Hauling Logs?

[lego1970]

Was wanting to know if there are any guys on here that mostly just haul logs, Class 8 drivers/truckers. If so does anybody on here haul hardwoods and is there anything signifantly different in regards to hardwoods then softwoods like they show in most of the logging shows today? Also are any of you O/O's?

My background has mostly been a long haul trucker, flatbed and van, but also a tree trimmer and have operated grapple trucks so I know about both trees and trucks, but not about logging operations and or hauling logs.

Thanks.

[371groundie]

logs and thus log hauling chage greatly from place to place.

not long ago most pulpwood in maine was 4ft long stacked two teirs the length of the truck. it was measured by cords on the truck at the mill. now (with the exception of one mill) all the pulp is bought on weight. to save handleing pulpwood now gets shipped in 8ft or greater lengths.

the logs you see on axemen dont exist other places in the country. most logs in the northeast are bought and sold in lengths that are multiples of 2ft, 8-16ft long. so you are more likely to see multiple stacks of shorter logs.

another difference youre likely to see is how big, or small, the wood is. ive never seen a log smaller than a foot diameter on axmen. i assume the top wood gets smashed up when it hits the ground. where im from the pulp mills by wood as small as 3 inches diameter.

hardwoods are generally denser so you can haul less wood within the weight limits. other than that haulin wood is haulin wood. my dad ran his own log truck for more than 20 years. everytime you get 100 dollars ahead you have to spend 200 on the rig.

[hdcoop72]

Originally Posted by lego1970

Was wanting to know if there are any guys on here that mostly just haul logs, Class 8 drivers/truckers. If so does anybody on here haul hardwoods and is there anything signifantly different in regards to hardwoods then softwoods like they show in most of the logging shows today? Also are any of you O/O's?

My background has mostly been a long haul trucker, flatbed and van, but also a tree trimmer and have operated grapple trucks so I know about both trees and trucks, but not about logging operations and or hauling logs.

Thanks.

lego1970, I can't give any info.... but my Dad who now lives in E.Kansas has a lifetime of log hauling in the PNW. P.M. me and I'll try and hook you up.

[lego1970]

371groundie,
Thanks for the info, Ill have to check out axemen this week to see if I notice anything that may be of importance. What you said about hardwoods, is about what I expect when it comes to weight. Got on Webwood the other day and they have a handy log size weight chart, so that should be a handy tool when I start out so I can balance the weight of the trailer while loading. Thanks again for the info.

Hdcoop72, I'll PM you. Thanks.

[Gologit]

Originally Posted by lego1970

371groundie,
Thanks for the info, Ill have to check out axemen this week to see if I notice anything that may be of importance. What you said about hardwoods, is about what I expect when it comes to weight. Got on Webwood the other day and they have a handy log size weight chart, so that should be a handy tool when I start out so I can balance the weight of the trailer while loading. Thanks again for the info.

Hdcoop72, I'll PM you. Thanks.

Onboard scales are a lot more accurate way to figure your load weight. And if you're hauling logs maximizing your weight is important since most jobs pay by the ton.

When you're under the loader you won't have time to figure the dimension/weight ratio. Logging is all about production and if you're screwing around measuring every log on every load you'll slow things down. In logging of any kind you don't want to slow things down. It pisses people off and costs them money.

With onboard scales you can get a good quick idea of weight, signal the loader for how much more wood you need and where you want it, tie down and get off the landing.

If you're serious about hauling logs try to get a job driving for somebody before you make a decision about getting your own truck. It's a tough racket but a lot of guys wouldn't want to do anything else.

[lego1970]

Originally Posted by Gologit

Onboard scales are a lot more accurate way to figure your load weight. And if you're hauling logs maximizing your weight is important since most jobs pay by the ton.

When you're under the loader you won't have time to figure the dimension/weight ratio. Logging is all about production and if you're screwing around measuring every log on every load you'll slow things down. In logging of any kind you don't want to slow things down. It pisses people off and costs them money.

With onboard scales you can get a good quick idea of weight, signal the loader for how much more wood you need and where you want it, tie down and get off the landing.

If you're serious about hauling logs try to get a job driving for somebody before you make a decision about getting your own truck. It's a tough racket but a lot of guys wouldn't want to do anything else.

I've been watching some you tube videos and some of those show on the TV, but I think the stuff I'll be doing will be quite a bit different as far as logistics go. I guess most of the loads are out 100-300 miles from the mill so I'll only be running one or two loads a day and around here everything is 80k or under without a permit. The mill owns the trucks and I believe most of the trailers have grapples on them so I'll be doing all the loading and unloading. I'm pretty quick with a grapple and I think that will work out great for me on the weeks I don't my son (custody stuff) because I think I'll be able to unload at the mill at night if the load is far away and I'm gonna be running late to the mill. That will get me a head start on getting the next load and hopefully I'll be able to sneak in an extra load or two a week, on the weeks that I don't have my son. I'm hoping the trucks at least have a suspension guage on the tractor, that will at least allow me to roughly caculate what's on the trailer. I can't remember if the trailer are spread axle or not. If they spread axle, I can get pretty sloppy on the weight there, but the spread axles would be a little harder to navigate tight turns. I think your right about owning a truck. I owned one for 5 years but it was all road stuff so if I do get a chance to own another truck, I'll wait a year or two and see if I feel ready for it then. Besides none of the trucks around here are spec'd for that kind of work. It's hard to find trucks around here with lower gears and full lockers. You can find some but none of them have sleepers on them and with this job they said some night I'll be sleeping in the truck. Anyway, thanks for the response. It gave me more to think about and consider.

[Gologit]

Originally Posted by lego1970

I've been watching some you tube videos and some of those show on the TV, but I think the stuff I'll be doing will be quite a bit different as far as logistics go. I guess most of the loads are out 100-300 miles from the mill so I'll only be running one or two loads a day and around here everything is 80k or under without a permit. The mill owns the trucks and I believe most of the trailers have grapples on them so I'll be doing all the loading and unloading. I'm pretty quick with a grapple and I think that will work out great for me on the weeks I don't my son (custody stuff) because I think I'll be able to unload at the mill at night if the load is far away and I'm gonna be running late to the mill. That will get me a head start on getting the next load and hopefully I'll be able to sneak in an extra load or two a week, on the weeks that I don't have my son. I'm hoping the trucks at least have a suspension guage on the tractor, that will at least allow me to roughly caculate what's on the trailer. I can't remember if the trailer are spread axle or not. If they spread axle, I can get pretty sloppy on the weight there, but the spread axles would be a little harder to navigate tight turns. I think your right about owning a truck. I owned one for 5 years but it was all road stuff so if I do get a chance to own another truck, I'll wait a year or two and see if I feel ready for it then. Besides none of the trucks around here are spec'd for that kind of work. It's hard to find trucks around here with lower gears and full lockers. You can find some but none of them have sleepers on them and with this job they said some night I'll be sleeping in the truck. Anyway, thanks for the response. It gave me more to think about and consider.

You're right about it being different. Very seldom do you see a semi in the woods out here unless it's a lowbed. If you've watched videos of our type of equipment you can see that they're pretty much job specific and wouldn't be much good for anything else. Some of the OOs have detachable stingers on the truck that they can pull off and re-rig for a 5th wheel if they get a job pulling chip trailers or flat beds. A lot of the guys don't bother and just park the truck when the season is done...all they want to do is haul logs. A lot of them have a wife with a good job.

Most of our stuff is long logs, 32s, 40s, it all depends on species and what each particular mill wants. The haul rates are carefully set so that, if things go right, you can make a little money. Very little money. Just enough to keep the wolf away from the door and keep the OO hungry and eager to work. The haul rates change darn near every time you move landings and you don't always know exactly what you're getting paid. You know the routine.

Good luck to you.

[RandyMac]

[Oldtimer]

Watched a driver load his truck right to the gills with hardwood, bet he had 7000 feet on that tri-axle. He tried to leave and snapped an axle like a twig.
I laughed.

[lego1970]

Those are some cool pics. Look at the size of the logs and the grapples on that front end loader were huge. That's pretty neat. I don't know what those trucks were. They kinda look like Autocars but that one badge looks like freightliner, however I don't think freightliners came out until the mid to late 70's. Eitherway, cool pics.

As far as snapping axles, most of the newer trucks have break away u-joints set at X amount of ft lbs, however that's still not uncommon to snap an axle if you shock load it just right.

[Joe46]

All three trucks look like KW's. Here in the Northwest a lot of the offroad trucks were KW's, Hayes, Pacific's , Challengers's, or Macks. Hanks Truck Pictures is a great site for truck pictures

[lego1970]

Originally Posted by Joe46

All three trucks look like KW's. Here in the Northwest a lot of the offroad trucks were KW's, Hayes, Pacific's , Challengers's, or Macks. Hanks Truck Pictures is a great site for truck pictures

Yea, I couldn't tell. That's before my time. I'll be honest, I've never even heard of Pacific's or Challengers so I'll have to check those out. I've heard of Hayes before and I think on Truckpaper.com they even have a link in the search engine for those trucks. Macks and KW are used here alot, matter of fact my dream truck is a KW T800. Hanks truck pics is a cool site and there is another website I came across awhile back that specializes more on old dinners, motels, and truckstops that is really neat to look thru.

[Marquis]

Seen American Loggers?? That's down the road from here, and that's what I do in the winter time. Pretty much what they've said is about right, not all though I think.

[lego1970]

Originally Posted by Marquis

Seen American Loggers?? That's down the road from here, and that's what I do in the winter time. Pretty much what they've said is about right, not all though I think.

I've been doing it for a couple weeks now. It' nice because it combines both my love of trucks and trees. It's a little different then what's on the shows. Because it's lower qauntities there is less "rush, rush", however there is a flip side to things. Since there is only two trucks and the wood is limited, we are out a ways, completely by ourselves, we do all the maintenance, loading, unloading, scheduling, staying good with the farmers, keeping livestock from getting out of the gates, etc, etc, etc. The pay isn't as high as I had hoped for, but then again it never is. Thanks for the input.

[upstateny]

Around here trucks typically are a truck with loader and a pup trailer.

If the trees on the landing are all pulp wood (no butt logs) we cut 17'4" pulp wood as many as possible, then measure out and see where 8' and 4' fall and cut there. Some drivers will take pulp any length up to 17'4".

Mills like the 17'4" and so do drivers because it loads quicker and cuts easier at the mill and on the landing. The "local" mill (about an hour away) has the trucks go to one yard, where they have large band saws that cut down through the load every 4'. Then the trucks have to drive across town with the load cut to be unloaded at the mill.

Our driver will take pulp 17'4" no matter how twisted and crooked it is. He says "ahh it'll all pack in there and bind down. I dont much care."


Log trucks are also the same set up (truck with loader and a pup trailer). But they carry logs cut in 8' 10' 12' 14' and occassionally 16'.

Most trucks around here are Western Stars, KW, a few Peterbilts, Macks, Louisville's, and a couple Volvo/Autocars.


I'll get a pic later when I have a couple more minutes.