Time to start...

[G-man]

Beginning to mark trees for dropping and hinge cutting..  

Have an acre of hard maple to drop and hinge cut with the dropped trees to become  logs for seeding shitake mushrooms. 

Another area  is  going to have poplar dropped  as well as a bunch of multiple trunked red maples . This is part  of my 30 acre sanctuary and  wont be marked till after deer season is over. Need to thicken it  up and provide some browse in that area as its  maturing and young growth is shaded out.

I do have a logger removing about 90 hickory and ash and a few hard maple trees i had sold and were not cut 2 years ago. ( didnt get them cut and contract was up so now i get to sell them again!) But that wont start till after season and ground freezes up a bit.. 

The last part will be cutting and removing a few  red pine and larch for  a few projects around  house and barn . Getting them cut to legnth and pulled  out for the sawmill to cut this spring.

[The Back 40]

I'm in the other boat. My area is too thick in many areas, and I will be heading out with the saw and chipper on the tractor to clean a few of those areas out and open up some more area for the fruit trees.

Either way I love getting out in the woods and doing land improvement. It's a great time for the kids and very rewarding to see how much change you can make with a few tools and a little elbow grease.

[Bucksnbows]

I’ll be marking out 5 acres of timber stand improvements (TSI) to improve one stand of oak/hickory mature forest. I have a local firewood guy that will cut and haul off the timber, leaving the tops for wildlife habitat. And I’m going to get medieval on some excessive black birch that flooded one of my five acre clearcuts because we had poor acorn production for a couple years immediately after that cut, and black birch seeds hit the ground instead. 

[Stubborn1vt]

Hoping the ground freezes so I can get out with my tractor.  I have firewood to cut, a few oaks to release, honeysuckle and buckthorn to deal with, and a small plot to expand.  I also need to come up with a plan for patches of mature white pine and hemlock.  

I'm not set up to deal with logs, although I may be able to get my hands on a log arch.  I'm inclined to drop the pine, but am hesitant to kill the hemlock.  

If it won't freeze, I will have to run out on my 4 wheeler and get the wood out in the summer when the ground is dry.

[Stubborn1vt]

18 minutes ago, Rusty said:

Japanese honeysuckle?   Leave it, it a great winter food source!    

Bush honeysuckle.  It crowds out everything else, except buckthorn.

[G-man]

1 hour ago, Stubborn1vt said:

Hoping the ground freezes so I can get out with my tractor.  I have firewood to cut, a few oaks to release, honeysuckle and buckthorn to deal with, and a small plot to expand.  I also need to come up with a plan for patches of mature white pine and hemlock.  

I'm not set up to deal with logs, although I may be able to get my hands on a log arch.  I'm inclined to drop the pine, but am hesitant to kill the hemlock.  

If it won't freeze, I will have to run out on my 4 wheeler and get the wood out in the summer when the ground is dry.

I made up my own 3pt winch for my.small tractor simply using a 2in 3pt hitch reciever . A atv 2500lb winch and welded on  a couple of 3/8 in chain hooks to top sides of frame.  Can pull 2 10- 14  ft 16 in (depending on type) logs at a time, simply by winching them  to frame attaching the choker to hook and lifting.  My total investment into it is under 450 bucks. Saves a lot of time and $ vs buying a logging winch for 8k or more.

[G-man]

49 minutes ago, Stubborn1vt said:

Bush honeysuckle.  It crowds out everything else, except buckthorn.

Easy to get rid  of honeysuckle.. simply spray with gly at 4% at 1st leafout in spring.  By not disturbing the ground by pulling no seeds are exposed and much less likely to grow back.. the 1st two plants to leaf out in early spring are honeysuckle and multiflora rose.  Best way to control them without affecting other species. 

[Bucksnbows]

20 minutes ago, Rusty said:

Yeah, that stuffs not good for much except bedding cover.  

We flew grouse from it in our old camp in north central PA. Provides good over story protection from birds of prey I guess. But zero food value for wildlife. 

[Stubborn1vt]

12 hours ago, G-man said:

I made up my own 3pt winch for my.small tractor simply using a 2in 3pt hitch reciever . A atv 2500lb winch and welded on  a couple of 3/8 in chain hooks to top sides of frame.  Can pull 2 10- 14  ft 16 in (depending on type) logs at a time, simply by winching them  to frame attaching the choker to hook and lifting.  My total investment into it is under 450 bucks. Saves a lot of time and $ vs buying a logging winch for 8k or more.

Sounds like a good setup. I should look into building something like that.  

The logging winch I was looking at was under 5K, but I get what you're saying.

The log arch is similar, but uses a hand winch and two 15" tires to reduce drag/keep the log clean.  Added bonus: I can borrow it for free!

[Robhuntandfish]

i gots a big list already for 2023.  Sorry @Rustywe have basically no trees on our property.  Youd hate it. lol