Tree thinning

[Samuelvw1]

Into my second season of maple syruping. This is by far my best year with over 3 gallons of syrup I have a friend down the road who pointed out to me that by thini g out my property it could be the best thing for my maple trees to get higher sugar % and sap flow he says think of your property as if it was your garden if this is true I have no experience what so ever of where to start and how to do it any advice would be awesome

Sam
Shelton, Connecticut
60ish taps

[maple flats]

Probably the easiest concept to grasp in thinning is to remove trees who's crowns (canopies) crowd each other. Do it slowly as well as safely. Start by taking a chainsaw safety class, I suggest the "Game of Logging" but most any will help you be safe. Then start the process by removing a tree who's crown is crowding another maple. This is called opening a crown (giving one room to expand). Only do 1 or 2 sides at a time, then let the tree fill in the area before removing more. While you may think you want to remove all non maples, that is not a healthy practice. A mixed hardwoods is a healthier woods, you however will want more maple than other species.
By opening a side or 2, the remaining trees will fill in the space creating larger crowns, more leaves = higher sap sugar %. Don't do it all in one year, it will best be done over a few years. The object also is not to save all the biggest trees, you also want good healthy replacements in the understory. The best spacing for the trees, when near maturity is one every 20-25' in all 4 directions, if you are in a section with lots of gounger trees, thin them to maybe 10' spacing, again only open 1-2 sides at a time, opening too much at a time will cause issues like wind throw and a few others.
Good management practices will gradually raise the sugar % and will give you a source for firewood. The 20' guideline does not mean you can ever leave 2 nice trees that are closer, but if you do, try to have at least 2 sides open, or better 3 sides, just not all in the same year.

[sapman]

Good advice, Dave!

[DMF]

I am in the process of doing this myself. I contacted the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) department of the USDA. They offer money to people to help improve their forest and/or farmland. My agent was awesome! He got me set up under contract to do a "Forest Stand Improvement" of my sugar maples. Sub-titled as a "Crop Tree Release" it specifies to have trees removed that are competing for soil, water, and light of the trees we want to keep. The trees to be removed must be identified and marked by a forester. The plan calls to release 20 trees per acre. The contract allows for $567.22 per acre and I have 2 years to do it. Marking the trees cost me $180.00. The area is 3,2 acres so when I'm done, I will receive $1,816.00. The idea of the plans are to be a cost-share; typically they figure the landowner will have to foot about 50% of the bill in the end. For me, other than the marking, I'm doing all the work myself so it doesn't cost me anything additional.

But, I even went one step further.... Maple Flats mentioned GOL training. I highly recommend it. My brother-in-law and I took level one years ago and it changed the way we cut wood. We wanted more classes and he wanted his son to take them as well, but the classes were always far away, didn't fit our schedules, etc. Last year I contacted the GOL trainer in our area. I offered our property as a site where he could hold classes. Since he was from western Mass and most of his clients were closer to Boston, our property offered a good location for everyone. We have hosted two classes so far and are having a third one on Saturday the 12th (Level 3 if anyone needs that one, just PM me). So what this got me was:
1. Easier and more training for my BIL and nephew
2. Each class has taken down trees that were marked for their removal to release the sugar maples
3. With the instructor there, I don't have to worry about felling a tree and damaging one of my sugar maples
4. The next few weekends after each class I skid out the trunks for either timber or firewood
5. I have made friends with the instructor and his knowledge and suggestions have helped me a lot!

It's a win, win, win for me all around! I would contact NRCS in your area for sure. Good luck!

[maple flats]

It does change the way we cut trees. I had been cutting trees for almost 35 years for both logging for saw logs and firewood. After I took the GOL classes 1 & 2, I now drop trees much more safely and I land them where I want far better.
By the way, felling a tree the proper way often takes a little more time, but not as much as it takes to remove a hung up tree from another tree or more importantly, a trip to the hospital.

[DMF]

By the way, felling a tree the proper way often takes a little more time, but not as much as it takes to remove a hung up tree from another tree or more importantly, a trip to the hospital.

You got that right!

[Cedar Eater]

I suppose it's worth mentioning that if you have enough acreage and your woods haven't been managed in a while, a forester can help you contract loggers to do a timber stand improvement (TSI) cut that might earn you a little money while specifically focusing on improving your maples. It's all in how he marks the trees. I did a TSI cut on my property before I started making syrup and they took out mostly northern red oak and quaking aspen and a very few red maples that I wish I had back now, but I'm sure that my remaining maples up there benefited tremendously from the cut. At my request, they left the tops of the trees they cut, so I had easy firewood for years afterwards.