Red Oak products from Rajala

You may be wondering why we go to so much trouble to grow high quality Northern Red Oak trees in our forests.  We are on the very northwestern fringe of the range for this species, which requires that we invest significant and intentional effort to grow trees that produce high quality products.  But the results are worth it.

Our relatively short growing season results in smaller growth rings than the Oak produced by our neighbors to the south and east.  This means that it takes more years for us to grow a large tree.  (It's a good thing we're patient.)  Believe me, we are working hard to maximize the growth of individual trees that have been selected as crop trees.  But even our fastest growing trees are considered to be relatively slow growing.

Fortunately the slow/tight growth rings offer some distinct and important advantages over the Oak from faster growing regions.   First and most important - appearance.  There is no substitute for the classic look of a finished product made from tight growth ring Northern Red Oak.

A short growing season also means that northern Oak has a high ratio of late wood to early wood (or summer wood).  The late wood portion of the annual growth is produced at the end of the growing cycle, which is characterized by slower growth.  The dark small line that is visible to the eye in the annual growth ring is the late wood.  The slow growing, dark late wood is denser than the lighter colored early wood.  It contains a  higher percentage of cellulose than the early wood.  This resulting high density makes it stronger- which is especially important for users of industrial products which come from the center of the trees.  (Wooden trailer decking, for instance.)  It also means that it stores more carbon per cubic inch, which is becoming increasingly important in a world where we look for ways to remove and store excess carbon from the atmosphere.

Oak Budcap Update

It's December 2011. We bud capped thousands of Oaks this fall, along with the hundreds of thousands of White Pines.

We are still trying to come up with the best method for the Oaks. Here's a quick recap of what we've tried and learned so far:

Balloon bud caps.  They definitely work. We applied a handful in the fall of 2009 and a couple hundred in the fall of 2010. In all cases they protect the bud and they break down enough to let the bud grow through the following year. But applying them is a slow process, especially in the bitter cold, and there is a bit of expense involved. (Not a lot per balloon, but it would add up if/when we start capping tens of thousands of Oaks.)  You have to wait until the leaves drop in order to get the balloon over the terminal bud. Or tear the leaf stems off by hand. At first I was afraid to pull the leaf stems off manually - afraid that it would do damage to the main stem or bud. But apparently it does not do any significant damage. These trees are pretty hearty.

Paper bud cap Method #1.  Implemented fall of 2010.  This method involved folding the bud cap over the top of the bud, stapling carefully around the stem (horizontally) and vertically on the sides of the bud cap to keep it from tipping.  This method could only be done if we first removed the leaves or waited for the leaves to fall.

We tried some with a small hole torn at the top (the crease) of the bud cap.  This worked okay but the buds didn't always want to grow through the small hole in the crease, and definitely did not grow vertically through the caps without a small hole.  The caps with the small hole performed better if the caps stayed in place vertically, but if the horizontal staples placed carefully around the stem did not hold the cap sufficiently in place, the cap would eventually slide down the stem, and the bud would protrude through the small hole, leaving it unprotected from browse.

The bud caps without a hole torn in the crease/fold did not slide down the stem, but in similar fashion would not allow the new growth through the crease, causing the bud to grow out sideways or alternatively forcing a lateral bud to become the vertical leader.  Either situation resulted in a slightly deformed stem.  Although not a major problem, if we're going to the effort of bud capping Oaks we might as well try everything to keep them as straight as possible!

We noticed that if the hole in the crease was too small, the bud would not grow through the hole either, which led to Method #2.

Paper bud cap Method #2.  Implemented fall of 2011.  We knew that if the hole in the bud crease was too small that the stem would often times fail to grow vertically through the hole.  So we decided to make sure that the hole was large.  This was before we came the realization that even with small holes the caps were sliding down the stem.  Well of course with a big hole the caps slid down the stem even more so.  And to make matters worse, the large opening in the top crease of the cap seemed to catch the rain, snow, or wind in such a manner that the cap would simply fall apart.  Or in some cases the dropping of the leaves seemed to foul the bud cap.  I would consider Method #2 a failure and inferior to Method #1.

Paper bud cap Method #3.  December 18, 2011.   43 degrees F and sunny!  Of course I had to be outside and hunting season was over for me.   So I got serious about coming up with a new approach to the paper Oak bud cap.  I came up with a simple and hopefully effective method.  I folded the bud cap in half laterally so that the crease was vertical, same as with the Pines.  But of course there are no needles on Oaks, so I had to staple the cap to the stem.  I knew from experience that stapling carefully around the stem did not hold the cap in place over the course of the winter.  So instead I intentionally stapled vertically into the stem of the young tree.

The bud is close to the opening at the top of the bud cap.  About 1/4" to 1/2" below the top.  I wanted to make sure that the bud was as exposed as possible to begin growing early and straight in the spring.

There may be a risk that the staples driven into the young stem will cause harm, but I don't think that's the way it will turn out.  There were many times when applying Methods #1 and #2 that I accidentally (or maybe not so accidentally) stapled through the stem.  After 1 or 2 years I can see no damage to the tree as a result.  I guess that driving a 1/50" diameter staple leg through a little tree is not that much different than driving a nail into a mature tree, and of course that doesn't kill the tree.

We didn't come up with this until December, so the leaves were nearly entirely off the trees.   But it may be possible to work around the leaf stems to some degree if applying Method #3 before leaf drop.  Or if necessary we will carefully remove the stems prematurely, especially if it feels like they are nearing their natural drop.

I will keep you posted on how Method #3 works.  I have a good feeling about it. But for now I've got to get busy and go back and re-cap the Oaks that we did earlier in the fall.  That's a bummer, but at least it gets me back in the woods.

Jack Rajala with Granddaughters Sarah and Claire 1996

What a great day this was.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  These girls are in high school now, but haven't forgotten their trees.

White Pine Sawtimber is a Long Term Commitment

November 2011: Ethan Rajala (age 12) bud-capping White Pine trees that he planted 6 years earlier with his Grandpa Jack.  Maybe some day he'll harvest these trees and they'll go to the mill in Bigfork which will be nearly 200 years old by that time!!

It all starts with the trees...

Rajala Millwork Species

Rajala Millwork Photos

Growing Straight Red Oak Trees

Red Oak will grow straight, tall, and fast in the right conditions.  Being in the lumber business, we know the value of a straight and well formed tree vs. a crooked and poorly formed tree.  Being in the forestry business, we know the value of a healthy and productive tree vs. a struggling tree.  

Establishing Red Oak growing stock is the first challenge.  Getting the young trees above deer browse stage with adequate root systems comes after that.  Managing competition from other trees is the next challenge.

The photograph below shows the stem of a high quality Red Oak "pole" or young crop tree.  Despite growing under the partial shadow of a variety of other trees including two Black Ash, it is perfectly straight.  The over-story and mid-story competition at an earlier age did not significantly alter the vertical growth of this particular tree.

The top of this same tree, however, tells a different story, as shown in the photograph below.  The photo doesn't show it well unless you open it and expand it a bit.  As the top grew up and into the tops of the Black Ash trees it finally ran out of adequate light and deviated away from its competition.  This lowers the quality and the value of the 2nd log in this tree.  It's still a valuable tree and we're glad to have it for a future saw-log tree.  But we need to harvest the Black Ash trees to release this Red Oak for improved growth rate and to prevent even further stem deviation.

The Red Oak pole in the photograph below, a close neighbor to the one above, is growing up in a nearly clear opening.  There is another mature tree a short distance away (in this photograph it's to the left), but it has a small top and at present is not causing competition to the Red Oak.  This is a very well formed tree, and we want to keep it that way. 

Note that we have pruned the lower branches from both of these Red Oak poles.  Red Oak responds exceptionally well to pruning.  

The final photograph below shows a very young Red Oak.  This particular tree struggled with deer browse for a number years. The first two feet from the ground are not high quality yet.  There are numerous bumps and crooks due to repeated browse.  However, as the tree was struggling through the browse years, it was developing a strong root system.  When we performed a partial harvest on this site, the partially open canopy provided enough sunlight to allow the tree to flourish and grow rapidly.  We also did some manual release in this area, cutting away the immediate competition around individual young trees. And we did some lower branch pruning of the young crop trees.  All of these things helped to promote rapid growth - on the order of 3-4 feet per year.  

Note the problem, however. The tree is already growing at an angle to get away from the Maple tree to its left.  That Maple tree needs to be removed to give the Red Oak an opportunity to grow straight.  The Maple tree has little commercial value to us due to its poor quality (it is poorly formed at the top and like so many of the Maples it has some rot in it), so harvesting it will be a money losing proposition.  But sometimes that's what you have to do in order to establish quality timber for the future.  Of course we probably would not come and harvest just this one Maple tree.  Instead we will look for other opportunities to improve the stand at the same time.  

The depiction above is somewhat of an oversimplification.  In reality, we cannot and do not manage just for Red Oak quality and productivity.  We also manage in real time for multiple species, multiple age classes, and multiple forest values.  Major disturbances (clear cuts or nearly clear cuts) may be optimal for future Red Oak, but may not be compatible with our overall objectives for that site as it fits into the overall landscape.  But we still want to keep Red Oak in these sites and we want them to ultimately be quality saw log trees.  So they need to be straight.  

We are closely observing a phenomenon in which the Red Oak seem to straighten out over time once they are finally given the ultimate canopy opening they need.  Is this real or is it perceived?  Is it wishful thinking?  Time and careful observations will tell.

Oak Budcap Update July 2011

It's been a good growing season for Oak so far in the summer of 2011.  Good sites with plenty of sunlight and lack of competition are clearly the most important factors affecting growth rates.  Both paper and plastic balloon budcaps appear to have worked well in deterring White Tail Deer browse.

Here are few notes summarizing my opinion of the paper budcaps for Oak:

• Make sure to fasten at least 2 and as many as 3 staples around the stem.  The stem is vertical, the staples should be horizontal and wrap around the stem, not through the stem (be careful).  See previous posts on this topic for photos.
• Rip a fairly large hole through the creased top of the pre-folded budcap paper.  If the hole is not big enough, it will snuff out the growth of the terminal bud.  The good news, however, is if the terminal bud is aborted, one of the lateral buds will probably grow out the side of the budcap or from just below it anyway.  Although deciduous species such as Oak are better able than conifers to straighten themselves out if the terminal leader is aborted, it is still better in my opinion to promote the dominance of the natural terminal leader bud.
• It probably doesn't pay to budcap Oak in areas lacking sufficient sunlight to promote robust vertical growth. The young Oak present in those sites will not put on enough vertical growth to get above deer browse stage even if they are budcapped in the fall.  The deer apparently browse these trees repeatedly all year round.  As the Oak are browsed the roots continue to grow in size, increasing the "root to shoot ratio".  When the site is adequately disturbed to provide sufficient (nearly full) canopy opening, many of these roots will have enough size and vigor to produce substantial vertical and diameter growth.  Then it is time to budcap and promote rapid vertical growth and straightness.

Oak Budcap Update May 2011

We are starting to see results from the Oak bud cap trial.  The results are encouraging.

New bud growth just began in the past week (2nd - 3rd week of May).  The buds which are completely surrounded by the paper bud cap seemed to be a day or two behind the exposed buds in terms of leaf development.  I was concerned about it for a few days, and was preparing to rip the paper bud caps off.  But then the leaves started to sprout and almost within hours the capped buds were right there with the uncapped buds.

The papers which had the manually torn openings definitely seem to work better in terms of allowing for penetration of the buds through the paper.  In nearly all cases, the paper buds without tears did not allow penetration of the bud through the paper.  The leafs and stems look like they want to grow out the side of the bud cap.  It will be interesting to observe whether or not the the stems are forced to deviate enough to cause significant stem deformation.  I don't think the deformation will be significant.  However, I do think it is preferable to use caps with a tear in the fold of the cap.

The balloon caps continue to deteriorate and certainly work.  The advantage of the paper caps vs. the balloon caps is material cost and time.

Oak Budcap Update

We expanded our experimental efforts into protecting Oak buds from deer browse this past winter.  We added a paper bud cap, same size as we use to protect White Pine buds, to the balloon method.  We used them side by side to compare the results.

We're still waiting to see if the Oak buds will grow through the paper.  In some cases we manually ripped a small hole in the fold of the bud cap, just above the terminal bud.  In other cases we did not.  I suspect that the vigorous buds will grow right through the paper in either case.

The paper appears to last longer and hold up better than the balloons, which begin to break down in late winter.

Various stapling methods were applied with the paper caps on the Oak.  The most effective method appears to be one in which we stapled over and around the main stem of the Oak, being careful not to staple through or into the stem itself.  Experimenting with different staplers and staple sizes tells you what size to use. As it turned out the staplers and staples which we were already using for the White Pine seemed to work perfectly for the Oak.  After stapling the paper bud cap twice around the stem, a vertical staple was applied through the paper alone, alongside the stem.  This was done on both sides of the stem.  This seemed to help prevent the cap from tipping to the side, which would expose the bud.

We noted that there are paper bud capped Oak stem tops which were ripped right off the remaining stem by the deer.  We have not seen this with the balloons.  The deer will occasionally do the same to the tops of White Pine, but not as frequently as they apparently do to the Oak.

The preliminary results are positive.  But we need to make further observations as the growing season gets into full swing.

Red Oak "Bud Cap" Follow-up

Now that winter has ended we have the opportunity to study how the balloons that were used as Oak budcaps performed.  As expected the balloons prevented deer from browsing the buds.  What we weren't sure of was whether or not the balloons would deteriorate enough to allow for new growth in the spring.

A picture is worth a thousand words.  In all cases the balloons broke down as we had hoped.  This is good news.  We will begin identifying critical areas to balloon budcap this coming fall.

Thank you to Bill Foss from the Mn Department of Natural Resources for sharing his experience and getting us started off on the right foot.

May '10

December '09

Adaptive Forest Management

Gustave Axelson wrote an article for the January-February 2010 issue of Minnesota Conservation Volunteer addressing the issue of climate change and its affects on Minnesota forests.  This well written and well researched piece also describes some of the adaptive forestry ideas that are being formed and implemented.

In this blog I have written quite a bit about northern hardwoods (Birch, Basswood, Maple), about Oak, and about Pine.  In north central Minnesota we live and work in a forest that is a mosaic of each of these types of forests.  Over millions of years, the "border" between the major forest types has moved as the climate has changed.

Now we face the challenge of deciding whether or not we are in a new paradigm, in which climate change may possibly occur over a matter of decades, not centuries.  Leaving aside the issue of why (humans activity?) climate change may be occurring, as forest dependent communities and business, we must address what to do about it.  If climate change does occur rapidly, our forests will not "disappear" but they will likely change.  The southern boundary of the boreal forest will migrate north.


My father, Jack Rajala, was interviewed by Gustave Axelson for the article.  Jack points out that the opportunities for managing the Paper Birch resource have changed, but have not been eliminated:

"We think we can facilitate birch. It may be an understory tree, not a canopy tree, but we can keep it in the woods," Rajala says. "Birch is too important to our business, for cabinetry and millwork and flooring, for us to give up on it."

Previous posts on this blog have celebrated the wonderful products which we and others produce from the Paper Birch when we harvest.  All harvesting activities on Rajala land are purposeful and mindful of the need and desire for quality Birch retention and regeneration.   That was the case prior to the issue of climate change, and it certainly remains the case now.

Here's a link to Minnesota Conservation Volunteer : http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/volunteer/janfeb10/future_trees.html

Big Boards

Check out these 1" x 12" x 16' Black Ash boards.

And how about this 1" x 12" x 16' Birch board.  Notice the "Flame" figure?

These are special boards, because only a small fraction of the trees from a sustainably managed forest can yield such a thing.

Red Birch - A NorthWoods Gem

Here's an oxymoron for you wood fans out there: "Red" White Birch.  That's the mineral center of the Paper Birch tree.  (Betula papyrifera).  We manufactured floors for two customers this week from this unique wood.  We also provided matching lumber and plywood to a local cabinet maker who will manufacture the kitchen cabinets for one of these homes.  

Only a small percentage of the Paper Birch trees are of large enough diameter to produce a mineral center big enough to yield a piece of flooring.  But through skill and careful attention, the Rajala logging crew and the staffs at the Rajala sawmill in Bigfork and the Rajala millwork plant in Deer River select this color and grade of wood on a regular basis.  

Many times the guys asked me why we were doing this, because for nearly a century the Red Birch lumber was considered "low grade" and simply went into industrial grades of lumber (pallets, boxes, etc.)  Red Birch lumber from the more traditional Birch lumber species, Yellow Birch, (Betula alleghaniensis) has long been a highly sought-after lumber item.  Over the past 10 years we have put a lot of effort into kiln drying "center cuts" from the Paper Birch, for use in tongue and groove paneling.  It was hard not to see that the reddest of these center cut boards were quite striking, in a way that is similar yet different to the traditional Red Birch from the Yellow Birch species.  So our marketing folks decided to show it off, and see if the consumers would respond.  At first the response was tepid, but it has steadily grown, and now we can hardly keep the product in stock.

Admittedly, the most valuable lumber that we can yield from a high quality Paper Birch is the clear, white sapwood that comes from a large diameter tree with a very small mineral center.  The size of the mineral center is a good indication of the amount of stress to which the tree was subjected as it grew.  A large mineral center (commonly called the "heart") thus indicates a tree that has endured and survived stress during its life.  Not to get too philosophical here, but maybe part of the appeal of the Red Paper Birch is that it is a metaphor for life's stresses.  Maybe using the full product of the forest and of the Paper Birch tree in our homes, puts us (imperfect) humans in better harmony with the forest in which we live and on which we depend.

But if you simply like the flooring for the way it looks and performs, that's OK too....

Northern Minnesota Red Oak

Red Oak is among the most common hardwood species in North America, if not the most common.  Don't let it's abundance fool you, however.  True Northern Red Oak is a wonderful and valuable lumber item.  The short growing season of northern Minnesota makes the forester's task of growing large, straight, tall Red Oak trees (logs) a difficult one.

Attached are some photos of a recent Red Oak cut in our Bigfork mill.  Note the tight growth rings and consistent color.  These logs came from a number of logging jobs south of Grand Rapids between Sugar Lake and State Hwy 6.  The soils and rolling hills of this area provide some ideal sites for growing quality Northern Red Oak.

In the past 10 years or so, consumer tastes have shifted away from Red Oak and towards woods such as Cherry, Maple and Birch.  But it appears that the inevitable shift in tastes back to Oak is starting to occur.  Some young folks are starting to tell us that they want "Oak" like their grandparents had, not the other woods that their parents preferred.  This cycle seems to repeat itself.

What we do know is that nearly all of the species of wood from Northern Minnesota have desirable qualities.... if we put the work in to growing quality trees.

Birch Tongue & Groove Paneling

These are photographs of Select White Birch tongue & groove paneling coming out of the moulder at the Rajala Millwork plant. Northern Minnesota Paper Birch has a beautiful white, consistent color (properly graded). This particular order is for a ceiling in a residential remodel project in St. Paul. The product will receive a clear finish to show off the color and bring out the grain.

Note that the ends of this product are milled to a tongue & groove pattern also, making installation a breeze.

White Pine Veneer

I thought you might enjoy these images of the steps in the process of manufacturing White Pine veneer.

Harvest area with many White Pines left to grow even bigger, and provide an abundant seed source for natural regeneration. Note that the cleared areas around the mature trees have been scarified by use of a small bulldozer to prepare the seed bed.

Veneer quality White Pine log being sawn into veneer slicer boards at the historic Rajala Mill in Bigfork, MN. Notice the large diameter, uniform shape, and absence of knots in this log.

White Pine veneer boards, also known as "flitches" being sliced to 1/8" thickness on the Marunaka slicer at the Rajala Veneer mill in Deer River, MN. The veneer coming up the belt conveyor to the right has just been sliced off the bottom of the board which is exiting the machine. The board continues around and will be repeatedly sliced until all that is left is the "backer board".

The veneer slices from the individual boards are stacked together so that they can be matched as needed later in the process. The slicer operator measures the thickness of the veneer regularly to ensure proper thickness to within .002".

Veneers exiting the screen drier. Moisture content is very important. If the veneer is too wet, it may continue to shrink after our customer has used it in a finished product... not good. If it is too dry, it will be brittle and hard to work.

After drying, the veneers will be sorted, clipped to size, and shipped to customers for use in the finest finished wood products. These products include windows, doors, and plywood.

It takes the combined efforts of the Rajala forestry, logging, sawmill, and veneer mills to produce veneers to the exact specifications of our customers - beginning with the growing of the trees. Our "yield" of finished veneers from trees is very high because of the training and knowledge of all employees in the forestry and manufacturing processes. High yield is a major component of Sustainability. Given the struggle that the lake states has faced in "bringing back the White Pine", we feel that this effort is an absolute requirement in return for the privilege of continuing to harvest and use this wonderful and historic species.

Speaking of "Bringing Back the White Pine", you may be interested in the book that my father wrote on the subject.

http://www.rajalacos.com/main.php?pg=whitepine

Red Oak "Bud Cap"

We decided to try out the balloon bud cap method to protect the Red Oak from the devastating effects of deer browse. The more that I look for it, the more I see that the deer like the Red Oak as well as or even more than the White Pine.

This photo shows a Red Oak with (green) balloon bud cap. Note the bud capped White Pine in the background. Much of our best Red Oak regeneration is in with the White Pine regeneration.

We'll monitor the handful of Red Oaks that we bud capped this fall/winter to see if the method is effective. It would be nice if we could cap the Red Oak at the same time as the White Pine, but that won't likely work, as we like to do the White Pine as early in the fall as possible, but the Red Oaks don't lose their leaves until late fall.

Bud Capping White Pine

Well folks it's that time of year again. When the first Maples start to turn, it's definately time to get ahead of the deer. If you need advice on budcapping White Pine you can find it at www.rajalacos.com .

Photo of Claire Rajala budcapping White Pine near Wolf Lake.