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Harvesting Aspen

Started by Paul_H, April 03, 2003, 10:34:53 PM

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Paul_H

It's a different type of harvest,but after four seasons in the ground,we finally dug some Aspen landscape trees today.

A crew came up with a spade and put them in burlap and baskets.They were a hard working crew,skilled at nursery work.









Science isn't meant to be trusted it's to be tested

Paul_H





Clay up on the Hiboy loading the trees.We finished around 8:00pm and they went over to the industrial park near us to load the Bobcat on the Hiboy.The truck pulled along side a pile of gravel at a concrete batch plant.To climb on the deck,he had to make a ramp against the side of the trailer.Once he was loaded,the truck couldn't move because of the gravel spilled behind the wheels :-/

After 15 minutes with a muck stick,and a pull from the Crewcab in 4 low,we were even more stuck ::)I went looking for a machine to borrow,and stooped by another logging companies shop.They told me to grab the 966C.I went out,pre-heated,turned over great,but it refused to start.(it's after 9:00 now.)Hopped on their Terex loader,dead batteries :-XOne of the mechanics said,grab a logging truck.

Success 8)We hooked on to the trailer first off,and dug some nice holes.Changed tactics and hooked on to tractor,and out she came.Handshakes all around,and the diggers headed back to the Fraser Valley.

They are supposed to be back next Thursday,so we can do it all over again :D
Science isn't meant to be trusted it's to be tested

Minnesota_boy

Simple question.  WHY???
Aspen is considered a weed tree here.  The older aspen sends out long sucker roots and continually send up saplings all over my yard that have to be cut or I lose my yard to aspen.  Our standing answer to someone lamenting that their aspen are too sparse:  Cut them down.  You will have more aspen than you can stand next year and they will be 6 to 8 feet tall by fall. :D
I eat a high-fiber diet.  Lots of sawdust!

Paul_H

There is a Large Ski resort near here,and Aspen is in high demand with landscape architechs.Most places they would be planted in are maintained by landscape crews,so suckering is kept in check.

We propagate root cuttings from the better trees in the field and keep them in 1 and 2 gallon pots to train the roots.From there the go to the field.
Science isn't meant to be trusted it's to be tested

Jeff

Aspen pays my bills!  God bless those suckers.  :)
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Jeff

By the way, awesome thread Paul. Not at all what I was expecting!
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Paul_H

It's Carla's Birthday today(April 17) and we put in a long full day in her nursery.It got me thinking of how she had wanted to have a tree nursery for a long time,and how in 1998 we started to clear the back and get ready.



Before clearing the field(1997)


 
After clearing in 1999.We made a deal with the property owners next door that we would partial cut their property and pile the debris and we would keep the logs.



We used this 85 hp tractor in exchange for work with our excavator.





Our first trees,Red Cedar and Spruce.Carla got a kick out of my horrible Latin,so I stick to the common names :D



Carla planting the same Aspen that we harvested last year(beginning of thread)



Carla and Her Dad.To the left of the picture,behind her Dad,are the Red Cedars that were dug up last week.



Carla and the same Cedars today.They were dug up last week and places in burlap and wire baskets.She has 50 of them,and 30 are already sold.I'm proud of her!



The Cedars were tipped over by our little cat.He climbs up them and over they go. :D

Science isn't meant to be trusted it's to be tested

Norm

Thanks for the update Paul, I sure enjoy pictures of your part of the country. Tell Carla congratulations from us for all the hard work that must go into getting from saplings to burlaped trees. :)

Corley5

You live in a gorgeous area 8) Paul.  Great Pics 8)
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

Paul_H

Thank you Norm,I'll pass it on to Carla.She enjoys every minute of working out there.She will have around 200 trees in total to sell this year (Birch, Aspen,Spruce,Cedar and Amur Maple)Her goal is around 500 a year.

We have 700 trees to pot this weekend and then the weed control and irrigation starts.She just bought a used Case 1840 skidsteer to help around the nursery.Now she can move soil and load trees when ever she wants to.

Last night,we finished when it got dark.We sat and enjoyed the sky and mountains as the light faded,and just talked for awhile.

I love Springtime
Science isn't meant to be trusted it's to be tested

Paul_H

Greg,
We must have been posting at the same time and I missed your post.

Here is a shot of part of our place from the air,taken in 1999.All of the cleared and cultivated area is planted in nursery stock now,and there is a 6 acre portion in the back that is now cleared and ready for trees.



Carla,Tom and Jodi are potting this morning,and I'm taking care of Mary until the babysitter gets here.I'll take a few more pics this afternoon
Science isn't meant to be trusted it's to be tested

spencerhenry

aspens around here are popular trees. i have 70 acres of them. most of them dieing out. but here at 8600' elevation they dont grow very fast. i have used 9" dia trees for posts in a cabin or two. the 9" trees are between 85 and 95 years old. the first year they only get about 2' tall. but all the cutting and removal of dead material is helping to regenerate them fast.

beenthere

Paul
How do you get the lifted tree from the tree spade into the burlap?  

Do you lift the tree with the spade, then lay the burlap in the 'hole' and then let the tree back down in the hole on top of the burlap?  Then tie up the burlap and lift the balled tree?

I was trying to figure out how to use a bobcat with spade to transplant some spruce, and wondering if that would work. I see you have accomplished the 'art', and wondering what it is.

I presume by now you have perfected the 'art' of loading the bobcat too. ;D
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Swede

Jeff, You made my day, Thank You!
Do you have to plant aspen there? ??? Here it just grow and grow fast if no one cut it down. I think it´s ready for clearing after 30-35 years, spruce and pine need 60-80 years.

Perhaps I´m not the only Aspen-idiot in the world? Have read and asked about aspen, how it was used long time ago.  Have found it could be very profitable if people here would understand that everything with leavs isn´t weed.
Talked to my brother yesterday and he asked if aspen is good for roofing. (Perhaps he listen to me finally)  ;D He found an old maschine making what we used to put on the roofs here in old days.
 
They cut the tree 18" long, hold it to the maschine that split it 3/16" thick with an edge. Put it in water for a day and nail it on the roof in four layers.


Is aspen good for roofing?
Have been told that aspen don´t soaks up water much when it has been dryed. Old wooden tubes was made in aspen.

Swede.
Had a mobile band sawmill, All hydraulics  for logs 30\"x19´, remote control. (sold it 2009-04-13)
Monkey Blades.Sold them too)
Jonsered 535/15\". Just cut firewood now.

Paul_H

beenthere,
The tree is lifted out with the spade and placed in a wire basket that is lined with burlap.Then the burlap and basket are laced up with twine to hold it all together.You can get away without the basket if you roll the root ball and bind it well with twine in a mesh pattern.







This machine belongs to another local nursery.They are digging the trees on contract @ $20 cdn per tree.
The skidsteer is the same make and model as the one that Carla bought on Friday.We are really hoping it will be delivered this Wednesday.Next year we hope to dig our own.

Science isn't meant to be trusted it's to be tested

Paul_H







Carla and Jodi are potting up the seedlings in 1&2 gal pots and Tom is adding fertilizer after he places the pots in rows.The growing medium is 60% Fir sawdust(2 years old) and 40% Peat Moss.
The pots will stay on the mats for a month or so until we can make room for them in another area.



So far this weekend we have potted up about 600 seedlings.I thought there was going to be around 700 in total,but it will be over a 1000.There are always mortalities,and some of the seedlings looked a little bedraggled when they were opened out of the boxes.




This Heron (Sh*tepoke) flew in and landed on a large Cedar tree on the edge of our property.He sat on the branches for a good half hour,and seemed to be pulling on the branches.

We watched him-he watched us :)

Science isn't meant to be trusted it's to be tested

Tillaway

Great thread Paul.  An old family friend has a nursery / landscape business over the hill from me, they have been in business since the 1920's.  

He has a 30" tree spade, his dad bought it many years ago and paid for it in one project transferring trees and shrubs from one side of a housing developement to another.  Once you have it, you can find work for it.  
Making Tillamook Bay safe for bait; one salmon at a time.

Paul_H

Thanks Tillaway,
It has been a lot of fun setting up the nursery.There is a lot of fine tuning that Carla has planned,it is just a matter of time and money ;)

We'd love to have our own tree spade but they are $12000 cdn new from Bobcat.Next year we will probably rent a spade for the week @ $600. I did see a good used one for $5500 near where my brother lives

A simple and effective irrigation system is what is most needed right now.The setup that we have is cumbersome.It is a gas powered pump to a 1 1/2" line,tee'd off every 100' to fire hose with forestry fittings that deliver the water to overhead sprinklers.There are also manifolds with 3/4" hose fittings to run smaller sprinklers.

If anybody has some ideas,I'm all ears.
Science isn't meant to be trusted it's to be tested

Swede

Paul, Very nice to see how a family can work together!  :) :)  I can´t belive that all of you have much time for the computer  ;) :D You have to be very proud of Your family!

How much water do you use? Spraying it from the air?  I think you need less if you drill "some" holes in plastic pipes laying on or some inch under the ground. Is there a way to arrange it so you don´t have to handle the piping?

Swede.
Had a mobile band sawmill, All hydraulics  for logs 30\"x19´, remote control. (sold it 2009-04-13)
Monkey Blades.Sold them too)
Jonsered 535/15\". Just cut firewood now.

Paul_H

Swede,
Yes,I'm very proud of them all.The 3 older kids helped me clear the property back in 1999.We had a lot of sticks,rocks and branches to pile and burn and they worked hard.We kept plenty of Soda Pop and Hotdogs around :D

They helped me string the barbwire fencing too.Really nice kids.

Today is an office day and then I'm back to my regular job on Wednesday but it doesn't get dark now until 8:30 pm,so we can get in a few hours at night.

Right now we run about 12 sprinklers at a time off of the pump,but it would handle more if needed.The biggest problem is keeping the rootballs moist after the trees are dug up.Aspen doesn't like overhead watering,and it tends to thrash the leaves on the deciduous trees.

I think your idea of plastic pipe with holes would work well if there was a way to meter the flow,so that the volume was the same all along the pipe.

The main pipe(1 1/2") runs down the middle of the field and we branch off 60' each side.The trees are in rows of 6' spacing.
Science isn't meant to be trusted it's to be tested

Norm

Paul have you looked into drip irrigation? These run black poly main lines that you tap into with a smaller diameter line. The end of these smaller lines have a metering end that determines how much water is dispensed. I looked into this years ago for our orchard but never got aroundtuit. Most nursery supply houses carry it.

It is sure nice to see a family that works together like yours, makes a dad proud. Heck makes me proud to hear of it.

Paul_H

Norm,

That sounds like it would be the way to go! There was a couple that picked up trees last week,and the guy and I got talking, and his background was in irrigation.He mentioned the drip irrigation but I wasn't 100% sure what he meant,and we jumped over to other topics.

I'm guessing that it would use a lot less water?Having a way to meter the water would be ideal.I would also like to hook up a proper electric pump with a timer or something on it too,but the only pumps I've ever been around have been fire pumps.

We've always had municipal water at our house so I am not familiar with pressures and filters etc.

Thanks
Science isn't meant to be trusted it's to be tested

Norm

Paul these were geared towards what you want to do, they need to be filtered real well so as to keep the small ends from clogging but they sold complete systems which had timers, filters, fittings the whole nine yards. They will use much less water and are a lot more effective in watering as they don't promote the leaf diseases that are caused by overhead watering. I'm sure the up front costs are more but would bet they would more than pay for it by the reduced water costs.

Bro. Noble

I too enjoyed the pictures and update on Carla's business.

I agree that it's really nice to see such a nice family working together at something they enjoy 8)

BUT

You need to post some recent pictures of the little ones------them aspens ain't the onliest thing growin ;)
milking and logging and sawing and milking

SwampDonkey

Paul_H

I gotta say I've enjoyed this thread thoroughly. Its right up my alley way. 'Cept around here it would be a one man operation ;). All I can do is dream. :D Nice little setup there, and you'll gradually expand as I suspect. Nice to see the pictures of your work, how things operate and who does the operating. Nice to have a family that can work together, some can't. ;) I live in an area where there isn't alot of income for landscaping and we are far off from major centres. Most nurseries here are only open till mid June. Hope you folks have a long prosperous nursery business. :)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Paul_H

Well you guys got me motivated and it was too nice to sit in the office anyway,so I got a hold of the guy that bought some trees(Merv) and went over to his place for a couple of hours and learned some things about drip irrigation.

It turns out that Merv has been in the irrigation business for 20+ years and has designed software on different systems,including drip.He gave me a few books and catalogues and some industry contacts.In exchange for some lumber,he will help me design and setup the first phase of the drip irrigation,including pumps and filters.

He looks like a rancher,and I often see him working his property but when you step in his office,there is no doubt what he does.He showed me a small setup that he has for his yard,and gave me a lesson on installing and metering.


 Here is the part that delivers the water to the plant.
Clockwise from the bottom- 1/2 gal per hour water meter with tube
top left-delivery spike
middle right-short chunk of 1/2" tube with a tee inserted


Mary thinks its a great system

After supper we went out back to pot a few more trees





I find that when the little ones help out back,not much gets done ;D



Science isn't meant to be trusted it's to be tested

ksu_chainsaw

At school, Kansas State University, I took several classes that dealt with irrigation, both on the horticulture side, and on the farming side.  In greenhouses and other horticultural plots, drip irrigation has been around for a while and is accepted in the industry.  For large farms, the standard has been either large center pivots, or flood irrigation, both of which consume large amounts of water, with increased evaporation.  They are currently working on increasing the use of subsurface irrigation.  What they are coming up with for farm use is a tube about 1" dia, with emitters spaced along the tubing. This increases the amount of water that is used, with less waste.  Also, it has more control over the amount of water that is put into the soil.  Another strong point for drip irrigation is that it puts the water where it is needed the most- in the root zone.  On the bad side, if you happen to forget where the tubing is, it can be ruined by digging in the wrong spot.

Just my two cents

Charles

Swede

One way to save water is just let it on in the evening or early night. When the sun is up the water goes up  the air.
If possible you can place plastic film on the ground between the  rows,  and perhaps over  the rootballs over ground, to prevent evaporating. If the ground is a little higher between the rows any rain and dew goes to the plants but to much plastic can make the soil to hot.

To control water flowing, just drill 1/16" holes in  plastic pipes and try how many You need before diging them down. Use low pressure so the water not "blast" on the roots. Apply  a valve, placed where the small pipe goes from the main pipe. Near the valve there may be 1or 2 holes/6', away from the valve perhaps 3-5 holes.
To clear the holes open the valve all way for high pressure.

If You get to many holes, use self vulc............. >:( (D***G dictionary)  a rubber tape were the layers you wind around the pipe glue together.

Just some ideas running through my poor head........... 8)

Swede.

Had a mobile band sawmill, All hydraulics  for logs 30\"x19´, remote control. (sold it 2009-04-13)
Monkey Blades.Sold them too)
Jonsered 535/15\". Just cut firewood now.

SwampDonkey

"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Swede

Swampy; Yes!
Thats the tape I use for holes I don´t need, handles, making O-rings, friction surfaces........ But there are other trade markes, why pay 4x for 3m?  ;) ;D

Swede.
Had a mobile band sawmill, All hydraulics  for logs 30\"x19´, remote control. (sold it 2009-04-13)
Monkey Blades.Sold them too)
Jonsered 535/15\". Just cut firewood now.

SwampDonkey

Swede:

Ummm  :D :D ;D ;D :D :D

The Red Green Show, of CBC TV fame in Canada. Now being re-run on Public TV in the US. Uncle Red was famous for building and fixing with lots of duct tape. You have to go beyond the price of the duct  tape and see this clown at work. He's a regular domestic engineer and a handy man's man hahhahaha. Visit his website through the link above in my previous post. :D :D :D

:D :D This is my attempt to introduce you to some Canadian bad humour :D :D ;D

Poor Swede ;D ;)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Swede

Swampy; I´ve seen more bad on Swedish TV.  :D

Thank U! /Swede.
Had a mobile band sawmill, All hydraulics  for logs 30\"x19´, remote control. (sold it 2009-04-13)
Monkey Blades.Sold them too)
Jonsered 535/15\". Just cut firewood now.

Furby

Ok, here's a stupid ?.
I've heard two schools of thought, water in the morning and lose some to evaporation or water in the evening/night and end up with mildew and rot.
Which is better all the way around?

SwampDonkey

That's why you end up using fungicides not only for mildew and rot, but damping off disease on young seedlings. ;)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Swede

 :-/ I´ve never heard about that problems here but when you say so...........
Heard that it´s not good for a plant to be wet all the time, it need to be a little dry some times. Thinking about it in a while I find less work. 8)

Swede.
Had a mobile band sawmill, All hydraulics  for logs 30\"x19´, remote control. (sold it 2009-04-13)
Monkey Blades.Sold them too)
Jonsered 535/15\". Just cut firewood now.

Norm

I prefer to water in the morning not in the evening, the plants seem to do better that way. I dug a small pond years back and was given 4 koi for my birthday from my sons. The rainfall from the house eves is piped over to it. After a couple years there are at least 4 million koi in there fertilizing the water. That is used for irrigation during the dry periods of summer.

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