"One Man Show" Operations---What is your typical routine?

[M8274]

Hey all.

Curious how you other one-man operations typical allocate your time on a job. Also interested in how you lay your landing out.

I'm a "weekend" logger; meaning I handle timber around my full-time job and farm operation. Time can be scarce on occasion, so I try to maximize what I get done at any opportunity.

My typical practice is to fell through the morning and skid during the afternoon.

I skid everything as tree length. On my landing, I'll have two areas for processing. The first is right as I come out of the woods. Here, I buck everything to desired length while still on the winch. I then skid these bucked logs to the main area where I unhook. When these areas become choked with wood, I pile everything using my loader grapple.

If I am hauling my own timber, I wait until days where the ground has thawed (winter) or when it too muddy to skid (summer). Just using a gooseneck trailer with bunks for now. If I am hiring it, I wait until I have a couple full loads then call it in.

My operation is not big enough to justify a Prentice-style loader or slasher. My landings are typically very tight so I don't know how well they would function anyway. Hope to purchase a skidder soon but I don't know how I will handle logs at the landing. I know some people pile logs with their skidder blade but I have no experience doing this. Hate to drag the tractor or my skid steer along to every job but I think it may be a necessity. Would a truck with knuckleboom grapple be able to handle everything? Considered the purchase but would rather put that budget towards a semi for use on the farm.

What does everyone else that works alone do?

[killamplanes]

I do everything myself I usually fell trees when its wet skid later when a little dryer tree length to landing. when its full of trees spaced a couple feet apart buck to length pile all random mixed with skidder. when dry or froze I bring in my knuckle boom truck and pup, pack out loads either to nearby road or my log yard at the farm and sort grade, veener , tie , blocking etc. when I unload. Then when its weather not fit to do anything I haul loads to mille 4-5 different mills. For me 2-3 days in timber equals 1 day hauling to mills. I haul about 2.5 hours round trip. One downfall to this process is that I may build up 20-30k worth of logs before I get weather bad enough to haul logs. But I have learned to cash flow these kind of jobs. and I buy most my timbers not on shares.  But at end of day everybody does things differently just keep tryin different things you will figure out what works for you. I value my time and equipment, overhead, etc about a grand a day and I'm not getting rich. truck will cost a fortune in lic, ins,repairs. And I've got 3 semis for the farm.

[Ed_K]

 I run a two machine op. Landini 4x4 tractor w/ loader and log grapple on it and tajfun winch on back, and a Taylor skidder. I use the tractor to cut and winch into piles then use the skidder to haul to the landing. On the landing I use the grapple to lift the tree length to cut to length and stack in different piles. The landings are usually small,I have piles on both sides of rd where a tri x can get in and load. I'm lucky if I get two loads a week, (wearing out)  :( .

[DDW_OR]

I work alone 90%
cut tree. delimb with Echo 310 chainsaw.
then use Mahindra 5520 4x4, with Farmi jl501 winch, to pull multiple logs to staging area.
cut to length. then use pallet forks on tractor to load logs onto flatbed trailer.
FYI, I added 2 more forks to make a four-tine-tractor-pitchfork. works good for picking up branches.
then at the mill i have two logs laying at a right angle to the mill. the logs are about 4 feet apart.
i lay the cut logs from the trailer onto theses long logs.

then the boards.... still figuring that out. the mill only has 58 hours.


  

  

  

 

[BargeMonkey]

 Everyone has their own opinions on skidders, if I was cutting good logs I would have stayed cable and 540/640 size. Blade piling works good if your pile is started right, takes up room quick.
What's your time worth ? And how much work do you plan on doing ? A landing loader/ slasher saw has 1 purpose in life, but it saves so much time and frustration. A forwarder is the trick for putting wood on a postage stamp sized header, but big cost and 1 purpose. I see pictures of guys on here with tractor/forwarder trailers and they do a nice job and move wood, lower cost and less transport headaches. I'm 90% mechanical now and have made a bunch of mistakes getting there.
I work alone 99% of the time, fuel and maintenance first thing. On a smaller job I may lay 3/4 of the job down before I skid the first tree, especially if I don't have much room. My sawlog % is lower than most, for every 1 ld of logs I probably do 5-8-10lds of fw / pulp. I watch the iron market close, I see so much decent used stuff coming out of OH / WV / TN / PA  I kind of wonder ???. If you wanted to grow and buy stuff for short money right now is a good time.

[Plankton]

 I work alone and run a cable skidder and chainsaw. If I have a long stretch of good weather I'll cut in the morning and skid in the afternoon. But ussually it's cut for a few days skid until it cleaned up and repeat. Right now with a long skid I am shipping out a tractor load every Sunday and have some left over. Not a lot compared to most but good enough for me.

Here's a photo of how I have this landing set up logs on left pulp on right. The photo is the whole landing fairly tight but not tiny. If you get a skidder you'll get the hang of pushing a pile up with a blade.

[RHP Logging]

If you have fairly flat ground a forwarder is the way to go.  Steeper when you learn to run it and lay trees out right.  You can land logs anywhere.  2800bf per hour average with a single bunk machine. You can get good used ones for 25k. 

[Corley5]

  I like to run the harvester in the morning for 2-3 hours and then run the forwarder.  I'll do this a few days until I've got wood on the landing and I'll switch to processing and delivering firewood.  If I'm short finishing a load of saw material I'll keep on that until there's enough.  I like to fuel and grease at the end of the day that way there's at least some chance that I won't smell like diesel ALL day  ;D
  If I can send out 10-20 pulp cords of products and process and deliver 10-20 face cords of firewood in a weeks time I figure that I'm doing good enough.  Good thing the wife has a good job and is still understanding ;) ;D

[Autocar]

I will drive my skidder to the area of my first tree and drop it then if there's another one close I will cut it. Then throw my saw back on the skidder grab the tree length log and pull it to the landing. While the log hangs in the grapple I mark it off and buck the logs. Then go back and do it all over again. At the end of the day I will stack everything with my Bobcat. Then when I come with the truck I can back up to each pile and load them with my rear mounted Prentice plus the pup trailer. Getting in and out of the skidder wears me out but I hate bucking logs so by doing it each time I pull onto the landing it dosen't seem so bad and theres not a bunch of tree length logs needing bucked when the days over.

[killamplanes]

I will drive my skidder to the area of my first tree and drop it then if there's another one close I will cut it. Then throw my saw back on the skidder grab the tree length log and pull it to the landing. While the log hangs in the grapple I mark it off and buck the logs. Then go back and do it all over again. At the end of the day I will stack everything with my Bobcat. Then when I come with the truck I can back up to each pile and load them with my rear mounted Prentice plus the pup trailer. Getting in and out of the skidder wears me out but I hate bucking logs so by doing it each time I pull onto the landing it dosen't seem so bad and theres not a bunch of tree length logs needing bucked when the days over.

It does get old gettin in and out of skidder but I find myself if I cut a tree and haul it everytime its alot of starts on the skidder a day and saws
I usually start a saw go threw of tank of gas before shutting of. Same thing with skidder I like to stay on it for half day instead of the start ups. Just me. Though I do like the skidder around if saw gets pinched or pullin tree of a property line etc.

[RHP Logging]

That's another reason a forwarder is nice.  Hand cut in the morning, sit in the machine all afternoon .  Switch that order for winter. Skid morn/ cut afternoon.  If the ground allows of course.

[Hackermatack]

I am just a hobby logger but I usually cut what I can pull in a hitch and go, I like having the tractor and winch handy in case I want to winch up one tree before cutting the next. I pull my wood tree length all the way to the landing and saw each hitch as it is pulled and push the logs up with my grapple bucket, unless I am going to mill them on site in that case I stack them on skids one at a time with the grapple bucket so I can just roll them onto the mill. If I am selling the logs after I get a pile started I push them tree length onto the pile and buck them on the pile easier on the back and you don't have to worry about hitting the ground with the chainsaw. All of the cable skidder loggers around here just drive the skidder over the pile and drop the hitch on top of the pile, maybe it is a Vermont thing but that is the way they do it. I have seen skilled operators drop the hitch on top of the pile then let themselves off the end of a huge pile buy using the winch that is still hooked to the hitch.

[killamplanes]

How does a forwader handle large logs like 14ft with 25-30 in on small end. Ive never seen them used around here. I think for that reason but if they would handle them I think it would be a great asset.  On alot of jobs not all because trees here are only on hilly ground. Flat ground is farmed.

[BargeMonkey]

How does a forwader handle large logs like 14ft with 25-30 in on small end. Ive never seen them used around here. I think for that reason but if they would handle them I think it would be a great asset.  On alot of jobs not all because trees here are only on hilly ground. Flat ground is farmed.

Ive gotten some 3' no taper, solid green beech @ 10'6" loaded on before, won't admit that she liked it. That's a well worn antique 4wheeler, watched a newer 564 / 574 pound out huge spruce last winter so hard it is was embarrassed to call myself a "logger". These newer 6-8 wheelers set up right will go anywhere. I've got 23.1 tires and long bunk, kind of "tippy" sometimes.  :D :D  90% of my jobs the header isn't even flat.

[M8274]

I watch the iron market close, I see so much decent used stuff coming out of OH / WV / TN / PA  I kind of wonder ???. If you wanted to grow and buy stuff for short money right now is a good time.

There does seem to be a decent amount of stuff for sale, but most that I look at in this local area has had a rough life. I am more than willing to travel for a "good" one. No different than my farm equipment. Went to Michigan for my silage chopper. Good used stuff is worth a trip. I tend to buy stuff for life and don't like junk.

My thought has been to find a Deere 440B, or a similarly sized Clark. Want to haul it on a gooseneck behind a one-ton pickup. I have little experience running a skidder though, so I can't compare performance between a big and small model. I do not get in a hurry in the woods. A small, agile machine seems more versatile than a huge, high horsepower one. I'm green, so that opinion might be wrong. Not much of a pulp market here so I aim for quality over quantity. Almost all veneer stuff.

Never actually seen a forwarder in person. Don't think there are any in operation here. Be curious to spend some time around one.

[killamplanes]

Ive got a 440 love it small agile. Wont move a mountain but never seen a tree I didnt get to the landing. Might have brought it in pieces though.  Easily trailerable. Parts are high but arent everything.a newer powershift would be nice but all the ones I've seen have been ruff.  I'm second owner paid 15k with new engine been maintainen ever since. Clutch, center pins, bushings and winch repairs over last 5yrs.  At times I wish I had a bigger one but at times I wish I would do another occuppation 8)

[RHP Logging]

Here's a 1400 bf red oak loaded up.  Butt log on bottom is about 4ft.  I loaded some 22' 18" small end white oak on a flat bed once. When wood gets in the 4ft+ dbh range my 1/4 cord grapple has a hard time grabbing smoother bark.  It's not that the machine can't pick it up, it's doing it without tipping over. I guess i need to show more forwarder pics. I'm cutting all hard maple right now.  30 inch dbh kind of stuff.  That size is my favorite production wood for the saw and machine. 1350bf average per bunk .  2-3 bunks an hour. You do the math.  All bucked up and ready to party.  I've got some 3 log bunk pictures somewhere. Big white oak.



 

Not unusual wood for me to be in.


 

At least a 1500bf bunk. Tires are 23.1 x 26.  Franklin 132xl.



 

Gallon jug in there for scale.



 

[RHP Logging]

I will see if I can dig up some hilly pics.  Hills are pretty short here, but they can get steep.  All the flat ground is farm here too unless it's swamp.

[killamplanes]

I would say that forwarder would pack out most my timber :P

[BargeMonkey]

 It's topics and discussion's / pictures like this why I read the FF.  ;) the wealth of information is huge.
"Legal" load for a small gooseneck behind a 1 ton is a subject that is a sore point sometimes, I see loads of logs on single axle trucks from certain parts of the country and want to scream because of what I pay to keep a tri-axle truck on the road. The lower hr stuff is out there, the stuff that's not been beat to death, and if it needs work to be perfect the price reflects that. I still don't have big money for equipment, I burned my last equipment note 6 months ago and don't plan on financing my next skidder purchase. If I was cutting "quality" stuff, find a cleaner 440D. We have had one forever, once you know the quirks behind the winch your golden. They bring 10k+ more than a 440C but there's a reason. With 18.4 tires you can still move it behind a 1 ton and not be a DOT magnet. I was just talking to another "younger" guy in OH today who is buying stuff like crazy because the deals are everywhere, but I always question why ??? I felt horrible calling another local contractor yesterday near me, he got bigger quick, work stopped and now he is in trouble, no secret he has a sister to our other tri-axles and we have the work to justify it. Long story short I look at so much equipment and right now it's a buyers market. Financing the equipment is a whole other story.
I love the forwarder pictures, wood is cleaner, nicer jobs, I won't lie that I'm secretly jealous.  ;D. I just can't make an older 4 wheeler work in my area without tipping it over on a regular basis because I pushed the limits. I looked for one for a while, not a popular item around here and I jumped on my machine because after a hurricane we had the work for it, not in the woods but cleaning up storm debris. I'm reluctant to sell mine, it serves it purpose on these private lots I cut on private roads where I can't get a truck in. We have our hand in too many things, gravel pit, farm, excavation, trucks, sawmill, opening a gas station. Hard to find the right machine that does it all. The urge to go back to being "small" again is huge because the wood market sucks, my dad and I talked this morning, it's going to be a blood bath on FW this yr because there is just so much out there.

[thenorthman]

So west coast long logger... grain of salt etc...

My landing sizes are limited to what a truck can access, and what I can clear.  Sometimes its just a wide spot in a driveway, sometimes a whole field, most times just a wide spot with a drop off on one side and a hill on the other... So any processing on the landing isn't going to happen outside of bumping a few knots.

A typical day for me, cut 6-7 trees, limb em up, buck em up to 37' on average down to 27 or rarely 16's and 20's. Limbing involves walking the logs as most times there isn't much ground underneath them, and its just plain easier (hence the long bars).  Then its lunch, and go fire up the Skidder i.e. "the missus" she's just a 440 so I can usually only grab 1-2 logs at a time, that and dragging 100' of 3/4 to catch that 3rd log is just goofy at best, put a twist one each log so that as I winch them in, the bottom side rolls up and brings all the limbs I missed the first time to the top.  I then drive out to a relatively flat spot or a muddy spot, and grab the wittle saw, and clean em up, that way when they arrive at the landing they are ready to go and the landing stays nice and clean. Stack em up with the skidder blade, which can be tricky on the bigger sticks, get one end up and balanced then push from the middle and hope it doesn't fall down and roll the skidder...(yes its possible to roll a 440 on flat ground) The less crap the self loaders have to wade through to get to my logs the more happy they will be to come and get my logs.

I'm also just part timing this... for now... but I still manage to get a load a week on average in three days, though its more like 2 and half or really 3-3/4 days, put in about 6-7 hours and call it good enough. In good timber that isn't too limby I can easily get a load a day, but lately that has been mostly a wish...

[Straightgrain]

I run a (much) smaller version on my woodlot than what "thenorthman" runs. I have a 28HP 4x4 tractor with a 6,500 pound 3pt winch....and I'm half crippled  :.

Having the self-discipline to de-limb and buck BEFORE.....felling the next tree escapes me at times. ;D

Now I'm cutting maple trees and skidding logs at @12'.

I have 1-6 Y/O reprod coming up and a lot of big-leaf maple casting shade; the clusters of logs that sprout from a stump (P.I.T.A.), most have tension and I also have to clear limbs and tree tops by hand, and be careful when witching them out.

I too run a 2nd set of 36" forks on the F.E.L.....not as good as a grapple (& 3rd function valve), but much cheaper. 

[Mike_M]

We just recently bought a dedicated harvester/processor so this will really help our production in the smaller wood. We cut almost entirely douglas fir, so in the bigger wood 20" and over we will usually bring in a hand cutter to fall the unit. Then I will come in and shovel log it with our JD log loader. If its a long skid, over 600', I will bunch it and then skid with our TJ 360 skidder. Then I will buck and bump knots and usually try to put together a days worth of hauling for the truck. With our distance to the mill this usually results in 4-5 loads per day. If we are just thinning a unit I will go in after the faller is done for the day and shovel log or skid what he has on the ground. When we had our Koller 501 yarder, we would cut the unit, yard for a day and then process the next couple of days until we had 4-5 loads. We obviously are not a high production outfit compared to others in the Pacific Northwest, but it works well for us and has for some time.

[thenorthman]

We just recently bought a dedicated harvester/processor so this will really help our production in the smaller wood. We cut almost entirely douglas fir, so in the bigger wood 20" and over we will usually bring in a hand cutter to fall the unit. Then I will come in and shovel log it with our JD log loader. If its a long skid, over 600', I will bunch it and then skid with our TJ 360 skidder. Then I will buck and bump knots and usually try to put together a days worth of hauling for the truck. With our distance to the mill this usually results in 4-5 loads per day. If we are just thinning a unit I will go in after the faller is done for the day and shovel log or skid what he has on the ground. When we had our Koller 501 yarder, we would cut the unit, yard for a day and then process the next couple of days until we had 4-5 loads. We obviously are not a high production outfit compared to others in the Pacific Northwest, but it works well for us and has for some time.

How ya liking that Koller?  Been wanting to see one run for years, all I can find is a bunch of vids of European pecker poles or short logs. But what I wan't to see is dragging 36' doug fir pumpkins up a steep grade... Then I might think about getting me one.

[Mike_M]

Those little Kollers are pulling machines. We have had two of them, one was a trailer mount and the other was on a Ford F-600. We thinned mostly small stuff, but did a clear cut and pulled some fairly nice logs with it. The one we just sold had a 5/8" skyline, should have a 3/4", but as long as you didn't try to overload it worked fine. We never did break a skyline. When we get ready to sell our JD log loader we are going to buy a yoader.