Had to quit first logging job after fitting in perfectly. How should I proceed?

[056kid]

So was it meth or just bad hygiene that took your chompers?

 

[HuskStihl]

So was it meth or just bad hygiene that took your chompers?

I lost mine from meth and bad hygiene
Although in my defense, when you do as much meth as I do, hygiene becomes a challenge

 

[matthew sparks]

When I was a kid it was bad hygiene. Everyone in my family has bad teeth. I will admit not taking care of them as an child but as an adult I did. My mom always took care of her teeth better than anyone I know and after partials and everything else she had to get upper dentures at 50.

Thats all over with now though. Now I am trying to get all my equipment and work. I have been out talking to mills and haven't updated all of you that have helped. I am still having trouble finding a skidder a lender will approve on a start up so I just went to my credit union yesterday and took out a loan against some property I have had paid off for about a year. It took me 10 years to pay it off and one day to put it right back in the banks hands.

 

[HuskStihl]

Could you do it like Northman did? Start with just a tractor and buy stuff with the proceeds from the jobs you complete? Debt makes me personally very nervous

 

[matthew sparks]

Northman was one of them telling me to get a skidder before I start I think. I already have a nice tractor. I couldn't find which page. I could be mistaken. I have the money waiting in my checking account now so I guess there is no turning back.

 

[HuskStihl]

I think u'r right on his recs, but I seem to remember he started with an old ford tractor. I'm not trying to be a dick, and my discomfort with my personal debt should not be transferred onto you, but that money's not spent until you spend it.

 

[matthew sparks]

Well there is a reason it is still in the bank. I may buy something tomorrow or I may proceed with logging until the right piece of equipment comes along. I hate debt, but with 4 kids I will be in debt forever anyways.

 

[northmanlogging]

Husk yer correct I started with a tractor... and I should have had a skidder!

I ended up using the second mortgage on an already underwater loan to buy the skidder, but it was a Hel of a deal and I managed to pay it off in around 12 loads, thats working full time and logging on weekends. (about 2 months of working)

However, if I where logging full time imagine those 12 loads being doubled or tripled, 3-4 loads a week with enough wood in front of me easy enough. (if I wasn't so fat and tired I could probably get more wood...)

The trick is to put one load to you the other to your equipment, sometimes its just enough to move the equipment and keep beans on the table, payments are a horrible thing to have over your head, but it is doable. Many many folks have done it.

The messed up thing is I managed to get one payment away from paying off the second mortgage, completely... then bought a dump truck... among other things

 

[matthew sparks]

Northman you sound like me with the loans. If skidders weren't so heavy I might be coming out there and paying you an inspection fee on the skidders you have in your area. Not only are they cheap there but you would know if it was junk or not when you saw it.

 

[matthew sparks]

Also if you just started with a tractor what else was in your arsonal? Did you have a logging truck, have them hauled, or use a trailer? My first big job is 3 miles form the mill. I have more to think about than a skidder and I don't know which direction I will go but would love to hear your thoughts.

 

[northmanlogging]

Take a look at shipping them out there, could be worth the effort? The little skidders arn't too heavy like 8-14k ish... Flights are cheap

Equipment trader could probably get you some info on haulers.

 

[matthew sparks]

I was thinking about driving my gooseneck out but USHIP would be cheaper. What did you do about hauling logs when you started? DId you have a logging truck?

 

[northmanlogging]

Also if you just started with a tractor what else was in your arsonal? Did you have a logging truck, have them hauled, or use a trailer? My first big job is 3 miles form the mill. I have more to think about than a skidder and I don't know which direction I will go but would love to hear your thoughts.

Self loading log trucks, still use em. Have a list in fact...

Every now and then I drag one in on a car trailer or my equipment trailer. Loading them is fairly easy with a decent winch, parbuckle them over the side.

Otherwise my "arsenal" was at the time a basket case 046, a beat up tin hat, a log tape, a few cheap wedges, few hundred feet of 1/2" cable, couple of snatch blocks, the tractor, a 4x4 truck, and a peavy or two.

I used a cable gripper on chokers hooked to the tractors 3pt arch thing, that way I could choke a log and keep it short enough to still lift the end with the 3pt. Works better then it sounds, but tractors are slow... and its one log at a time, and climbing hills is just not going to happen, hence the mile of cable and piles of snatch blocks.

The other trick is to climb a stout tree hang a snatch block and run yer cable through it, drag the cable out hook a couple of logs, attache other end to truck or tractor and haul ass... Scary but effective.

If you do plan on giving it a go with a tractor the peavy is going to save you hours of frustration, just being able to roll a log a little bit, to get around a stump say or to line them up in a pile...

 

[matthew sparks]

I have used a peavy a lot. I built a log cabin last year. I skidded those logs with my tractor and I kept adding more weight to the front end. At first I was hauling 40 ft logs and couldn't move them. I was trying to take off slow so the tractor wouldn't flip. Finally I figured out I just had to give it hell.

I don't want to start without a skidder. I also have no logging truck or CDL etc so I am a bit concerned about spending a lot on a skidder. A tree trimming company had a knuckleboom truck sit for sale for almost a year for 7500.00 I bet they didn't get over 5k for it. Too bad I wasn't buying then.

 

[northmanlogging]

Lately I've been using my backhoe rigged with a set of tongs to load logs with, faster then winching them over the side... but be careful with them tongs. It won't lift much compared to a real loader, but when I need to load a short log on the trailer or stuff the dump truck full of fire wood logs it works good enough.

With a front loader and a set of forks, a guy can load logs fairly easily, just have to have enough ass to keep the back wheels on the ground, and a large enough landing to turn around without denting anything... Don't even think about doing this without a cage though, logs have a habit of rolling off the top of the bucket and then crushing everything in their path.

Some folks use a tracked loader for loading with, more stable then a wheeled tractor, and better traction.

The other option is to dig a loading hole (they have a clever name for this I just can't remember), drive the truck and trailer in to said hole and shove yer logs onto the trailer. Not exactly pretty or real good on the trailer but it is effective.

If you really want to use yer goose neck to haul logs, look into fabing up some bunks, the mill will appreciate it and so will the coppers, not to mention you can get a decent load on then, with just a flat bed your limited to how many rows you can safely get on there, with bunks your limited by weight.

 

[northmanlogging]

As far as CDLs go, I taint got one either, keep your loads to a reasonable weight, check state regs, keep every thing tied down good, keep it clean and make sure all your lights work, no worries except for stopping... stopping is a bitch with lots of weight on...

Anything real heavy or long distance (more than 30 mi) I hire it out, plenty of folks willing to move equipment, just maybe not when you are ready to have it moved. Plenty of log trucks out there too, let them worry about tonnage, insurance, tires, diesel, maintanence. Owning a log truck for gyppo's like me is asking for bankruptcy, guy needs ten loads a month just to make insurance and tonnage, not to mention fuel and maintenance, more if he wants to make a profit at it and have any chance of paying it off.

A good friend told me once, you can be a logger or a truck driver, not both. Hel even the dump truck has me spending more time on pavement then I really want to think about.

 

[matthew sparks]

I am 3 miles from the mill. I will probably just buy a skidder and use my gooseneck. I am assuming I can get away with just DOT numbers as long as I stay under the 26,000lbs. I will contact DOT via email this weekend so it is clearly understood and then if they don't answer I will call them.

Thanks so much for your advice.

 

[treeslayer2003]

So was it meth or just bad hygiene that took your chompers?

hey kid, when you get a little older you may find out you didn't know as much as you think you do now.

 

[HuskStihl]

hey kid, when you get a little older you may find out you didn't know as much as you think you do now.

I'm still trying to figure that out

 

[matthew sparks]

I responded honestly to him about that Treeslayer. I am here to learn about logs. I don't care if he judges me for having false teeth at 33.....Dentists judge people even though they know what a gum disease can do to your teeth in a short amount of time.

Instead of meth. I have four kids I make brush their teeth no matter how much they complain instead of giving in like my parents.

Now back to logging.