Harvesting and Debranching Cedar Trees Question

I have about 100 Eastern red cedar trees that are anywhere from 8" - 24" in diameter that I want to harvest. Cedars grow like weeds here in Central Virginia. These trees have invaded some pasture ground, are growing around some buildings and are also crowding out some nice young hardwoods in some of my forested areas. They also cause red cedar rust in my orchard.

In the past I've just pushed the trees over with a tractor front loader or skid loader, pushed them up into a pile, let them dry and burned them. Last time I cleared out a batch I hauled them up to an area that had some erosion problems and used them as ditch fill. No streams available around here where embankments need to be stabilized.

This time I'd like to do something different. A neighbor has a sawmill and I thought maybe I'd let him cut me some lumber out of these trees. Some of the logs will be almost too small as saw logs go, but overall it might be worth the effort.

The challenge I face is how best to fell and debranch them. Debranching cedar trees isn't exactly my idea of fun. In times past I've debranched cedar trees using a chainsaw and cut off the branches up to about six or seven feet high on the tree and then dropped it or pushed it over. Then I debranched the remainder of the log (post) to where I wanted, topped it and hauled the branches and stump to the burn pile. This time instead of burning the branches, I'm giving some thought to renting a chipper and generating some mulch. Also thinking about just leaving the stump and branches in and among the hardwoods, but imagine that could lead to future bumper crops of more cedar trees. I could spot spray the seedlings if they became too numerous.

So, my question is: Does anyone have any techniques or suggestions for better ways to debranch cedar trees than the way I've been doing it.?

Thanks,
Ed

There are commercial logging units that will cut, delimb and stack the trees in one operation but they would be big bucks.

You may just be stuck with the old chainsaw method.

Egon

Hi Egon,

Thanks for the input. Several of my neighbors are commercial loggers and it probably wouldn't be cost effective for me to have them do the job. Their time and equipment charges would likely cost more than the logs are worth. Also, they normally aren't interested in dinky little jobs like this one. They focus on oak, poplar, maple and other money making trees. In all the years I've lived here, I've never seen a truckload of cedar logs. To them, cedar trees are generally considered trash trees, right up there with Trees Of Heaven (aka Paradise Trees).

I'm certain I could impose on them and borrow a skidder or any other logging machines I might need, but I just don't like to take advantage of friendships and don't really like to borrow other peoples' equipment.

Certainly, when I get the trees all stacked at the deck, I could then hire one of my neighbors to use a boom picker to load up a couple of tractor trailers and tote the logs over to the saw mill.

I have given some thought to using a pole saw to get up a little higher when limbing the trees. Cedar limbs are usually puny and are easily cut off. If most of the limbs are removed before felling, then the branches can be scooped up at one time using a grappler on the skid loader. Then come back and drop the trees. That way only the top few remaining limbs and the top of the tree will have to be cut off once the tree is down. This avoids the hassle of walking and tripping in all of the snarled piles of branches, plus having to roll the log around in all the limbs, not to mention the problem of limbs getting stuck in the dirt and introducing more dirt into the cut paths thereby dulling the chain faster. Once the trees are on the ground and trimmed, several logs can be picked up at one time using the grappler, hauled to the deck and stacked.

One disadvantage of cutting above chest height is eating more sawdust. Also one has to be very careful with downward cutting motions. It does require a certain amount of upper body strength and must never be done when tired. My input is that this approach to delimbing should only be done by experienced people who wear helmets and logging chaps. I have worked off the back of a truck before, and that does help mitigate the sawdust problem and makes it easier to get higher up on the tree. But the disadvantage is the need to move the truck two or three times per tree which slows the cutting progress.

Also, I never work alone when cutting trees. I always have a helper. Even if its just having someone around to call 911 on the cell phone in the event of an emergency. I've seen some very nasty chainsaw accidents involving my neighbors and they were doing things correctly. Logging is the most dangerous line of work there is.

Ed

Edward, The Cedar plague is quite bad in much of Oklahoma too. I have hired dozers to push them out and skid steer with shears where I have no interest in subsoil work.

I have "cherry picked" some larger cedars to mill and have harvested them with a chainsaw. Where there is little risk of iron in the tree (not near habitation or fence) I cut some of the limbs away to access the trunk and cut it off near the ground as is practical. I then work from the big end to the other delimbing with a small (16 inch chainsaw.) I find that felling the tree with the branches intact keeps the trunk out of the dirt. I use my tractor with pallet forks on the FEL as needed to assist in keeping the trunk out of the dirt and to get to the limbs on the bottom side.

Along the way while developing this technique I used my pressure washer on the trunks that got dirty. Now I pretty much don't have a problem getting a trunk dirty but sometimes a considerable quantity of sand will have blown into nooks, cranies, and crevices in the bark so I still use the pressure washer some.

Since these are essentially trash trees (weeds) and are so plentiful as to be just about impossible to give away much less sell, I don't mess with anything under about a foot in diameter 10 feet above the ground. I have a few large ones cut and stickered that are ready to be planed and used to trim some of the house under construction. It is pretty wood but is soft and easily mared, dented or scratched.

These are actually juniper and not the cedar of cedar chips and cedar chests, not nearly so aromatic. I have chipped a significant quantity and helped a friend do likewise to "pave" some nature walks through his woods. I haven't composted any but suppose you could. Folks around here have tried them as fence posts but they rot out in no time.

The economic value of these trees is so low that they aren't worth spending much time and money on processing them unless you have a special purpose like my trim job.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

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These are actually juniper and not the cedar of cedar chips and cedar chests, not nearly so aromatic. I have chipped a significant quantity and helped a friend do likewise to "pave" some nature walks through his woods. I haven't composted any but suppose you could. Folks around here have tried them as fence posts but they rot out in no time.


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I didn't "compost" any, but I sure did just directly till lots of those chips into my vegetable garden. They decompose quite rapidly that way. And as you said, a neighbor and I used some for fence posts with the same results you've seen. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

Well, I've offered those big cedar trees to a few guys and none are interested. So, I've decided to clear about half of them out using a neigbor's heavy duty logging front loader. Maybe I'll just be lazy and hire him to do it. As a logger, he's a lot better at working dozers and loader equipment on sloped ground than I am. I think I'll clean up some of the other trash trees (paradise) too. A couple of friends will cut some of the smaller locust, wild cherry and maybe some pine for firewood. Not enough trees to mess with pulpwood cuts or saw logs.

If anybody living in the Central Virginia area is interested in some of this free wood, just let me know. We'll start clearing within the next couple of weeks, depending on the weather.

Ed

Yesterday at the Virginia Farm Show I saw one of the most interesting pieces of equipment I've seen in a long time. It was called a Brush &amp; Tree Destroyer. It was a big Barko 885B tractor (maybe skidder) with a heavy duty rotating front end drum grinder. The video tape showed this machine going through old orchards, tree farms, grown up brushy areas and reducing everything in its path to a nice layer of mulch.

The guy who owns the machine runs what he calls an environmental service company up in Maryland. Looked like a neat and easy way to reclaim existing ground. He could take out anything, crush stumps and just clear anyplace that needed clearing -- except rocks. Looked like a quick way to clean up a clear cut or overcut area and replant new seedlings quickly. There would be plenty of mulch to help the new trees get started.

I asked him how large a tree he could grind up and he said anything up to 16" and anything beyond that size should probably be cut for pulp or saw logs anyway.

Not cheap. He charges $2.50/mile one way, plus state permit costs, tolls and $275.00/hr for the first hour and the rest of the job costed at the job site once he's there. But if someone in the mid-Atlantic region needs some fast and effective brush and tree clearing, then this thing sure looked like the answer. No need to cut, load, tote and burn. Just drive through the brush and trees and the mulch is left behind.