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winter is starting to get the best of me

Started by Woodboogah, February 26, 2014, 01:56:44 PM

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Woodboogah

Between suagary snow, uphill skid, hidden rocks, digging out stumps, this winter is starting to beat me up.  My whining isn't going to help any though. 
Keenan Logging & Tree Care, LLC

loggah

Well its winter like we used to have !!! i remember years ago the snow was so deep when we shoveled out the trees, there was hardly any way to get away from them when we cut them, needless to say while holding your breath falling the trees so you wouldn't get asphyxiated  by the chainsaw fumes!!! ;D
Interests: Lombard Log Haulers,Tucker Sno-Cats, Circular Sawmills, Shingle Mills, Maple Syrup Making, Early Construction Equipment, Logging Memorabilia, and Antique Firearms

JamesE. PikeLogging

I'm with ya on that woodboogah! the past week ive been runnin grapple skidder for my friend on his mechanical crew! snows just too deep!

Woodboogah

Loggah-it could be way worse then what it is now.  I am just being a baby I guess.  I am grateful to be working doing something I love, just getting beat up with the snow.  I would rather work in the cold then heat but with snow up to your knees and no traction for the machine its making it tough production wise.  Seeing lots of deer so that is a plus. Look pretty healthy too
Keenan Logging & Tree Care, LLC

loggah

On the warm days when the snow is sticky  you want to run around thru the woods with the skidder and break out some roads ,it will help in the long run! ;D the last of it when i had my 653 feller-buncher i got spoiled walking around with that and cutting helped the skidders get around a lot. When i was running my skidders i really hated the planetarys  chucking in deep snow. i hate to admit it but the John Deere and Cats with the inboard plants and heavy axles walked thru a lot of snow better then outboard planetary machines. Years ago we would also use dozers to go thru the deep snow to help break it out for the skidders.
Interests: Lombard Log Haulers,Tucker Sno-Cats, Circular Sawmills, Shingle Mills, Maple Syrup Making, Early Construction Equipment, Logging Memorabilia, and Antique Firearms

red

One good thing is days are getting longer

Sunset about 5:45 pm here
Honor the Fallen Thank the Living

240b

the snow isnt that deep really, Ive had alot worse to deal with. But the ground is frozen like pavement. Even new ice chains just scratch around on it. And the softwood is frozen all the way through so it just snaps off the stump. Good part 90% of the limbs bust off on impact..  I am going to try salt on the worse uphill section of trail..  Yesterday i counted 18 deer and 3 turkeys in where I was cutting, now they have it tough..

gspren

  Now I'm just a firewood cutter, not a pro, but this winter has me way behind where I should be so today I thought I'd get some cutting in, dropped a few dead cherry trees OK but the walking killed my ankles. Two steps on top of the crust then break though a few steps then several steps on top before breaking through again, tough on an old arthritic ankle!
Stihl 041, 044 & 261, Kubota 400 RTV, Kubota BX 2670, Ferris Zero turn

Ryan D

I didn't mind the snow for most of the winter. We had a warm spell a week or so ago and it back to freezing cold now. The snow is still up to your knees but has a nice layer of crust on it. You can all but forget about working on a hillside and even walking on flat ground is terrible. I fall through about every third step. Better than mud though.

Peter Drouin

Me too I have ice all over my log yard  :D
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

Dave Shepard

The little warm up last week settle the snow a bit, and gave it a crust. I'm 300 pounds, plus all my clothes, shoes, chaps, chainsaw etc., and for the most part it holds me up. The only problem is if I'm trying to move quickly. I tramp down my escape route from the tree now so I don't have to play arctic ice-breaker as the tree is on it's way down. :D
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

jwilly3879

My son takes the time to run the skidder around and push snow out of the way like Don said. He calls it brush wacking. He will plow out around the trees also and then cut them the next day. Makes skidding and cutting a little less tiring. The ground is so hard and icy after the rain that we can no longer get up the main trail and had to open one for uphill use only where there is some brush for traction. Coming down the main trail can be interesting, want to stay on the throttle if you want to steer.

loggah

One job i was on  years ago was just a trench of ice about 150' long on a steep slope that ended on a flat at the woodyard, i had my 230 timberjack you started at the top in low gear and by the time you hit the bottom you better be in high just to keep the wheels turning fast enough so you could kind of steer and not snap everything in the drivetrain !!!
Interests: Lombard Log Haulers,Tucker Sno-Cats, Circular Sawmills, Shingle Mills, Maple Syrup Making, Early Construction Equipment, Logging Memorabilia, and Antique Firearms

Peter Drouin

Or how about wanting to cut ice away from the mill building and ride a 22 ton excavator sideways down a hill. :D :D :D
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

loggah

 You get used to "NO" control !!!!! ;D ;D
Interests: Lombard Log Haulers,Tucker Sno-Cats, Circular Sawmills, Shingle Mills, Maple Syrup Making, Early Construction Equipment, Logging Memorabilia, and Antique Firearms

Peter Drouin

A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

Ed_K

 This is a yr of old, Mon. IO broke a pin on a steering piston,wiped out the 90 deg and a hose.Fix it yesterday,only to back off the skid trail and have the back sink,(no, the ground is not froze under 3' of snow)crawled back up and draged cable 75'.Now today was not a day to be cutting,shoveled out around 3 tree,did I mention the 3' of yuck? and it's 12degs and 20 mi wind.I cut 2 and limbed.went and cut the 3rd.made a HUGE mistake and cut the hinge off.It turned 180 degs on the stump before even starting to fall. I have never seen this happen before.It did land somewhere's close to where i wanted,but i didn't know which way to go.my 45 excape didn't seem right at first but i went anyway ,makes you wonder what am I doing here.If I can't find a flat/dry lot next I believe it's time to quit.
Now that's whining. :(
Ed K

HiTech

We are getting more snow tonight. Sub zero temps coming. The snow has turned back to the sugary no traction type. We were smart enough to make roads when it was packy. Get off them and you spin/chatter. Just south of me they are getting 2" to 3" per hour. We will have a half of foot here by morning. It just doesn't want to go away this year. It will probably go from winter to summer...no spring. I can't wait to see what the stumps look like when the snow is gone. lol Some may be waist high.

thechknhwk

I'm at work tonight, but I have to get lots more wood out of the creek bottom before it thaws and floods.  I'll get at it about noon tomorrow after I get out of work at 7am.  High of 9 tomorrow with a low of -17.  I hope its closer to the high than the low when I get out there.  I'm pulling tops for firewood and the snow is about 30" deep down there where I haven't packed it down with the tractor.  The tops are frozen to the ground and covered in snow, so I look for the lumps and start grappling, cutting, pulling and hopefully skidding...

thechknhwk

And oh yeah... I'm sick of the cold and snow, real sick...  Not supposed to be above 20 here until the 6th of March.

Corley5

It's gotten the best out of me.  We're still working but production is way down.  The forwarder has to follow pretty close in the harvester's tracks or it will founder.  It's needed a tug a couple times.  We cut yesterday but it was too cold to run the timber machines today so we did a little firewood.  Tomorrow the forecast is a high of two with winds to 30mph and wind chills of 30 below.  We're taking the day off.  Supposed to warm up to 10 Friday so I guess we'll hit the woods again.  I was hoping to have a good couple weeks before the frost laws are put on.  Maybe we will.
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

chevytaHOE5674

Have an active timber sale going right now and they are making very slow progress because of the deep snow with the tracked CTL machine and the 6wd forwarder. The other day we found a dozen or so BE hard maple logs some of which are veneer quality that I had marked and the processor operator didn't feel comfortable cutting them, so I made plans for this afternoon to go out and hand cut them.

I worked just the afternoon and I am dead. The snow was at least waist deep and if not deeper in spots (one spot measured 63" deep). Snow is so sugary that even with my snowshoes on I still sunk past my knees. Then having to shovel around the stumps to get down to ground level was a killer. Two of the trees were on a nasty hillside that the forwarder couldn't get to because of the sugar snow, I dragged some chains to them and he pulled them up where he could reach.

Got home and did my farm chores and now I feel like I got ran over by a truck, and then he threw it in reverse and hit me again.

timberlinetree

I was in the same boat as Ed K. Monday the swamp I have been working in unfroze. Kept falling through the snow into ankle deep water. My feet wet and boots covered with ice. And now a breakdown. Ugh!
I've met Vets who have lived but still lost their lives... Thank a Vet

Family man and loving it :)

Firewoodjoe

Yeah it's getting old that's for sure. Trimming bushy beach in 2-3 foot snow is impossible. We work every day no matter what so we'll see how today goes. Already looks nasty and it's early. 4:40am

David-L

0 degrees, can't get the trucker to come, needing a paycheck, lost my axe, windy last couple of days, winching trees over to keep them out of the wetland. If the trucker does not come today the logs are going to a buddy who just started a job 7 miles away. No complaints on the equipment end, the block heater was the best $50 dollar investment so far this winter. Now I can have some cheese with my wine!!! Ground is froze up good and I should be able to go for awhile yet. Spring is on it's way though.

                                                        David l



 
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