# logging business



## skidoo52 (Aug 5, 2010)

im looking to get some information on logging. for the last couple of years me and my friend have been doing some timber stand improment work of 20 acres a year on my grandfathers property. im 25 and i run heavy equipment for a living. i have really began to enjoy being in the woods but i also like running equipment. so im looking to get some information on starting a small logging company. how did you guys start up?


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## Oldtimer (Aug 5, 2010)

skidoo52 said:


> I'm looking to get some information on logging. for the last couple of years me and my friend have been doing some timber stand improvement work of 20 acres a year on my grandfathers property. I'm 25 and i run heavy equipment for a living. i have really began to enjoy being in the woods but i also like running equipment. so I'm looking to get some information on starting a small logging company. how did you guys start up?



Started with a co-signed loan for 12K....and owner financed the other 6K...bought a skidder..

If you must go logging, first find out what wood is worth in your area, what species are the most available, and what markets are there. You gotta sell it every week to make that $$.

Next, get tight with your co-signer. Unless you have some fairly serious coin for start up capital, you'll need one.
Now go scour the web and the dealer lots and the classifieds for a grapple skidder with a winch. Plan on spending at least $25K. Any less and you'll be buying a bone that gets worked ON more than worked. Don't go small, go bigger. A 648 JD will use hardly no more fuel than a 548, but it WILL pull 2x the wood...and it will not hesitate to push the log pile or the log truck as needed..

As soon as you have the skidder paid off, get set to buy a BIG loader/slasher/delimber set up. Small is useless when delimbing hardwoods.
All the work of conventional logging is in the LIMBING and SAWING UP on the landing. That is where all the DANGER to you is as well. The LSD will make your life so much easier, you'll giggle all day. You can now work around the weather some, pull wood on the dry days, process in the rain in a nice dry cab.
Oh, and get machines with AC. No AC, far less production.

Last thing to buy, when the time comes, is a rubber tired feller-buncher.
Tracked machines are awesome...until you need to replace the undercarriage...and the swing gear and swing motors..
A rubber tired machine might not go where the tracked machine will, and might not put quite the same amount of wood on the ground on average...but a tube is cheaper than a track..and a rubber tired machine is far cheaper than a tracked machine of the same hours and condition.


Other than these things, WORK like a dog, spend like a Scotsman.
Oil and grease is CHEAP, parts are expensive. Go light & go often rather than going heavy and less often when skidding...you'll move more wood taking 2-3 trees at a time than you will trying to take 4-5 at a time.

Get tight with your main buyer/scaler. He can teach you how to saw up on the landing, and THAT is where a logger makes his money. Also, if he likes you, then he will treat you better and buy your wood before he buys the other guy's wood when the market gets tight.

Wood will stain in the heat like we are having. If you start cutting a load of logs, finish it within a few days or you'll be wasting the wood. Mills do not want stained wood.

DO NOT HIRE HELP, unless they can not only pay their own paycheck but MAKE YOU MONEY BESIDES. Otherwise, you're just giving money away and putting your neck out there if they get hurt.

I'm sure there's more I am not remembering right now. Keep asking questions.
This industry needs more young bucks like you.


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## mdavlee (Aug 5, 2010)

I was going to start my own business 5 years ago. Someone that had made it big time with 2 new skidders, new fellerbuncher, several trucks, new loader and all paid for with cash told me to buy new or nicer stuff. He said it would pay off in the short run. He said buy a skidder and rent a dozer when needed. He said there was no such thing as a 8 hour day or 10 hr day. He said you would need 50k or so to be able to start and harvest timber before you could get any money back on the initial investment after fuel, paying someone to haul the wood other expenses you won't account for. 

The guy I was going into business with didn't have the startup money he said he had so I went on another shutdown at a powerplant and he never mentioned it again. My dad tried it with one of his cousins and they ended up broke before they got started good.


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## Plankton (Aug 5, 2010)

Oldtimer said:


> The LSD will make your life so much easier, you'll giggle all day.



Sigged.


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## Oldtimer (Aug 6, 2010)

Plankton said:


> Sigged.



LOL....I didn't think that through...


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## GASoline71 (Aug 6, 2010)

Get a job on a crew. Whether you're runnin' gear or driving truck... it will give you a perspective if that's what you really wanna do. You'll see the pros and cons right off the bat. Then you'll see a piece of machinery break... then you'll say to yourself... "Glad that ain't on my tab..." 

Not just a job maintaining plots of timber... I mean no #### loggin'. 

Gary


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## firewoodlogger1 (Aug 6, 2010)

*i too am looking for advice on how to start a company*

im a 2nd generation logger im looking to start my own timber and firewood cuttintg company any advice or help for an oregon logger thanx


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## 380LGR (Aug 18, 2010)

Run run as fast as you can in the other direction... Much easier way of making a living.


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## 2dogs (Aug 18, 2010)

Just buy the dvds of Axmen and some Tonka toys and pretend. If you want more realism burn up some money each day and hit yourself over the head with a 2X4.


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## RVALUE (Aug 18, 2010)

I believe that having $ 100 Grand at the end of the first year would be nice. 


So how do you do that?

Start with a million, and work your ass off every day, and twice on weekends, and if you are _very_ good, you'll have a hundred grand left at the end of a year.

But boy will you be _alot_ smarter.


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## Gypo Logger (Aug 20, 2010)

Oh No! Not Another Logger! Lol
NY State has some of the best hardwood timber in the world. The trick is to find it and the market. In other words, you have to find a good veneer buyer and sawlog buyer. It's essential that you know the difference and sell it to the horses mouth, not a middle man.
A good logger knows his timber, volume, grade and value and knows how to protect and enhance the resource. Stay away from mills as the word "veneer", is not in there vocabulary.
There are not too many stupid loggers left that have been successful.
The best people to buy timber from are farmers, accountants and lawyers.
The worst are real estate agents and teachers. Lol
Stay Small, Keep it All!
Gypo


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## floyd (Aug 20, 2010)

Yup , kinda like farming... start with a million & farm til it's all gone.


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## RVALUE (Aug 20, 2010)

floyd said:


> Yup , kinda like farming... start with a million & farm til it's all gone.



Except with farming, that wouldn't get you to harvest. :hmm3grin2orange:


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## horseloger (Aug 26, 2010)

Well then there is the other way of doing things and thats the old fashion way! Buy A good team of horses and a small 4 wheel drive tractor with a utillity trailer and a boom loader on it! get a 21/2 ton truck with a pup trailer all for about the same $15-20,000! With this set up you can shrot drag the logs to the trail head load the logs on your tractor with the log loader haul to road side and place on truck!
You will get more jobs because this system will do less damage to the wood lot , you will have less over head because you dont have to have all the insurance, matinance and fuel you would with a michanical opperation and you will be able to produce close to the same amount of material each day!
There are a lot of horse loggers in the new york area that will be willing to talk to you look around and see if any are in your area!O yea the horses allso reproduce themselfs and repair themselfs too, lets see a skidder do that


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## slowp (Aug 27, 2010)

As I've pointed out before, elephants are better than horses. :deadhorse: Elephants can deck wood. Horses can, but need a block and some rigging to do so. Decked wood makes for smaller landings, which makes a prettier job.


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## floyd (Aug 27, 2010)

Horses do not need a block to deck. I did it for years without any. I quit going anymore than 5 or 6 high after the trucker said don't worry about it...I can move up.


A pretty deck does not make the paycheck bigger.


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## dozerman37 (Sep 7, 2010)

*startin business*

im only 24 and im in it part time. and i been talking with my uncle whom is my teacher in the forestry biz. and hes been doing it for himself 32 years. he said a guy with a skidder and a pickup can make a living on it. but work for someone for a while to learn the work. i learn something new everyday. i first learned safety and then how to sharpen my saw when i was small. then maintenance on equipment. and species of trees. now im learning the difference in skidders and the pros and cons. because if your gonna get a $15,000 skidder. you wanna get the right one for the terrain and price and etc. etc. be very cautious ive learned. 2 guys died this year near my home and one guy is a vegetable. safety first on everything. if it don't look right don't do it or ask opinions first. thats why this forum and modern technology are so excellent.


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## tramp bushler (Sep 8, 2010)

2dogs said:


> Just buy the dvds of Axmen and some Tonka toys and pretend. If you want more realism burn up some money each day and hit yourself over the head with a 2X4.


. Your a riot :deadhorse::deadhorse:hone::crazy1: . Or you can learn how to fall timber the right way. / live thru that . buy a line skidder , short logger log truck w/ self loader . And work harder develop a workable business plan where you actually save money to move up in the purchase of bigger iron . Ya , a buncher can put more wood on the ground in 1 day , but a good faller can put 20 - 40 cord / bushel on the ground in a 7 hr day . Cord or bushel depending on the size of your timber and what coast you r on . Around here they figure around 600 bd ft per cord ......... your 25 , time you r 35 u could have the big fancy iron , and actually appreciate it .. Plus you will know what your doin , not just wiggilin levers


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