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Timber Harvest Methods & Equipment

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

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Ron Scott

I don't want to bore everyone, but will have some more pictures as the logging picks up some with improvements in the weather. Hopefully others will post some also.
~Ron

DanG

I DonT think you gotta worry about boring anyone, Ron. :)  You've posted some fantastic pictures on this thread. Just keep'em coming.  You really should look into a digital camera, though. You must be spending a fortune in film developing. :o
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

Ron Scott

Iron Mule 5010 Forwarder. Carries a "bunk" of aspen pulpwood. Harris Hardwood Sale 1/03.


~Ron

Scott

 Thas a funny looking forwarder. Is there any reason for the short bunk and the front axle being back so far?

Ron Scott

Iron Mule 5010 Forwarder. A closer look. The Gafner, Iron Mule, first built in 1957, went through several improved models and was one of the most successful pulpwood forwarders ever made. It was very popular during the mid 1960's an 70's.

In 1988, the Gafner family of Escanaba, Michigan sold their Michigan-based operation to the Finnish state-owned Valmet corporation.

A number of Iron Mules still operate in selective managed timber stands where they can articulate in and around trees doing "short-wood" harvesting with minimum impact and least damage to the residual stand and remaining crop trees.

I'm always pleased to have an Iron Mule working on my managed timber harvests.


~Ron

Ron Scott

Winter Logging Can Be Tough. Here the 230A Timberjack forwarder is being used to clear the "knee deep" snow away from the selectively marked trees to allow for low stump cutting by the chainsaw faller. Jaynes Hardwood Sale, Kalkaska County, 2/03.


~Ron

Ron Scott

Timberjack 230A Forwarder With Chains. This forwarder has its front tires chained-up for working in the heavy snow of Kalkaska County. Jaynes Hardwood Sale 2/03.

 
~Ron

Ron Scott


Timberjack 230A Forwarder. Decking pulpwood in a snowy woods. Kalkaska County; Jaynes Hardwood Sale 2/03.

~Ron

Ron Scott

Black Cherry Sawlogs . Falling & bucking in heavy snow. The 2084 Jonsered chain saw sits on the end of a log. Jaynes Hardwood Sale 2/03.


~Ron

Ron Scott

Caterpillar End Loader. Being used to open the access road into the timber sale area and to clear the landing and decking area of snow before starting the timber harvest.
Piotrowski Timber Sale 2/03.


~Ron

Scott

 Any specific reason for using the loader with a bucket? I've found that buckets are a little slow for clearing snow, I think angle blades work a lot better. How deep is the snow there Ron?

Ron Scott

Yes an angle blade or dozer would be faster, but this timber operator doesn't have such equipment so he just brought out his own end loader from the mill to do the snow removal job.

They often make use of what they have. The snow  depth there is about 18".
~Ron

Scott

 I never thought of that Ron. I think we have more than18 inches right now. I'm guessing we had 3 feet before the rain so its probably about 2 now. Makes for good skidding but digging out around all the stumps is a pain.

Ron Scott

"Lumber Jill". Assists "lumber jack" (husband) in falling white pine sawlog trees. Piotrowski timber harvest 2/03.


~Ron

Ron Scott

Vintage Machine. 1968 Tree Farmer cable skidder with a "dray" hook-up for short wood logging. Tree length skidding is no permitted on this selection harvest. Piotrowski timber harvest; 2/03.


~Ron

Scott

 Theres a nice setup. Are those old TreeFarmers reliable Ron? I see ones like that for sale around here a lot for good prices but always figured they were junkers. The tires are a little skinny, can you get tires for them? I've never seen them with wide tires before.

Ron Scott

I don't see many of them in use here at present. This has been the first recently on any of my jobs. Its reliable, but just very slow. I expect to see this unit replaced with a faster unit soon as the skidder owner is out looking for another machine.

~Ron

Scott

 A few years back there was a C5 working around here. I remeber it being a slow machine. Interestingly enough the owner did a whole bunch of illegal cutting and when the landowner found out how little he would get out of a court action he burned the machine. Or at least thats what I herd :).

Ron Scott

Timberjack 290D Cable Skidder. Front tires chained-up for winter work. Used on timber harvest areas to dispatch "hangers", move trees on hillsides to safe bucking area, support the rubber tired forwarders as necessary, work around the log landing, etc. Piotrowski timber harvest 2/03.


~Ron

Mark M

Boy seeing all this old equipment, snow, and trees really makes me home sick :'(.

Sometimes I really hate being stuck out here on the DanG prairie where you have to rummage through the dump to find trees. :(

Next time someone goes into Fabco in Green Bay or Michigan Cat in Novi tell them you know where there's a lab manager who wants to move east. Heck I'd even consider Fabick!

Mark

ElectricAl

Ron,

Clean looking Timberjack 290D.

We have one logger who has a Timberjack 208. I get to run it in the spring for a couple of weeks. It's great on the side hills, because of the low center of gravity. But it lacks a few ponies.

Our other loggers run JD 540's and a JD640 cable skidders.
Great for long and big hitches.

Around here the crews use Tiger paw chains all the way around.


ElectricAl
Linda and I custom saw NHLA Grade Lumber, do retail sales, and provide Kiln Services full time.

Ron Scott


Valmet 544X Forwarder. Decking oak sawlogs on the landing. Used in short-wood logging. Again chained-up on the front tires only. Loggers seem to economize on the cost of chains as occasionally needed during a winter such as this one.

More care is needed in their use as chains will cause more damage to the selected "leave trees" if bumped hard by a careless operator. Piotrowski timber harvest 2/03.





~Ron

Minnesota_boy

As I was sawing on Friday, I watched as a truckload of logs came in.  The guy was driving a bit slower than most.  When he climbed up on the loader, he seemed to be taking his time and his unloading took longer than most.  As he left I could see that he was probably in his mid seventies.  The name one his truck?

Geritol Express
I eat a high-fiber diet.  Lots of sawdust!

Ron Scott

Great name for the "older" trucker. A few more truck names noted this past week are:

Grumpy
Gear Jammer
Dyer's Tonka Toy
~Ron

chet

A few more:   Lost Cause
                     Wooden Nickles
                     Little Devil
                     and my favorite,  Makin Payments
I am a true TREE HUGGER, if I didnt I would fall out!  chet the RETIRED arborist

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