns, very few but they're there. There is a few that compares to its size, but Im not seeing the mast sign from them though.
I'm torn about removing the smaller oaks, but they are well under the crowns of the producers.
Thanks dogghr
I'm torn about removing the smaller oaks, but they are well under the crowns of the producers.
Thanks dogghr
Remove the oaks under the crown...
What types of oaks are you working with? In our area a big red oak that looks great right now can be dead as a hammer in less than 3 months due to Oak Wilt. If you have a good looking up and comer whiteoak near an already top killed red oak don't cut the whites or even young reds around it...Years ago our land had hundreds of reds and now it has a handful but luckily most of the big white oaks are hanging in there even though we have lost more than I would like to...
j-bird
Well-Known Member
It all depends. It depends on what species they are, how many others you have, what your goals are, what sort of production do you get from them currently and things like that.
Are they all the same species? Are you doing a timber harvest or simply TSI type work? What other oaks do you have and do you have enough of them? Are these trees in an area where they are at risk of some sort?
I personally won't cut an oak unless it's dying or at risk of being lost in some other way (eroding stream bank). Yes a time comes for the large mature trees to be harvested, but I want to retain as many young oaks as possible. Unless you have so many of them that they are stunting themselves - I want them to be as big as possible for when the day the timber man and his chainsaw come. Now if for some reason that large mature tree isn't producing acorns.....and trust me it happens. Then I would consider cutting it. Without acorns that oak is just about worthless to wildlife and is only holding back younger trees that could be mast producers for you. Consider that you should monitor a tree for multiple years before "culling" it because of a lack of production. Frosts and the like affect acorn production just like other fruit so don't judge a tree based on one years production.
Are they all the same species? Are you doing a timber harvest or simply TSI type work? What other oaks do you have and do you have enough of them? Are these trees in an area where they are at risk of some sort?
I personally won't cut an oak unless it's dying or at risk of being lost in some other way (eroding stream bank). Yes a time comes for the large mature trees to be harvested, but I want to retain as many young oaks as possible. Unless you have so many of them that they are stunting themselves - I want them to be as big as possible for when the day the timber man and his chainsaw come. Now if for some reason that large mature tree isn't producing acorns.....and trust me it happens. Then I would consider cutting it. Without acorns that oak is just about worthless to wildlife and is only holding back younger trees that could be mast producers for you. Consider that you should monitor a tree for multiple years before "culling" it because of a lack of production. Frosts and the like affect acorn production just like other fruit so don't judge a tree based on one years production.
j-bird
Well-Known Member
Mark - what are you trying to accomplish? Are you looking from a habitat perspective or a timber value perspective?
With 5 acres you are going to really struggle to find someone interested in logging if that is what you are thinking. I can't speak for the pines, but the beech, hickories, sycamore and gum trees are low grade timber (at least in my area). Even the large oaks will be a hard sell simply because I would venture to guess you don't have many of them. Logging is all about volume and moving that equipment is expensive.
From a habitat perspective - you may be caught in a catch-22 regarding the oaks. I will say that any of the younger oaks that appear to be near ready to produce I would release from any beech, gum, sycamore or hickory in a heartbeat. As for the cases where that young oak is fighting with a mature one - you have to make that decision. In some cases you may decide the large one needs to go to release the younger ones, and in others you may want the mature tree to stay. I would NOT cut ANY of the younger oaks unless absolutely needed. As for the other trees. The beech, hickory, gum and sycamore - these are of relative little use to the deer once they exceed the deer reach. The largest of these I would consider removing simply to produce a thicker understory. Beech produce beech nuts that the deer will eat and provide some nice stand trees because how they hold their leaves, but again - you have to decide if it provides enough value or not. I know sycamore stump sprout well and I think gum does as well. Hickory tends to hinge well if that interests you.
With 5 acres you are going to really struggle to find someone interested in logging if that is what you are thinking. I can't speak for the pines, but the beech, hickories, sycamore and gum trees are low grade timber (at least in my area). Even the large oaks will be a hard sell simply because I would venture to guess you don't have many of them. Logging is all about volume and moving that equipment is expensive.
From a habitat perspective - you may be caught in a catch-22 regarding the oaks. I will say that any of the younger oaks that appear to be near ready to produce I would release from any beech, gum, sycamore or hickory in a heartbeat. As for the cases where that young oak is fighting with a mature one - you have to make that decision. In some cases you may decide the large one needs to go to release the younger ones, and in others you may want the mature tree to stay. I would NOT cut ANY of the younger oaks unless absolutely needed. As for the other trees. The beech, hickory, gum and sycamore - these are of relative little use to the deer once they exceed the deer reach. The largest of these I would consider removing simply to produce a thicker understory. Beech produce beech nuts that the deer will eat and provide some nice stand trees because how they hold their leaves, but again - you have to decide if it provides enough value or not. I know sycamore stump sprout well and I think gum does as well. Hickory tends to hinge well if that interests you.
I'm not interested in logging. Soon I will have the only mast trees amoungst two farms that are clear cut.
My efforts are strictly for habitat management.
I will be removing the undesirable trees by hack and squirt and hinging. I'm in the struggle between Which oaks to keep and which cut. I need to make that decision in the woods so I csn feel and see what to do.
My efforts are strictly for habitat management.
I will be removing the undesirable trees by hack and squirt and hinging. I'm in the struggle between Which oaks to keep and which cut. I need to make that decision in the woods so I csn feel and see what to do.
Fish
Well-Known Member
In general, kill trees shading the crown of your largest oaks. This will increase mast production.
Look for trees with dominant crowns, which will be spreading and in the upper canopy of the woods.
Wolf trees are those with many branches and wide crowns. Lousy for timber but great for mast.
Its impossible to give the best advice without being on the ground with you.
Look for trees with dominant crowns, which will be spreading and in the upper canopy of the woods.
Wolf trees are those with many branches and wide crowns. Lousy for timber but great for mast.
Its impossible to give the best advice without being on the ground with you.
