moving

[donny hochstetler]

My family and I are thinking of moving to northern Michigan in the near future , we have our property forsale, so as soon as it sells we will start looking for a property  preferably around Traverse city  Kalkaska,FifeLake area, I grew up just east of there in the Mio area so I am somwhat familiar with the area .My question is related to work ,I have several things in mind that I would like to do , but for the immediate I was wondering since I know several of you trolls live right close :Dmaybe you could give me some advice.What I was wondering is if there is a demand for timbercutters what can a person expect to make how do they get paid ect .I have some equipment that I would like to bring up,666clark cable skidder my brand x swingmill 683 bobcat I would consider buying a small forwarder if a guy can make any money , or would consider just working for someone . We know quit a few of the mennonite people from the area but none of them are into timbering so it makes it sort of difficult to ask them for advice

[Tom]

Jeff doesn't live too terribly far from there and I have it on good authority that his house and lot can be bought cheap now, for maybe a million-five...

[timberfaller390]

just be forwarned the timber business ain't what you would call good anywhere.

[WH_Conley]

How about Harrison?

[Jeff]

I don't have a single encouraging thing to say.  Northern Michigan overall is as depressed as I have ever seen it. Its the last place I would be moving to if my goal was work, but its one of the first places I would run to to get away from work.

Ron Scott or Corley5 might be able to give you some better perspective on the Forest Products business climate specifically as they live much closer to that area then I do and as I am sort of out of the loop on that type of information since I am no longer in the mill.

[donny hochstetler]

Thanks for the feedback, Iknew things were off in the timber ind.  around here its getting a lot better, don"t know if it will last. If theres not much going on,  then i"ll just have some expensive toys  The other thing I do is a tarp shop,  or custom boat covers,  I figured with all the lakes,  theres a lot of boats in the area,  and this is what I would like to make my primary buisness , it might take a little time to start up,  so I figured for the time being maybe a guy could swing a saw for a while . I"m getting older and I look forward to the day when I can be inside in a nice warm building more,  I do enjoy working with trees, and will probably always do some, to some extent, but,  for now,  I would like to shift gears,  and make my primary buisness secondary,  and my secondary buisness,  primary

[Ron Scott]

Ditto! to what Jeff said.

The woods business is not very good here at present. The boat business isn't very good either. The large 4 Winns boat factory here in Cadillac has just gone through a bancruptcy with many of their previous employ of around 1000 out of work. From the news reports, most are leaving Michigan.

[Shotgun]

The other thing I do is a tarp shop,  or custom boat covers,  I figured with all the lakes,  theres a lot of boats in the area,  and this is what I would like to make my primary buisness , it might take a little time to start up, ....

Donny,

Ditto what Jeff and Ron have said.  I live in Traverse City, and yes there are a lot of boats, but there are also a lot of tarp/boat cover businesses.  These lakes have been here a  long time, so boat covers are not a new idea.

Michigan is really in the dumper right now. We've had the second highest unemployment in the nation.  People are leaving by the thousands and some are just walking away from their houses. Hate to be so down about it, but that's the way it is.

 

Michigan is a great area to live in, but it's really tough right now. I wish you the best in making your decision.

Norm

[Coon]

have you thought of moving to Canuckistan? Might be an option but then again maybe not. 

Brad.

[ljmathias]

Sorry to chime in on such negative news, but why move at all?  You know the old saying, a bird in the hand... and right now, any bird of any kind is better than no bird at all.  I have students out in the work force right now and they keep asking about moving on to a new job somewhere.  My advice to them is to wait till things get better, if they do, or at least till they know that the job and area they move to is a real plus in more than one way.

In any event, take your time and make the right decision.  Good luck.

Lj

[lancek]

 I agree with what everybody is saying check things out throughly but if you still want to move you might consider mid Missouri lots of lakes and the timber industry is going here but real slow but with the equipment you have you can find plenty of wood if your good at logging and don't do a lot of damage !Then all you need to do is market your material

[donny hochstetler]

just got in from being in the cold all day thanks for all the feedback I know things are very unstable in many parts of the country right now and I wonT be making any hasty decisions without doing alot of research first well pizzas here gotta go