fuel usage

[mainelogger1995]

Hey everyone I know I dont post on here much but I was wondering if any of you could help me out, I'm lookin to grow the logging company my father has part time and I want to run it full time, we just have one cable skidder right now and I want to add a barko 160 loader, a morbark 16 whole tree chipper and a franklin 130 skidder to run with our current franklin 100 skidder. I was wondering if anyone knew how much fuel this equipment would use a day, week, month? I know the two skidders wont use much at all but I;m not sure about the loader and chipper which wont be running all day just once in a while for sorting logs, pulp and tops and then chipping when theres enough tops piled up thanks for any help, tanner.

 

[mainelogger1995]

Can anybody help me with this?

 

[hammerlogging]

sounds like a heck of a single leap. fuel shouldn't be the question, reliable markets is more important.

 

[mainelogger1995]

sounds like a heck of a single leap. fuel shouldn't be the question, reliable markets is more important.

Yeah I know its a leap but I will be able to move quite a bit of wood and markets arent to big of an issue

 

[northmanlogging]

This is mostly hearsay but excavators/log loaders in general are thirsty machines, upwards fo 90 gal a day. Chippers, are down right gluttons, I've heard as much as 2-300 gal a day. Some of the bigger new skidders, feller bunchers, forwards, are marginally better, but still burning an insane amount of fuel. Not to mention trucking costs and maintenance.

This is just my opinion, based largely on what I've read in the eenternut... You sure you want to take that kind of leap, probably with payments, big payments on top of everything else?

 

[mainelogger1995]

This is mostly hearsay but excavators/log loaders in general are thirsty machines, upwards fo 90 gal a day. Chippers, are down right gluttons, I've heard as much as 2-300 gal a day. Some of the bigger new skidders, feller bunchers, forwards, are marginally better, but still burning an insane amount of fuel. Not to mention trucking costs and maintenance.

This is just my opinion, based largely on what I've read in the eenternut... You sure you want to take that kind of leap, probably with payments, big payments on top of everything else?

yeah right now im just looking at what ill be facing to get into logging full time im going away for college for 2 years this fall but wanna get somthing started when i get out of there, all the equipment ive found is really cheap too but maybe just two cable machines is the way to go for now.

 

[saxono3]

Dont take this as criticism, cause its not. But,,,,why,,,in the world,,,would you pay for two years of college,,, to be a logger? It aint exactly a prerequisite you know. If you want to log, the money your spending on school would pay for a lot of equipment. Not to mention you would be making money logging full time,,well, kinda,,logging being,,well,,logging. Not saying school is a bad idea,,its not. But if your going to log,,,well, dosen't make much sense.

 

[mainelogger1995]

Dont take this as criticism, cause its not. But,,,,why,,,in the world,,,would you pay for two years of college,,, to be a logger? It aint exactly a prerequisite you know. If you want to log, the money your spending on school would pay for a lot of equipment. Not to mention you would be making money logging full time,,well, kinda,,logging being,,well,,logging. Not saying school is a bad idea,,its not. But if your going to log,,,well, dosen't make much sense.

I'm goin to school for heavy equipment operation and maintenance, not to be a logger. I'm doing that program so I will be able to repair and maintain my equipment. And its a community college so its wicked cheap for 2 years.

 

[Gologit]

I'm goin to school for heavy equipment operation and maintenance, not to be a logger. I'm doing that program so I will be able to repair and maintain my equipment. And its a community college so its wicked cheap for 2 years.

Good move. If you're going to run equipment, especially older equipment, knowing how to work on them is key.

As far as fuel usage goes, that's a hard one to predict with any accuracy. A Cat or a shovel will use different amounts per hour depending on how they're being used. You can do some ball park estimates that will get you close but until you actually run the machine in different conditions it's hard to be dead on accurate.

LOL...fuel usage? LOTS!

 

[mainelogger1995]

Ya I have been talking with people my dad and me know that have bigger equipment and crews and have been able to some what figure out what I'll use for fuel, I have also found some newer equipment a prentice 210 with a circle saw slasher and a JD 540g cable skidder, one of my friends has a 280 prentice and said it only uses about a 100 gallons of fuel a week working 5-6 days and his runs all day to keep up with his grapple skidder

 

[forestryworks]

yeah right now im just looking at what ill be facing to get into logging full time im going away for college for 2 years this fall but wanna get somthing started when i get out of there, all the equipment ive found is really cheap too but maybe just two cable machines is the way to go for now.

Good, do your education now and get it done. You can always log later, but you can't always go back to school. A good education beyond the high school level is just a future safety net. I did the same route you did (minus running a logging company) and cut hazard trees for awhile and did a little timber falling. Now I'm using my other degree to restore prairies in the Great Plains.

 

[mainelogger1995]

Good, do your education now and get it done. You can always log later, but you can't always go back to school. A good education beyond the high school level is just a future safety net. I did the same route you did (minus running a logging company) and cut hazard trees for awhile and did a little timber falling. Now I'm using my other degree to restore prairies in the Great Plains.

yes thats another reason why I'm taking the program, a good back up plan!

 

[Cletuspsc]

I run a hood with a circle saw about the size of the barko your talking about. When in slashing ill burn around 7-9 gal/hour depending on the size of the wood. loading trailers you can idle it down a bit and get down around 4-5gal/hr. a morbark 16 will be around 18-20 gal/hr if it has the big cummings motor. but youll be all of an hour to load a van wiht a little chipper like that soft wood and poles might get you in the 45 min range

 

[lone wolf]

Hey everyone I know I dont post on here much but I was wondering if any of you could help me out, I'm lookin to grow the logging company my father has part time and I want to run it full time, we just have one cable skidder right now and I want to add a barko 160 loader, a morbark 16 whole tree chipper and a franklin 130 skidder to run with our current franklin 100 skidder. I was wondering if anyone knew how much fuel this equipment would use a day, week, month? I know the two skidders wont use much at all but I;m not sure about the loader and chipper which wont be running all day just once in a while for sorting logs, pulp and tops and then chipping when theres enough tops piled up thanks for any help, tanner.

The chipper would use a gallon or two an hour.

 

[mainelogger1995]

Thanks for all the help everyone I really appreciate it!