Recommend tree service for about 40-50 pine trees

[C.Berry]

I don’t know of anyone local to ya but know a damn amazing arborist up here that would possibly travel! If interested msg me and I’ll send his name and cell number your way!

 

[jeepinmatt]

I had a local "small" logger come in and clear/selectively clear about an acre of my land before we built the house. He left the stumps and tops, hauled the trunks off, and didn't charge me anything. If you're willing to deal with (burn) the tops, and leave the stumps, you can probably get it done with very minimal cost. Your county Forest service/ranger can likely provide you a list of local logging companies and advise who might do smaller jobs.

 

[jeepinmatt]

I disagree with that by far. SOME pines are tough, but as a general rule the go over much easier than most hardwoods. I could have buried an f350 in the hole I dug at a friend's house to knock over a big oak. He ground the rest of them to avoid having to buy so much more fill dirt. Even in the 4-7" diameter trees, pines lay over easy, most hardwoods put up a fight.

Every pine I have knocked over has been easy except for some that were 20"+ diameter that put up a little fight.

What kind of dirt do you push them out of? In the hard packed red clay around here, pine is a total bitch. But I agree about the difference in the root systems and how the root balls come out. Since I have a smaller dozer, I have to work around the tree and bust all the surface roots loose. With most hardwoods, once you get the first foot or so of roots, they give up fairly easily. With pine, I can't get to the taproot so it takes a lot more digging around and loosening dirtto get it to roll out.

 

[drkelly]

That, I also understand. I've got several buddies that do tree work. If I was the dude doing the work, I'd definitely want to be paid that, but could never bring myself to pay that.

I mentally struggle with paying for it too. Anytime there is a job around the house/property that I am capable of doing, I struggle with the idea of paying someone to do it. With a wife and son though, I have to balance spending money against taking away from valuable time with my family.

 

[Ron]

They have big ass tap roots that go straight down.

IME, they tend to break off 10-20ft up, usually from high winds, and especially if surrounding trees have been cut down, exposing them to more wind than they've been accustomed.

Taproot is really only a major feature on long leaf pine.
Its the reason for the 7 year grass stage. It grows down for 7 years before it grows up. Its a natural adaptation/mutation/evolution to be able to survive in sandy soils in high wind I.E. hurricane areas. Longleaf has a very small natural range. In fact Raleigh is about 50-75 miles too far west for Longleaf to be native. But longleaf grows the tallest and densest. It is what power poles, pilings, and other such long straight pole applications originate from.As such it was also the first intentional planted tree species in the US. As far back as the 1830s there are records of folks trying to plant stands of long leaf pine.

Now long leaf and loblolly will naturally hybridize, so that is a confusing aspect to most folks. I know a whole bunch of folks who think they have lived around long leafs all their life and you show them a true pure long leaf and they are astounded. A mature long leaf needle should be 8+ inches at a minimum. and can get up to 20+" long. The cones will never be mistaken they are 10"+ tall and as big around as your fist.

(FYI I know you @shawn know the differences I am stating this for others reading along)

The reason forest services across the SE coast band will give away long leaf seedlings is because they have the longest maturation period of any commerically viable tree. In contrast a Loblolly stand can produce a commeriical thinning in 12-14 years (or less in an aggressive site index) and can hit a mature saw timber harvest in 27-35 years.

You aren't getting your first thinning until year 19-25 on a long leaf stand and even the best sites arent hitting commercial maturity until 44 years with many taking 60+ to get that 6th full log, (if they ever do)..a 60 year rotation means that you can run 2 loblolly pine rotations inside of 1 and it means you can double offset costs via plant cost shedding amoritization. Meaning that in the early 80s everyone abandoned longleaf pine. By greenhousing the grass stage you protect the plant through its most vulnerable life period and can cut 7 years off the rotation cycle.

Now whats is interesting is we are just now starting to see maturation of those first round of 80s long leaf seedlings. And there is some pretty thorough research happening (coincidentally enough) in a huge joint research project between Clemson University and Virginia Tech (VPI )...early results while not fully peer reviewed are suggesting that these incubator trees may have more twist and less long fiber strength...no one really knows why ... yet.

Anyway.

I wish I had longleaf pine trees on my property. All of mine have short needles only about 1.5-2" long.

1.5-2" isnt a loblolly needle. You either have short leaf pine or virginia pine.
If the needles are exclusively 2 per folicle and noticeably twisted it is a virginia pine

Short leaf will be slightly longer and definitely straighter.
There is a huge descrepency in value between the two. Short leaf is a denser SYP and carries the same value as a loblolly, typically grows fatter though not quote as tall (I said typically...shorts can get up there just takes a while)
Virginia pine...well around here locals call it by a much more derogatory and racially insensitive name. It has very little value and a logger will need to slip it into a load of better SYP to get it into a sawmill even if it meets size. The wood is twisted, brittle and wide cellular spacing makes it much more likely to bow/distort in water.

Sorry....yep I just nerded out on some trees.

 

[drkelly]

Taproot is really only a major feature on long leaf pine.
Its the reason for the 7 year grass stage. It grows down for 7 years before it grows up. Its a natural adaptation/mutation/evolution to be able to survive in sandy soils in high wind I.E. hurricane areas. Longleaf has a very small natural range. In fact Raleigh is about 50-75 miles too far west for Longleaf to be native. But longleaf grows the tallest and densest. It is what power poles, pilings, and other such long straight pole applications originate from.As such it was also the first intentional planted tree species in the US. As far back as the 1830s there are records of folks trying to plant stands of long leaf pine.

Now long leaf and loblolly will naturally hybridize, so that is a confusing aspect to most folks. I know a whole bunch of folks who think they have lived around long leafs all their life and you show them a true pure long leaf and they are astounded. A mature long leaf needle should be 8+ inches at a minimum. and can get up to 20+" long. The cones will never be mistaken they are 10"+ tall and as big around as your fist.

(FYI I know you @shawn know the differences I am stating this for others reading along)

The reason forest services across the SE coast band will give away long leaf seedlings is because they have the longest maturation period of any commerically viable tree. In contrast a Loblolly stand can produce a commeriical thinning in 12-14 years (or less in an aggressive site index) and can hit a mature saw timber harvest in 27-35 years.

You aren't getting your first thinning until year 19-25 on a long leaf stand and even the best sites arent hitting commercial maturity until 44 years with many taking 60+ to get that 6th full log, (if they ever do)..a 60 year rotation means that you can run 2 loblolly pine rotations inside of 1 and it means you can double offset costs via plant cost shedding amoritization. Meaning that in the early 80s everyone abandoned longleaf pine. By greenhousing the grass stage you protect the plant through its most vulnerable life period and can cut 7 years off the rotation cycle.

Now whats is interesting is we are just now starting to see maturation of those first round of 80s long leaf seedlings. And there is some pretty thorough research happening (coincidentally enough) in a huge joint research project between Clemson University and Virginia Tech (VPI )...early results while not fully peer reviewed are suggesting that these incubator trees may have more twist and less long fiber strength...no one really knows why ... yet.

Anyway.



1.5-2" isnt a loblolly needle. You either have short leaf pine or virginia pine.
If the needles are exclusively 2 per folicle and noticeably twisted it is a virginia pine

Short leaf will be slightly longer and definitely straighter.
There is a huge descrepency in value between the two. Short leaf is a denser SYP and carries the same value as a loblolly, typically grows fatter though not quote as tall (I said typically...shorts can get up there just takes a while)
Virginia pine...well around here locals call it by a much more derogatory and racially insensitive name. It has very little value and a logger will need to slip it into a load of better SYP to get it into a sawmill even if it meets size. The wood is twisted, brittle and wide cellular spacing makes it much more likely to bow/distort in water.

Sorry....yep I just nerded out on some trees.

Good info!

After looking at pictures of Virginia pine needles and trees on the internet, that is definitely what we have. That is also what I had on my old property that is only 2 miles from my current house.

A guy on the road I used to live on bought about 25 acres and told me that the state of NC gave him a tax break for removing all the pine trees on his property. They were the same kind as I had on my old lot, and the same kind I have on my new lot. Virginia pines.

 

[tlucier]

Taproot is really only a major feature on long leaf pine.
Its the reason for the 7 year grass stage. It grows down for 7 years before it grows up. Its a natural adaptation/mutation/evolution to be able to survive in sandy soils in high wind I.E. hurricane areas. Longleaf has a very small natural range. In fact Raleigh is about 50-75 miles too far west for Longleaf to be native. But longleaf grows the tallest and densest. It is what power poles, pilings, and other such long straight pole applications originate from.As such it was also the first intentional planted tree species in the US. As far back as the 1830s there are records of folks trying to plant stands of long leaf pine.

Now long leaf and loblolly will naturally hybridize, so that is a confusing aspect to most folks. I know a whole bunch of folks who think they have lived around long leafs all their life and you show them a true pure long leaf and they are astounded. A mature long leaf needle should be 8+ inches at a minimum. and can get up to 20+" long. The cones will never be mistaken they are 10"+ tall and as big around as your fist.

(FYI I know you @shawn know the differences I am stating this for others reading along)

The reason forest services across the SE coast band will give away long leaf seedlings is because they have the longest maturation period of any commerically viable tree. In contrast a Loblolly stand can produce a commeriical thinning in 12-14 years (or less in an aggressive site index) and can hit a mature saw timber harvest in 27-35 years.

You aren't getting your first thinning until year 19-25 on a long leaf stand and even the best sites arent hitting commercial maturity until 44 years with many taking 60+ to get that 6th full log, (if they ever do)..a 60 year rotation means that you can run 2 loblolly pine rotations inside of 1 and it means you can double offset costs via plant cost shedding amoritization. Meaning that in the early 80s everyone abandoned longleaf pine. By greenhousing the grass stage you protect the plant through its most vulnerable life period and can cut 7 years off the rotation cycle.

Now whats is interesting is we are just now starting to see maturation of those first round of 80s long leaf seedlings. And there is some pretty thorough research happening (coincidentally enough) in a huge joint research project between Clemson University and Virginia Tech (VPI )...early results while not fully peer reviewed are suggesting that these incubator trees may have more twist and less long fiber strength...no one really knows why ... yet.

Anyway.



1.5-2" isnt a loblolly needle. You either have short leaf pine or virginia pine.
If the needles are exclusively 2 per folicle and noticeably twisted it is a virginia pine

Short leaf will be slightly longer and definitely straighter.
There is a huge descrepency in value between the two. Short leaf is a denser SYP and carries the same value as a loblolly, typically grows fatter though not quote as tall (I said typically...shorts can get up there just takes a while)
Virginia pine...well around here locals call it by a much more derogatory and racially insensitive name. It has very little value and a logger will need to slip it into a load of better SYP to get it into a sawmill even if it meets size. The wood is twisted, brittle and wide cellular spacing makes it much more likely to bow/distort in water.

Sorry....yep I just nerded out on some trees.

That's some cool info that I never knew. Thanks for dropping some knowledge.

 

[drkelly]

I was in a similar position when I moved into the new house , I was quoted $750 per tree , I bought a set of spikes and an aborist saw . I broke even on the first tree

View attachment 279551

I just checked on the back of my Man Card, and tree climbing privileges are listed as 'revoked'. I'm not certain, but I think that happened when I said 'I do'.

 

[49willys]

A roll or two of detcord, it would be fast fun mess! (my dad is a forester, hates my ideas)

 

[AdamH]

Branch Out Tree Service - Services

Les is the owner. I’ve used him a couple times as well as my neighbors. He took down 25 for me when I built my pool. Not sure if you’re too far away but I’d highly recommend him.

 

[WARRIORWELDING]

Taproot is really only a major feature on long leaf pine.
Its the reason for the 7 year grass stage. It grows down for 7 years before it grows up. Its a natural adaptation/mutation/evolution to be able to survive in sandy soils in high wind I.E. hurricane areas. Longleaf has a very small natural range. In fact Raleigh is about 50-75 miles too far west for Longleaf to be native. But longleaf grows the tallest and densest. It is what power poles, pilings, and other such long straight pole applications originate from.As such it was also the first intentional planted tree species in the US. As far back as the 1830s there are records of folks trying to plant stands of long leaf pine.

Now long leaf and loblolly will naturally hybridize, so that is a confusing aspect to most folks. I know a whole bunch of folks who think they have lived around long leafs all their life and you show them a true pure long leaf and they are astounded. A mature long leaf needle should be 8+ inches at a minimum. and can get up to 20+" long. The cones will never be mistaken they are 10"+ tall and as big around as your fist.

(FYI I know you @shawn know the differences I am stating this for others reading along)

The reason forest services across the SE coast band will give away long leaf seedlings is because they have the longest maturation period of any commerically viable tree. In contrast a Loblolly stand can produce a commeriical thinning in 12-14 years (or less in an aggressive site index) and can hit a mature saw timber harvest in 27-35 years.

You aren't getting your first thinning until year 19-25 on a long leaf stand and even the best sites arent hitting commercial maturity until 44 years with many taking 60+ to get that 6th full log, (if they ever do)..a 60 year rotation means that you can run 2 loblolly pine rotations inside of 1 and it means you can double offset costs via plant cost shedding amoritization. Meaning that in the early 80s everyone abandoned longleaf pine. By greenhousing the grass stage you protect the plant through its most vulnerable life period and can cut 7 years off the rotation cycle.

Now whats is interesting is we are just now starting to see maturation of those first round of 80s long leaf seedlings. And there is some pretty thorough research happening (coincidentally enough) in a huge joint research project between Clemson University and Virginia Tech (VPI )...early results while not fully peer reviewed are suggesting that these incubator trees may have more twist and less long fiber strength...no one really knows why ... yet.

Anyway.



1.5-2" isnt a loblolly needle. You either have short leaf pine or virginia pine.
If the needles are exclusively 2 per folicle and noticeably twisted it is a virginia pine

Short leaf will be slightly longer and definitely straighter.
There is a huge descrepency in value between the two. Short leaf is a denser SYP and carries the same value as a loblolly, typically grows fatter though not quote as tall (I said typically...shorts can get up there just takes a while)
Virginia pine...well around here locals call it by a much more derogatory and racially insensitive name. It has very little value and a logger will need to slip it into a load of better SYP to get it into a sawmill even if it meets size. The wood is twisted, brittle and wide cellular spacing makes it much more likely to bow/distort in water.

Sorry....yep I just nerded out on some trees.

Dude knows wood like his gensets....methinks some schooling involved.