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Timber Harvest Methods & Equipment

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

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Rob


SwampDonkey

Great pictures Rob, thanks. Your settup was similar to a fellow I cruised wood and layed trails out for. He and his partner headed west after the big down turn in the industry and do trucking out there in the northern part of the praries. Alot of outfits had to leave NB in the last couple of years.
"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)))

barbender

 I'm back cutting the last couple of loads of aspen off of our place, I've been cutting this stuff for the last 5 winters whenever we needed a few bucks. I think I've taken about 140 cords of aspen off our ten acres, almost paid for the property so that worked out pretty good.     




Too many irons in the fire

barbender

  There is birch mixed in that stand too, but I'm not cutting that. Here's the beast I'm skidding with   

 
Too many irons in the fire

SwampDonkey

Aspen sure can yield alot of volume per acre if it's healthy and large stuff. We cut over 300 cords of just aspen on 10 acres in 1983, that was besides the hardwood and softwood that wasn't cut. Only thing was, the rest should have been taken because the stand was too open and the maples died and alot of the softwood blew over and made fertilizer. If your not careful with the amount of basal area you remove around the birch they will start to die back in 3 years, and if you cut one with symptoms it will be full of pocket rot.
"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)))

barbender

Here goes a load of pulp off of our property 

These trucks are running about 100,000lbs. in the winter now, with the third axle they can license for around 90,000lbs and in the winter they can hual 10% over that. The 90,000lb license is new in MN in the last year.  I don't think you'll see as many center mount loaders anywhere as you do in MN, I'd say 90% of the woodhualers have a center mount. What's it like in other areas? I've been a few place out west, and they use those pole trailers that load up onto the truck when they are empty. I have a buddy that worked for a cut to length logger in georgia, they had bunk trailers that they loaded out with the forwarder.
Too many irons in the fire

Ron Scott

There are many of them here in Michigan also. Some are pictures in above photos.
~Ron

SwampDonkey

Looks just like here in Carleton county ;)

What is it BWS or EZ-Load stamped on the mud flaps? ;)
"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)))

sawguy21

barbender, you are right, tree length loads are the norm out here. Some operators process in the bush and haul short logs on b-train, particularily to specialty mills. Paul H, Frank Pender, Tillaway and others probably have some pics that would give you grey hairs and religion :D
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

barbender

Serco? Not sure if I understand what you meant swampdonkey  ??? I was out cutting again today- heres some pics     
Mess in the back of the truck 
Homebrew skidsteer grapple I use for stacking on the landing   
I'm getting pretty attached to this old borrowed Timberjack 
Too many irons in the fire

barbender

There's a lot of small white pine in here I'm trying to save, you ever notice how a falling tree is attracted to leave trees, like a magnetic force ::) 
More of the cut area 
Real loggers see my methods and shake their heads- is that a skidder or a forwarder? 
A dandy barber chair, this tree was leaned over at about 45degrees right over some white pines, so I cut it a little at a time while lifting on it with the skidder. Ended up snapping anyways, but I missed the pines for once 
Too many irons in the fire

barbender

Here's the snag that ended up on top of the skidder in the previous picture   
Too many irons in the fire

SwampDonkey

barbender, EZ-Load or BWS is a company that makes logging trailors to sell all over the country. Everyone here has them. There used to be alot of self laoders here a few years ago, but they have gone to trailors without loaders for the most part. I prefer the self loader guys when I buy firewood because it's not a hassle to get the firewood hauled and unloaded.

You sure you haven't got any DeMerchant blood in ya? The Demerchant boys are always in those scrapes with trees falling on the skidder and such and the old man tells me 'I can't learn them boys nuthin'. :D :D :D ;) I get a kick out of it. I gotta go out and see the old feller one of these days. He was one of the original guys that set up our marketing system in our area.
"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)))

barbender

  Swampdonkey- no Demerchant blood here, though I'm sure there's folks that would tell you they "couldn't learn me nuthin' " either  :D. I didn't actually drop that tree on the skidder, it was a snag I was pushing over and it somehow ended up on top of of the machine- same difference maybe ::)  Most of the trailers you see around here are Sta-Lite and Savage, one is made in Cook,Mn and the other in Wisconsin I think. Then they usually have a Serco or Lemco loader on them, which are both made pretty close to here. Shop at home, I guess.  I am starting to see a few more bunk trailers without loaders now, probably haul another 1 1/2 cords without one.  You still see a few pole length trailers around here to, a few with front mount loader (those guys can throw on a load quick! I've had a fellow with that set-up haul house logs for me a couple of times)  The main reason I think there are still so many center-mounts is the way people log around here. The big outfits go in and hammer the wood down, and it may be 2 weeks after the woods crew is gone before the trucks even show up to start hauling. A buddy that works for one of them said that they had a couple thousand cords out ahead of the trucks at one point. I guess  it just makes the logistics a lot easier.
Too many irons in the fire

SwampDonkey

Quote from: barbender on March 23, 2006, 12:35:58 PM
  I didn't actually drop that tree on the skidder, it was a snag I was pushing over and it somehow ended up on top of of the machine- same difference maybe.

:-X :-X
"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)))

SteveB

Trailer configurations are an interesting subject.  It really depends on overall logging systems used.  I've seen setups where bunk trailers are loaded by forwarder, which requires a spare trailer to be left to load at the block while the truck's hauling the full trailer.  In a jam the forwarder piles the wood roadside to load the trailer later, but that's lots of handling for an expensive forwarder to do when it should be movign wood.  This setup is usually more popular with smaller stump-to-dump operations. 

If you need to move alot of wood from one place, ie. 800ha clearcut in Northern Ontario, it's worthwhile to float a dedicated loader in to make loading of the trailers fast (for either tree length or CTL).  A loader can usually support a fleet of 6-8 trucks, so when you move one in, you better have the inventory / hot logging production to keep all the trucks and loader going.  In these situations, when trucks get stuck, broken down, etc. you're not just wasting the $ tied up in the trucks not producting but also a loader at a high $/scheduled hour cost.  In additon to quick loading times, loaderless trailers legally haul more wood per trip.

In situations where small volumes are beign produced, ie. small blocks or a single team of gear picking away at a large block, it makes sense to send in a self loader truck in sporadically to move fresh wood, rather than having to build up a big enough inventory of wood to justify floating in a loader.
Self loaders are also good in multiproduct sort CTL operations that demand flexibility to supply a varitey of mills with the right products just in time.  For example, a fleat of self loaders might have to haul from  three or four different blocks simultaneously in order to supply seperate pulp mill, osb, veneer, softwood and hardwood mills with their requirements just-in-time.  If one road goes to @#$ becuase of bad weather you don't have a loader trapped in there and have the flexibility to go somewhere drier if you can with a self loader. Self loaders are often used to "clean up" the last few loads in blocks primairly hauled with straight (loaderless) trailers.  Another advantage of self loaders is they can unload themselves in a pinch at the mill if there are lineups for the loader or it's down.

I am surprised swamp donkey hasn't mentioned detach-loader tucks.  They're prety popular in the Canadian Maratime provinces, but I haven't seen many anywhere else.  They've got a heay duty self loader that's center mounted that gives the trucker flexibility similar to a self loader to move his own loader around from block to block, but the mount enables the trucker to leave his loader at the block to decrease his tare weight, and increase payload.  The detach loaders are a bit more robust and have a bit longer reach than the more permanently mounted self loaders so they can load faster, but you'e got to go back to the same block again to make them worth it.  Basically they are a hybrid of the two other systems.

Loading cross-ways seems to be a reigonal thing too.  Obvioulsy, you can only do it if you're moving 8' wood.  I know in some regions you're not allowed to load this way any more.  For instance, in new brunswick I dont' think you'r eallowed to sell trailers set up for this any more, but you can still load this way if you already have a trailer set up this way.  The load aligning drums that the trucks drive through to straighten the load out are quite the sight to see in action.  Somone should put up a picture of them.

Combination trailers are interesting too.  They can convert to haul chips or logs.  They're kind of an experimental thing here but are used in europe.  They are good if you're route is condusive to hauling chips in one general direction and logs in another, minimizing the amount of travel done empty.

SwampDonkey

Steve, I havn't seen many detached loaders around private woodlots. Possibly used more on crown lands. Alot of guys do have a dedicated loader truck with Prentice loaders and load trailors without self loaders. Those guys usually don't own trucks, they hire the trucking. It's funny the guys trucking off private get way more than off crownlands. The industrial land barons keep beating the rates down. So, if your atually a trucker and making money, it's best to keep it to yourself. But, some of those guys don't know enough not to brag. ;)
"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)))

SteveB

I've always wondered about those loader trucks.  I've seen a few of them in the woods but never acutally watched them work.  Seems like you'd need to have a road wide enough for the loader and trailer side by side?  Do these loadertruck setups limit themselves compared to a tracked loader that can sit off to the side of the road?  Do you have to build wider in-block roads for them?

SwampDonkey

The loader truck sits behind the trailor and loads over the back if they have treelength. If it's 100" wood then they may have to sit side by side. Alot of guys use straight trucks in small operations and close to mills, so they load over the back if it's 100" wood.
"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)))

Coon

For any of you Canadian's here have you read the article called "Working Double time"  in the latest copy of Canadian Forest Industries?  It tells alot about the new fad of multi-use trailers in Canada.  Although it is commonly used in Europe it is in the beginning works of becoming very popular here in western Canada.  They claim that the best way to make money with one of these is to use it on a triangular shaped route and hauling on atleast two legs of the route.  It is also considerably more to get set up with one of these trailers at being about $40,000 more than a conventional chip van.  I feel that one of the biggest downfalls to these trailers is the downtime to convert from chips to logs or vise versa.  2.5 hours each time you need to convert is an awefull lot of time to be down if you ask me.

Read this article if you haven't already.  It may just open your eyes a little at what some of the logging operations are trying to achieve these days.

Brad.
Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

slowzuki

Here is a set of pulp rollers, they are about 45 min west of Miramichi on the way to Little Sheephouse Falls (waterfall)


SwampDonkey

slozuki, are they the ones over by McGraw Brook? They've been there for 25 years I think, I remember them as a kid. There used to be a zoo and park and ranger office near there.
"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)))

slowzuki

Swampy I don't know, I've only ever been there once and it seemed to be in the middle of nowhere on the road to the old mines.

slowzuki

"Reserve of spruce fir and white pine forest, spring-fed brooks and waterfalls, interpretative signing looped trails with walking bridge, steep rock cliffs. Entrance is accessed off the Fraser Burchill road from Rte 430 approx. 48 km (30 mi.) northwest of Newcastle(Miramichi). A specific interest is the trunk of a 350 years old white pine displayed at the trail head. Dry groomed trail"

SwampDonkey

McGraw Brook dumps into the Renous river off route 108, SW of Miramichi. Probably a different area than you suggested. Your description sounds like Heath Steel country over on the Nepisiquit License, or the Sevogle License. But, I believe it's Nepisiquit, quite certain. That's not far from Popple Depot in one direction and Heath Steel back toward bathurst. 'The Big South' it's called near Big Bald Mountain. Any of that sound familiar? ;D There ain't anyplace much I haven't been to in NB by hoof or by wheel. :D :D
"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)))

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