Beech Undergrowth

[Stick'n'String]

I have 40 acres with understory dominated by beech undergrowth that I need to get under control. Burning is out of the question and short of cutting each stem by hand are there any options??

 

[lpo1981]

Nope other than going thru there with a saw and cutting them or hiring somebody to do it.. I'm in the same boat as you with 36 acres dominated by it.. Next Monday the work begins as I start hammering away at them...

 

[buckaroo]

I'm there with ya on that

 

[Stick'n'String]

Any body tried herbicide control? From a little reading sounds like Pathfinder may be an option.

 

[primos32]

Right there with ya! Gonna be a long winter of cutting

 

[Football Hunter]

Right there with ya! Gonna be a long winter of cutting

yep,me too

 

[BSK]

Lots and lots of beech cutting on my schedule.

 

[AllOutdoors]

Rent a skid steer with a forestry mulcher.

 

[Stick'n'String]

Lots and lots of beech cutting on my schedule.

Brian- any particular method? Do you just hinge them or try cut at ground level? I see a really sore back in my future?

Anyone know where I can rent a brush cutter or if I can just install a blade on my home weed eater?

 

[Boone 58]

 

[lpo1981]

I'm just going to cut the small saplings off at ground level.. I have a few areas where I'm going to make some hinge cuts on some bigger beech's to create some cover.

 

[Hollar Hunter]

Yep the real work starts next week! Better now than June or later!

 

[treefarmer]

I am doing this at this time on my property to encourage new oak seedlings in place of the elm/hickory/sourwood, etc. that is in my understory. There are a couple ways I have done this. If the trees are under maybe 3" in diameter you can use a backpack sprayer with herbicide/oil and "basal bark" spray the lower 15" of the stem on one side to kill it. Garlon 4 is the herbicide I used. If it is larger you need to cut into the bark and use a spray bottle with herbicide - I currently cut the tree down and spray Arsenal on the cut stump, although I have previously used a short "collins" axe to cut into the tree at waist height and used Garlon 3A in a spray bottle to spray the cut. Contact your Area forester for more current advice on methods and herbicides.

 

[BSK]

I've experienced extremely poor results with herbicides--even on cut stumps--in winter. At this time of year, we just completely cut the saplings and young trees down (no hinge-cutting). It will take 5-10 years for the stumps to regrow tall enough to interfere with visual ranges, and we can live with that.

Beech cutting works best with two or three people, one or two people with chainsaws for the larger beeches, and one person with a good brush handsaw or a brush-blade on a weedeater for the small saplings (and I would leave the really big, mature beeches for elimination through herbicides in summer). When we do beech-cutting it is simply to get rid of an overly dense beech understory, both for hunting visibility and hardwood regeneration purposes.

 

[BSK]

I see a really sore back in my future?

Lots of beech cutting can be tough on the body, but it doesn't hold a candle to planting pine seedings. I'll cut beeches any day over planting pines.

 

[Football Hunter]

I have noticed very low,if any refrowth on winter cut Beech trees,maybe just lucky

 

[BSK]

I have noticed very low,if any refrowth on winter cut Beech trees,maybe just lucky

I too have noticed that I don't seem to see much stump resprouting of winter-cut beech saplings.

 

[Crosshairy]

I didn't realize they resprouted at all...I guess because I've only seen them cut during the winter.

When I heard you guys talking about cutting them down only for them to grow back, I thought to myself "that takes some dedication!"

All the more reason to get to work, I guess.