Tree Clearance at Water Haigh

For the past two weeks the Lower Aire Valley volunteers have been busy at Water Haigh plantation. This is a mixed woodland with undergrowth including bramble and cleavers, with a few more interesting mosses, ferns and fungi in between.  It was planted around fifteen years ago and timber is now starting to be removed. Late last year, the council forestry officer worked through the plantation, marking up trees that should be removed with spray paint. The trees that were marked for removal were mostly small, crowded or leaning, and by removing them the remaining trees will have more room to grow strong and straight. We also took out a few additional trees to facilitate access, or where the tree was dead and it was unsafe to leave it standing.

Most of the trees were small enough to be removed with hand saws, so we learnt how to do this safely, controlling the direction of the fall. Trees were mostly larch and scots pine, with many birch, alder and oak also present. When taking out each tree, the task was broken down as follows:

1. Look up. Make sure there are no loose branches that might fall on you, and check to see that the branches aren't caught up in other trees as this may affect how it falls.

2. Look at the tree. Is it leaning? If so, it's best to use this where possible, and make the tree fall in the direction it's already leaning.

3. Look around. Identify a gap that the tree can fall into, where the ground is free of obstructions. Also make sure there is room for you to work and escape to if things don't go to plan!

4. Remove any of the lower branches. This simply makes it easier to work.

5. Working at a comfortable level, create a 'birds-mouth' cut. The first cut is horizontal, on the side that you want the tree to fall towards, and at right angles to the direction of the fall. This should go to a third to half way through the tree. Next, cut down at a 45 degree angle, so that the two cuts meet and a wedge is taken out of the tree.

6. The next cut is the felling cut. On the opposite side of the trunk, about 1cm above the base of the birds-mouth cut, cut horizontally. Before the two cuts meet, the tree should start to lean towards the birds-mouth cut, and will fall when the wood shears through. This gives you time to stand back out of the way. If done right, it should leave a neat cut on the top of the stump, with a slight difference in height between the two sides.

7. Once the tree is on the ground it can be processed. We cut the trunk into approximately three metre lengths, with side branches removed.

8. Tidy the site. A chainsaw was used to cut the remaining stumps low to the ground. The timber was stacked in piles (less than a metre tall to prevent it from becoming unstable) and the brash in separate piles.

The wood/timber will be taken off site, but the brash will slowly decay and in the meantime provides a wildlife refuge.

The site now looks a lot more open. Whilst the task had a commercial focus and was aimed at increasing the quality of the remaining trees, hopefully the increase in sunlight reaching the woodland floor will also benefit ground flora. Overall, an exhausting task but satisfying that we managed to clear all of the marked trees. One of those tasks that has a visual impact and we could certainly see the progress that had been made in the woodland.