Getting rid of unnecessary wood: 4 ways to make it dry quickly

Wood rotting is the price that nature assigns for the organic origin of this wonderful ecological building material.

Wood rotting occurs due to a favorable environment for the development of microorganisms.

Parasitic fungi find an excellent nutrient medium in wood and, due to their vital activity, provoke the decomposition of lumber and the destruction of wooden structures. However, the loss of biological properties and technical qualities of a tree occurs only in the presence of favorable conditions for the development of colonies of protozoan organisms.

How to make a tree dry out quickly: special cases of destruction

Gardeners cannot always choose the right effective way to get rid of trees, including American maple. Each case requires careful analysis and selection of the most suitable option, so you must first determine the scale of the work and the consequences of using a particular composition.

All methods of stump removal without uprooting

In many areas, after cutting down trees, stumps remain, and the owners are not always able to uproot them. In this case, you can use one of the following methods.

Burning out with chemicals

This option is the most effective for drying stumps; its essence is to saturate the remaining wood with saltpeter. It is better to carry out work in late summer or autumn.

The burning principle consists of the following stages.

1. Drill several holes in the hemp.
2. Fill the holes with nitrate, potassium or sodium nitrate will do.
3. Sprinkle the powder with water.
4. Close the holes with wooden plugs.
5. Wrap the stump in plastic wrap and tie tightly along the trunk.

The wrapped stump remains in this state until the next season. The saltpeter will saturate the root system and completely dry the wood.

It is necessary to drill holes with a thick drill PHOTO: litezona.ru

Burning out with gasoline

If you are looking for an answer to how to remove a stump with a low aerial portion, use gasoline or kerosene. It is necessary to drill several holes, fill them with the composition, then set them on fire.

10% butyl ether

Another way to get rid of stumps without uprooting is to use 10% butyl ether. It is enough to apply the drug into the notches on the hemp, and also treat the cut area with a brush. Next, wrap the rest of the tree with film and leave until the next season.

The video shows the whole process more clearly:

How to get rid of tree roots as quickly as possible

Any method is suitable for removing tree roots; you need to first assess the risks before choosing a drug. Gardeners advise using urea; this option also applies to chemical methods, but its advantage will be quick results.

The stump is treated with urea, several holes are cut out and the powder is poured inside. Be sure to wrap the barrel in polyethylene to speed up the process.

A year after using urea, the remaining wood will become dust, all that remains is to dig up the ground PHOTO: raliks.ru

How to dry a standing tree without being noticed by your neighbor

Many summer residents are faced with unpleasant life situations when neighbors do not make contact, and their plantings provide shade on your site. When choosing a way to quietly destroy a tree, the main thing is not to get caught red-handed. Here you can use any chemical or folk method.

1. Salt - just scatter 2 kg as close to the tree as possible and pour water on it. Repeat the manipulations at least four times. This method should not raise suspicions.
2. If you pour a couple of buckets of boiling water under the root and repeat the procedure a week later, the tree will die.

Chemicals will help your neighbors dry out their trees PHOTO: sadim.guru

American maple: how to destroy quickly and effectively

If you are looking for advice on how to get rid of maple on your site, choose traditional methods of control using salt or concrete. For shoots, you can spray with Roundup.

You can make notches with an ax and pour the drug into them PHOTO: 9ban.ru

How to kill a poplar

Roundup will also help destroy poplar; for maximum effectiveness, it is better to pour the drug into pre-drilled holes. Another method is copper nails; they need to be driven into the trunk as deep as possible.

Roundup is also effective for destroying overgrowth PHOTO: sadidacha.info

Protecting wood from moisture and rotting

Understanding the process of the onset and development of rotting of wooden materials, the principle of protection becomes clear.

Protecting wood from moisture and rotting involves creating an unfavorable environment for the growth of fungi and microorganisms in the material, as well as giving the wood water-repellent properties.

To solve these two problems, two types of wood protection are used:

• Antiseptics;
• Water-repellent impregnations.

How can you destroy a tree?

The choice in favor of one or another specific method is made only after assessing the situation as a whole. So, folk remedies are good because they are accessible and cheap. Everyone can use them, and the result in many cases is usually guaranteed. Chemicals provide time savings because they act quickly, but they are bad because they cause damage to the environment. On a large area, when it is necessary to remove old trees very quickly, mechanical means (tractors) are used.

Folk remedies

Among the effective folk remedies for watering a tree so that it dries quickly, the following can be noted:

• Watering with saline solution. Quite an expensive method if you need to “kill” a very large tree. It will take quite a long time to water. The solution is prepared in a ratio of approximately 1:1. The advantage of this method is that the soil is restored to its original state within several years after the destruction of the tree.
• Cover the roots. To do this, dig around the trunk circle, removing soil 50-70 cm deep. Then the entire pit is filled with concrete. This method is good in cases where you need to free up the area for a path. The roots and stump can be left in place, cut down to the level of the site.
• Mulching. If the tree is not too old and has a sensitive root system, then mulching to a greater height will help. They take crushed herbs, for example, wormwood, celandine, mint or any others, and then fill them to a height of up to 0.5 m. This cuts off the access of oxygen to the roots, and the heat and caustic substances released abundantly during decay will corrode the bark.

Chemicals

When other methods cannot be used, and the trunk diameter exceeds 30 cm, the most destructive chemical methods are used:

• Sodium nitrate. A fairly time-consuming method that gives results no earlier than a year later, and sometimes even after several years. The substance is applied to the table and the soil around it. For example, a solution is prepared and watering is carried out. The creation of an artificial hollow, into which a portion of saltpeter is loaded, helps speed up the process. Dried wood will burn beautifully.
• Ammonium nitrate. Suitable for those who are deciding what to water the roots of a tree to make it dry. There is no need to burn the tree, as it will quickly turn into dust along with its roots. Watering is carried out from spring to autumn.
• Herbicides arbonal, tornado, roundup, arsenal. The general technique for using the drugs is: the substance is diluted with water in the proportion specified by the manufacturer on the packaging. The solution is watered and also injected into cuts and notches on the bark. The solution is injected into very thick trunks. To do this, several holes with a depth of 5 to 6 cm are drilled around the circumference, into which the herbicide is injected from a syringe. Then the holes are covered with garden pitch or soil. It wouldn’t hurt to spray the foliage as well.

More and more advanced products are constantly appearing on sale, promising to achieve the desired result in the shortest possible time. Before buying this or that package, you need to make sure that the manufacturer has provided all the information important to the consumer, and this is:

• Substance hazard class;
• Compound;
• Necessary protective measures when working with the drug;
• Method of application;
• Duration of validity (after how long the desired result will be achieved);
• Exact name of the manufacturer;
• Best before date.

Mechanical methods

These methods work on all groups of trees, but will require quite serious physical effort from you:

• Belt. At a certain height from the soil surface along the circumference of the trunk, a deep cut is made in the bark (up to 5-6 cm deep), up to 30 cm wide. Insects will penetrate into the exposed wood, and the juices released from the cuts will inevitably weaken the tree.
• Nail. Copper nails are used. If you drive it into the delicate wood of a capricious fruit tree, for example, an apple tree, it will quickly become poisoned by copper and its oxides. But the method will not work on powerful walnuts or poplars, or it will require too many nails, which are quite expensive.
• Ammonium nitrate. This “feeding” can be applied after the leaves fall in the fall. After it, the buds wake up, mixing up the seasons, young foliage begins to grow, and the first frosts kill it. In a few years, any tree can be destroyed in this way, but for some people even one such experience will be enough.
• Drilling holes. Multiple drilled holes will weaken even such a mighty tree as an oak, and will also open the way into the layers of wood for numerous diseases and pests. If you choose a thin drill diameter, the holes will be invisible.

Subtleties of the procedure

Before offering specific instructions, let us dwell on the rules that must be taken into account when conducting events:

1. The most appropriate time to apply chemicals is spring and summer, when active sap flow occurs.

Prevention measures

Prevention for apple trees is simply necessary:

• Thus, cleaning up fallen leaves on an autumn day is a preventive measure against the dispersal of spores of putrefactive fungi and other infections. It’s a good idea to burn such leaves, and then use the fire ashes as fertilizer when digging up tree trunk strips.
• Disinfecting instruments with chlorhexidine and treating wounds with varnish is also prevention.
• As well as killing weeds, clearing dead bark from the trunk.
• Spring treatment with fungicide on swollen buds or copper preparations on the “green cone” of apple trees, and after flowering - a single treatment with broad-spectrum insecticides is also prevention.
• As well as timely feeding with microelements.

Be careful with chemicals and do not use them when ripening apples!

Attention! A large application of “organic nitrogen” undermines the health of apple trees and makes them “tasty” to aphids!

More on Tele4n.Net:

Tellisaare apple tree: photo and description, reviews from gardeners

Urea

If the labor-intensive method of destroying a stump from a cut tree is not suitable for you, you can try the method using urea. To do this, you need to arm yourself with a hammer drill or drill with large diameter drills. Using the tool, you need to drill as many vertical holes as possible in the stump, into which urea is poured.

After this, the stump needs to be watered little by little all day so that the urea crystals dissolve and go through the tissues of the underground part of the felled tree. Then you need to take a piece of thick black film, wrap it around the stump and secure it with tape.

This is not a quick way to destroy the stump and roots of cut trees - the process of destruction and decomposition will take 1-2 years, and all this time there will be an unaesthetic composition on the site. But in the end you will have a place fertilized with nitrogen and decaying wood.

How to water a tree so that it dries out quickly?

Chemicals can be used in different ways. They water various parts of plants, cover the leaves with special compounds, make vaccinations, or bury poison under the root of a tree. It is worth noting that in all of these cases, chemical compounds act on the root system of the plant. Therefore, it dies due to the fact that it stops receiving nutrients from the soil.

The list of popular chemicals includes the following substances:

1. herbicides whose action is aimed at destroying plant roots (Roundup, Tornado, Arsenal or Arbonal) allow the tree to dry out in a short time;
2. sodium nitrate is most often used to destroy a stump, but it is also applied to a tree trunk; if possible, you can pour it into the hollow, so in a year you will be able to get a dried plant;
3. ammonium nitrate accelerates the process of decomposition of roots, so they are easily converted into fertilizer; however, after removing the stump, the roots will have to be processed one more time.

In order for these products to have the most effective effect on the desired tree, you must strictly follow the instructions of the chosen method.

Method 1: Apply to living parts. To do this, you need to make several chips on the trunk with an ax. Such notches should be located in a circle. You will have to immediately apply the drug to them. You should not use this technique in the spring, since due to the abundant movement of juice, the drug will be mostly washed out of the wounds.

Method 2: watering. But it is recommended to use it only when there is a need to get rid of several plants at once.

Method 3: injections. Every 5-10 cm around the circumference of the trunk at a height of about 1 meter it is necessary to drill holes with a diameter of 5-10 mm. Their depth should be about 5 cm and directed at an angle of about 45 degrees upward. Pour herbicide from the syringe into the holes. Seal the wounds with soil.

Folk remedies

If you are not a big fan of chemicals, but you still need to eliminate the unnecessary tree, then you can resort to the old “old-fashioned” methods.

copper nail

This method is quite simple: you need to hammer a nail made of copper into the tree trunk. So, the shoots will begin to be poisoned by copper oxide and will soon begin to dry out. The method is most effective for small trees, including apple, plum and peach. Just one nail will kill them within a season. If we talk about large trees like poplar and others, then in this case the method will be ineffective. To see a real result, you will need not one nail, but a dozen or more, which is a lot in financial terms, which is why it will not be the most appropriate method of struggle.

Another common folk method that does not require much expense. You just need to prepare a highly concentrated salt-based solution. They need to water the plant, especially carefully supplying the root zone with a salt mixture. You don’t even have to prepare any solutions, but simply sprinkle the soil around the tree generously with salt and bury it there. The plant will take about 1-2 months or more to dry - the time frame depends solely on how large the tree is.

Liana celastrus

And although this method is popular, it may seem very exotic. It involves planting a vine next to unnecessary shoots, which is popularly referred to as bladderwrack or wood pliers. As this plant develops, it begins to cling to the trunk with its spines, actively grows and deprives the tree of light, as well as the opportunity to obtain the necessary nutrients.

The only disadvantage of this product is that it is not very fast in action.

Acid

The method is one of the most effective. A small tree can die in just a couple of weeks. You just need to drill a small hole in the tree with an inclination towards the center and fill it with some kind of acid - acetic, formic, hydrochloric, you can also use gasoline, diesel fuel and other similar substances. Next, the gap must be sealed with clay so that the acid does not evaporate and cause an unpleasant odor.

What to water a tree to make it die. How to water a tree so that it dries out quickly?

Every gardener plans the placement of trees and shrubs on his site to create a beautiful landscape and comfort. Naturally, during the process, the thought does not occur to anyone that there will be a need to destroy the plantings. Unfortunately, this happens quite often. If a tree is diseased or has grown so much that it poses a threat to the lives of people or the integrity of buildings, it must be eliminated.

It is not always possible to simply cut down the trunk. In this case, special chemicals are used. They need to water the tree so that it dries out and makes it easier to cut it into pieces and remove it from the site. From this article you will learn what substances can be used for these purposes.

How to make a tree dry out

There are many ways to artificially dry a tree, both scientifically based and folk. Chemical agents are considered more effective; although they pose a certain danger to the soil and humans, they still allow you to quickly dry even a large specimen.

There are several ways to destroy garden trees:

1. Watering the leaves and bark with a solution of chemicals;
2. Application of special preparations to leaf plates;
3. Inoculations of toxic substances that quickly penetrate the juices of the plant and destroy it;
4. Placing the poison in the soil near the roots of the plant.

From a technological point of view, the tree does not need to be destroyed: it is enough to simply cut it down and treat the remaining stump with chemicals to destroy it. However, if you need to act quickly, the advantage is still given to chemicals.

But, after the tree has dried, it needs to be recycled. How to do it correctly - the author tells

Chemicals for killing trees

It is not difficult to destroy a tree using chemicals, especially since every gardener has most of them (Figure 1).

The most effective means include:

1. Sodium nitrate: Most often used to kill tree stumps, but it can also be used on mature stumps. To make it dry within a year, you need to drill a hole in the trunk and inject a chemical into it. If this is not possible, you can simply water the soil around the plant with a solution of nitrate, but in this case the drying process will take several years.
2. Ammonium nitrate: uses the same principle as sodium nitrate, but certain differences between these substances still exist. Ammonium nitrate is produced from urea, which accelerates the process of wood decomposition, so it is most often used to treat stumps and exposed root systems.
3. Picloram: another effective remedy that acts directly on the root system. The substance inhibits the roots and the crop gradually dries out.

Figure 1. The main chemicals for destroying trees: sodium nitrate, ammonium nitrate, the drug Picloram.
In addition, to destroy plantings, you can use conventional herbicides, as well as special preparations, arboricides, which are intended specifically for treating trees and large shrubs. We will consider the features of the effects of these substances in more detail.

Arboricides

In fact, arboricides belong to the group of herbicides because they are intended to control vegetation. The only difference is that arboricides are used exclusively to destroy trees and shrubs (Figure 2).

The substance must be diluted with water and sprayed with the prepared solution. It is better to carry out the procedure in early spring so that the substance does not accidentally get on other plants. However, if the need for treatment arose in the middle of the season, it is better to use another method: drill a hollow in the trunk and place the drug there. In this case, the aroboricide will only affect the selected crop. In this case, it is advisable not to plant and harvest in this place during the year.

Protection against the development of putrefactive processes in wooden structures

To ensure that a wooden log house, a log house, a bathhouse or other outbuildings made from this building material are not subject to rotting, you must adhere to all the rules for protecting the structure. Measures to prevent wood contamination by fungi and mold are:

Proper foundation waterproofing will protect the house from rotting.

1. Arrangement of waterproofing of the foundation, drainage system for removing ground and surface water.
2. Coating wood with paints and varnishes.
3. The presence of a waterproof roof of the building.
4. Creating room ventilation using vents.
5. Correct installation of insulating layers on the walls of structures in order to prevent the accumulation of condensation (vapor barrier - inside the room, and thermal insulation membrane - outside).
6. Protection of the ends of the logs by especially careful treatment with antiseptics or additional covering with boards.

In the case when a wooden structure is subjected to periodic moisture, only strong antiseptic agents stop rotting (for example, double-action chemicals “Neomid 400”, “Neomid 500”, which protect against moisture and rot). In this case, already rotten wood is completely cut down, removed from the premises and burned to avoid further contamination of the tree.

Related article: Panasonic Microwaves

For preventive purposes, wooden buildings should be carefully inspected annually for damage by parasitic fungi. If lesions are detected, either the wooden element is completely replaced, or the infected area is cut down and subsequent antiseptic treatment is carried out.

General rules for tree destruction

The challenge when removing an old tree is to create an area suitable for planting any other plants. The issue can be resolved in any way, since the choice of means is quite large.

The basic rules are as follows:

• The best time is spring or summer, when the speed of movement of juices in the wood is maximum. In winter there is no sap flow, so no chemicals will cause much damage (there are no leaves that could dry out), but they are visible very well on the white snow.
• Chemical products can cause serious damage to the soil. If in a park or public square this is not of decisive importance, then in your own summer cottage the issue should be taken seriously.
• Herbicides are very harmful to the health of not only people, but also birds, insects, and domestic animals. They must be used in compliance with all safety measures. It is prohibited to use them near bodies of water.
• If we are talking about deciduous trees, then they are very sensitive to herbicides, but such products have little effect on coniferous trees.
• If you need to remove a tree in a dense planting, where the roots of several plants are closely intertwined, then it is best not to use chemicals so as not to kill the extra trees. Action should be taken when the ripening of the crop is complete.
• On the one hand, it is safe to use salt, but on the other hand, saline soil loses fertility. Liming for acidic soils, as well as repeated abundant watering on sandy soils, will help correct the situation.
• Boiling water is the most harmless method that will not harm the soil.

How to water a tree to make it dry quickly

Causes of putrefactive processes, their types and stages

Biological destruction of wood is triggered in the following circumstances:

Wood rot often occurs due to dampness.

• damp and warm climate;
• availability of oxygen;
• The internal humidity of the wood itself is above 18-20%.

These factors provide the opportunity for various fungi to parasitize wood and cause putrefactive processes. Thus, freshly cut logs in felling areas and piles of lumber in warehouses can be affected by the warehouse and pole fungus. And building materials and wooden structures made of both deciduous and coniferous wood can suffer due to the wood-destroying effects of many varieties of house mushrooms (real, white, membranous, etc.).

The type of decay depends on the tree’s own physical qualities and the type of fungus parasitizing on it.

For the destructive type, provoked by the larch sponge, sulfur-yellow, bordered and other tinder fungi:

When wood rots, cracks appear.

1. Wood becomes smaller in volume.
2. Cracks appear.
3. The color of the tree varies from reddish to brown and dark brown.
4. The wood structure becomes fragile.
5. The wood disintegrates into pieces in the form of cubes and prisms, and then it crumbles into powder.

For corrosive putrefactive damage:

1. Wood does not lose viscosity and volume.
2. The destruction is partial and alternates with healthy areas.
3. Cells and pits first appear in the wood material, then it begins to delaminate into fibrous layers.
4. The color of wood affected by fungi becomes variegated (white lesions on a brown base) or very light (white, light yellow or marbled).

The cause of variegated rot is fungi such as sponges (pine, root, spruce) and tinder fungi (oak, spruce butt). The white color is caused by honey fungus and tinder fungus (flat, false, true).

The main methods of destroying trees with chemicals

Let’s immediately say that there are many such methods, so we will consider only the most effective of them.

Method No. 1. Application of chemicals to living tissue

The tree bark is an obstacle due to which herbicides cannot penetrate the vascular tissues of the plant. Therefore, in order for the product to reach its destination, make downward cuts on the surface of the trunk, but do not tear off the bark. Use a small ax for this. As a result, notches and cuts should be made along the entire circumference of the trunk.

Use the herbicide you have chosen after making the cuts - apply it to the wood tissue.

Method No. 2. Watering the soil with herbicides

Individual preparations can be used for uniform application to the soil surface. After rain or artificial watering, the herbicide will enter the root system. To concentrate the chemical in one place, you can resort to installing barriers in the ground (for example, concrete).

Method No. 3. "Killer" injections

They are very close in their principle of operation to method No. 1, and differ only in the fact that special devices are used to introduce chemicals into the tissue. The maximum effectiveness of the methods is achieved if a targeted effect is applied around the circumference of the trunk in increments of 5-10 cm. Injections are made at a height of approximately 1 m from the ground. The method is used for trees whose trunk diameter exceeds 5 cm.

Step 1.

First, prepare a drill, as well as a drill for it, the diameter of which is 5-10 mm.

Step 2. Make holes 4-5 cm deep as described above

It is important that the drill is at an angle of 45-50° relative to the ground surface when working

Step 3.

Take a simple pharmacy syringe, fill it with a product whose active ingredient is glyphosate (for example, “Ground”, “Tornado”, etc.), or, alternatively, pour the chemical directly into the holes. The concentration of glyphosate in the product must be at least 200 g/l.

Herbicide "Ground"

For example:

to dry a tree with a trunk diameter of 35 cm, you will need 35-40 ml of a product in which the concentration of glyphosate is 360 g/l.

Step 4.

Seal the holes with earth to hide traces of injections, remove the shavings and see if the drug leaks out (the latter is good because it dries for a long time and is clearly visible on the bark). Soon enough the plant will begin to dry out.

Heavier herbicides based on sulfometuron-methyl or imazapyr, on the contrary, after the death of trees, penetrate into the soil and often kill plants located nearby. Although you can take care of the barriers described earlier.

Method number 4. Treatment of leaves with preparations

This method is very popular when destroying shrubs whose height does not exceed 4 m. It can be used from the beginning of spring to the end of summer (the exact time depends on the specific herbicide). The effectiveness of the drugs is noticeably reduced if the weather is dry and hot, and the tree suffers from moisture deficiency.

If preparations are applied to the leaves of crops with large annual growth, this can lead to the appearance of excess growth (the only exception is certain extremely susceptible species). If you use this method, it is not necessary to impregnate the barrel with chemicals.

Method No. 5. Simultaneous destruction of trunk and stump

Here, first, the tree itself is removed using an ax or chainsaw, and then a chemical is produced. stump removal (more details on this at the end of the article). If you use this method, apply the herbicide only to a fresh stump. If the diameter of the trunk is large, treat only the outer edge of the stump (no more than 5-10 cm), including the cambium - the internal tissues of such trees are mostly already dead.

If the trunk diameter is less than 10 cm, apply the chemical to the entire cut surface. Apply the drug immediately after cutting the tree - this way the effectiveness will be maximum.

Method number 6. Processing tree bark

Measure 30-35 cm from the ground surface, make a mark on the trunk and treat the area below this mark with a chemical. It is advisable to hold the event in spring or summer. Before applying, mix the product with oil, then treat the bark until it is completely saturated. What is typical is that this method is applicable to all trees, regardless of what type they are and what size they are.

Below are some helpful tips to help you remove your unwanted tree.

How to remove a root after it has dried out

After the tree has dried out and been cut down, a stump remains on the surface and roots in the ground, which poses certain inconvenience to the owners of the site. To quickly remove stumps, two methods are used:

• applying the product to the cut itself;
• lubrication of nicks.

A 10% butyl ether solution is very suitable for this type of work. If you need to remove several stumps, then use saltpeter. The procedure is carried out as follows:

1. Holes are drilled in the remains of the wood.
2. They are filled with saltpeter.
3. All holes are closed with plugs.

The tree is left in this form until the next season. During this time, it will dry thoroughly, after which it will be much easier to remove the stump and roots.

Removing a mature tree is a complex and time-consuming process. However, using the above techniques it can be greatly simplified.

Effective chemicals

Such an operation cannot be called vandalism or made of it an environmental problem. In most cases, an old tree is removed because it has stopped bearing fruit. And in the vacated space, the owners usually plant new young plants.

When a tree is poorly placed, it can even pose a threat to the lives of passersby. But cutting down a large and healthy plant is not only a pity, but often difficult. Due to the branched crown, there is nowhere for it to fall without damaging buildings or other plantings.

A tree that fell onto the sidewalk while being cut Source ryazan.bezformata.com

The chemical industry comes to the rescue, producing drugs that can force the tree to wither. Dried flora, even large ones, are much easier to safely remove from the site

But when using aggressive chemicals, it is necessary to exercise maximum caution so as not to destroy neighboring plants along with the desired tree.

How to cut down a birch tree in a summer cottage

If your birch tree is not yet overgrown, but there are already lichens on the bark, this is a signal - “Cut without waiting for peritonitis!” (With). The tree has at least one significant advantage - birch does not produce shoots from the stump, unlike alder. If you cut in May, you will get gorgeous brooms as waste. When time is lost and there is nowhere for the birch to fall, you have to call craftsmen who will cut the tree in parts. In this case, the master with climbing equipment climbs to the top of the tree, crowning the branches along the way. Then he sequentially cuts down the entire birch tree in small pieces. Such an operation costs from 10 to 20 thousand per tree (in the off-season and when ordering several trees, it is possible to negotiate up to 8 thousand). Even if there is nowhere to drop the branches, they are tied before cutting and carefully lowered on a rope. This operation costs about 30 thousand per tree.

This relatively young birch tree turned out to be half rotten inside - it’s good that it was removed in time by a specialized team. Stages of work in the photo.

If there is at least one direction where the entire birch tree can be placed, you can negotiate with the people who sell firewood. They will cut down your birch tree and take it away for free. As a rule, they are good lumberjacks and the birches fall where they need to be. But there are also mistakes. They put a birch tree right in my pond, and a year later a bulldozer took it out. And firewood sellers, unlike climbers, do not bear financial responsibility for the work of their hands.

Types of drying

In practice, several options for drying forests are used. Let's take a look at the most popular ways to obtain high-quality raw materials.

Natural

This method of obtaining high-quality lumber is used for any type of wood.

During natural drying, the bark is not removed from the trunk, but transverse cuttings are made on the trunk. At moderate atmospheric temperatures, linden, alder, aspen and birch dry without cracking, and the cut of the log must be treated with resin or oil. The process of natural drying of lumber should take place under a canopy or in a ventilated area.

When the wood dries in the sun, the outer surface of the workpiece will warm up well, but the central part remains wet, which can lead to deformation. The workpieces are placed on pallets in stacks up to 60 centimeters high, with ventilation gaps left between the products. During drying, the boards may warp and cracks may form at their ends, so these materials must be cut into pieces longer than the planned size.

The process of drying wood under natural conditions continues for two or even three years, which is considered the main disadvantage of the technology. The advantages of this method include the simplicity of the process.

Chamber

The chamber drying method is considered more promising than the previous option. In this case, the user (operator) can independently regulate the humidity of the finished material and the speed of the process.

Evaporation of excess liquid from wood occurs in special chambers under the influence of gases and steam, which is supplied under low pressure.

The advantage of the method is the high speed of drying of raw materials, the only drawback is the significant cost due to high energy costs.

Vacuum

Vacuum drying allows you to obtain dry wood in record time. The raw materials are placed in special chambers in which a vacuum is formed. The method is suitable for any species and types of wood. It takes no more than a day to obtain the required moisture content of a log with a diameter of 25 cm or a wooden beam with a cross-section of 15*15 cm.

Heating of an edged board or any other lumber in a vacuum chamber occurs evenly, which prevents the occurrence of cracks.

The drying chamber can be installed in a garage or other utility room. This is a lightweight fireproof design. It should be noted that such equipment is not in demand due to its high cost and increased energy consumption.

Use of antiseptics

Antiseptics are designed to protect wood from adverse environmental influences. The use of special means is carried out at each stage of construction work, starting with the immediate preparation of wooden beams and ending with the construction of the building.

Processing of the timber from which the basic structural elements are constructed can be carried out using powerful means designed to perform the following tasks:

• Minimize exposure to moisture;
• Increase the fire threshold of wooden beams;
• Create chemical compounds inside the timber that are resistant to leaching.

Neomid, Lovin, Senezh and KSL have proven themselves well. Those areas of the house that are in direct contact with the ground surface and high humidity are most exposed to external factors. Frequent temperature changes and lack of ventilation also have a negative impact.

It may be necessary to carry out several treatments during a short period of such premises:

• Cellars;
• Basements;
• Ventsov foundation;
• Subfloor and joists.

The use of potent antiseptics is associated with the following advantages:

• Compatible with all types of varnish and other coatings, glue;
• Long-term protection (about 20 years);
• Preservation of the natural structure of wood;
• The ability to stop the processes of rotting and destruction.

Strong impact products can change the original color of wood, so it is advisable to use them specifically for rooms hidden from prying eyes.