Trust me, we would much rather just do it the old fashion way. It's a lot less trouble and safer.
We are trying to thin out the trees in the timber around the house. Conservation officer told us 20 feet between trees, some are less than 10 feet. The big tree that we were trying to drop was between two other trees and there was less than 15 feet between the three trees. Plus the one we took down had overhanging limbs that were interfering with our HAM antenna. We still have one crooked tree to take down that was next to the one we just dropped.
Most of our timber was damaged by the previous owner grazing cattle in it. As a result we have an abundance of spindly hickories and young oak. Evidently, what the forester told us is that cows love to eat young oaks. We are trying to thin out the hickories so the more desirable oaks can reseed and where the surviving oaks are less than 20 feet apart, thin them so they have a chance to turn into old growth.
We have been working on the project for 5 years and it will probably not be finished in our lifetime. But what we were told is where we cut down crowded oaks, leave about two inches of trunk at ground level and the tree will resprout and make habitat for wild turkey. He told us that we thin the newly sprouted shoots as they grow and leave the strongest sprout. That sprout, he told us, will replace a mature old growth tree when it dies or is brought down by storm winds, which happens a lot.
The forester spent an afternoon walking our timber with us, pointing out problem areas, showing us how to grade trees and decide which to thin and what a 'good' tree looks like. He also pointed out damage to oak tree roots and even hickory roots from cattle hooves.
We've had Amish around us approach us and want to rent our pastures and timber to graze. We politely decline, telling them that we are restoring the timber for habitat and improving our pastures by mowing it. I'm sure they drive away shaking their heads at the crazy 'Englishers' wasting all that good grass and timber.