Boundary Line Management
Locate, Blaze, Paint & Maintain
(We are not licensed surveyors.)
Any Season. Any Temperature. Any Terrain.
Step One: Locate Boundary Lines
Using compass at times when portions of the old property lines are lost.
Utilizing maps created in ArcMap®.
Via hand-held Garmin® GPS.
What we look for when locating a boundary line.
Multiple Old Centerline Blazes on Tree
Old Flagging
Old Barbed Wire Fencing in Trees
Stone Walls
Survey Pins
Witness Trees to Boundary Line Corner
Old wooden corner posts labeled with lot and range lines and dated.
Stone Monuments
Iron Stakes Referencing Property Line
Iron Reference Points
Old Painted Blazes
Old Outside Blazes Pointing to Boundary Line Center
Corner Monuments and Blazes
"The Jungle" in which there is no representation at all between any two recognizable points.
Step Two: Select Your Package
Low Budget Package
Only tree faces/bark painted
(No Blazes)
Existing line flagged
No clearing of brush
Base Package
Blaze cut into tree by hand using axe
Blazes painted
Existing line flagged
Brush Cleared
Long Term Package
Blaze cut into tree by hand using chainsaw
Blazes painted
Existing line flagged
Brush cleared/finish work using Swedish axe
Step Three: Maintain
Identify Previously Painted Blazes (Painted six-ten years ago)
Refresh with Two New Coats of Paint
Observe the Growth Around the Blaze Here
Even professional grade paint does not last forever. (Longevity is about eight years.)
What is the worth in investing in boundary line maintenance?
No matter how boundary lines are completed, whether by hand or with power tools, it is crucial that the blazes are numerous, spaced correctly and clearly visible in an identifying color. Clearing debris and excess trees to create the proper width will make the boundary line’s position obvious from the rest of your woodlot. Upkeep of your boundary lines is beneficial to you and your neighbors to prevent a timber harvest trespass and is great landowner stewardship.
This blaze was recently discovered when investigating the boundary line of an old Timberland’s property in western Maine. The boundary line corner was relatively easy to find and thanks to the prior landowners maintenance of the boundary lines, the lines were able to be followed with ease! Due to the red paint and three abnormal lines observed in the middle of the tree this was without a doubt a blaze! To see a three lined blaze grow over like this is rare which means this blaze is close to 40 years old. Nothing grows on a tree like that naturally but an overgrown blaze. If the three lines hadn’t been there it wouldn’t have been so distinct!
This boundary line was blazed and painted in January of 2017. Returning to this boundary line in March of 2025, eight years later, the rate at which paint fades and trees heal over time shows us just how crucial re-blazing and painting lines is for future identification of property lines. We recommend lines be done repetitively every 8-10 years.
In the photo on the left, can you locate the boundary line? In the foreground and center of the image you will see one center blaze on an American beech. Looking to the left of that blaze you will see another beech with an evident side blaze facing the line and to the right another blaze on a more distant beech facing the line in the opposite direction. Just think how much more difficult in a young hardwood forest that line would be to identify if there were no new blazes. Can you spot the old blaze in the middle ground? Now look at the image to the right and immediately you will observe the same line clearly visible in an identifying color. Without the upkeep of that property line you would have walked right by it.
Understanding Boundary Lines
If you’re a neighbor and you see one of those bright red blazes out your kitchen window, no need to be alarmed. Chances are, if it is directly facing you, then that is the neighbor’s tree pointing to the boundary line center that runs perpendicular to you. That painted tree as well as some on your property facing the line in opposite direction that you may not be able to see are called witness trees. The single blaze on those trees are called side blazes, as seen on image right, and should not be much further than shoulder width apart. Whereas center blazes are directly on the line, as seen on image left, and blazed in the direction of the line on both sides of the tree. There is careful consideration when blazing a line to avoid blazing high quality trees, unless in years prior those trees were previously blazed.
Mowing & Prunning
Timber Harvest Landings, Logging Roads, Fields & Wildlife Areas, & Gravel Road Shoulders
All logging roads start somewhere…
Before roads can be easily maintained and mowed, some are too overgrown and first need to opened by hand while others with large machinery.
From start... (Overgrown Inaccessible Logging Road)
...to finish. (Usable Logging Road)
Equipment Here: Strictly Brushsaws
From start... (Overgrown Logging Road)
...to finish. (Cleared Back at Least 8 Feet on Either Side)
**End Goal: Re-ditched, re-sloped, re-surfaced and seeded.
Opening Logging Roads By Hand With
Brushsaws, Weedwackers & Chainsaws
Before & After
Before and after picture of opening logging road by hand with brushsaw, weedwackers and chainsaws.
Comparison of the same logging road surrounded by leafless trees and alders, with the top image showing before the road was opened, only wide enough for about an ATV and the bottom the road opened now accessible by pickup and heavy equipment.
Two photos of a logging road in autumn; the upper image is grassy with overgrowth on either side and the bottom image is the brush and grass cut down on the road surface and shoulder.
Two images of a logging road through a forest with leafless trees, alders and grass on the sides, slightly foggy and overcast. The first image shows an orange weedwacker and overgrowth while the second image shows the roadside cut.
Steep Aesthetic Roadside Weedwacking
A before picture of weedwacking embankments between roadsides and fields. A rural landscape with a paved road running parallel to a grassy area with tall grass in the foreground and trees, mountains in the background, and a partly cloudy sky.
An after picture of weedwacking embankments between roadsides and fields making it more ascetically pleasing and preventing further growth. In the background is a utility pole with power lines, distant mountains, and a clear blue sky.
Mowing Logging Roads Via Zero Turn
Before & After
Weedwack around tree growth too tall for zero turn.
Cut larger growth.
Mow with zero turn.
A red and black riding lawn mower on a grassy logging road surrounded by green trees under a clear blue sky.
Comparison of two logging roads in a forest, the top showing the height of grass and plant growth along the edges and the bottom showing a mowing job finished and road growth no longer an issue.
A logging road before it was mowed with a zero-turn. Alders are two to five feet tall and beginning to crowd the road.
A logging road after it was mowed with a zero-turn. Alders are are gone six to eight feet out from the road edge.
Finished access road to landing. Road surface and shoulders mowed with zero turn and ditches weedwacked up to six feet off the shoulder. As you can see this also makes your road ascetically pleasing to the eye as well.
Mowing Logging Roads Via Maschio Mower
Equipment
Six foot flail mower with twenty independent hammers capable of cutting softwood up to three inches in diameter and hardwood up to two inches in diameter.
The angled mower allows for the mower to mow a variety of slopes all while remaining safely on the road surface.
Mowing softwood along a steep rocky embankment.
Mowing hardwood along an upward slope above the rocks.
Mowing the shoulder level with the road.
When fully extended the hydraulic boom arm allows for the mower to mow ditches where zero-turns and fixed mowers directly behind a machine can not mow.
Mowing Before & After
Before mowing with a six foot flail mower the larch growth on the old landing is out of control.
After mowing the landing is easily accessible and edges can be easily identifiable.
An unmowed logging road surrounded by lush green ferns and trees under a bright blue sky.
The same lush green logging road mowed at a height above the rocks on the edge so as to not damage any of the hammers attached to the drum of the machine.
A forested logging road with minimal grass growth on the road shoulder and taller tree growth in the ditches before it is mowed.
After a logging road is mowed of grass growth on the road shoulder and taller tree growth in the ditches.
A logging road running through a forested area with thick eastern white pine regeneration on one side and dry, brown beech regeneration on the other, under a partly cloudy sky.
After mowing is complete the flail mower has mowed the majority of pine regeneration in the ditch side and some hardwood off the other side.
A logging road through a wooded area with leafless trees and some evergreen trees, under a cloudy sky before mowing maintenance takes place.
After mowing takes place the road is not as crowded in on the shoulders making large rocks more easily identifiable, the road passable for logging equipment in the long term and be more easily mowed in the coming years.
A red and black 72 horse tractor with a front loader attachment and a six foot flail mower parked on a logging road in a forested area about to mow the road shoulder.
A red and black tractor with a front loader attachment and a large mower attachment on the back completing the mowing of the six to eight feet softwood regeneration.
A red tractor with a mower attachment set to clear the shoulder of the road of tall grass and large softwood.
A red tractor with a large red and black flail mower attachment operating along a logging road. a close up of the size in the diameter of brush cut back from the road edge can be observed. Trees up to 3 inches in diameter can be cut.
Additional mowing done in fields & wildlife areas
Red tractor working in a grassy field with mountains and a blue sky with white clouds in the background.
Recently mowed field with flail mower, a few leafless trees, and mountains in the distance under a partly cloudy blue sky.
Additional mowing done along gravel roadside shoulders
Mowed shoulders of a dirt town road winding through dense green trees on either side.
Large 2" poison sumac, red oak, and shrubbery growth overhanging roadway limiting road use and obstructing view of oncoming traffic.
Regained full use of roadway and a clear sight line of oncoming traffic.
Mowing of Past Timber Harvest Landings for Wildlife Habitat Diversification
From the seat of the zero-turn is the view of a lush green forest clearing under a partly cloudy blue sky, with sunlight filtering through trees. This is an old logging landing that is ideal and cheaper in the long run to keep open between harvests.
View from zero-turn mower of the other end of the landing surrounded by tall trees under a bright blue sky.
A mowed turn-around portion of the landing bordered by trees with sunlight filtering through the leaves; a large rock is on the left side, and part of a dark vehicle is visible on the right.
An end landing to a logging road newly mowed with bare trees in the background and a partly cloudy sky overhead.
A freshly mowed landing for logging wood when it comes time to harvest timber. Three large rocks can be seen at the front, surrounded by green trees under a clear blue sky with some white clouds.
The back end of the landing cut down to just a few inches of the ground surrounded by dense green trees under a partly cloudy blue sky.
Logging Road Entrance Maintenance
Before & After
Overgrown logging road with a green and red steel across it in a leafless, wooded area on a clear day.
A more clearer picture of the logging road once the three to five foot tall grass is cut.
Before and after comparison of gated entrance weedwacked to a logging road; large rock on the left, and a parked black pickup truck on the right, with a red barrier gate in the background, under a partly cloudy sky.
Before and after images of a gated logging road where an orange weedwacker rests agains a large rock in a freshly cut grassy area, with trees, rocks, a logging road, and a gate in the background.
Pruning Logging Roads for Pickup, Dump Truck and/or Log Truck Clearances
Before & After
A logging road entrance through a forest with vibrant green hardwood trees on both sides and a clear blue sky above.
The same logging road pruned back in a lush green forest under a partly cloudy blue sky.
Logging Road Maintenance
Gate Installation; Culvert Cleaning; Debris Removal
Gate Installation
Limit Land Access
Custom Made
We Install
Cleaning Culverts
Scheduled Every Spring and Fall
Debris observed on roadway as evidence of water flow over top the road due to a plugged culvert.
Plugged Culvert with Leaf Litter
Evidence of High Water Line
Cleaned Culvert
Plugged
Open
Debris Removal
A logging road with dense green trees, fallen branches, and a chainsaw resting on a log. A poplar tree is in the process of being removed from the roadway.
Stacks of cut logs placed along the shoulder of a logging road surrounded by green foliage and ferns.
An old logging road in a forest with fallen tree blocking the path. The trees are mostly bare, indicating autumn or early winter, and the sky is overcast. The tree is a dead pine that has knocked over small trees on its way down.
The same location where the dead pine had fallen. Leaf litter is all that remains on the road. Two piles of wood can be seen on either side of the road. Usable wood stacked for firewood on the left and dead wood on the right.
Why is all this logging road maintenance necessary?
Ignoring routine maintenance puts your investment at risk resulting in high repair costs in the long-term.
