Thinning the forest maintenance includes cleaning up debris after storms when you have a forest or woods on your property.
Equipment
It helps to have the proper equipment. A chainsaw is a must. You should trim off limbs near the top of the tree for use for firewood and then cut the trunk into usable lengths called ‘bucking’. A tractor with a chain is needed to pull logs out of the woods. A grapple to pick up the limb debris is very helpful for cleanup. A log splitter is needed for firewood production.
Procedure
First is limbing the fallen trees to get a clean trunk. The upper limbs and side limbs are trimmed off. Next is cutting the trunks into usable lengths, usually 6 to 10 feet lengths. Then the logs are moved out of the woods. Once the logs are removed, use a tractor or skid steer with a grapple to clean up the limb debris.
Disposition
In my case, the limb debris is put in a burn pile or can be chipped and shredded if you have that equipment. Once the logs are out of the woods, they can be cut into usable lengths for firewood or left long to process on a sawmill to make boards. Firewood length is 16 to 20-inch lengths. I then split the firewood logs, called rounds, with a gas-powered log splitter. Alternatively, the rounds can be split by hand with a maul and wedges. Then the split wood is stacked to dry.
