big white oak

[Birchwood Logging]

Cut some nice oak today

[Birchwood Logging]

 

 

[Birchwood Logging]

Gonna take this photo off

[Brleclaire]

Nice load of oak. How many bd. ft. on load?

[Maine logger88]

Nice looking stuff!

[treeslayer2003]

why?
bark not pullin down there? it all wants to fall off here.

[beenthere]

Gonna take this photo off

Did the logs on that last load stay on for the trip?

[Birchwood Logging]

Yep stayed right there. The red oak bark is slipping alot more than the white oak is

[treeslayer2003]

my buyer is funny bout that. I have to fall um then let um ley a few days with the top in um. it does help the bark stay on this time of year.

[coxy]

 

nice looking oak ;D how are the snakes down there this time of year

[VT_Forestry]

I assume you had this photo posted earlier and took it down

THE ORIGINAL POSTER TOOK HIS PHOTO OFF, MUST HAVE BEEN FOR A REASON. NOT UP TO YOU TO PUT IT BACK ON. ADMIN.

Good looking logs, but I can promise you this - if you were logging any of my property, I'd have a real hard time letting a truck leave the deck loaded like that.  Seems to be just waitin for something bad to happen.   

[justallan1]

Nice looking logs and some beautiful country also.

Allan

[treeslayer2003]

hey look fellas, 20 years ago before the dot broke bad, it was common to see trucks loaded like that here. I never heard of any falling off. I still have to watch dad or he will do it to this day, and with taller stakes..overloaded.
Birchwood has a big truck there with short stakes, hes not overloaded. it just looks that way.

[Jeff]

No plates on it, so I suspect it's only forwarding to a more accessible loading area.  One should not judge without the facts.  I could have taken pictures over the years that would have made you cringe. One that comes to mind is our 48' 8 axle trailer sitting in the mill yard loaded with 10' aspen logs cross-wise on the trailer 6' high.  It looked like it had just come off the road if you just drove by the mill, when in reality it had been loaded up at our west mill and hauled over to the west mill on our back haul road.  It only went 300 yards and did so because we had a fork truck down.  The load was positioned near the log deck that was then loaded with our yard knuckleboom so we could keep running while the W14 case was resurrected.


I did not see before I posted that the original poster STATED he did not wish to leave that photo on, so I removed it again for him.

[Woodhauler]

No plates on it, so I suspect it's only forwarding to a more accessible loading area.  One should not judge without the facts.  I could have taken pictures over the years that would have made you cringe. One that comes to mind is our 48' 8 axle trailer sitting in the mill yard loaded with 10' aspen logs cross-wise on the trailer 6' high.  It looked like it had just come off the road if you just drove by the mill, when in reality it had been loaded up at our west mill and hauled over to the west mill on our back haul road.  It only went 300 yards and did so because we had a fork truck down.  The load was positioned near the log deck that was then loaded with our yard knuckleboom so we could keep running while the W14 case was resurrected.


I did not see before I posted that the original poster STATED he did not wish to leave that photo on, so I removed it again for him.

Oh no jeff, he hauls to the mill that way!!  I'm glad i don't live down near him! I would drive off the road to avoid that accident waiting to happen.

[Birchwood Logging]

My loads are light compared to what most haul around here it just looks bigger where the truck has short standards I average around 2000 to 2500 feet a load on a tandem truck about the same size loads I use to haul on my straight truck. I was not intending to post that pic I have to get my wife to post pics for me and she posted the wrong one.  Sorry if I offended any one I will not post any more pics 

[WmFritz]

My loads are light compared to what most haul around here it just looks bigger where the truck has short standards I average around 2000 to 2500 feet a load on a tandem truck about the same size loads I use to haul on my straight truck. I was not intending to post that pic I have to get my wife to post pics for me and she posted the wrong one.  Sorry if I offended any one I will not post any more pics

No apology needed, Birchwood. We like pictures... all types. Please keep 'em coming.
I just feel left out when I miss out on pulled posts or pics.  :D

[chester_tree _farmah]

Don't stop posting my friend - you and the wife are more than welcome here I am sure. We love pics! Especially ones of the wood that makes bourbon bourbon.  8)

I heard they are buying our used White Oak bourbon barrels in Scotland now for making their Scotch stuff. 

[treeslayer2003]

My loads are light compared to what most haul around here it just looks bigger where the truck has short standards I average around 2000 to 2500 feet a load on a tandem truck about the same size loads I use to haul on my straight truck. I was not intending to post that pic I have to get my wife to post pics for me and she posted the wrong one.  Sorry if I offended any one I will not post any more pics

nothing to be sorry about bro. if I still had a 10 wheeler my loads would look the same. 2500ft is about right on that truck, we had ours tagged for 60,000 but you couldn't get that on her.

[coxy]

we had a 10 wheeler with a loader on it use to put 35-4000 feet on her and go down the road and never think any thing of it  there is a guy here that has a tandem  log trailer and puts 7-8000 feet of logs on it every day for people    ill have to see if I can find some pics of it         keep the pics coming birchwood some of us like them    don't find logs like that much around here anymore  ;D

[Woodhauler]

My loads are light compared to what most haul around here it just looks bigger where the truck has short standards I average around 2000 to 2500 feet a load on a tandem truck about the same size loads I use to haul on my straight truck. I was not intending to post that pic I have to get my wife to post pics for me and she posted the wrong one.  Sorry if I offended any one I will not post any more pics

Its not offending me, i payed a 1000 dollar fine this week for overloading! Just the disregaurd for the laws that you keep posting that makes all truckers look bad. Mine was a honest mistake, yours are not.

[mills]

Woodhauler, I'm looking for someone to haul a few loads here and there. Your welcome to come on down and try your luck.

[Jeff]

I'm about ready to stomp on this topic.  >:( We may have our opinions but when you happen to be a thousand miles away or more from each other, and have no idea of the local cultures and ways of doing things, one might keep that opinion to themselves.  Why create animosity with off the cuff statements when you could be forging understanding instead. Think about it before you start poking typewriter keys.

Example, I've seen the loads that go down the golden road on T.V.  If you did that in Michigan, they would think you nuts and throw you in the clink.

[treeslayer2003]

I thought that's why we come here, to see how others do things.
I hate to see this thread deleted, maybe we could all be a bit more polite.

[Woodhauler]

Woodhauler, I'm looking for someone to haul a few loads here and there. Your welcome to come on down and try your luck.

Its not luck, its doing it the right way!!! Lock it if youn want jeff but i bet the law in kentucky is about the same as in maine! Spend a couple hundred welding extentions on your stakes and things would be good!

[Woodhauler]

I thought that's why we come here, to see how others do things.
I hate to see this thread deleted, maybe we could all be a bit more polite.

What is polite about a truck loaded 3ft above the stakes??/ Go to his pics in his gallery and you can see the deleted pics! He has posted picture after picture of unsafe loads on old iron!!!!   Ban me if you want Jeff But Facts are facts....

[scsmith42]

 

I sure do like some of those large diameter, clear white oaks that you post!  Wish that you were closer; would love to QS some of those big'uns.

[Birchwood Logging]

I had a veneer buyer out of Ohio message me today on facebook wanting to buying some of my white oak he said he would pay me on the landing for them and pay for all the haul $5 a foot. His name is Chuck Reece sr has any body ever dealt with him before

[bigred1951]

If he is legit you cant beat that. I dont know any mill around here that would pay that

[luvmexfood]

I'm about ready to stomp on this topic.  >:( We may have our opinions but when you happen to be a thousand miles away or more from each other, and have no idea of the local cultures and ways of doing things, one might keep that opinion to themselves.  Why create animosity with off the cuff statements when you could be forging understanding instead. Think about it before you start poking typewriter keys.

Example, I've seen the loads that go down the golden road on T.V.  If you did that in Michigan, they would think you nuts and throw you in the clink.

Jeff, I agree with you 100%. Down here we do things according to local standards. Some areas of the country if you want to build a fire in your stove you can't do it due to regulations. Down here if were cold we build a fire. The loads that I have seen pictures of on this site are nothing compared to what I have seen come into the log yard. Not everyone but a few.

It's nothing to see a loaded truck going down the road loaded heavy with nothing more than a farm tag.

I came back and edited my Post to make it better comfirm with the excellent standards of the forum.

[Jeff]

   Ban me if you want Jeff But Facts are facts....

Is that really what you want me to do?  It was the last thing on my mind, but don't push me. You know the way things are around here. You can voice your opinion in a way where it isn't making another individual a target. I don't think I'd want to go anywhere near a load like that either, but at the same time, I have no idea if it is still the norm where he is at. It sure used to be here years ago, and sometimes still is.

The fellow shared what he was doing, just like you do. He's now been put in a position where he doesn't want to add anything any longer.  Now you, challenge me to make it so you can't add anything either.  Is that really what you wanted to do and say here?

[logger79]

Around here most folks load single and tandem axle straight trucks until you cannot get another log on top. You get made fun of if you have room for another couple logs.

[Peter Drouin]

I like that w oak, we have some like that here in NH too 8) 8)

[VT_Forestry]

I didn't see the original picture that was posted, and the admins are right...not my place to put a picture back in if the OP removed it for their own reasons...I apologize for that and didn't intend to stir the pot as much as it got stirred. 

That being said, I also agree that this forum has been and continues to be a place to share different ideas and methods.  My intention was to share that a truck loaded like that around here would be an easy target for the DOT man.  Forestry is big business down here and the DOT loves to hammer loggers whenever they get the chance.  My apologies if I ruffled some feathers...

[SAnVA]

Birchwood, Sure hate I missed your pictures, no problem for me, how you load your truck is your business, don't stop the pictures they are enjoyed by the majority of people, take care and good luck to you!

[OntarioAl]

Birchwood
I am envious, you sure have some very nice timber, but I am curious as to how you market the rest of the tree ?
My thoughts on the buyer .... since you do not have experience with him make sure you have the cash in hand before the wood leaves the landing. It has been my experience if the deal sounds too good tread carefully.
Selling timber on the landing with trucking included is the way to go but to sell to someone I have no knowledge of I then view it as the same as selling a car "it don't leave the property until paid in full"
My thoughts
Al

[treeslayer2003]

I was thinkin that, I figure he just don't post pics of the tops. I expect he sells them as saw logs to pallet mills.
that does seem like a high price but I remember when they would pay that and for dead ones if the wood was right. lets hope the prices are rebounding.

[Birchwood Logging]

He was offering that for the veneer grade logs that was his top but his lowest price was $1.50 I don't know the guy at all he said I would be paid in full before the logs leave my landing. It dose sound a little to good to be true. My lower grade logs I sell them for ties and crib block a guy comes and pics them up he pays .30 a foot I scale them my self he even buys all my 6 and 7 foot logs for that I don't have much waist that way

[chester_tree _farmah]

There aren't any veneer buyers near u to compare to? If so it is common for them to travel to landings and grade and scale if u have at least a wheeler load.

[BargeMonkey]

Around here Bailie's/Wagner will send a buyer if you have enough. We get faxes every week from buyers in Canada, youve gotta watch some of them, once the load crosses that border you have no re-course.

[BargeMonkey]

 

 

Thats a typical truck set up found in the Northeast, and a legal load. There 3900 bft on there.

[Peter Drouin]

He was offering that for the veneer grade logs that was his top but his lowest price was $1.50 I don't know the guy at all he said I would be paid in full before the logs leave my landing. It dose sound a little to good to be true. My lower grade logs I sell them for ties and crib block a guy comes and pics them up he pays .30 a foot I scale them my self he even buys all my 6 and 7 foot logs for that I don't have much waist that way

What scale you use down there?

[coxy]

 

Thats a typical truck set up found in the Northeast, and a legal load. There 3900 bft on there.

I want your log buyer bargemonkey  ;D sent out a load bigger then that 4high on the double 1on top 3785 think I got the shaft wont say the name but it will never happen again  ;D

[Birchwood Logging]

Doyal log scale

[ga jones]

Veneer buyers come to your landing scale and pay you right there. There's nothing out of the ordinary about it. 150-500 isn't either.

[smwwoody]

 

This load got me pulled by DOT.

i got off easy  they fined me $10.00 for being 1000 lbs over weight on the rear axle group.  I was a few hundred pounds under my gross.  with court costs it totaled $57.00

i was sitting at a red light ready to make a right turn and the van with the portable scales came through on the road i was turning onto.  when they saw me they stopped in the middle of the road and turned on the lights and motioned me to pull into the parking lot on the corner. 

my big mistake was that i had my lift axle up to make the tight turn and they saw that.  they first weighd me with the lift axle up and told me they could fine me $2500.00 with it up but then reweighed me with it down and just gave me a good lecture about leaving it down even in tight cornners when i was loaded.

Woody

[treeslayer2003]

woody, what does that rig way empty? I suspect that may be an issue in some places as laws are different. we can only gross 80,000 on semi no matter how many axles.

[Jeff]

I don't understand their thinking there at all.  That's what lift axles are designed for. To carry the load, but to be lifted to allow turns.  Dragging a tag axle with a load on it around a corner is way worse for the road than lifting it, not to mention it can tear the bejeebers out of the truck.

[smwwoody]

empty with a full tank and me in it it is 31500 lbs

[treeslayer2003]

I don't understand their thinking there at all.  That's what lift axles are designed for. To carry the load, but to be lifted to allow turns.  Dragging a tag axle with a load on it around a corner is way worse for the road than lifting it, not to mention it can tear the bejeebers out of the truck.

I was thinkin the same thing.......but I have seen um do that here with dump trucks.......just a way to make money

[smwwoody]

my thoughts exactly Jeff  but with a young DOT cop who doesnt understand trucks and no provision in the CODE for lifting the axle in a tight turn i was at his mercy

[treeslayer2003]

empty with a full tank and me in it it is 31500 lbs

wow that's heavy. the truck I had like birchwoods weighed 17,000. so if you could only tag for 60, your truck could only haul less than 30 payload.

[chester_tree _farmah]

It's all about pulling in the $ for the state in most of these cases. Glad to hear they gave u a break.

Scalers and loggers never seem to agree. The wheeler loads of saw logs I have sold have all fall between 3700 and 4000 bf. Roughly.

These Hemlock studwood are paid by weight and he was slightly over when fully loaded. Didn't look it at all. No log was higher than the stakes.

He loves me though because I am about 8 miles from all the yards/mills we sell and my road is great.

[smwwoody]

legal i can put 67803 on it.  i am tagged for 81500.  buy VA law i can weigh 61500 by the length of the truck and number of axles.  then i buy a yearly 5% overload permit  that puts me at 64575  then VA gives you another 5% if you loaded out of the woods which makes it 67803

the 81500 comes into play when i put the trailer behind it

Woody

[treeslayer2003]

see every state is different, 60 was the max we could get. I suspect that is why I don't see any self loaders here, the truck is so heavy. oh the 80 for a semi is with the variant, any over they cut ya back to 79.

[windy hill farm]

That is some nice white oak logs, Where I live in upstate NY I don't have any oak red or white. I do miss cutting oak like I had in Ma.

[Woodhauler]

It's all about pulling in the $ for the state in most of these cases. Glad to hear they gave u a break.

Scalers and loggers never seem to agree. The wheeler loads of saw logs I have sold have all fall between 3700 and 4000 bf. Roughly.

These Hemlock studwood are paid by weight and he was slightly over when fully loaded. Didn't look it at all. No log was higher than the stakes.

He loves me though because I am about 8 miles from all the yards/mills we sell and my road is great.

Nice to see him still running that LTL!  I think he bought that new about the time i bought my first new one!! 89-90???

[chester_tree _farmah]

Hey woodhauler. You know Doug? He's a great guy. I remember when he got it but been a long time. I think it was around 94? He's been running it for a long time. He had the same thing before this one.

[terry f]

    Here when the drop axle goes down, it stays down, its there to put rubber on the road and spread the weight. I guess tearing up the tires and road are collateral damage. Never seen a 6 wheeler or 10 wheeler haul logs anywhere on the west coast states, but we don't have the small mills either. Above the stakes is another story.

[Woodhauler]

Hey woodhauler. You know Doug? He's a great guy. I remember when he got it but been a long time. I think it was around 94? He's been running it for a long time. He had the same thing before this one.

Not personally, just from hauling wood up that way years ago! Think he knew my name cause it wason my truck and i knew his name the same way!

[chester_tree _farmah]

Lol. Small world some times!

[BEEMERS]

Id really like to see this load of logs everyones talking about.

[BEEMERS]

When I was a kid logging with my dad we loaded logs in our dump trucks..wed have them pyramid probably 3-4 feet above the side boards,never though t anyone did any different..20 years ago.We dumped them at the local mill..yes it was like pick up sticks but the old owner didn't seem to mind.Jeff liked them too,he sawed them all back then.

[coxy]

When I was a kid logging with my dad we loaded logs in our dump trucks..wed have them pyramid probably 3-4 feet above the side boards,never though t anyone did any different..20 years ago.We dumped them at the local mill..yes it was like pick up sticks but the old owner didn't seem to mind.Jeff liked them too,he sawed them all back then.

are you saying jeff is old ;)

[BEEMERS]

Noooo.I would never say that..We took a pretty good hike through my timber today.Was showing him what Ive been up to and what Im thinking about with my veneer oak.I gotta say,Im in rather good shape and Jeff had No problem keepin up!!And hes got 40 years on ME!!!!!!!

[RynSmith]

Who knew Jeff was 80?!   

[BEEMERS]

 

[SquareG]

Here the regulation is "OUTSIDE log no more than half way over the stakes". 

[landscraper]

Va. Law on logs says "Vehicles designed for or used for hauling logs....may not be operated or moved over any highway unless its load is securely fastened by adequate log chains, metal cables, nylon webbing, steel straps or other restraining devices that prevent shifting or falling of the load" with no mention of height over the bunks.  I have looked and never found any other code section that mentions it, unless I missed something. 

However.......Virginia enforces FMCSA regulations as well, so if the officer is on the ball he can also quote "The center of the highest log on each side or end must be below the top of each stake, bunk, or standard.", or the parts about the center log has to be crowned in the load, etc.

The last time I got pulled hauling logs the State Trooper showed me where he could enter a few search terms into his laptop and come up with a laundry list of stuff to cite me for.  Luckily the worst he got me for was less than the prescribed quantity of square inches of conspicuity tape on one side of my trailer, and not having a second strap on any bunk of pulpwood over 16' long.  I fixed both issues that evening, and the ticket was dropped in court.

[scsmith42]

Id really like to see this load of logs everyones talking about.

Go to the OP's photo gallery and you will see the photo's.

[Corley5]

  In the late 80s and early 90s I was cutting pallet wood.  Forty two through fifty inch lengths depending on what the mill was building that week.  My hauler was 78 Dodge Ramcharger and a trailer built from a 3/4 ton Chevy truck.  We lengthened the truck frame in back and cut and narrowed it at the front to make a tongue.  It's still in the woods.  I was going to sell it at the auction last year but couldn't bring myself to.  The old Ramcharger is long gone.  As the years progressed I used Dodge and Ford 3/4 tons to pull the trailer.  I got stopped once by a sheriff's deputy because the license plate had gotten ripped off and was in the back of the truck  ;D :D  Didn't get a ticket just a warning.  I smile now when I think about it.  Wooden stakes, no trailer brakes, mismatched old tires on the trailer,  pin for a hitch not a ball or pintle, no lights.  At that time if you could see the tow vehicle's lights you were fine.  I did have safety chains and used them but I figured if it came unhooked with 1.5 cords of fresh cut 50" aspen on it I probably didn't want to be attached to it  ;D  The DOT guys would have field day with that rig today.  Other guys hauling to the same mill had rough old "bolt wood trucks".  Typically 3/4 tons with a beat up boxes that were replaced with wood flat beds just before they fell off.  There were a few duallys and 4X4s but most were single wheel 2WDs.  The fenders and bumpers didn't have a straight spot on them from driving them in the woods to the trees.  They were CTL operations.  I pulled the trailer in the woods with the tractor and hooked it to the truck when it was full.  We loaded them by hand too.  It was faster than a loader tractor ;) ;D

[chester_tree _farmah]

  In the late 80s and early 90s I was cutting pallet wood.  Forty two through fifty inch lengths depending on what the mill was building that week.  My hauler was 78 Dodge Ramcharger and a trailer built from a 3/4 ton Chevy truck.  We lengthened the truck frame in back and cut and narrowed it at the front to make a tongue.  It's still in the woods.  I was going to sell it at the auction last year but couldn't bring myself to.  The old Ramcharger is long gone.  As the years progressed I used Dodge and Ford 3/4 tons to pull the trailer.  I got stopped once by a sheriff's deputy because the license plate had gotten ripped off and was in the back of the truck  ;D :D  Didn't get a ticket just a warning.  I smile now when I think about it.  Wooden stakes, no trailer brakes, mismatched old tires on the trailer,  pin for a hitch not a ball or pintle, no lights.  At that time if you could see the tow vehicle's lights you were fine.  I did have safety chains and used them but I figured if it came unhooked with 1.5 cords of fresh cut 50" aspen on it I probably didn't want to be attached to it  ;D  The DOT guys would have field day with that rig today.  Other guys hauling to the same mill had rough old "bolt wood trucks".  Typically 3/4 tons with a beat up boxes that were replaced with wood flat beds just before they fell off.  There were a few duallys and 4X4s but most were single wheel 2WDs.  The fenders and bumpers didn't have a straight spot on them from driving them in the woods to the trees.  They were CTL operations.  I pulled the trailer in the woods with the tractor and hooked it to the truck when it was full.  We loaded them by hand too.  It was faster than a loader tractor ;) ;D

OK. Sounds like Michigan and Maine have a lot in common. :-)

[coxy]

  In the late 80s and early 90s I was cutting pallet wood.  Forty two through fifty inch lengths depending on what the mill was building that week.  My hauler was 78 Dodge Ramcharger and a trailer built from a 3/4 ton Chevy truck.  We lengthened the truck frame in back and cut and narrowed it at the front to make a tongue.  It's still in the woods.  I was going to sell it at the auction last year but couldn't bring myself to.  The old Ramcharger is long gone.  As the years progressed I used Dodge and Ford 3/4 tons to pull the trailer.  I got stopped once by a sheriff's deputy because the license plate had gotten ripped off and was in the back of the truck  ;D :D  Didn't get a ticket just a warning.  I smile now when I think about it.  Wooden stakes, no trailer brakes, mismatched old tires on the trailer,  pin for a hitch not a ball or pintle, no lights.  At that time if you could see the tow vehicle's lights you were fine.  I did have safety chains and used them but I figured if it came unhooked with 1.5 cords of fresh cut 50" aspen on it I probably didn't want to be attached to it  ;D  The DOT guys would have field day with that rig today.  Other guys hauling to the same mill had rough old "bolt wood trucks".  Typically 3/4 tons with a beat up boxes that were replaced with wood flat beds just before they fell off.  There were a few duallys and 4X4s but most were single wheel 2WDs.  The fenders and bumpers didn't have a straight spot on them from driving them in the woods to the trees.  They were CTL operations.  I pulled the trailer in the woods with the tractor and hooked it to the truck when it was full.  We loaded them by hand too.  It was faster than a loader tractor ;) ;D

OK. Sounds like Michigan and Maine have a lot in common. :-)

there was a lot of the same thing going on here in ny to 3/4and 1 ton trucks loaded to the ultra max with ash bolts 40in long going for hockey sticks and ball bats there was a guy had a chevy luv truck with the diesel motor he would put 100 ash splits in it and go down the highway never had any trouble try that today and you would have free room and board for a while   :D :D     ash splits where like fence post but smaller the size of a soup can and no knots

[chester_tree _farmah]

I am guessing that Chevy luv was a little light in the front with that load!

[BEEMERS]

Chevy Luv? I haven't seen them in years but last summer a guy came in for a yard of limestone with a trailer,, a chevy luv frame and box....I called it out on site.

[BEEMERS]

sight

[VT_Forestry]

Many years ago, I learned to drive on a 1975 Chevy Luv - tiny little 4-cylinder Isuzu motor with a 4-speed tranny that maxed out at 50mph...my dad sold it years later but it wasn't too long ago I went back home to visit and I swear I saw it drive past me  :D

[BEEMERS]

I guess talking about how we used to pyramid the loads and truck them to the mill where Jeff worked...wouldn't do justice not to add this part..Had the truck loaded...dump truck...log on one side was right against the side board..center of log a little above.then the pyramid up from there.alot of weight resting on that log.Dad threw the chains over and one didn't make it,it was on the top.
I crawled up to grab chain..20 yrs old..toes on that before mentioned log at bottom of pyramid.hands on top log.That bottom log popped out leaving me laying on the pyramid fingers grabbing to hang on to top log with logs rolling out from under my body then that top log went and Im clawing like a cat for that next log over.i got hold of it the same time my dad got there and was just tall enough to put his hands over his head and under my feet to keep me up.
4 logs 10'4 and 12-20 inch diameter where on the ground and I couldn't see but Im sure my dad came right through them falling to get to me.Every aspect of that situation was so close to getting one or both of us hurt/crippled/dead..Most of the way it came out was pure luck...trying to get that ONE MORE log on the load.
We packed it up for the day and left everything right where it was.

[Jeff]

I wasn't sure I had posted this before, so I went looking and found I had.  Another story about logs above the stakes.

Years ago I had a very close call unloading 10' aspen logs hauled lengthwise in log bunks using a w-14 case loader. Something we did all the time.  this one was piled high above the stakes.  I started to snake my forks between the logs, a couple down from the top, moving the forks up and down and tipping back and forth to work them into the load without splitting logs as I went.  One of the logs on the far side of the truck at the top of the load somehow spun and shot down at me end first. it was about a 12" diameter.  There was nothing for me to do but watch it rocket toward me. It happened in a moment.  Next thing I new the windshield turned opaque as the safety glass shattered. And that was it.  I opened the door and leaned out to look and saw that about an inch of the log had hit the side post of the windshield and that's what stopped it from coming in the cab.  It dented the frame around the windshield in over two inches.  If it had been over an inch farther, I would be dead. No doubt about it. There was no where to go, no place to duck out of the way, there would be no Forestry Forum.

I had another incident with a skidder that was as close, but that's a different sort of story.

[terry f]

   All fun and games till someone gets hurt, its when a dangerous load hits the public road that concerns me.

[BEEMERS]

That being said..My incident did happen on the drivers side....I assume with chains on it wouldn't have gone anywhere..but what if? Is it worth it? Then if it shifts a little but chains hold...what happens when you unbuckle them at the mill? Could cripple or kill you there.
But to me and my Dad in our world at that time..there was no other way to do it.With our limited knowledge of how others do it and limited experience with safety to us there was no other way.
So if you had judged us for stacking them high like that we'd have been offended and thought you where the jerk because to us that was how its done.I guess Im tryin to say that the guy with the load pyramided up may feel the same way we did back then.
And that being said..we didn't have the internet and the Forestry Forum..If I had this site back then and this information and this insight..not just from the FF but a lot of experience..I think we would have made the changes and been a lot safer whether adding some rack or pipes to the truck or leavin a few logs off the top.
Instead we grew up with logging photos from the 1800's with horse pulled sled loads of logs stacked so high it was unbelievable!!We just tried to go with that...cause That was the way to do it.
However this post started or who judged who,or who was offended or who disagrees...may very well save someones life.
Yes I still pyramid the heck out of my loads on the Iron Mule..but No I don't on anything going down the road.

[terry f]

   We've all done things we are lucky to still be here to tell about, not just logging related.

[chevytaHOE5674]

I had a friend that was a log truck driver. He was hauling out of a job that was about 5 miles from the mill yard. He stacked logs up over top of the standards on the last "clean up" load of the job to save time and get finished up. Cruising down the road and somebody pulled out in front of him causing him to have to brake hard and swerve. In that swerve one of the chains came loose and then the rest of the chains snapped like fishing line as the logs started to shift. The logs that were over top of the stakes came rolling off onto a car, killing the driver.

My friend the truck driver first was fined for the load violation, then was criminally charged, then spent time in prison, after release he had to live with the fact that his action cost somebody their life. A few years after his release he was unable to cope with the guilt and took his own life.

When you put something on a public road you become responsible for the life of everybody else. Straps and chains WILL fail at some point and without standards there is nothing to keep those logs from crashing down.

[Woodhauler]

Well said. But standards will fail to. Just not as often.

[chevytaHOE5674]

At least if you have chains and standards then you have two layers of protection.

[Ed_K]

Here in ma. trucker's have to chain across the standards at 1/2 way.Then strap-chain-cable the finished load.While back going to my job i passed a tri-x with a 1/2 load of firewood on, no tie down and the standards where bent out on the right side.Must of had a big load at some point.

[Corley5]

I've seen truckers put their cross chains on the bottom from stake to stake before the load went on.  They've got them on.  I guess the law didn't specify where they had to be  ??? 

[treeslayer2003]

Here in ma. trucker's have to chain across the standards at 1/2 way.Then strap-chain-cable the finished load.While back going to my job i passed a tri-x with a 1/2 load of firewood on, no tie down and the standards where bent out on the right side.Must of had a big load at some point.

prolly that happened at a mill with a green loader op. its hard to bend stakes any other way, i have tried to bend one of mine back and can't do it. they swung a huge pine into it unloading.