Is this an aspen? Tree ID Vermont

[bigschuss]

I don’t really need the wood but wondering what to do with them after I cut them down. They are shading out some of the better maples.

My land is heavy with old aspen and I deal them in a few different ways.

For trees that I absolutely must take down and aren't too much of a pain, I use them in the evaporator and I keep one cord stacked and split for the house. It's not great firewood, but we burn it in the early fall and late spring just to take the chill off.

Other trees that are shading my maples or my wild apples I just girdle. Two cuts...and they're dead in a year. They then break apart and come down slowly over the next decade or so. Great snags for wildlife.

Other poplars I will clear everything around a mature tree within a 20 yard radius...then drop the tree and let it lay to stimulate a brand new aspen stand. The dead tree becomes a ruffed grouse drumming log and I get lots of new early successional habitat for deer, grouse, rabbits, etc.

[ADK_XJ]

As someone else mentioned, the pictures are coming in small and blurry - not sure why. Based on what I can see, though, it's consistent with what we call "quaking aspen" here in Upstate NY.

It's junk firewood but I've cut and split quite a bit of it for the campfire. Seems to grow tall and straight and I always have lots of dead and falling over. Again, as someone else mentioned, makes great habitat for wildlife when it's on its way out.

[TapTapTap]

Again, as someone else mentioned, makes great habitat for wildlife when it's on its way out.

I wouldn't have a problem with them if they formed snags when they die (naturally). Unfortunately, there's no "on its way out" with this tree (unless you girdle them). It lives strong and full until one day the wind takes it down. I've studied lots of them on my property and I've seen no significant cavities on these trees. I think the woodpeckers prefer to peck at maple! The top might make a good rabbit habitat when they fall to the ground, but that frequently doesn't happen since they get hung up on other trees - and what a pain that is.

[m2salmon]

aspen1.jpg

aspen2.jpg

Another attempt at better resolution photos from a desktop. I'm seeing similar issues to Ken in our 2 or so acres of tappable woods. Aspens have outgrown maples, oaks, and ash and are shading them out. Then they blow over and often get hung up, see the fallen tree in the base photo.

I have a 34hp Kubota w/ 7k lb Farmi logging winch. Has anyone tried winching a hung-up tree of this size? It doesn't seem dangerous, from a distance with a tractor winch, but my fear would be that it would tangle too badly to be freed up and I'd be left with a very large tree suspended. Thoughts/experience?

On another note we got our first drips in the buckets yesterday. Sap collectors are happy.

bucket1.jpgbucket2.jpgbucket3.jpg

[maple flats]

We call them poplar. They do OK in the evaporator, but don't make a bed of long lasting coals. I sawed some to build a shooting house for hunters. If kept dry it lasts a real long time, if it gets wet very often it rots fast. I never used any to heat the house. As said above, it's an early successional species. In the spring they will send thousands of white clouds of seeds in a mild breeze. Something like dandelion seeds, but far more numerous.
I think your problem with the pictures is the distance you are from the tree. If you get one shot showing the entire tree and then one from much closer, just showing a section of the trunk others would more easily identify that tree.

[Bgreisch]

Yes those are a type of aspen tree. Often in Wisconsin they are called Poplar or Popple trees, they grow very fast, if an area is clear cut they have a tendency to take over and form a very thick forest. Life expectancy is only like 75 years and they will start to die. I will use it in the evaporator as it burns fast, easy to split.

Bryan