Falling Hot Topic's

[John Ellison]

Ryan, I lived there from 79 -94. Got tired of living in raingear
John

 

[Jacob J.]

John- how are the logging seasons paying up there these days? Last time I was up there was in '96, for about 2 months- made about $300/day cutting medium and smaller timber. It's not worth it now from what I've seen, unless a guy is working for a hekicopter outfit that gets into some bigger wood.

 

[John Ellison]

JJ I saw the end coming in 92. We left in 94. My wife still goes to Ketchikan to visit her kids. I dont believe there is much going on there now. Even the Foc`sle Bar, loggers home away from home, is gone Tourist shop in its place.
John

 

[Ryan Willock]

around here when you do the math and figure it out a faller makes about $150 a day working for an outfit. They pay $10-$13 per mbf. and most of what they will cut will average 14-20''. Most timbercutters around here cut about 10,000 feet a day and call it quits and go home. How many months out of the year can you log in alaska? Do they have an actual season like cali?

 

[Jacob J.]

Ryan- it depends on the jobs and the outfit you're working for. Like John E. said, there's not much going on in Alaska now. Back in the day it was good money. The aviation outfits would pay a cutter up to around $600.00 a day if the wood was good and a man could scale a lot. The seasons averaged 4 months but went as a long as 7 months if the weather was good. Living on "floating" camps was common- logging camps set-up on barges. The islands had a lot of camps too. It cost a man anywhere from 5-15$ a day to live in one. The longer you stayed, the cheaper it was.

In my area now, about $220-240 as an employee a day is common. Contract cutters can still bring in $265-300 a day if the wood is decent. You have to pay your insurance, taxes, and liability out of that though. Most guys that are employees here are averaging $175.00 a day for six hours of cutting. 10mmbf is about average too.