End of season harvest conditions

[Ken]

Raining hard here this morning so our woods road will soon be a muddy, unpassable mess.  Snapped a couple pics yesterday of our harvest site.  Very poor cutting but we finished a job alongside this block so did not have to float machines anywhere to continue until breakup.

The first pic is of the harvester.  About 40% of the job is swd pulp with swd studwood and logs making up 20% and poplar and red maple making up the remainder.  Although the pictures don't look like it the stand is still producing over 20 cords/acre but we are merchandizing down to a 3" top. 



 

We often use the skidder to tramp through thickety areas to knock down unmerchantables so that the harvester doesn't have to deal with them.

 

Forwarder headed to the landing.

 

[David-L]

Hi Ken ,nice looking equipment, How about a picture of the old Timberjack. Is it a 230.

                                             David

[Forrest277]

Hi Ken ,nice looking equipment, How about a picture of the old Timberjack. Is it a 230.

                                             David

these machines are cool, thanks for the pics,...

however I cant help but think they put alot of lumberjacks out of work... , I know we live in a modernised industrialised society, but sometimes it feels like goin back to the old ways would not only create jobs, but also invest more in people ... just sayin

peace $$$ !

G
=

[SwampDonkey]

What your doing with the skidder in that small suppressed fir, a lot of fellas could learn from. Fraser's will leave that rotten stuff standing and think they are gonna have a nice tree in 50 years.  :

20 cord/acre isn't hard to believe because it's thick and the bigger trees are over 30 feet tall. A tree that's 30 feet and 4" at breast height isn't going to yield much even if 1000 to the acre. Your only able to use 1/3 of the stem length. We were on a 15 year old post PCT thinning like that and they claimed 38 cord/acre. You could divide it in two to be anywhere near the reality. The fella about went broke thinning it with processor (second thinning).  If you had a bunch of 8's and 10's into it it would help, but it had been CC so if anything was left that reached that size it was rotten. They usually don't leave good trees on a CC.

[ford400]

I worked for one employeer that had me go head of the processor with a thinnung saw to clear the small stuff.

The idea was that the processor operators would not have to use the head to push aside the small stuff. He hoped to have less breakage and more productive meachine hours. I thought that was a smart idea at the time.

[Wudman]

You need to borrow one of my fuelwood chipping crews to run ahead of you.  Let me calculate the freight on a load of fuel chips from New Brunswick to South Central Virginia.  Seriously, do you have any fuel markets developing in your area?  We have fuel capacity under construction that will total 2.5 million tons per year in my operating area.  The pulp consumers are getting nervous.  People are coming out of the woodwork trying to tie up pine fiber.  The pulp mills have been in the driver's seat here for years.  I look forward to the day that we can make them honest again.

Wudman 

[SwampDonkey]

There's been a wood fired generator in Fort Fairfield, Maine for years. It's a small town just across the border. Most of the fibre has been coming off public land for that in NB. Here, many mills have incorporated wood into generating electricity. No wood is wasted here in landfills. The mills here have crown timber licenses attached their mills so to speak. They squack a little when they can't get private wood, but the price doesn't move a lot, so they don't need it too bad. ;D

[Ken]

David L  That is a 1981 225 TJ.  First machine I bought back in 97 and it is a very dependable unit.

 

Wudman  There are a few chipping contractors in this area but zero market for fuelwood chips from the private sector.  We've lost most of our pulpwood markets over the last few years so the few remaining have a stranglehold on the supply and are not worried about supply. 

Forrest277  I agree that machinery has replaced some of the workforce that used to cut wood manually.  However the probability of finding enough young workers to do that type of work today is slim, none to zero.

[SwampDonkey]

I agree with Ken on trying to find someone dependable to work behind a skidder or horse. It's kind of tied in some ways with the government taking shop and trades out of the high schools and parents wanting their sons and daughters to find something else. And the school thing is all tied in, and it's usually the few dictating to the silent majority. All ya gotta do is see who comes to clean/fix the furnace. Usually a fellow about ready for retirement.

[David-L]

Nice Looking Jack Ken, what is that round piece fabricated into the door above your fuel tank. My 225 Jack is a 1983 with a Duetz and 18.4x 26 tires.  These older Jacks are getting hard to find these days. Thanks for the pic.
                           David



  

 

[Ken]

Very nice jack David L.  The Deutz is a much quieter engine than a screaming GM.  The fabricated piece sticking out of my door is a piece of hwd about 6" in diameter that I cut a groove in and it holds the saw on top of the battery box.   ;)

[David-L]

Ken, Thats what i thought your fab piece was. I have cut a old rubber Dairy mat to fit on top of the battery cover and keep the saw there also. the 18" bar fits better than the 24" though. 12 degrees here this a.m and the trucker is picking up two loads of pine pulp this a.m and this job is finally finished. Was pretty muddy around here Tuesday but that has changed quick. Next job is ready to move on to, 200 cords of oak and black birch firewood on top of a big #%^ss hill. start at the top and work down. Good luck with mud season.
                                                   David L