Much needed rain!

Woodhauler · August 28, 2012, 04:57:34 AM

Nice steady rain coming down! Only problem is i can't get out of my local job with my truck! Steep hills and no gravel! Got a guy with a 515 cat cutting alone and he is cutting 80-100 cords a week! Goes in with his lights on to cut his first skid! ;D

James Arsenault · August 28, 2012, 08:20:37 AM

Ah, rain. 7:53 A.M., and it's pouring out, and I still sit here at the computer. Supposed to clear off this afternoon, so today will only be a half day, haha.

Things have changed for me. My 80 to 100 cord solo weeks are over. My days of tree killing no matter the weather, over. Old injuries manifested themselves a little over a year ago as spondylolysis (fractures of the small bones holding the vertebrae together, resulting in slippage and sag of the spine) and swept me off my feet like I never thought possible. Though I have improved, it has affected both my balance and leg mobility. I'm "lean and mean", but it makes little difference when your foundation turns to sand,

!!!!

Then....in a moment of absolute stupidity last fall, a tree got me and busted up my left ankle/leg. Still not even close to fully right.

It was within 6 inches of being much worse, so I actually feel blessed.

Sooooo.........when it rains like this, I wave at it out the window and smile.

thecfarm · August 28, 2012, 08:28:32 AM

I think it stopped here sometime between 5 and 6. I woke up at 5 to a nice slow rain and went back to bed until 6.No rain since 6. My string beans are wet now. I've been watering the garden before this rain. I will be picking this afternoon. Probaly will get about 10 pounds.

grassfed · August 28, 2012, 08:56:15 AM

We need rain but so far just getting some sprinkles. 100 cords a week with a chainsaw? What kind of wood? How does he limb. At my age going flat out I can do 10 cords of aspen in a day if I have good stand, a short skid, and can buck them truck length. In the summer I run out of energy long before I run out of daylight. Then again I always have 3-4 hours of farm chores to do every day so that takes some wind out of me too.

wesdor · August 28, 2012, 12:53:40 PM

The rain started mid-morning Sunday and we received just over 2 inches of gentle rain.
Things are much better now. Trees will hopefully be healthier in the long run. Corn is another story, probably too late for much impact, but the beans are going to be helped. We may even make 10 bushels per acre on the beans (that sounds sad, but is better than we expected)

Woodhauler · August 28, 2012, 01:56:11 PM

Quote from: grassfed on August 28, 2012, 08:56:15 AM
We need rain but so far just getting some sprinkles. 100 cords a week with a chainsaw? What kind of wood? How does he limb. At my age going flat out I can do 10 cords of aspen in a day if I have good stand, a short skid, and can buck them truck length. In the summer I run out of energy long before I run out of daylight. Then again I always have 3-4 hours of farm chores to do every day so that takes some wind out of me too.

Mixed wood,he is in his 50s! I have hauled 6 loads off him already bthis week! 20 cd hw, 12,000 ft of pine logs ,11cd 8ft pine pulp. Load of softwood pulp! I hauled off a guy last bwinter that was cutting mixed wood by himself with a 208 tj, and he averaged 100 cd aweek too!

grassfed · August 28, 2012, 02:13:31 PM

That is impressive! Limbing is what uses up my time & energy. In soft wood spruce fir on my place I am getting only getting 50-120 bf a tree. I hope that guy at least has a slasher,limber, loader setup. I am out of excuses :D

Woodhauler · August 28, 2012, 07:30:54 PM

Quote from: grassfed on August 28, 2012, 02:13:31 PM
That is impressive! Limbing is what uses up my time & energy. In soft wood spruce fir on my place I am getting only getting 50-120 bf a tree. I hope that guy at least has a slasher,limber, loader setup. I am out of excuses :D

Chainsaw all the way!

James Arsenault · August 28, 2012, 08:50:35 PM

Quote from: grassfed on August 28, 2012, 02:13:31 PM
That is impressive! Limbing is what uses up my time & energy. In soft wood spruce fir on my place I am getting only getting 50-120 bf a tree. I hope that guy at least has a slasher,limber, loader setup. I am out of excuses :D

One uses a lot of shortcuts (no pun intended) to cut such volume with chainsaw only. You use the skidder to help limb, and it matters as much where you limb as how. Conservation of movement. You make money when the saw is running, you lose money when you are taking extra steps-literal steps, with your feet. Limbing a whole skid at once before it "closes" together as much as you can,when you can, is multiples faster than walking up a single tree limbing.

When I was 18, I was chopping for an old timer. He came in the woods to survey my work. "Boy" he says, "you can cut a lot of wood. Use your head more, and you can cut a **** of a lot of wood". Didn't quite grasp what he meant then, but it didn't take long to catch on!

UN Hooker · August 28, 2012, 10:49:37 PM

James
Are you Betty & Petes' son ?

James Arsenault · August 29, 2012, 06:50:49 AM

Quote from: UN Hooker on August 28, 2012, 10:49:37 PM
James
Are you Betty & Petes' son ?

Yes I am. I note you call Dad by his nickname. Are you a related?

jd540b · August 29, 2012, 08:54:45 PM

What do the woods look like when he's done?????

thecfarm · August 29, 2012, 09:05:41 PM

I don't want this thread to turn into a,"You gotta get the wood out",fight. But I've heard the big amounts in the past. Not on my land is all I say about it. ;D

James Arsenault · August 29, 2012, 10:14:13 PM

Quote from: thecfarm on August 29, 2012, 09:05:41 PM
I don't want this thread to turn into a,"You gotta get the wood out",fight. But I've heard the big amounts in the past. Not on my land is all I say about it. ;D

No fight on my part. The landowner is the boss, and that's that. The big daily amounts usually come from liquidation jobs, not managed lots.

I'm working a lot right now, where the landowner wants extreme care taken. I'm cutting some nice oak and pine, and few trees can be brought out whole without damaging what needs to be left. They have to be dropped where they do the least damage, not where it's convenient for me. I get out what I can in a day, and that's it. I'm not worried about a big amount. The wood is good enough I can still do well, and a pleased landowner will go a lot further in the long run than more wood for a few days 'till you get tossed... :D

Used to do a lot of liquidation jobs. Mostly landowners down on their financial luck looking to make what money their land was worth without selling it. Many wanted it as fast as they could get it, often to ward off forclosure after sickness or job loss. Those produced some spells of extreme production.

James Arsenault · August 29, 2012, 10:41:37 PM

Quote from: James Arsenault on August 29, 2012, 10:14:13 PM
Quote from: thecfarm on August 29, 2012, 09:05:41 PM
I don't want this thread to turn into a,"You gotta get the wood out",fight. But I've heard the big amounts in the past. Not on my land is all I say about it. ;D

No fight on my part. The landowner is the boss, and that's that. The big daily amounts usually come from liquidation jobs, not managed lots.

I'm working a lot right now, where the landowner wants extreme care taken. I'm cutting some nice oak and pine, and few trees can be brought out whole without damaging what needs to be left. They have to be dropped where they do the least damage, not where it's convenient for me. I get out what I can in a day, and that's it. I'm not worried about a big amount. The wood is good enough I can still do well, and a pleased landowner will go a lot further in the long run than more wood for a few days 'till you get tossed... :D

Used to do a lot of liquidation jobs. Mostly landowners down on their financial luck looking to make what money their land was worth without selling it. Many wanted it as fast as they could get it, often to ward off forclosure after sickness or job loss. Those produced some spells of extreme production.

Come to think of it, I think divorce has been at the top of the reasons for timber liquidations!!!!! ;D :'(

Woodhauler · August 30, 2012, 04:40:00 AM

Quote from: jd540b on August 29, 2012, 08:54:45 PM
What do the woods look like when he's done?????

Very nice jobs done by both guys! If you watch them work you would think they couldn't get 30 cd aweek! They take what is easy to go with! MAy come out with 5 fir trees or 15 ! They only take what they can hook on to easy. they go back and forth steady all day

thecfarm · August 30, 2012, 07:05:15 AM

That is good. I hate to see the woods a mess. It really bothers me to see a mess made of the woods. I like to walk others loggers jobs. Some it don't take me long,others I enjoy to see the nice job that was done. Sometimes I wonder how they did such a good job. those are the ones I really like to walk.

drobertson · August 31, 2012, 09:15:51 AM

There is no doubt we need this rain from Isaac too. Really coming down here in southern mo. I know most of the loggers are just watching like me. I have seen these machines just mow down the timber too. Amazing stuff to watch, I just got with a neighbor who walks with a saw, and I skid with my tractor, allot slower but this guy is smooth, He is cutting from 7 to around 9 or so, In 6 hours or so he has dropped and bucked around 3500 bd/ft. Not sure if this if fast, but very helpful to me. We will be blocking out the tops, and will have plenty of firewood from the rest.