# Using tape for marking timber???



## Curlycherry1 (May 26, 2016)

In another forum a person said they would never trust a forester that did not mark trees with tape as compared to paint. I have never heard of such a thing other than around houses being built and small markings for borders of construction sites. 

I can think of a lot of reasons to not use tape such as easy to fall off, no proof the log was marked once skidded, too much time needed to tape every tree to be cut, impossible for one forester to mark a large diameter tree alone, etc.

Has anyone heard of using tape for large commercial forestry tracks?


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## Gologit (May 26, 2016)

Curlycherry1 said:


> In another forum a person said they would never trust a forester that did not mark trees with tape as compared to paint. I have never heard of such a thing other than around houses being built and small markings for borders of construction sites.
> 
> I can think of a lot of reasons to not use tape such as easy to fall off, no proof the log was marked once skidded, too much time needed to tape every tree to be cut, impossible for one forester to mark a large diameter tree alone, etc.
> 
> Has anyone heard of using tape for large commercial forestry tracks?



We use paint to mark trees for cutting but we also use tape...we call it _ribbon _or _flagging..._of different colors to mark hazard trees, boundaries, strips, corners, and RMZs. It's also used to mark haul roads, skid trails, arch sites, and many other things.

Here are some examples...http://www.baileysonline.com/shop.axd/Search?keywords=flagging


I'd like to have all the money back that I've spent on ribbon.


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## Curlycherry1 (May 26, 2016)

Gologit said:


> We use paint to mark trees for cutting but we also use tape...we call it _ribbon _or _flagging..._of different colors to mark hazard trees, boundaries, strips, corners, and RMZs. It's also used to mark haul roads, skid trails, arch sites, and many other things.
> 
> Here are some examples...http://www.baileysonline.com/shop.axd/Search?keywords=flagging
> 
> ...




Flagging a hazard does make sense. Skid roads where I worked were marked by trees having 3 stripes on them if they were to be removed to make way for the skid road. Other times the forester just painted the small trees along the road. that was a dozer, skidder or brush grinder could just follow the marks and have the road set nice and clean.


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## Jhenderson (May 26, 2016)

Never met a legitimate forester who marked anything but boundaries and skid trails in tape


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## bnmc98 (May 26, 2016)

I like flagging because it moves in the breeze. Catches your eye. I had a forester use pink paint one time to mark cut trees in an SMZ because thats all he had on him. I had to walk through again after I cut and cut all the trees I missed cause I couldn't see the paint well enough.


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## 2dogs (May 26, 2016)

On Forest Service ground they will always mark with paint with a marker in it. An upside down V at ground level and a horizontal stripe, sometimes. That's my experience anyway.

Flagging is good on small jobs and for hazards, boundry s, etc. I carry flagging and a Sharpie along with a can of paint in my vest. I'm not an RPF so I use the "what ever works at the time" system. I take notes cause I can't remember what all the markings are for after a couple of months.


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## northmanlogging (May 27, 2016)

just a dumb gyppo, but I like flagging on boundaries, the hazards I'm pretty much on my own, since I've never worked with a proper forester, leave or take trees get paint depending on how much I'm taking one way or the other.


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## Gologit (May 27, 2016)

2dogs said:


> I'm not an RPF so I use the "what ever works at the time" system. I take notes cause I can't remember what all the markings are for after a couple of months.




 The "whatever works" system gets used by RPFs too. It's nice if they're still around to explain their color codes to us knuckle draggers in the woods. Sometimes even that doesn't help. As in "I was marking all the landings and turnouts with blue tape and all the arch sites with red tape but I ran out of both midway through the job and all I had left was yellow so that's what I used for everything".


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## ChoppyChoppy (May 27, 2016)

The couple timber sales we did that were state owned the forester marked all the boundaries and seed trees with flagging tape. No paint.
The current sale we have been working for 4 years, the flagging all still visible. Dunno how well paint would hold up?


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## Jhenderson (May 27, 2016)

The only reason I see for marking sale trees with flagging instead of paint is the ability of the forester or landowner to take trees out of the sale. As long as that's done before the showing its fine. I have had a couple of landowners try to take trees out of the sale after I wrote a check. That I'm not fond of, to say the least.


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## SliverPicker (May 27, 2016)

Scotch tape is hands down the best for marking timber sales.


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## northmanlogging (May 27, 2016)

The proper tree paint, from Rudd doesn't come off or fade very quickly, I've seen sales that where marked for 3-4 years but you can still see the paint, then they cut the trees load em haul em and then you can still see most of the paint at the mill.

I've heard mostly from the foresters that used to hang out around here, that the tree paint was a pain to get out of clothes, skin, vehicle paint etc. Kinda wan't to hit my hat with it but I hear it doesn't dry much for several weeks. sometimes longer.


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## Skeans (May 27, 2016)

Another great use for flagging or ribbon is culvert marking damn things are expensive. 

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## Gologit (May 27, 2016)

Skeans said:


> Another great use for flagging or ribbon is culvert marking damn things are expensive.
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk


 
The ribbon on the culvert would give the truck drivers something to aim their trailer tires at.


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## Skeans (May 27, 2016)

Gologit said:


> The ribbon on the culvert would give the truck drivers something to aim their trailer tires at.


I do it because my dad or I are driving 

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## Gologit (May 27, 2016)

Skeans said:


> I do it because my dad or I are driving
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk



I always tried to use road cones...the really big bright orange ones with reflective tape...on culvert ends. Especially on culvert ends in a tight turn. The driver's would still hit them but they couldn't claim it was because they were hard to see.


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## bnmc98 (May 28, 2016)

I know one of the big issues that the FS had was always making sure you weren't stealing trees. So I know that they always used paint to mark the stump on off species or trees out of the cut area of the sale. That way if they see a stump in one of those areas with or without paint, they know if you were naughty or not. Always paint. No painty no cutty.
Skid trails were the same way too.

I worked for Plum Creek for a little bit marking timber and we always used paint. I know sometimes a sale will sit for a while. 
(Out here they can prep a sale and then like clockwork it immediately gets shut down and goes to lawsuit if its on Federal land.) 
That takes a while to work through. My guess is that ribbon can always rot or blow off, paint does not.
When I ran section lines for PC we always painted. That would be a lot of work if the ribbon all blew away or fell off to run the section line again. Paint can always be just refreshed later on.

Nowadays I have a GPS and when I mark a section line for the cut I just hang ribbon as high as I can so the feller buncher operator can see. But I do it right before he goes into the area, and we have been on private land for a while so its fast and easy to see. no need to worry if its left on the trees after we go through. He just leaves a 10ft buffer and were good.


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## Skeans (May 28, 2016)

I'm not clear cutting but thinning if a forester come out and marks a trail they don't understand how the swing works for the least damage as well.

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