Forestry Advisor Marianne Lyons from Ballyhaise addresses participants on safety issues before we leave the bus for the site

The main focus for the day was on showing farmers the various methods of harvesting timber from their forests at first thinning stage.  For me, reading up on practical work like this just doesn’t do it.  I need to actually see what is being done and how, in order to grasp something new, so this kind of demonstration day was very useful.  The Teagasc staff had planned out various sections of their own forests for thinning and at each section the device (or creature!) to be used was set up and ready to go. 

Extracting hardwood thinnings on steep slope using horse extraction.

The first stop was horse extraction by Murray Tree Care Ltd. in Monastrevin, Co. Kildare (Tel: 045 523582). As the timber to be hauled was on a high slope, it was easy work dragging the logs down to the road. (For images of heavy horse work, check out Tom Nixon’s Trojan Heavy Horses. )

Because the workshop was aimed at helping farmers, the majority of other methods of extraction demonstrated were using ordinary farm tractors with simple attachments:

Tractor and grabber dragging first thinnings from conifer plantation

Farm tractor and buck rake carrying logs out.

Most of the action happened in conifers, but there was also a small stand of mainly sycamore to learn from. Information boards at roadside gave simple thinning technique guidelines.

Information board standing at the broadleaved site

If you’ve been following this blog site over the months, you will have gathered that my interest in forestry is in permanent commercial forests.  I see all plantations as having the potential to become permanent, evolving forests, yielding timber and at the same time increasing in tree height, diversity and value over time through close-to-nature management (or CCF – Continuous Cover Forestry). Forest plantations that are treated as single species crops to be eventually cut down and replanted, as is currently the teaching here, just doesn’t attract my interest.  At Pro Silva Europe forest outings, for example, you just don’t hear the word ‘crop’ used at all. The word speaks of agriculture, not silviculture, and as such it is easy to understand why it is used so widely in this predominantly agricultural country.

 So it was refreshing for me when a young man in my group asked if Teagasc were planning to take into account the seedlings that were starting to show themselves on the floor beneath the sycamore trees.  Dr. Ian Short of UCD/COFORD was quick to ask if the young man meant a Continuous Cover Forestry approach.  Yes, that’s what he meant.  A brief discussion took place, but I detected that most of the farmers present weren’t really aware of this approach yet. However Dr. Short was obviously familiar with CCF. He said that his personal view is that he wouldn’t be surprised if clearfelling would be prevented by the time the young stand of sycamore we were looking at reached maturity.  

I thought back to that wonderful Pro Silva trip to Slovenia where clearfelling is already forbidden, and has been for many years. If Dr. Short’s hunch is correct, I wondered if we’ll plod along in what to me is such a limited manner until legislation forces change or will we show some initiative and embrace a wonderful forestry opportunity at the earliest possible chance?  Time will tell.

Seamus Kelly from Louth demonstrating with his mobile sawmill how logs can be sawn and saved on site.

Another excellent aspect of the day at Ballyhaise was to be found in the shed and yards. There were many useful displays of forestry tools and machinery and others involved in farm forestry. Here above is a mobile sawmill showing how logs can be planked into timber for use on the farm or for sale on site.  

Below, Marion and Eltjo Vanderlaan, familiar faces at forestry events throughout Ireland, displaying their Silky Saws for pruning and shaping forest trees.  These beautiful saws are so easy to use and often make the difference between firewood and high grade timber.

Marion and Eltjo Vanderlaan with their Silky Saws

No farm forestry event would be complete without an information stand from the Irish Farmers Association.  Here is Geraldine O’Sullivan ready and able for answering quesitons about the IFA’s activities.

Geraldine O'Sullivan, IFA Farm Forestry Development Officer at the IFA stand

As I pulled away from Ballyhaise, watching all the various farm jeeps driving off home, I thought of this brave new start at building a forest culture here in Ireland, in this country more famous for its agriculture.  Demonstration days like this are so important towards helping that culture develop.

And I thought of the trip I made to Freudenstadt in the Black Forest, Germany with Pro Silva Europe last year, where forestry and timber is so totally integrated into the culture. 

Here are a few images to leave you with:

Two farms belonging to two brothers, each with their own commercial forest

Various sizes of homegrown timber air drying ready for use on the farm buildings when it's needed.

These farm forest are highly commercial, bringing in vital revenue to help keep the farm in profit.

Hot tub in the farm garden home made from a single log with simple boiler. - A must for easing out sore muscles of any hard working farmer!

Derek Richardson arriving at the forest.

Derek is the last link in this first thinning process. From the owner arranging for the trees to be planted; through nearly twenty years of growing; to Paddy Purser, Donal O’Hare and myself looking at the forest early last year and Paddy marking out the extraction rows; then Ken Thompson arriving with his digger to put in the log stacking bay; to me doing all that marking and arranging for the work to be carried out; then Wesley harvesting the trees and Padraig collecting the logs in the forwarder and stacking them at the roadside.  And now Derek arrives to draw the logs away to Balcas.

Derek up on the high seat loading the first of the logs

The watchful eye of Derek making sure not to damage the young trees.

The powerful head of the grabber picking up the logs while some young beech trees look on

On board computer showing the weight of the load

Securing the load and getting ready for off

The truck pulling out of the forest with a full load

Just as Derek was leaving the snow began to fall. There are still a good few loads of timber yet to collect.

Snow falling as Derek Richardson pulls away from Inishconnell with his load of logs

And guess what?  After all that activity in the forest, here are the same little ash seedlings we noticed last summer waiting patiently for the spring so they can move in to the forest and begin to take up residence.  Now that the light has been let in the natural forest can begin to happen.

Can you see all the little pale coloured twigs standing up on the forest floor? These are thousands of ash seedlings scattered around the edges of the forest.

The conifers have served a most valuable role in the process of turning a field into a forest.  They quickly grabbed the ground and shaded out competitive undergrowth. Their logs have provided essential income to the forest owner to help pay for the work involved in setting up a system that will allow commercial logs to be harvested in the future. And the remaining conifers will provide essential protection to the young trees that nature sends in from the surrounding native woodland. Thinning a conifer plantation such as this one at Inishconnell really bump starts the evolution of the forest.  In order to evolve as a forest, a plantation must be thinned.

Have a look at the following photos and you will get more of an idea about this part of the work.

(Above) After harvesting the trees, the logs are then left on the forest floor for the forwarder to collect.

(Above) The forwarder at work collecting piles of logs left at the side of the extraction rack by the harvesting machine (see previous article).

(Above) The long arm of the forwarder reaches across three lines of trees to collect the harvested logs.

The giant claw of the forwarder releases its load of logs into the trailer.

Padraig O’Reilly and his forwarder.

(Above) Padraig stacks the logs in their size categories at roadside for collection.

View from the harvesting machine as it enters the forest. Wesley guides the machine towards the first extraction line. See how small the trees look from up here.

The thinning at Inisconnell is progressing and as the trees are felled, the light is flooding into the forest.  Wesley is an experienced machine driver and  he does little or no damage to the remaining trees.  This is so important as these trees will not only be used to bring in revenue for the forest owner  but also will serve to nurse up the seedlings that will come into the forest over time.

            

View from behind. As the machine works its way through the forest, light begins to flood in to the trees.

Working with a harvesting machine as opposed to a chainsaw operator, change happens fast.  As the harvested trees are felled, the machine strips off the side branches in one swift movement.  These are then piled behind the machine to minimize damage when the heavy logs are collected.  These tracks will become the permanent ‘extraction racks’ for future thinning operations.

            

Logs placed along the edge of the forest rack, waiting to be collected at the next stage of thinning.

You might be thinking to yourself that this method isn’t exactly ‘close-to-nature’. I’ll be writing more about this in future posts when the operations in the forest have finished and there is more time for sitting at the computer!

            

Harvesting machine at the end of the working day. There’s not much ‘close-to-nature’ about this beast!