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i need some help

Started by br389, January 09, 2012, 06:29:53 PM

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br389

Ok so I want to start a small logging buisness and I know you can't just start up a successful business right of the bat without working your way up and i'am ok with that because for a while I would be working on weekends and doing small jobs because of my current job which is doing excavation  but I was wondering if I could get some pointers on were to start and how to get some jobs and etc. I do have a tractor with a 3pt winch that I bought from hud-son last winter and I do have three sthil chainsaws. I usally cut firewood to sell during the winter when work is slow and I just love being out doors and to me there is now better feeling then sizing up a nice tree to harvest and the rush you get from falling it. So if you have any thoughts on how to help me out that would be great thank you

madmari

I started with a tractor and winch. Really hard to make a living, but if you stick with it you can make it. Carry no debt. Pay as you go and be frugal. You may not see a "paycheck" for a long time, so be prepared.
  Do your best work and don't cut corners; respect land and landowners. Be fair and honest and insist that upons others.
  Find a niche and exploit it with your best efforts.
  If you find that the work is not "fun", don't dispair. It's hard work- harder than most people realize until they have experienced breakdowns, injury, high operating costs, intense heat and intense cold and sometimes seemingly impossible obstacles.
  Enjoy the ride.....
I know why dogs stick thier head out the car window.

PAFaller

Your best bet, if there is a market, is to expand your firewood operations. In my part of the world a guy could find a home for more tree length than you would probably want to cut right now, and the price makes it worth doing. Oil going up and showing no stability is only good for commodities traders on wall street, the rest of us stock up on wood. Jobs doing thinning are usually easier to find than gravy log jobs, and if you do a good job on them it doesn't take long for word to spread about your quality of work. As madmari said, its important to treat the ground you work on and the people you work for with the utmost respect, that will only help in the long run. If you still like it after a few years then you could plunge in to buying a skidder and more equipment to go the logging route. I can't picture myself doing anything else, but there have been more times than I care to count that I have had a long talk with myself wondering why I'm still at it. My biggest weakness, and goes for many self-employed folks, is that you can't just shut the job off when you go home and pretend like someone else will take care of the details. Worrying about everything that goes in to making a small logging job run smoothly is more headache than most people would want to deal with, let alone the time invested in paperwork, paying bills, dealing with taxes, securing proper permits, taking the right certification and continuing education classes etc. If you are like me and doing procurement too then you need to allot time for meeting landowners, pulling tax maps, delineating boundary lines, dealing with road postings and weight limits and on and on we go. I don't say all that to discourage, its just that when you do something for a living, be prepared for the shine and excitement to lose its glow sometimes.
It ain't easy...

timbuck2

I started out cutting firewood around 1975.  Chainsaw splitter and a pick-up, added a F-700 dump and went to clearing house lots.  Just couldn't let all that fine hardwood go to firewood so put some into custom saw. Turned out to be birdseye maple and the hook was set.   Long story short, small outfit, concentrate on high grade.

HiTech

Be neat, don't hurt young trees if possible. Anything you leave in the woods make sure it is as flat as you can get it. If you have some small leaners cut them down. People like to see neat today. Many landowners in my area like to do business with smaller loggers. There is a place for the Big Boys but in small lots they make an awful mess. One thing I can't stress enough is safety. Before making any cuts look at all the surrounding area. Make sure there are no overhead branches caught up that might fall on you. Clear an escape route. Never, Never pick up and use a chainsaw when you are tired. You are not thinking clearly then and an accident could happen. Like said before,"Don't bury yourself in debt". Pay as you go. Good luck and enjoy the woods.

thecfarm

br389,where are you located? Yes,it can be done. Some will really want you on their land,but others will want thier money fast. They will want the job done in 2 weeks instead of 6 months.How many hp is your tractor?
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

br389

I live in central ny near oswego and my tractor is a 25 HP. I did a couple small jobs this past winter but I want to get into it alittle bit more and hopefully try to make it a full time job one day

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