Sorting out the mess

[outeredge]

So my first job in the woods is to deal with all mess left behind by felling operations before it was sold. Scattered all across the whole 5 acres are piles of dead wood (mostly scots pine) on varying thickness, most being between an inch and three inches diameter.

Having never owned a wood I don't really have a clue where to start with it all, there is just so much of it that I can't/don't want to leave it all for wildlife. If we broke it down into say <1cm, up to an inch and then over, what would you do with all these different bits of wood. Preview picture below...not the best example as most piles are taller and have smaller sizes but I can take some more tomorrow;

[Meadowcopse]

Having been involved with an educational charitable trust for about 20 years that acquired 30 acres of ex-Forestry Commission land, after about 12 years, the Sitka Spruce stumps and brash from their last clear-felling and storm damage finally started to soften and break down.
We cleared replanting spaces by hand with numerous volunteers over a few years.
A near-by plot clear-felled plot bought by a farmer, was cleared in a few weeks with a large Caterpillar Machine with a couple of heavy subsoil tines.

[oldclaypaws]

Pines are full of resin which prevents it from breaking down as quickly as some deciduous woods. Standing dead pines can stay up for a century, and the RHS advises not to put pine needles on compost heaps as they take so long to rot, eventually forming an acid compost. It might hang around obstructing the surface for many years. Frankly, I'd consider burning it on site or seeing if you can find anyone who might like it as a chipped fuel. Most biomass has someone who'd be happy to burn it and pine burns well.

[smojo]

Is it possible to invest in a woodburner for your home and just stock pile it in one area and use it for free fuel.

If you're not bothered about making money on it and just want rid then have a look at Freecycle in your area - sign up for it (it's through Yahoo) and put an ad in there - advertise it as free to anyone who wants to come and collect it. Burn the small bits that are left.

[Zathras]

We have a similar issue.

We've been cutting down the larger logs into something more manageable then stacking them to dry out / season, we later split them to use on the camp fires.

The smaller twiggy stuff we're raking into piles, some has used on camp fires or in the camp stove, some (mostly the spiky stuff) was burn't in an incinerator bin to clear an area more quickly and some we're leaving in piles to dry out.

This way we're clearing the woodland floor for more growth, creating habitats and providing a source of fuel.

Early days in our woodland ownership but seems to be working for us.
Although we found lesser stag beetle grubs in some of the larger logs we were splitting and as a result I'm now being more selective about what we target for woodfuel.

EDIT: Couple of Photos

[outeredge]

What about perhaps building a deadwood fence?

The longest side of my wood is bordered by a country lane and is quite exposed in some areas. I could also gather up the pine needles over time and use them to "pad it out" a bit.

Is it possible to invest in a woodburner for your home and just stock pile it in one area and use it for free fuel.

Yeah, I like the idea of stockpile the larger logs much like Zathras has been doing above, not so much for home but fires in the woods. I'll need to read more about how to season/store them outside.

The smaller twiggy stuff we're raking into piles

I need to buy a rake, what type do you recommend for this?

[Tarrel]

Some of the stuff in the original picture looks thick enough to chop up as firewood. Thinner straight bits can be bundled together and burned as "faggots". Laying an interlaced layer of brash on your tracks helps prevent erosion and compaction. Otherwise, I agree with the idea of building a "dead hedge". We're building one right now to deal with conifer brash which is tough, springy and just refuses to break down. Horrible stuff.

[Zathras]

Yeah, I like the idea of stockpile the larger logs much like Zathras has been doing above, not so much for home but fires in the woods. I'll need to read more about how to season/store them outside.

The smaller twiggy stuff we're raking into piles

I need to buy a rake, what type do you recommend for this?

To be honest, the seasoning for us is just stacking them so that as many as possible are off the ground, they should dry quite nicely like that.
Much of ours is ready to use in a few months, but a year should dry most types of wood good enough I'd say.

Obviously the outsides get wet when it rains but that is superficial as the inside will be dry when split, or wait until there has been a bout of good weather so the outside is also dry. The bottom logs will remain wet as they are touching the ground, these will rot and I'm going to leave the base layers to the wildlife after the higher logs have been used.

Some better photos after my recent visit:




As for the rake, we had a nice wide, large, aluminium one which was good for the larger stuff.
However that was stolen recently so we've been making do with a cheapo plastic green 'fan' like rake but that is only any good for the really small stuff.

[The Barrowers]

Hello

Dead Log piles are good for wildlife

Log Piles, use a couple of bearers on the ground to sacrifice the bottom to allow the other to be cut as wood fuel

Look at way people stack as some do it one way and other the other, if that makes sense

B and T