Thinning "twin" maple saplings in the bush?

[ADK_XJ]

I know all the books and Cooperative Ext materials suggest thinning to 30' around a tree but what do all y'all do in your own bush management practice? I ask because it seems some of the best/biggest sugars in our woods grew as twins, within 10 or 15' of each other.

I spent most of the day Saturday tagging about 60 new saplings to clear around and I noticed many of them are in close set pairs of triplets. So, what's the approach I should take?

[maple flats]

I don't generally thin at the sapling stage unless it is real crowded. As they grow to about 6" or so, then pick the better ones to save and cut the rest. They make great firewood when properly dried. If I have 2 nice ones that are 10-15' apart, they are left, but the other 3 faces are thinned out to leave 2 nice crowns albeit lopsided crowns.

[unc23win]

I would leave the saplings alone until they get bigger. Chances are they won't all make it to tapping size, mother nature will thin some out for you. To me its too much of game of chance thinning saplings I always find it interesting to see what trees make it and which ones don't they are like humans some die young and some live forever. You could try to save one and have it grow beautifully and then bam it's dead for some reason and you thinned too much and now you have no tree in that 30' radius.

[GeneralStark]

Yes wait until they are a pole stand and then think about thinning.

[ADK_XJ]

Great. Thanks for the feedback all. So, I'm assuming When it was said to wait until 6" that is diameter and not circumference...

[maple flats]

Correct. But if some start having "funny shapes" or growth patterns, they can be removed sooner. When a tree is defined by diameter, it refers to the DBH or diameter at breast height.

[Algonquin]

Hope this isn't too far off track- how do you thin or prune tress that have 3-6 branches out of a 12-15" base. These are mostly in my fields and in a area that had been logged. I don't have too many maples so I'm trying to max out what I have. Thanks. Tom

[maple flats]

By your question, do you mean you have a stump that sprouted 3-6 new sprouts? If that is the case, you can try leaving the 2 strongest that are essentially opposite and not adjacent each other. The problem will be that, while sometimes a sprout will survive, usually it will break in a wind because too much of the stump rots away with time.
If that is not what you mean, please explain the question.

[buckeye gold]

In my woods no Maple gets thinned unless it's all but dead. If I thinned maples I'd have an oak woods and some other hobby! Instead I cut the oaks, they make great firewood for the evaporator.

[Michael Greer]

I think people get carried away with thinning. I have lots and lots of trees that stand as close as six feet, and they run great. Sure they may make a bit more sugar with a bigger crown, but I have seen a well-thinned forest decimated by a big ice storm, and end up with not enough good trees to fill in the gaps. It's better in my book to have a bit too many trees than a bit too few.

[Tweegs]

I’ll tap a sapling until it croaks rather than cut it out.

Something about putting a chainsaw to a live maple…can’t bring myself to do it.

[ADK_XJ]

I’ll tap a sapling until it croaks rather than cut it out.

Something about putting a chainsaw to a live maple…can’t bring myself to do it.

Yup. Agreed