Timbering

One of the many jobs my Amish clients do is timbering. Some pull the trees out of the woods with a team of horses. Those in the photographs were skidded out with a John Deere. The trees are cut into specific lengths, then hauled away by a logging truck, then taken to a lumber yard where they are cut into lumber, treated and kiln dried.

Since I'm 1/2 tree-hugger (no doubt as a product of the '60s), I had to know if they were destroying the woods or clearing the land. Neither. Customers call them when they want to sell standing timber. Many people will hire the forestry service to come out and mark specific trees that need to go--but the Amish know how to choose and mark trees as well. The largest of trees are culled from the woods, making room for younger trees to grow. If the woods are properly culled, new growth is abundant and the process continues without the destruction of woodlands.

When we started out this fine February day, the temperature was 5 below zero! Brrrrrrrrrr!