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

[SliverPicker]

Keep asking questions. No one is born knowing this stuff. Don't apologize. Your latest set back was nothing but a bump in the road. Shine it on. Take what you learned and don't look back.

 

[matthew sparks]

Thanks SilverPicker. I was sitting here looking up hiring a forester in order to get proper prices out of logs until I learn proper grading. The % I would pay would probably cost me less than what a mill will underpay me. I don't know. Just throwing out ideas.

 

[treeslayer2003]

Matthew im not much for that GOL cutting but i won't discourage you for it. i back up white oak often with out busting them.

ill go over some pics with you some night and explain what the grades are, although it will likely be different in your area.

 

[matthew sparks]

Thanks so much for the information. I don't know what GOL cutting is. I just know when I bore cut I don't pinch my saw but trying to plunge that tip in scares the hell out of me.

 

[treeslayer2003]

what they tought ya is GOL.........game of logging.........only time i bore is on a heavy leaner to gut the heart or for a block face, wich works good on some things and can eliminate the need for gutting on some timber.
i can talk to ya about directional face n hinge falling but alot of these guys are better at it than me. i have just modifyed it a little to suit the hardwood. Bitzer has as well and can help ya on that if he has time to be on here. terminolgy will confuse ya at first till ya catch on to what the western guys are saying.

 

[treeslayer2003]

and like picker said, keep asking. there is some older members that can teach ya alot and they don't mind. just respect that there is some differences in the way they do things on the west coast but it may help you alot to look at their way.

 

[Toddppm]

Couple enabling jackasses on here it seems **** that guy and the people who let him work like that. Sounds like you handled it exactly right. I wouldn't worry about anybody talking about how you left, if they have any brains they could probably figure out why, if not, **** them too.

 

[northmanlogging]

gol=game of logging(not to be confused with game of thrones)=bore felling=bore and strap/trigger=ssd=swedish stump dance=tooshortabartodoanydamage... among other derisive terms on the west coast. It works, its mostly safe, its kinda slow, it takes the steering out of falling timber.

Most if not all west coast cutters learn to use a wedge, stuff it in there as soon as there is room, that way if the tree sits back you don't pinch a bar, and then all ya have to do is beat the snot out of a poor inanimate piece of plastic until there is a nice woosh and a boom (hopefully without any cracking and breaking). That being said our timber doesn't generally have much lean to it, what it does have is deceiving... and it grows ******* tall, with all the branches up high like one of them big tri masted frigates from just before steam(oh yeah, those masts came from here...) so even a little breeze can mess ya up a bit.

There are hundreds of ways to fall timber, many of them very dangerous, some less so, all eventually get trees in the flat position.

 

[matthew sparks]

Thanks guys. You are a wealth of information. Thanks for help with the logging language as well. I thought a wedge was the best tool for cutting trees but they only bore cut so thats what I did.
As far as the wind I guess they had a scare in the past. They didn't work at all on windy days. A lot of weight moving around up there.

 

[northmanlogging]

there are different levels of wind... if the tops are moving I try not to do any falling, if they are bending and swaying I stay out of the woods especially around any logging too many broken branches hung up there that like to fall down and kill people, not to mention all the trees that are now exposed to direct wind.

 

[KiwiBro]

Just wanna say you guys are great. In other walks of life there are people who charge by the minute for nowhere near as good advice.

 

[ReggieT]

I have been self employed my whole life and have had no tolerance for people drinking when working for me. The owner wasn't mad at me. He said he shows up for work and is family so we have to give him a drink from time to time and not much I can do about it. I asked if there was a way to handle this without me getting squashed by a skidder or move me to the other side of the powerline and he said that he might be able to on days that it is too wet for the skidder but not normally.

I then told him I have four children and my youngest child has down syndrome and my life is too valuable to my family. He said he understood and asked me if I wanted to work when it rains and I said to give me a call but I won't be around that guy. We shook hands and I headed home.

I am not a whiner. This guy was asleep. Passed out. It wasn't a voluntary nap. He was so drunk he went out. If he had been lifting a log to get a saw out for me then he could have ran me over. That doesn't make me a whiner in my opinion.

I guess I should have explained I didn't run off the jobsite. The owner understood why I was leaving. He is usually bore cutting more trees than anyone unless he is meeting with a amish buyer or something. He said he has had some close calls but that everyone is more cautious around him because he can fire them.

I like being in the woods. I really liked the guy I worked for but on a weekly basis I was cutting down 75% of the trees and that puts me in line with that particular skidder driver way too often. When I feel like working in the woods alone would be safer than being around other workers then I thought it was time for me to leave. I can see everyone thinks I am being a baby so I will take the advice given but I do not feel I made a mistake leaving. I just wondered what my next step should be. I will eventually do this on my own but I don't know enough at this point.

I also don't think I am better than anyone else. If your an alcoholic please don't take this to heart. I smoke 2 packs a day and have no room to talk about vices. I just don't trust this guy.

Ready for the next step.

Wise decision...you don't owe any explanations to anyone other than yourself, wife & family...UNLESS you post it here...which of course opens you up to the scrutiny and dubious counsel of everybody here & their kid brother! lol
Do what you gotta do for you...SAFETY & HEALTH 1ST!
Blessings your way!

 

[Locust Cutter]

While I have little offer compared to these guys, as a side note, it was interesting doing a bit of cutting in Northern Cali (being from KS). The "Big" trees around here are 40-50' tall. dropping some Oaks on my Great Aunt and Uncles land South of Shasta was quite intriguing adding another 20+/- feet to them. Looking up s mandatory. Derail over.

 

[matthew sparks]

I don't know how tall the trees are I have been cutting but they are pretty darn tall. I thought they were 40-50 ft but my eyes could have been playing tricks on me. I know it was hard to look up and see which way the top limbs were going so I could control the falling direction. I had a few fool me. I thought I was going to land every tree on a dime. Then I got fooled by the weight of those upper limbs..... But I don't know anything yet

 

[Westboastfaller]

Matthew, is this the first time you've experienced an alcoholic in the workplace? They're everywhere. Doesnt make it right, but they're there. You should have talked it over with the owner, family or not. You just pack out and quit everytime something going on you dont like, you'll get the reputation as a whiner. Believe me, contractors and owners talk to each other. Surprises me that someone smart enough to go to engineering school couldnt figure out something better than to pack out and quit. Fallers have many ways to get a skidder operators attention.

Thats unprofessional, and no way exeptable, A near miss is like attempted Assault with a deadly weapon or in the worst case scenario
Assault with a deadly weapon causing death, the same as drinking and driving, its not even exeptable in a pleasure boat here, as you could get a dwi and lose you road DL, So how the hell is this exeptable in the work force, if thats crown land( gov land )he could be charged for dwi. I'm sure of this.
Moreover, what kind of fool boss would risk his lively hood over some drunk, its just going to take that guy hurting someone bad or killing someone and someone breathing a word that he was fully aware of the mans drinking.
(To the OP) As far as a reference, who wants to be associated with that shlt. Tell the potential employer you have no tolerance for drinking in the work force, and refuse to work one minute in
that environment, and that was the reason for your departure.
He may respect and/or trust you if you don't drop names but tell him you would be happy to give him a day free trial or say "if your not happy after a couple of days then send me away free of charge.
Getting pinched? Pack an extra bar with your bag
those K&H 10" & 12" are really sweet for driving sideways
and will almost always get you out with minimal room.

 

[matthew sparks]

Never thought of bringing an extra bar. I have a stihl 16" bar and chain just laying around that is never used. They told me to flag the skidder if I got pinched. I assumed this is what people did in the woods...I'm green. I still don't like plunging part of the bore cut. Right after I sharpened my drags the other day I thought I was going to get a life altering kickback before I got it into a tree. A week of bore cutting taught me how to do it, but still scares me a little. I guess if I had no fear then I would get cocky and get hurt anyways.

As far as the skidder driver. I seriously doubt he has a drivers license. Oh well I think I will just go do this myself and see how many mistakes I make. I think making sure my stave logs are paid a stave log price will be my biggest hurdle. The mills will know I am green too.

 

[Red Elm]

Thats unprofessional, and no way exeptable, A near miss is like attempted Assault with a deadly weapon or in the worst case scenario
Assault with a deadly weapon causing death, the same as drinking and driving, its not even exeptable in a pleasure boat here, as you could get a dwi and lose you road DL, So how the hell is this exeptable in the work force, if thats crown land( gov land )he could be charged for dwi. I'm sure of this.
Moreover, what kind of fool boss would risk his lively hood over some drunk, its just going to take that guy hurting someone bad or killing someone and someone breathing a word that he was fully aware of the mans drinking.
(To the OP) As far as a reference, who wants to be associated with that shlt. Tell the potential employer you have no tolerance for drinking in the work force, and refuse to work one minute in
that environment, and that was the reason for your departure.
He may respect and/or trust you if you don't drop names but tell him you would be happy to give him a day free trial or say "if your not happy after a couple of days then send me away free of charge.
Getting pinched? Pack an extra bar with your bag
those K&H 10" & 12" are really sweet for driving sideways
and will almost always get you out with minimal room.

Westboastfaller, no one ever said anything about a near miss, that's putting words in someone elses mouth. In the midwest US the fallers are usually cutting one on one, up to three fallers to one skidder depending on the circumstances. A common way to deal w a knot head skidder man is for the fallers to gradually ease up. then a chainfiling, a filter change or nature break by one or more can get him caught up to the point he takes a break or finds some way to loaf. The fallers tie in and cut solid and swamp him. In alot of outfits the skidder operators dont go home until the days cut is on the landing.

I never said he was wrong for quitting, thats his call. I never said anyone else was wrong for telling him he did the right thing. In all likelyhood he made a good decision,

BUT, when Matthew went to work that morning he had a wife, 4 kids, one w special needs, and probably like most younger family guys, bills, bills, and more bills. it just irks the crap out of me that at the end of the day, he still had the same responsibilities, but no job, the drunk still did. I have yet to see a logging or forestry crew yet that cant make life so intolerable for a person that they wont quit. And nothing illegal, immoral, or dangerous need take place. A missing lunch bucket one day, a snake in it the next, their personal pick-up up on blocks at quitting time, etc. We're not exactly talking about a bunch a girl scouts here, they're loggers.

And just for the record, at present I run a saw and oversee the daytime field operations for a forestry company that is owned by a man w a daytime federal govt job. He is VERY clear about the fact that im in charge while he is absent. NOT ONE of the crew has to worry about working with a drunk, a stoner, or a COCKY dangerous co-worker because I wont tolerate any of it for 2 minutes!!!

 

[treeslayer2003]

+1 on the k&h 10" wedges i use the triple taper..........couple in my back pocket any time i pick up a saw................but my wedge will be in the back cut.

 

[treeslayer2003]

 

[treeslayer2003]

ok Matthew, here is a quickie.........that tree would grade like this; first 12' export #1 or super at 1.80 a foot, second log prolly went around 1.00. from there it would make stave at .55 until it got down to 14" little end. shave your knotts close and they shouldn't hurt stave logs at this time.
as you see i haul tree length now. that load would be almost all grade of some sort with very little saw log to it as long as tops are kept to 14".
most important, don't stress or pull fiber on the white oak, that will knock you back to stave instead of export prices. better to have a big face than pull on this timber. now if it has shake or big sap wood, theres nothing you can do about quality.