Long-term tree marking

[Zagman]

I recently purchased 40 acres that, according to the timber survey, 87% of the trees we can harvest are hard maple.

The previous owner did a great job of managing this woodlot for timber. NO trees have ever been tapped.

A buddy and I recently walked the woodlot and marked the "junk" trees I can tap with tree paint. I know tree paint doesn't last forever.......

Does anyone have any cool ideas on long-term tree marking? I was thinking the tree tacks they use for finding your way to a tree stand in the dark, but wasn't sure how many years they last. I assume there are some galvanized or copper or brass tags I could mount with a simple screw into the bark/wood.

I don't want to do something without asking first, as I'm sure someone has exactly what I am seeking.

Thanks!

MZ

[mellondome]

Tap them all. They will still be there when you deside to timber it in 30 years. What you may lose in timber value will be more than made up in syrup over that time frame

[MapleMark753]

I don't have any "cool" ideas for tree marking, in fact my son (well, when he was a teenager) says I'm not too cool at all.. lol... But I'll tell you what I did with our trees. Tree marking paint, about a four inch "dot" on each tappable maple. That was in 2012, and its still visible, even to those who visit now for the first time (hey, what are those dots?!).
So, six years later it is still there. Truth be told, you'll know your maples very well by the time any marking paint wears off, and won't need it there by then anyways probably. I did it to identify the maples for anyone tapping say if I got sick, or was out of town, etc... good luck, Mark

[buckeye gold]

Don't put any screws or metal in your trees. It will seriously devalue them for timber. To me the tap or no tap is a personal choice in what you value most. If I had a nice straight sugar Maple with 12 ft or greater to the first limb and over 16" DBH I would consider it of greater value for timber. If it has defects then I'd tap it. I would tap any red and not hold them as timber trees, as Red and silver Maples have considerably less timber value and sell mostly as low grade.

[to100]

This will tell you where not tap for 6 or more years and where brown stain in wood will be. I think to move 6” left or right and 12” above or below. So go around tree each year and eventually the tree will have become bigger in diameter..with time you can read old tap hole.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I don't think trees like copper nails. As mentioned by others nails will stain the wood and not in a good way. Tap hole wood is a different matter. Go with thew paint and redo every time it fades away. Cheap and none destructive. I would spray them and make your first tap hole in the paint spot so you have a record of the first tape and its healing progress. When I tap I don't like all my taps on the same side/position.

[Zagman]

The mention of copper was for the actual tag for marking, not the nail or screw to hold it in place.

The trees we marked and I called "junk" are NOT trees we'd sell for timber. Crooked at best, big splits in them, huge bulges (like a snake that swallowed a rat) The guy that marked them with me is the guy that will eventually timber this place.

So......the trees I tap will NEVER be timbered in my lifetime, and will be my tapping trees for the rest of my life. After I kick the bucket, well, I don't really care what goes on back there. One out of 50 trees will be tapped, as the place is polluted with good maples, and large % being veneer maple.

Those good trees will NOT be tapped.....only the junkers. So, above and beyond annual taps, a aluminum nail or screw won't matter, as they are NOT being sold for timber in my lifetime.....

Thanks!

MZ