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.?
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