getting into logging

[cliobis]

I currently live in NJ but want to be working in the woods and i am looking to move to the north west. How hard would it be for me to find a job with a logging company?

 

[2dogs]

Finding one is easy. Filling it is another story. Do you have any experience in the woods?

"any" is supposed to be underlined.

 

[cliobis]

i have experience falling trees and doing tree work

 

[Gologit]

i have experience falling trees and doing tree work

What kind of trees and how much actual experience?

Are you looking to start out as a faller? If so I'd advise you to rethink your plans. There are always more experienced fallers than there are jobs.

There might be an off chance of catching on with somebody's rigging crew but even those jobs usually get grabbed up by the locals.

I wish I had better news for you but there's no point in sugar coating it.

 

[forestryworks]

i have experience falling trees and doing tree work

That's good and all, but it don't hold water over the phone for a west coast outfit.

You gotta move to where the work is and shake people's hands. But take Gologit's advice, he's been at it since the ferns were as big as redwoods.

 

[paccity]

there is plenty of work to do , but your not going to stroll right in to a falling gig. to break in your going to have to start at the bottom work hard and listen harder. if your lucky eventually you will get to tippin something . and like what forestryworks said phones don't work . even though ive done it a while ago, i won't/ cant do it anymore. production wise. i do tree work now but it's a heck of a lot easier than bush work. your going to want it bad. good luck.

 

[bitzer]

####, stay home! Theres gotta be some timber left in that state and my guess is there aren't a whole lotta guys chasin after it.

 

[slowp]

####, stay home! Theres gotta be some timber left in that state and my guess is there aren't a whole lotta guys chasin after it.

Yes. Before you move here, 3 people must leave. That's the rule. :bang:

 

[flushcut]

My guess is dude picked up a chainsaw after Sandy and fancies himself as a timber faller.

 

[Wazzu]

You will have to excuse me as this may seem a little rude. When people say stuff like this I always think its like someone saying I want to move to Montana, Idaho, Washington etc. to become a cowboy. It just does not work that way, the people working in the timber industry are the last of the mohicans man. There are hardly any left and if anybody new gets into timber work its because they grew up in it or around it. Plus there are a lot easier ways to make poverty wages. My suggestion is to get work in an area where you can actually make a living and find somebody to cut firewood with as a side job. That should cure any desires of being in the timber industry.

 

[Oldtimer]

I never worked out there, but I can tell you it isn't like what you see on Axe Men. It's a lot more work, and the danger is far more real. They have really really good luck filming close calls, but you won't see it coming when it happens to you.
Head south. They have more timber, and more available jobs- most sitting in an AC cooled cab.
Safer, cleaner, and closer.

 

[northmanlogging]

hard to find any kind of job out here unless its boeing (also known as boing). The timber market is not the greatest, lots of mill closures, lots of owl nonsense, maybe better off where your at... besides its a different animal out here, the trees are big, the ground is very steep, lots of wet and cold... you sure you wanna come out and play? If so the best of luck to ya, but don't get your hopes up

 

[Gologit]

That's good and all, but it don't hold water over the phone for a west coast outfit.

You gotta move to where the work is and shake people's hands. But take Gologit's advice, he's been at it since the ferns were as big as redwoods.

Well, maybe not that long. Not quite, anyway. :msp_rolleyes:

 

[B Harrison]

You know you guys should do charters for cutting big timber, kind of like a hunting guide.

Have a place where you aren't pushed that bad to get done and let people pay to come run your big saws and cut down a 140' tree. Work gets done, you still make money and people realize how much work goes into that big fir beam in there neighbors house.

 

[Gologit]

You know you guys should do charters for cutting big timber, kind of like a hunting guide.

Have a place where you aren't pushed that bad to get done and let people pay to come run your big saws and cut down a 140' tree. Work gets done, you still make money and people realize how much work goes into that big fir beam in there neighbors house.

No thanks.

 

[full tracked]

You know you guys should do charters for cutting big timber, kind of like a hunting guide.

Have a place where you aren't pushed that bad to get done and let people pay to come run your big saws and cut down a 140' tree. Work gets done, you still make money and people realize how much work goes into that big fir beam in there neighbors house.

Not the worst idea ever. There was that guy in Las Vegas who couldn't find enough work for his construction equipment, so he lets rich people pay him for the chance to operate it for a few hours.

 

[Jacob J.]

You know you guys should do charters for cutting big timber, kind of like a hunting guide.

Have a place where you aren't pushed that bad to get done and let people pay to come run your big saws and cut down a 140' tree. Work gets done, you still make money and people realize how much work goes into that big fir beam in there neighbors house.

The only problem with that is, no one is really cutting big timber anymore. The northern California boys have the best wood being cut these days and that is few and far between. Since all logging on federal lands has gone away, everything being cut is state and private and there's little big timber to be had there.

Some of the Washington guys are getting a few good sticks now and then but not enough to make a tourism industry out of it. Canada would be the place nowadays to watch big timber coming down.

 

[Gologit]

B Harrison

I didn't mean to seem abrupt with my first answer to your suggestion...I was just laughing too hard to type any more.

It's a novel idea, kinda like a dude ranch for wannabe loggers, but I just don't see any way it would work. There's just too many things that could go wrong, too many hazards that are unpredictable and sudden and that are almost impossible for even an experienced person to defend himself against.

Most of the stuff I cut is either too big for a feller buncher or on ground too steep to run one. Or both. Not the kind of work environment I'd want to have to watch out for a greenhorn in.

Plus, I don't remember a production job where we could poke along and take our time and let somebody try their hand at being a logger for the day. It sure would be nice to be able to do that but production would suffer. No production, no money.

Just for grins I called my insurance guy and ran your idea past him. When he got through screaming he asked me if I'd taken up drinking whiskey again.

 

[redprospector]

Well, maybe not that long. Not quite, anyway. :msp_rolleyes:

Come on Bob! Everybody knows that you've been fallin' timber since Moby D i c k was a minnow.

Andy

 

[slowp]

Hmmmmf. I thought of that years ago. I was calling it, Man Camp. I got it all figured out except how to put trees back up. That's the problem. I'd run out of trees. Size is relevent to experience. Our little second growth PNW trees look mighty big and tall when you are a novice. They look that way to experienced fallers from Montana too.

It would be expensive to go to Man Camp. There's a good reason for that. But I'd take the crummy to town and guide the guests to the appropriate businesses to get clothing and boots and saws and all the other stuff.

I planned to hire BUOFs, or younger ones if they were good, and each "guest" would have a private guide.
After falling was completed, the yarder would move in. I'd need a few, colorful but good with people rigging rats for the choker setting segment.

Meals and lodging would be inclusive as would transportation. In the evenings, libations and story telling by BUOLs. I'd drive the guests to the local watering holes, except, they no longer have the same feel as they did when our community was going full tilt. Maybe in Morton?

I think I might need to hire a good lawyer too.

Now, how to get those trees to go back down the hill and stand back up.