Clearing the river bank

I was able to put some time and effort into clearing unwanted trees from the river bank at the Turnditch orchard. The purpose of the clearance is to give some light for willow. We intend to plant the willow as woven spiling to protect the river bank from further erosion. This part of the River Ecclesbourne is prone to scour after the bridges in the fast flowing winter spate. 

We are initially removing some large hawthorn bushes which are overgrown, tangled and threatening to fall over into the river. We cannot simply fell the bushes as the weight of the top growth would cause them to topple into the river and make recovery much more difficult. Even directional felling cuts would not guarantee a safe or convenient fall of the bush. These bushes are about 20 ft (6 metres) tall and probably weigh about one tonne. They each have several upright trunks clustered around a root.

To achieve safe removal we're using cable winches to apply tension from the best direction. Once the trunk is under tension using a chainsaw we apply a partial felling cut, but not enough to fell that section of the bush. We then retire to the winch and increase the tension until the trunk disentangles from the top growth and falls. Using the winch we pull that section of the bush to a safe place where we can cut off branches then cut up the trunk. We are using an indirect pull from a cable winch and steel wire. The direction of the pull is set up using a snatch block pulley anchored to a convenient place.

We are delivering a coppice type cut to the hawthorn. It should allow them to regrow, but this time the process will be managed!

Indirect winch arrangement

The snatch block anchored to old gate post:

Snatch black anchoring

The cable winch:

Cable winch anchored to ash tree

Applying tension to the bush:

Apply tension prior to cutting

The next step will be to remove half a dozen small Elm trees on the river bank. I noticed last year there were badly wilting which suggests they have Dutch Elm Disease. We'll burn the wood on site to prevent any further spread of this tree disease.

First trees down

We're making slow progress on the site due to the poor weather. We are not being total wimps just because of some rain, but we are taking heed of the safety warnings of not using power tools such as the chainsaw in wet conditions. However we have used a bow saw to take down three small elm trees. We've left them as coppice stumps/stools. The trees were saplings really, with  only 10 cm diameter trunks but were growing out of the base of the wall. Potentially if left unchecked they'll damage the wall on that part of the field. Some of the branches had died. We'll check the regrowth on the stools next year and subsequent years to see if the elm is disease free.

The small branches will be chipped, but the thicker elm is hopeless as firewood. It would burn slowly and with a lot of smoke. We'll keep the trunks as long elm logs for use in the base of the wood piles. Elm wood has a good resistance to rotting. We'll pile more valuable wood on top for seasoning. 

While the elm trees were not part of the roadside hedge, the reduced foliage after their felling has exposed the rather poor state of that hedge. It emphasises the need to provide a secure fence as there is quite a steep drop into the field. The rolls of stock fencing have arrived and we hope to start work soon, but the first priority is the completion of the secure storage unit.

I've performing research into manual cable winch units for the logging work. When we take down trees close to the road and the river we'll need directional control to prevent the trees falling in the wrong direction. I've settled on a Tirfor winch with wire cable, now the problem is to source one inexpensively through rental or purchase.