# hinge cutting



## halfczech (Nov 27, 2004)

what is hinge cutting? does it work on all trees or only poplar? i did a search on the topic hinge cutting not much came back. i have some large poplar trees on my property. i was thinking of trying this hinge cutting technique on them,but not sure how to do it or if it would work on them.


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## sandbur3 (Sep 24, 2005)

Perhaps it refers to the practice of partially cutting through smaller trees and tipping them over to allow them to remain green and provide a living brush pile for a few years while the undergrowth takes off. I do this with red cedar up to about three inches in diameter. Partially cut through them about two feet off the ground and tip them over by hand.
Popple grows back from the roots and if they are mature they should be harvested to allow the new growth to occur. Hybrid popple or cottonwood may be different., but the northwoods popple varieties grow back from the roots and also from seed.


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## halfczech (Nov 27, 2004)

ok not much info on hinge cutting. how about the best way to thicken an area. what is a good way to go about this? i was thinking of going into the area i want to thicken an cut down most of the matue non mast producing trees. do it over the winter months and letting the trees lay where they fall. does this sound like a good plan.


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## marco (Sep 25, 2002)

I have had a problem with beavers over the years and alot of my poplar thickets are now quite open. We have started planting pines and spruces to try and thicken it up again. The state has a sale twice a year. We get about 500 every year. They are easy to plant but survival is low and growth is slow. Only time will tell.


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## slowpoke (Jan 30, 2001)

halfczech said:


> what is hinge cutting? does it work on all trees or only poplar? i did a search on the topic hinge cutting not much came back. i have some large poplar trees on my property. i was thinking of trying this hinge cutting technique on them,but not sure how to do it or if it would work on them.


Did you do a search on hinge on the Wildlife Habital Form? I know this has been brought up before. I did some to diffetent trees last winter. Where I did a test plot looks like a living hedge roe. Looks great. I will be doing some more this winter. You can also pull the tops of small trees down and tie them to the ground. I will be giving that a try also. Good luck.


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## dcgreil (Sep 15, 2004)

If you have mature aspen and want to create a thick area, then try "colonal" cuts. This requires that you cut out the mature aspen and every other tree within a 50 to 100 foot radius of the aspen. Preferrably during the winter, however, as most of the trees energy will be stored in the roots at that time. Within two to three years, the area will be impenetrable. Keep in mind, however, that results will be limited if the aspen are too old. Apparently, the real old aspen just don't have the energy left within in them and they are in the decline.

Also, keep in mind that if you want to keep grouse on your land you must keep some of the mature aspen around. That is their primary food source. I've been told that without mature poplar you grouse numbers will be very limited, at best.

When we had our land logged two and three years back, we had five colonal cuts put in. The regeneration is excellent. The deer yard near our camp and nearly wipe out any regrowth during the winter, however, the saplings regrow the following year.

Good luck!


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## Andy (May 20, 2004)

Thicken it up!

click on my pictures and you will see a 4 acre clearcut of mostly poplar and aspen we did a year and a half ago. Now those pictures were from 6 months after the cut, but look at all the growth, cover, and browse! I am determined to take more pictures this year of this clearcut as it has grown into a 4 acre black hole that no human would penetrate, but deer love. So be looking for new pics and all I can say to you is that more than I know, alot of wildlife has benefited from our clearcuts!

Andy


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## sandbur3 (Sep 24, 2005)

Has anyone tried a bag or two of pel lime and some 10-10-10 to a small area of the clearcut to compare it to the rest? I believe they use some fertilizer on hybrid popple.


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## Andy (May 20, 2004)

we fertilized our clearcuts with triple 19 this past spring and i don't think we'll do it anymore because it grew so much it almost needs to be clearcut again!

andy


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