I get laughed at when I insist on using a bowsaw from time-to-time instead of a chainsaw. I’m glad to read that I’m not the only one who appreciates the rhythm and relative silence of this method of cutting wood.

From Woodland

I worked with a small triangular bowsaw. It is surprising how much you can do with one in a day. Bowsaws have the supreme advantage of being quiet and allowing you to work at your own human pace. The manic dictatorship of the chainsaw seems to deafen you to all reason or judgement. A chainsaw is ideal for mechanical jobs like cutting up logs, but deprives you of the greatest pleasure of working in the woods: the opportunity to listen to the natural sounds around you.

From Waterlog: A Swimmer’s Journey Through Britain~ Roger Deakin

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The process of coppicing is pretty straight-forward:

Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management in which young tree stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level. In subsequent growth years, many new shoots will emerge, and, after a number of years the coppiced tree, or stool, is ready to be harvested, and the cycle begins again. (Note that the noun coppice means a growth of small trees or a forest coming from shoots or suckers.)

Wikipedia (the font of all knowledge).

I think this diagram from Wikimedia Commons sums it up pretty well.

I’ve applied this technique to a few ash trees. In most cases a pretty messy exercise for me as the ground underfoot was pretty boggy and my big forestry boots sink nicely. But I got the trees down, cutting with my chainsaw or band saw depending on the width of the trunk and usually with some wrestling of the tree to get it finally down and / or out of the ground. I now have the inch plus thick stuff nicely stacked away in my shed ready for burning and the rest will be chipped for mulching.

From Woodland

Follow the Woodland link above for some other pictures of my recent tree related exploits…

Now I promise to get back inside and get some ‘real’ work done.

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I bought 60 hazel and 60 silver birch trees just after the new year started. Planting has been pretty slow going as I’ve been reusing old tree guards and stakes from some replanting of mainly ash trees that took place (I guess) 8 or so years ago.

I chose hazel and ash to provide some variety in amongst the mainly ash existing tress and because quite simply I like both varieties. These are fitting into gaps in the woodland both natural and created (where I’ve cut down some existing trees).

From Barn Conversion 2010

The first weekend I managed to plant 30 hazel trees and 12 silver birch.

I then potted on ten of each for planting in gaps and filling in where replanting had failed over the next year or so.

Last weekend I managed to get another bunch of mainly silver birch into the ground, that leaves me with 23 silver birch and 16 hazel trees to plant… I’ll try for a final push this weekend if those new tree guards I’ve ordered arrive in time.

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As I’ve mentioned earlier I have plans to start work this year on managing the small amount (I’d guess at around half and acre) of woodland that I have. As all our heating depends on either the sun (solar thermal water panels) or our stove (multi-fuel burner with boiler) the need for a dependable source [...]

With my current preoccupation with firewood and the current bout of ice, snow and freezing temperatures making me long for warm weather a favourite quote of mine comes to mind:
…a mosaic of cut log ends that wall the whole of the south-facing end. The summer sun will dry out the end grain, drawing out the [...]