Pike Lumber Blog

April 26, 2013

In Memory of John Walter York

Filed under: Forestry News,Lumber News,News — admin @ 5:55 pm

John Walter York, age 94, passed away this morning, Friday, April 26. John was married to D.A. Pike’s youngest daughter, Virginia, who passed away in 2000. He was an uncle to Lynne Northrop and Channing Utter, and he was a great uncle to Nancee Ward. He trained and mentored Dean Baker in the timber business. 

John spent most of his life in various aspects of the hardwood lumber industry, including buying timber, selling lumber, and sawmill and maintenance management for Pike Lumber Company for many years. 

Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Hartzler Funeral Home in Akron. Further information can be obtained from Channing Utter at 574-893-4327.

 

February 26, 2013

New Dry Kilns Completed

Filed under: Lumber News,News — admin @ 12:13 pm

We are excited to announce we have completed construction of our new dry kilns. These new dry kilns consist of 6 package chamber-type Brunner-Hildebrand kilns which provide us with much-needed additional drying capacity.  These new dry kilns are now in use and drying Pike Brand hardwoods to fill the needs of our customers.

 

August 8, 2012

Filed under: Testimonials — admin @ 7:50 pm

June 20, 2012
Dear Mr. Nickerson,

I went against the advice of my brother and did not call a local neighborhood buyer in regard to harvesting timber on several acres of land that I own in Northwest Ohio. Instead, I responded to a “No Obligation” offer to have my woods surveyed by Pike Lumber. I am very pleased that I made the decision that I did.

When you and your assistant arrived on scene as scheduled, you took me on an extensive walking tour of my entire forested area and showed me which trees were ripe for harvesting, which ones were past their prime, and more importantly, which ones should remain standing to cause the wooded area to flourish over the next generation. You also taught me how to evaluate a tree’s health and whether it was hollow. In addition, trees were pointed out that should stand (the Hard Maple with the beehive is a good example) and which trees should be sacrificed so more valuable trees would not be damaged as they were felled.

You also provided me with information as to how different species of trees differ in value and how each tree is individually graded in order to reap the best possible harvest value. After the walking survey, I was provided with detailed information as to the expected value of the harvest by species, and a realistic harvesting schedule.

I also appreciated your attending to a neighbor’s later concern that marked trees may have been on his land. As we discussed, one of my requirements for going ahead with the harvest was that the neighbors not be harmed in any way. Thank you for contacting him personally and completely resolving his concern.

During harvest week, a cutting supervisor gave me a call to let me know what was to happen. I didn’t expect that but did appreciate his call. I did take a look at the woods after the cutting and found that the perimeter view was not harmed in any way. I appreciated this a great deal. The interior of the woods had organized trails to provide me with a path for cutting tops into firewood. And, you crew cleaned up the staging area.

Finally, when the detailed accounting of trees cut and the final check arrived, the amount of the check was significantly larger than I expected it to be. That was great news. It demonstrated your ability to accurately assess a bundle of unknown variables and communicate that uncertainty to me in a way that maintained my trust. Kudos to you and Pike Lumber!

Aldis M. Knight
Owner

May 11, 2012

CONSTRUCTION OF NEW DRY KILNS AT AKRON, INDIANA, FACILITY

Filed under: Lumber News,News — admin @ 11:32 am

We are excited to announce that we have begun construction of new dry kilns.  These new dry kilns will consist of 6 package chamber-type Brunner-Hildebrand kilns which will allow us additional drying capacity and the ability to offer more Pike Brand Hardwoods to our current customers, as well as new customers.  We anticipate bringing these new kilns on-line in October of this year.


May 2, 2012

US Forest Service Forest Inventory & Analysis Program

Filed under: Forestry News,News — admin @ 11:19 am

According to the US Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis Program (FIA), in cooperation with the Indiana DNR has been taking measurements on research plots across Indiana since the 1950s. Comprehensive reports of previous inventories are dated 1950, 1967, 1986, 1998, 2003, and 2008. These reports, along with annual data, may be viewed via the National Forest Inventory and Analysis website: www.fia.fed.us

HIGHLIGHTS

• The area of Indiana’s forests continued to show a net increase, a trend that began in the 1960s. Increases in the width of narrow wooded strips and the conversion of cropland and pasture to forest land were greater than losses from development of forest land for agriculture or urban/suburban expansion.

• Average annual net growth exceeded harvest by a 3 to 1 margin between 2006 and 2010. As a result of the increased acreage and growth exceeding harvest, the volume of trees growing in Indiana continued to increase.

EXTENT OF INDIANA’S FORESTS

• The area of forestland in Indiana has been increasing since the 1960s. Timberland increased from 3.896 million acres in 1967 to 4.775 million acres in 2010. In 2010, forestland represented 20.6% of the total land area in Indiana.

• Private landowners are the largest ownership group in Indiana, owning 84.5 percent of all forestland in 2010. The Federal government is the largest public owner of timberland with nearly 8 percent while the State owned 7 percent. Private landowners held 4.034 million acres, the State owned 339,000 acres, the Hoosier National Forest owned 195,000 acres, and the Department of Defense owned 89,000 acres.

COMPOSITION OF INDIANA’S FORESTS
Area
95.2% of the total area of forestland is classified as hardwood forest types. The primary hardwood forest types in Indiana are oak-hickory with 3.5 million acres, elm-ash-cottonwood with 596,000 acres, and maple-beech with 326,000 acres.

Number of Trees
Between 2003 and 2010, beech, hard maple, sweetgum, ash and black walnut were among the species groups that increased in the total number of trees.

 

March 21, 2012

Grape Vines

Filed under: Forestry News,Lumber News,News — admin @ 12:11 pm

Vines in your woods can be fun for the kids to swing on and pretend to be Tarzan, but they are very harmful to the trees.  Wild Grape and Poison Ivy both can be found hanging in trees.  The grape vine bark has a “shreddy” look to it, where the Poison Ivy has hair like roots growing out from the vine that allow it to climb.  The grape vines can’t climb so they must either attach to the young tree in order to grow up with it, or drape over from existing tree.  Both vines need full sunlight to survive. The extra weight of the vines high up in the tree canopy can shear off limbs, distorting the general form, thus reducing quality and value of the trees.  These vines also compete with the trees for valuable sunlight. Control of a grape vine problem is fairly simple and easy.  Just cut the vine with a chainsaw or axe.  In most cases where a tree shade canopy exists, herbicide will not be necessary.  The vines will sprout back, but in time they will wither and die due to lack of full sunlight. Thankfully, Poison Ivy does not pose as much of an issue to trees as does grape.  It is wise to learn the difference between the two vine types before any cutting treatment begins to avoid the dreadful itch.

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