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New experiences in the woods

Started by barbender, February 06, 2011, 12:43:44 PM

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barbender

I love it out in the woods, I always wanted to work in logging but I ended up in road construction instead. I've spent the last 15 summers on a paving crew, I make great money but I like to try new stuff. Someone offered me a winter job hauling wood pulling a centermount loader 3 years back, I did that for 2 winters. Last winter I drove truck pulling a crib (bunk) trailer for a cut to length operation. The thing is, I've always wanted to learn how to operate a cut to length processor, hauling wood for one was like so close, yet so far away ::) Anyhow, I finally got the oppurtunity to go to work running a Ponsse processor for a different outfit. I started Friday, I only worked 4 hours, the boss wanted me to run a short day to help me get my brain around it. Saturday, started at 5:00 am things were going pretty good, Black Spruce/Tamarack swamp cutting is about the simplest application you get into with these machines. The wood is small and feeds through the head easy, limbs easy. Unfortunately, about 8:00 am I had a hyd. fluid filter housing explode, turned into a long day of laying in hydrualic fluid :( At least it was warm out. I'll try it again tomorrow, even with the breakdown (which is common with these things) I am loving every minute of it. I am still like a little kid playing with Tonka trucks at heart, it's hard to call something work if you are having fun ;D
Too many irons in the fire

tyb525

I'd love to have a job doing anything in the woods. Unfortunately there isn't much of that industry around here, it's all farm fields with a couple-hundred-acre islands of woods scattered around. I can and do log my own woods a few sticks at a time with a tractor, but it's only a bit more than 50 acres, and it's just to supply my sawmill.
LT10G10, Stihl 038 Magnum, many woodworking tools. Currently a farm service applicator, trying to find time to saw!

Autocar

Barbender probably 99.9 percent of the guys on here love the woods and thats why there into it. You don't get rich my no means but at the end of the day and you see the fellow looking back at you in the mirror and you see the wind burn face your smile and think to yourself . This is the greatest job in the world !  ;D
Bill

lumberjack48

Are they paying by the cord, hr, or by the day for running the processor?
Third generation logger, owner operator, 30 yrs felling experience with pole skidder. I got my neck broke back in 89, left me a quad. The wife kept the job going up to 96.

CX3

I agree.  I love it too.  You will never work a day in your life if you love what youre doing.  Too many people out there go in to an 8-5 job everyday and just want to kill themselves
John 3:16
You Better Believe It!

lumberjack48

I used to tell people,[ I love to work ] they'd look at me like i was crazy, i guess they never logged.

People used ask me, why don't you go on a vacation, i said, i don't have to, I'm on vacation everyday. 8) ;D 
Third generation logger, owner operator, 30 yrs felling experience with pole skidder. I got my neck broke back in 89, left me a quad. The wife kept the job going up to 96.

barbender

I love your philosophy, lumberjack48! Yep, I love it in the woods, and as soon as the oppurtunity presents itself for a full time switch I'll take it. This is more of a winter time job right now. BTW, it's by the hour. Some guys pay by the cord, but their machines tend to get trashed.
Too many irons in the fire

snowstorm

its a whole different world than cutting by hand. i get there in the morning start it up let it warm up turn the heat on while i stay in a warm truck. by the time ya get in the woods can take your jacket off. no pulling winch cable or trying to walk in the 3' of snow we have here. the days i am using the fowarder last trip out i start the truck before unloading by the time your done truck is allmost warm..........its a ruff job. then theres days nothing goes rite chain comes off lose it in the snow...sometimes ya bend a bar

1270d

have fun bender, and get used to the smell of hyd oil.  these things are high maintnence!  are you cutting nice blk spruce? or real small poles?

Ron Scott

What model Ponsse processor are you running?
~Ron

barbender

It's an '03 Ergo. The black spruce is decent, 6" to 9" dbh, 5-6 sticks. There is Tamarack mixed in that is pretty good sized. Good wood to learn on, yes I'll get used to hyd. oil ;)
Too many irons in the fire

lumberjack48

Mr. barbender, where are you cutting this Spruce at ? that's some nice Spruce & Tamarack, 5-6 sticks.

I cut some nice stuff like that on the South Round lake road, down past Bowjo resort. I was running 2 skidders, a landing man, 1 feller, i ran the c5 and the wife ran the s8, we pulled 400 trees a day, or around 40 cords, it was really nice Black spruce. [I think it was in 1982] I got $25. a cord, it was a 1000 cord block.

These were fun days in the woods, we had a wiener roast every day

The feller was using a 028 Stihl, 266 Husky on the landing.
Third generation logger, owner operator, 30 yrs felling experience with pole skidder. I got my neck broke back in 89, left me a quad. The wife kept the job going up to 96.

barbender

This is a state sale down south of Swatara in Aitkin County.
Too many irons in the fire

tycoon139977

honestly, when the crew bus pulls up to the landing, i git booted up and walk up to that yarder, i cuss myself all day until i git back in the crew bus and take my boots off, but on the ride home, i feel like i did somthing that day to earn my money, course i aint in some machine all day, im down in the brush settin chokers all day, our motto at work is, you run in for your job, and out for your life.
Berger M-3, Mini Madill 071, Madill 171, Thunderbird TY-90, Yoader

barbender

Now setting chokers for a yarder is something I've never really had a desire to do, looks like really hard, dangerous work.
Too many irons in the fire

banksiana

Quote from: barbender on March 23, 2011, 09:24:01 AM
Now setting chokers for a yarder is something I've never really had a desire to do, looks like really hard, dangerous work.
Reminds me of the movie "Sometimes a great Notion"  Pretty good old movie.

tycoon139977

its hard at first if you never done it before, because you have to learn what ends to git where to choke it, how to git the choker under the log, and depending on whats being choked how to choke it, as in a bonus, tronus, wrap up, figure 8 choke, sweedish choke, bridal choke, you also have to be fast, but after you git in shape and learn all that stuff its fairly easy to set chokers, just listen to the riggin slinger, stay away from a loaded skyline, and stay out of the way of moving logs and lines, the harder things about the yarders is rigging them up and down, and changing roads, and the different ways to log with them.
Berger M-3, Mini Madill 071, Madill 171, Thunderbird TY-90, Yoader

motif

Quote from: Autocar on February 06, 2011, 01:07:32 PM
You don't get rich my no means but at the end of the day and you see the fellow looking back at you in the mirror and you see the wind burn face your smile and think to yourself . This is the greatest job in the world !  ;D

well, until something will ring your bell someday...  :(  ;D

tycoon139977

i had a choker bell ring mine yesterday. put a fat dent in my hard hat, now i got to spend $65 and git a new one. pushed the metal in so far that it was touching my head. definatly woke me up...
Berger M-3, Mini Madill 071, Madill 171, Thunderbird TY-90, Yoader

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