Wood Lot Management

[r8ingbull]

I'm looking for any resources/info available to learn about woodlot management.  My house is on a 2 acre lot, I would like to remove the yard portion and use more of the property as woods.  Right now it is about 1/3 woods, 2/3 mowed grass.

I also have another lot on the other side of town (2.5 acres) that is wooded, I would like information about how to keep it productive for firewood.  What types of trees to keep, what to cut, etc...

This is my first time using wood for heat.  It looks like 2 cords is more than enough to heat the house.

Located in Michigan (west side, near Grand Rapids)

From other post on this board, folks are saying that 2-3 acres of woods should yield a good amount in dead fall, but I am not seeing that right now.  I'm wondering if these need to be maintained better to increase yield.  One spot has three HUGE oaks, covering about 1/2 acre and nothing will grow up in that area, I'm wondering if it's worth dropping them to get new growth... 

[MountainDon]

Around here good information is available from the forest service, but that may be because our property is surrounded by national forest.

We have primarily Ponderosa Pines, some fir and spruce, a handful of Aspen and other non evergreens. You mentioned oaks, I don't know if there are any differences how evergreens and deciduous tress would be treated. One thing I am certain of the first thing in managing your trees is to thin them, if they are like in most places that have not been managed up to now. We got enough firewood from that operation to last a few years. And that was with hauling an even greater amount of fallen dead, partly rotted trees off to the burn pit.

You should contact your state department of natural resources. Here's a page from Michigan State University.

http://forestry.msu.edu/extension/ExtDocs/wmywl.html

[ScottA]

For firewood I feel more smaller trees yeild more than fewer large trees. You'll want to keep some seed trees though. I'd suggest pruning the lower branches on the larger trees to allow more light to reach the ground. If they are all large you may want to thin out your lot. When I cut wood I never clear cut an area I leave a few mature trees behind. You'll want to try and have mixed aged trees. If nothing wants to sprout in the area a fire can help get new growth going if you are able to do a controlled burn in your area.

As for deadfall it really depends. Our wood are mostly oaks and I'd say we get maybe 1/3 cord per acre per year of deadfall. I just started working on deer run last year. Had not been touched in over 40 years and there is no more than 2 cords of dead wood on the ground now over 3 acres. Much of this wood is rotted too much to use as firewood. so maybe 1 cord of usable wood. I partialy cleared about 1/4 acre for my cabin and got about 1 1/2 cords out of that.

[glenn kangiser]

If you are in an area where Eucalyptus of one kind or another will grow it can be very productive, In California some varieties will grow 12 feet per year.

Keeping the lower branches removed helps to keep fire danger down also.

[cordwood]

If you are in an area where Eucalyptus of one kind or another will grow it can be very productive, In California some varieties will grow 12 feet per year.

Keeping the lower branches removed helps to keep fire danger down also.

As of right now I don't now of a freeze proof Eukey tree. If there was I would have them every where.
They burn VERY HOT and grow VERY FAST but will not take a hard freeze. Keeping the lower branches trimmed and keeping them wet will help them survive a short freeze but a couple of days below freezing and they are DEAD!!!!!!!!!!

[glenn kangiser]

Yeah - They are mostly a California/Australia tree-- not necessarily in that order.

Likely  if there are freezable varieties they will not grow that fast.

[n74tg]

Try these links on coppicing.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppicing

www.coppicing.com

[r8ingbull]

Well it's 19 degrees and raining...1" of Ice so far.  So that eucalyptus is not going to do much...

Went out yesterday, cut about 1 cord of dead fall.  Mostly white oak, so that should burn real nice.  Also dropped a couple of good size cedar trees, not sure how those will burn.  Probably another 2 cords on the ground.

Next up I have a half dozen 60'+ pines to bring down.  Only problem is they are leaning over the neighbors house...Plus 2 HUGE white oaks, each should yield 2-3 cords. The power company is coming out to move the lines.  I have lots of rock climbing equipment, hopefully we can bring these down safely and with no damage to my house or the neighbors.

Coppicing w/ poplar looks good.  I have 4 good size poplars that might take to that well.  The smaller trees are easier to deal with.  I'm in the city limits, and have neighbors, roads, sidewalks, etc to deal with...

[MountainDon]

....coppicing...

Interesting. I've never seen anyone intentionally set out to do that. I've seen folks trying to get rid of stumps that keep wanting to grow in their yard.