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CHRISTMAS TREES
Below are photos taken from three different locations within 15 miles of our home.  One location is in our "back yard."  Enjoy !!

Christmas tree farming is one of the major agricultural industries in Oregon., Over 60,000 acres are devoted to this type of farming making Oregon the country's largest producer of Christmas trees. There are about 2,000 trees planted per acre and it takes about 6 - 10 years to get a mature tree. Farms are as large as 10,000 acres or as small as 4 or 5 acre and all receive the same intensive cultural care. 
The trees are harvested when they are about 6 - 7 feet tall and for every tree harvested, 2 - 3 new seedlings are planted.


Mature trees are harvested using a modified "tree saw" with a horizontal, circular saw blade  that cuts the trunk about 1 - 2 inches above ground level.

To the Left is our neighbor holding the "tree saw".

 
To the Right is a photo of a Christmas Tree's trunk stump.


The harvested trees are stacked prior to further treatment. The trunk is placed in a high speed vibrator to remove all the dead needles. 

The tree is then placed into a baler that presses the branches against the trunk and comes out the other side tied tightly to the trunk. This protects the tree and makes it easier to handle for shipping.


Below are photos of the balers and the processing of the Christmas Trees.





The wrapped trees are stacked manually to await further handling. 
>>> Click <<< 
on Thumbnails to see
the larger photo.
Trees Kirk - 02.jpg (275850 bytes)
Trees Kirk - 04.jpg (302921 bytes)

 


To speed the process some large growers use helicopters to pick up slings in groups of 10 trees; which is the maximum load weight for the helicopter.



The helicopter then transports the trees to a staging area. 
The pilot releases the load and returns to the field to repeat the process.


Trees Abbey - 08.jpg (298714 bytes)


Trees Abbey - 09.jpg (304920 bytes)


Trees Kirk - 06.jpg (240628 bytes)


In smaller operations where the use of a helicopter in not cost effective, (cost is about $400.00/hour) the trees are loaded onto a flat-bed trailer and hauled from the field by a farm tractor. They are then stacked centrally and using a conveyer belt the trees are loaded onto trucks for shipment to market. As many as  800 baled trees can be loaded on a big tractor trailer.

The above photos are thumbnails <<< click >>> them for a larger view.




The Christmas tree shape that we have come to know is not achieved naturally. At least once a year the trees are "sheared" using the knife shown here.

Garrick Waalkes (Assistant Production Manager/Transportation) at The Kirk Company  (tree farm)  indicated that his objective was to get the "Real Christmas Trees" back into the Home.  

Mr Waalkes contact information:
P.O. Box 547, Beavercreek, OR 97004
gwaalkes@kirkcompany.com
http://www.kirkcompany.com 

 

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