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Winter logging in the south

Started by pineywoods, January 14, 2010, 09:59:26 PM

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pineywoods

This pic is typical of the hazards of logging in wintertime in the deep south. Two oak logs about 34 inches diameter, total weight approx 7500 pounds. Loaded them on the trailer by backing the trailer up to the log, then raising the tongue of the trailer with the 3 pt lift until the back end of the trailer sits on the ground. Then using my logging winch on my tractor to pull the logs endwise onto the trailer. Started out of the woods and got about 50 feet before the trailer wheels broke through the crust and sank up to the axles in the water logged clay. Couldn't get behind the trailer to drag the logs off and the fel on the tractor wouldn't even budge them. Went home and came back with 2 large floor jacks and a bunch of 2X8 timbers. We had to jack the trailer up high enough to get boards under the wheels, then used a 50 hp tractor and a 10,000 lb winch to finally unstick. Hope the logs are worth all the trouble. :( .



1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

customdave

Sounds like a full day,but  they are nice lookin logs. Doesn't look real cold, play safe...




                                                    Dave
Love the smell of sawdust

WDH

That is a stout trailer to be able to handle all that stress.  Looks like you stuck it right!  No reason to half-do anything  :D.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Magicman

' :)  All that I can do is smile.....I've been there.  I had loading ramps in brackets under the trailer behind the wheels.  Talk about an anchor.

We can't wait for it to freeze up, can we  ???
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Tom

What a miserable day that must have been.  Look at all those ice crystals in the air and the frozen microbes all over the rails of the trailer and the tires.  Why, I'll bet two pairs of cowboy boots wouldn't keep you warm in that mess.  Red or yellow clay will not pack and sticks to everything.  lt's also slicker'n hot hog fat.

You see that cold air whipping around the rear of the trailer?   It came all the way from the North pole, where it melted just enough to get blown through Canada.

Whooeeee!   I sure wouldn't want any part of that. :D

Jasperfield

Weight.

Weight is the name of the game. Good weather or bad. Look at the equipment used within this industry.

Weight is where the money is. Weight is the expense. Almost all expense relative to forest harvesting is weight related.

Weight is the deterrent; Weight is the favor.

Sprucegum

After a day like that my Pa would say " at least it kept you out of mischief for a while"  ;)

Burlkraft

Believe it or not we've got a mud problem right now too  :o  :o  :o

The weather has been warm and some snow is melting. The ground never did get a chance to freeze this year.

As soon as the wheels break through the crust, we're feelin' your pain Piney!  ;D  ;D  ;D
Why not just 1 pain free day?

fuzzybear

   You might want to build a road over that area.  I log through "swamp" areas and I use slabs from the mill. Just lay them down and drive over. Distribute the weight and never have a problem. When your done take them with for the next area.  It only takes a few minutes and saves A LOT of back ache.   ::)
   After I got the truck sunk up to the frame last time I started doing this in any area I had doubts about. Havn't gotten stuck since.
I never met a tree I didn't like!!

jim king

Living in the biggest swamp in the world with an ocasional bump here and there we can provide high grade swamp classes .  Real belly dragging hung up experience.

Come on down, leave the ice behind.

moonhill

Yes we have muck, under 2' of snow, once you run your rig through a soft spot you need to clean the muck out of the tracks or it will be frozen in place the nest day. 

No frost in the ground, only in wind blown areas with little snow or in the roads.  Snow makes for insulation. 

Jim, down where you are is this the warm season or cooler season? 


Tim
This is a test, please stand by...

ljmathias

Tom, now don't you go making fun of our cold spell- my son the plumber spent a week here fixing leaks caused by frozen pipes... course, it was 62 F yesterday and more of the same for the next few days.  Finally got some work done!

Lj
LT40, Long tractor with FEL and backhoe, lots of TF tools, beautiful wife of 50 years plus 4 kids, 5 grandsons AND TWO GRANDDAUGHTERS all healthy plus too many ideas and plans and not enough time and energy

stonebroke

And you southerners laugh at us for logging in the winter. There is nothing wrong with that road that a couple feet of frost would not fix.

Stonebroke

pineywoods

Quote from: stonebroke on January 20, 2010, 08:40:26 AM
And you southerners laugh at us for logging in the winter. There is nothing wrong with that road that a couple feet of frost would not fix.

Stonebroke

Believe it or not, that ground was frozen hard early that morning. That's what got me in trouble, stuff thawed out while I was messin around cutting firewood out of the tops. Frozen ground that's thawed out ain't any different here than yours, messy ::)
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

stonebroke

So you have mud season all winter long instead of just in the spring like us? I feel for you!!

Stonebroke

jim king

Moonhill:
QuoteJim, down where you are is this the warm season or cooler season?

Here in the Amazon it is unusual for the jungle soil to get firm.  If it is not raining it will be soon and the canopy blocks out the sun and any breeze to permit drying.  This is one of the reasons that there will never be a lumber industry in the Amazon.

With 100 species and more per acre and only 1 or two marketable it is a long way between logs.  Normally a skidder trail can only be used once and you are belly dragging deep on the second pass.

pineywoods

Quote from: stonebroke on January 20, 2010, 10:43:41 AM
So you have mud season all winter long instead of just in the spring like us? I feel for you!!

Stonebroke

You got it right, when mud does freeze, it will usually thaw out by noon.  :(
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

fuzzybear

we got lots of areas that the ground never thaws.  By the end of October the ground is frozen at least 6".   Spring thaw lasts well into July. But then you have a BAZZILION mosquitos and black flies. Then it freezes and you have 6 months to play in the woods.
I never met a tree I didn't like!!

WDH

Quote from: stonebroke on January 20, 2010, 08:40:26 AM
And you southerners laugh at us for logging in the winter. There is nothing wrong with that road that a couple feet of frost would not fix.

Stonebroke

Shudder that thought  :).  A couple of feet of frost is for you Northern types  :D.

Piney, I look forward to visiting with you next week, mud and all  ;D.  I plan to be a sponge  :P.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Samuel

You could go to jail for rutting like that here.   :D
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pineywoods

Quote from: Samuel on January 20, 2010, 10:06:15 PM
You could go to jail for rutting like that here.   :D
I did shovel in the ruts when I got out. Even Left the 2X8 timbers in the bottom. Not so much being a nice guy, but when the weeds grow up and hide them, I'd probably be the first guy to run off in the hole  ;) . Besides the land belongs to kinfolks  ::)

1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

treefarmer87

i live in va we buried the tractor to the belly pan haulin poplar and a large sycamore outta the swamp bottom
1994 Ford L9000
2004 Tigercat 718
1998 Barko 225
1999 John Deere 748G
FEC 1550 slasher
CTR 314 Delimber
Sthil 461
Sthil 250

tlandrum

i've not been able to log in two weeks now. the ground is rotten and never freezes enough to work. my skidder will sink just setting and waiting on me to hook up a pull of timber. i run 30.5x32 tires and not much help using chains either. the tires  roll over once and are packed with mud. i may try putting chains on the rear as well. this weather stinks and i'm broke.........
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treefarmer87

i know what you mean thats the way this business goes though if you had the equipment you could make a shovel road like on swamp loggers like bobby goodson
1994 Ford L9000
2004 Tigercat 718
1998 Barko 225
1999 John Deere 748G
FEC 1550 slasher
CTR 314 Delimber
Sthil 461
Sthil 250

WDH

Act #1






Act #2





Stuck the jeep then stuck the tractor trying to get to the stuck jeep to get it unstuck.  We have water coming out our ears down here  :).
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

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