Hi all! Has anyone has experience with harvesting trees? My family has an old farm in western NY state. Our neighbor pointed out how many dying ash trees we have. Have you heard about the emerald ash tree borer? Well it is decimating the ash trees on our property (as well as throughout the US & Canada). At the advice if our neighbor, we have contracted with a forester to harvest those ash trees as well as some of the bigger hard woods. The catch is that we have to BE THERE while he is harvesting & it has to be in the dead if winter when the soil is deeply frozen! I guess that is because his equipment is so heavy & our farm is otherwise pretty wet. So when we get the word from this guy, we will be heading up to our farm cottage. We will have heat & lights (thank god) & will be trekking around the property, communing with trees! Has anyone else had experience with harvesting trees?
YES, you WANT to be there. trust me on that. you do not want to be in a lawsuit because they harvested trees that weren't yours nor do you want them to short you the number of logs harvested. and I do believe having an auction of the logs will net you a higher profit than a contract of set dollars. the ash is probably nothing more than firewood.
Thanks Carolyn. Yeah, he said the dead ash would be firewood but he can still sell the live ash for veneer.
And make sure of what they are going to do with the brush? chip it ---- pile it? don't allow them to pile it. that leaves habitation of coyotes. someone logged the woods next door to us before they moved and the logging company took trees that were ours and left 20+ ' high piles of brush. it was a disaster. the term "raping the woods" was a very accurate term for their work. it was terrible what they did and the mess they left. widow makers and just broken off trees were left standing. Huge ruts that ponded water. Mosquito habitat.
Thanks for the advice Carolyn. We shall see what kind of job this crew does. We have interviewed him several times. He comes well recommended., is insured, etc. He has done work for our neighbors & they were pleased.
My son works for a tree service, and he is on a crew strictly for cutting down the Ash trees. The Ash trees have been hit hard here in Southern Ontario. I read an article yesterday that predicted the ash borer may not survive the extreme cold we've been having this winter. At least something good will come from this cold! I don't envy you Cayuga, not a fun job in the cold!
Thanks Netty. Sj, yes I hope to take photos. I just wish we knew when it was going to happen. We are hanging loose here awaiting the word to head to the farm.
