iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Timber Harvest Methods & Equipment

Started by Ron Scott, March 24, 2002, 02:14:52 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 3 Guests are viewing this topic.

buck5611

Check this link:   http://www.payeur.com/
look for "The Forester" A medium 4WD Kioti tractor especially rigged for forestry work. they sell a lot of it and they are very reliable tractor. Carol

Ron Scott

Sawyer Cuts Variable Lengths The tree lengths skidded from the lowland area are bucked into product lengths on high ground to prevent excessive rutting in the lowland. They will then be forwarded to the landing for trucking. Sportsman's Port, LLC timber harvest; 12/04.


~Ron

Scott

 The problem we have with smaller tractors is that they don't have enough weight for skidding some of the large trees on our land. The Forester tractor is a really good setup, i got to look at one a couple years ago at the forestry show. Do they come any bigger then the one they show?

JN68

HI SCOTT; yes that is the one, not a bad setup other then it being a  IH they don't like the cold. The massey that i use has the rear tires loaded chains on all four, we have steep hills and then your in the wet ground.We haul five trees (soft wood) most of the time. No problems, i don't like to make too much of a mess thier needs too be a future? Like to take you up on the tour someday always wanting to learn.  ;D JN

buck5611

Yes you can have a bigger one rigged like the forester.Carol

sawguy21

I have been glued to this thread for over two hours and have learned a lot. Really enjoyed the heli pics as I was involved in it for five years. Hanks Truck Pictures has a lot of terrific logging truck shots. Swamp Donkey and Paul will feel right at home.
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

Scott

 Hanks is a great page, there's some good shot from up on the oilfields. Check out the Ron Grieve collection.
  I'd like to get a New Holland TN 65 or 75 and put one of those forester packages on it.
  

Ed_K

 Tractor finally came in, we traded a 33 hp MF for a 5860 Landini.


Here the whole package.


 I'm hoping this tractor will be heavy enough to handle 1/2 cord of wood. The massy was a great upgrade from a 350 big bear 4x4. But just didn't have the weight to move wood.
Ed K

Ron Scott

The 230A Timberjack Forwarder. The variable lengths are picked up on high ground and forwarded to the landing and decking area. Sportsman's Port, LLC timber harvest; 12/04.


~Ron

SwampDonkey

I was wondering how a system of manual felling and bucking along with a 230A forwarder wood work. If ya have the operator/owner of the machine participate in the bucking process, I think you could put up quite  a bit of wood in a day. The quality of the wood would be higher than if machine cut I would think, no pull-out and such. Problem might be when the owner/operator gets too comfy in that seat. Both fallers would have to have good experience with directional felling. Too often I see in the woods are guys that let'r fall where ever. That doesn't matter much when clearcutting, but with reagards to improving the woodlot one has to use directional felling. If the odd tree got hung the forwarder could be called in to give the butt a quick jerk. Any soft ground could be buffered from the harvest with ribbons, which possibly may be part of wetlands anyway. Buffers on wetlands here start at their outter edges, not measured from stream-side.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Ed_K

 I've been told that a manual chopper and a forwarder, will have all the work they could possibby do. This is why I upgraded to the equipment shown above. Last week with the addition of this equipment, I signed a contract for a thinning & logging job that will keep it busy for the next 2 yrs. A lot of the thinning I do, the land owner is looking for minimal signs of equipment. With a 230 forwarder, you could work both sides of the low impact idea. Manual cutting or work behind a processor. Work either way you look at it.
Ed K

Frickman

Swampdonkey,

As to your question, it depends on the terrain. Most of the ground I work on in the mountains I do like the loggers Ron Scott showed did, I skid the logs out to an in-woods landing and then forward them to the roadside. It would be nice to take the forwarder to the stump, as you suggested, but it is pretty near impossible for me to do. Of course, their are places in the upper-midwest where this is a common practice.

When skidding the logs to my in-woods landing I rarely pull them tree length. Most logs are cut apart into mill-ready lengths right at the stump, and only short, sixteen foot maximum, logs are skidded. This gives me the advantages that a forwarder has in that I'm not causing alot of damage to residual trees. The logs are going to be cut-to-length anyway, so I might as well do it at the stump.

I don't need a large area for an in-woods landing either. Any wide spot along a woods road that will hold a thousand or so board feet will do.

By using the skidder and forwarder together, and adapting to the terrain at hand, I can harvest timber efficiently and still keep the foresters happy.
If you're not broke down once in a while, you're not working hard enough

I'm not a hillbilly. I'm an "Appalachian American"

Retired  Conventional hand-felling logging operation with cable skidder and forwarder, Frick 01 handset sawmill

Pretend farmer when I have the time

Scott

 Nice tractor Ed! We have an older version of your MF that you traded and we're having the same problem with it (not enough weight) I think i'm going to have to look at the Landinis before i do any buying  :). your tractor is pretty much exactly what my dad and I are looking for.

SwampDonkey

Frickman:

I could see the advantages of the skidder in that situation and I like the idea of bucking to length in the bush to reduce damage. I'm just on the edge of the Appalachian range here and the land is farely flat for logging, but rolling. I've seen some folks try to fight the terrain and skid long length and bulldoze skid trails all over the side hills. What an erosion mess they make. The ground is either gravelly or shaly, at any rate, makes a real mess. They should either avoid using that method on that ground or find an alternative. The environment doesn't seem to make waves over it, which is surprising since that silts up the streams below in a heavy rain. ::) Sometimes we don't have the luxury of picking and choosing our job sites I guess, especially with high equipment lease payments. Oh, if everything was perfect. ;)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Frickman

Swampdonkey,

You mentioned high-lease payments. My method of logging will not work profitably if you have high payments. It does work real well if you care about the land however. The way I log is alot slower than tree-length logging for several reasons. I care about what I'm doing, and take my time doing it. I'm obviously pulling out less footage per trip than a large skidder dragging tree length. And I'm moving alot of work that I'd be doing at the landing or mill back to the stump. This saves some time down the line though, especially at clean-up time. I leave most of the loose bark, sawdust, knots, end trims, etc. back in the woods where they belong, instead of hauling them to the landing or mill yard. It helps keep the landing and mill yard neat and tidy.

The one thing that I've learned over the years about logging is you have to be adaptable. Just as one prescription for harvest will not work on every tract you mark, one certain method of logging will not be feasible on every job I work. All my equipment is paid for, so it works for me, I don't work for it. Since I don't have a loan payment bearing down on me every month I'm able to do things a little different than some other outfits.
If you're not broke down once in a while, you're not working hard enough

I'm not a hillbilly. I'm an "Appalachian American"

Retired  Conventional hand-felling logging operation with cable skidder and forwarder, Frick 01 handset sawmill

Pretend farmer when I have the time

SwampDonkey

Frickman,

I think that is great that you own your equipment and have no lease payments to worry about. I'm sure there are plenty of other worries, like with any business. You can certainly see that not everyone has the luxury of a large bank roll to purchase their harvest equipment. Alot of the guys working on private buy big equipment to work on public forest land as their main source of employment. On public forest land you have supervisors who stand over ya and harp on production, but also want what's best for the land. Sometimes hard to find that balance.  Some guys end up, part time, hiring out to contractors on private so they tend to bring some old habits along. But, also it comes back to the high cost of equipment which they can't afford to have sit idle. As another senario to the side hills, add some boulder fields and rock outcroppings to the harvest area and I think even you would be left thinking, 'what am I doing here'. Dang glaciers eh?

cheers ;)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Ron Scott

The Forwarder Leaves the Landing After Delivering and Decking a Load of Sawlogs. Only a small landing is needed for the variable length (short wood) logging method. The product lengths are cut at the stump as stated above.
Sportsman's Port, LLC selective timber harvest; 12/04.


~Ron

SwampDonkey

This method works especially well if you don't have to turn a tractor trailor on the yard, but it means more road building is involved if you need a road to loop around. Works fine with straight trucks. I know one guy in our area who uses a skidder converted as a forwarder and a tracked Dion forwarder he uses to cut to length at the stump and forward to a small landing. His problem is that his equipment is old and spends alot of time fixing it. It's not a high production operation, but he's always busy.

Converted C4 Forwarder


C-4 Tree Farmer skidder and mounted  Patu log loader on the rear frame with hitched Patu tandem log trailer. Makes for an efficient, low-cost forwarder that is well suited for sites that are not too steep.

Dion Forwarder


F-4 Dion tracked short wood forwarder loading 100 inch pulpwood ona  straight truck. It has a low centre of gravity and can work on steeper slopes than most forwarders.

The machine comes with a fully enclosed cab for winter operation, with windows for good visibility. The forwarder uses a hydraulically-powered stick steering system. The hydraulics also control the stabilizers that make contact with the ground to keep the forwarder steady while the operator loads logs, as well as the boom. Everything else is mechanically driven through the transmission and differentials.

The forwarder has facing seats, so that after being driven in one direction, the operator can simply change seats and drive it back in the opposite direction. Although it has a five-speed transmission, He operates the forwarder primarily in third gear, slowing down in particularly muddy or rocky areas to avoid both ground and track damage.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Ron Scott

A Happy Landowner. The landowner watches as a load of grade hardwood sawlogs leaves the landing enroute to the mill that purchased her timber. Sportsman's Port, LLC timber harvest; 12/04.


~Ron

isawlogs



This is where I worked in 2001 , hauling off road to the Tembec mill yard in Tee lake Témiscamingue Québec....A load of spruce for pulp mill The saw logs will be cut out at the mill yard with a slasher



275 B Barko loading us at Two Rivers , Témiscamingue Québec... White pine , again will be cut to logs at the yard


  
  Heading down to the yard with a load of pine ... It was all off road hauling , two meter radio system ... about 140 kilometers of off road driving to get to the yard in Tee Lake ...




A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

SwampDonkey

isawlogs,

Lotsa snow eh? :) I see they plow the roads like here, when you meet another truck one of ya have to turn out in the snow bank. They have wide roads, but plow narrow. I never invested in a radio so I stay off them roads in winter. I see those are some nice white pine logs. Looks like your picking them from hardwood or mixed stands. Sure is a long trek to the mill.  :o
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

isawlogs

Swomp..   I got myself a scanner ....
 
When you met a truck if it was loaded .. you took the snowbank , it was kinda hard to stop these once they got rolling ... priority was to the loaded truck at all times ... Next on the priority list was the empty truck coming back up then the sanders .... anything else on the road was low in the priority list  ;D ;)



The grader that was used to open the roads ... he is on a mission , going to try and pull and push a truck up a hill ...




 644G John Deer loader with log clamp , he's getting the dozer blade and turning around to come and push the truck up the hill



All together ... Sander spreading sand , grader pulling and loader pushing , made it up on second try ....
 We had lots of fun .... Had to put the chains on the truck ....
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Buzz-sawyer

Nice pics, sounds like a day of fun and games!
    HEAR THAT BLADE SING!

Kevin

Isaw are they not using chains on those truck tires?

isawlogs

  We never put the chaines on ... only if we did not make the climb the first time .. then we would try being pushed by the loader ... if that didn't work we would put the chains and deep lock up , and try her again ... in this case we had to get more help thats why the grader was called in and the sander ....
 If it snowed I would put the chains on .... other then that there was so much wheight on the drives to get you going anywhere if it was not at the botom  of a hole like this ....
 We where hauling 60,000 kilos to 75,000 kilos net ... there was weight on the tires only needed a little sand
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Thank You Sponsors!