have a 37 acre lot about 10 or so acres bush.
house primarily heated by wood, at the moment i cut up the half decent
fallen trees for fire wood.
my questions are
1. how do i cut the required amount of wood for heat, while still
keeping the appearance of the land?
2. and should i fall trees for next years' harvest?
thanks in advance
kev

In article ,
writes:
have a 37 acre lot about 10 or so acres bush.
house primarily heated by wood, at the moment i cut up the half decent
fallen trees for fire wood.
my questions are
1. how do i cut the required amount of wood for heat, while still
keeping the appearance of the land?

It depends on the species of trees you have growing. Sustained yield
firewood management is often accomplished by coppice management. The
same trees are harvested over and over again. You cut them high enough
that they will branch and sprout from the same root ball. Many
hardwoods, particularly maples and arbutus (madrone) are great for
coppice management. If vine maple grows in your area, it is the ideal
coppice tree.

Starting from a well established root structure means the tree will put
on substantial wood volume very rapidly.

With 10 acres of trees, you should have no problem producing enough wood
to heat a house. That is a 10 acre solar collector. If you thin your
trees, the remaining trees will grow faster. If you have hollow trees or
snags in a reasonably safe spot, you might consider leaving them for
wildlife habitat.

2. and should i fall trees for next years' harvest?

Always. It is traditional to cut firewood in the winter. This means not
only falling but cutting, splitting and stacking, but at least get them
on the ground. Falling the tree before the sap starts to rise (usually
around February) means less creosote in your chimney.

--
http://home.teleport.com/~larryc

thank you that really helps.
Larry Caldwell wrote:

In article ,
writes:
have a 37 acre lot about 10 or so acres bush.
house primarily heated by wood, at the moment i cut up the half decent
fallen trees for fire wood.
my questions are
1. how do i cut the required amount of wood for heat, while still
keeping the appearance of the land?

It depends on the species of trees you have growing. Sustained yield
firewood management is often accomplished by coppice management. The
same trees are harvested over and over again. You cut them high enough
that they will branch and sprout from the same root ball. Many
hardwoods, particularly maples and arbutus (madrone) are great for
coppice management. If vine maple grows in your area, it is the ideal
coppice tree.

Starting from a well established root structure means the tree will put
on substantial wood volume very rapidly.

With 10 acres of trees, you should have no problem producing enough wood
to heat a house. That is a 10 acre solar collector. If you thin your
trees, the remaining trees will grow faster. If you have hollow trees or
snags in a reasonably safe spot, you might consider leaving them for
wildlife habitat.

2. and should i fall trees for next years' harvest?

Always. It is traditional to cut firewood in the winter. This means not
only falling but cutting, splitting and stacking, but at least get them
on the ground. Falling the tree before the sap starts to rise (usually
around February) means less creosote in your chimney.

--
http://home.teleport.com/~larryc

Gail and Kevin Lambert wrote in message ...
have a 37 acre lot about 10 or so acres bush.
house primarily heated by wood, at the moment i cut up the half decent
fallen trees for fire wood.
my questions are
1. how do i cut the required amount of wood for heat, while still
keeping the appearance of the land?
Unless you have _very_ poor soils, the land should easily geneate a
cord or more of fire wood, mostly small-diameter material, each year.
2. and should i fall trees for next years' harvest?
I'm not quite sure what you mean by this kev. If you are suggesting
cutting trees for future firewood, I'd do that ASAP, PLUS cutting and
splitting the wood for faster drying.

If you are suggesting cutting trees now for timber harvest next year,
I'd wait.

You may also want to look into the economics of cultivationg Lentinula
edodes (shiitake) on smaller-diameter wood of 2-12 inches diameter.
This should clean up the smaller-diameter material, and perhaps even
some of the lower limbs of trees you want to keep. It should also give
you some income, and diversify the crops from the land.

Daniel B. Wheeler
www.oregonwhitetruffles.com