Haulers.

[redwood logger]

I am glad some people are enjoying this thread, I never get tired of talking about logging. My wife can only listen so long. Bless her heart. I have been doing it for 10 years now, and can not imagine doing anything else!

 

[Kiwilogger]

I am glad some people are enjoying this thread, I never get tired of talking about logging. My wife can only listen so long. Bless her heart. I have been doing it for 10 years now, and can not imagine doing anything else!

haha redwood, my wife gets her ears thrashed too. But I haven't been logging for as long as you. I was a dairy farmer up untill a couple of years ago but always sold firewood on the side. I had an old cat 944 traxcavator that I logged some pretty decent eucalyptus with for a year or 2. I am actually building a new log splitter now. It will tie in nicely with the forestry work.
Catch ya round......

 

[John Ellison]

KL, your scab skyline sounds like what we call a Gravenski or Polack. A rider block fastened to the butt rigging and riding on the backline(haulback)
Both tailblocks are close together. Helps get more lift. Have you ever floped it over and got a wrap in it?

 

[Kiwilogger]

KL, your scab skyline sounds like what we call a Skivenski or Polack. A rider block fastened to the butt rigging and riding on the backline(haulback)
Both tailblocks are close together. Helps get more lift. Have you ever floped it over and got a wrap in it?

Yep, thats it alright...

As for flipping it over...... well, a couple of weeks ago as I was sending the gear back using the "polack" system, I had just hooked the hauler into 4th gear when the rider block flipped over the tail, so that both sides of the tailrope (going in opposite directions) locked together and snapped the tailrope in half in about a quarter of a second. Right in the middle of a 2 week old 1400 metre tailrope. :bang: :bang: 1 and a half hours down putting in a short-long splice.....

 

[John Ellison]

What size is the haulback 7/8" Oh, I remembered it wrong, Gravenski or Polack is what they call it here.

 

[Kiwilogger]

ropes

The tailrope (haulback) is 7/8", Main is 1" swaged, sky is 1 1/4" swaged. Thats no fun to splice!!!

Using the scab system you do get a bit of linewrap, but it comes unwrapped of its own accord if you just ease the throttle back a bit. What you do need to watch for is the chains going over the top, or the gear flipping over. I don't really like scabbing much, its too hard on the ropes and the brakes. Let me put the sky out any day..... Northbend.....

 

[Kiwilogger]

Old thread gets bumped up.

Hiya all. Is redwood logger still around? Hiya redwood, if you are.

Big changes at my job. Our company has bought 2 more haulers, a 50ft Thunderbird tracked swinger, and a 90 ft Thunderbird tower.

We're all in one forest now except for the 90. 2 70 ft tower yarders, the swinger, 3 forwarder crews and a tractor/skidder crew, all in one forest. Theres 8 yrs in this bush for all crews!

The 2 poles, and the swinger have been set up for the logs to be carted to a "super skid" via a couple of Bell stem trucks. A 626 bigwood waratah processes the wood out of the chute, straight onto the stem trucks, down to the super skid and into stacks, then straight out on log trucks. We are currently processing 800 tonnes of market logs per day!

Export log prices have crashed over here and a lot of our wood is being sold locally which is still giving good returns.

OK. Enough of my :spam:

Later all. Happy logging....

 

[sILlogger]

8 yrs on the same job.....wow!!! how big is that patch of timber?

 

[Kiwilogger]

8 yrs on the same job.....wow!!! how big is that patch of timber?

I'm not sure of the acreage, but I will try and find out.
But, I do a bit of pig hunting out there, and last week after chasing a pig for about 3 miles we came out on in a rocky clearing atop one of the highest peaks in the bush. As far as the eye could see in all directions, was pine trees.

:greenchainsaw:

 

[redwood logger]

Still kicking!!

Hey Kiwi,
Yes indeed Redwood Logger is still around!! Just haven't had time to even touch the computer in a couple of months Still logging non-stop, longer hours because it is summer time. Sounds like you guys are really moving the wood. The company I work for got a Madill 124 swinger on tracks but I am not impressed with it. I like the Thunderbirds better! The Washingtons we use right now are good machines but old and lacking some of the modern day conveniences. Good to hear from you again.

 

[Kiwilogger]

Nice to read you redwood. I'm not really a fan of the madills, although I have not seen one of their swingers, I prefer the floating pole of the Thunderbirds in the Tower yarders. I'm still hanging out for a drive of our swinger, gotta train up a new operator on the 70 first...

 

[Ianab]

8 yrs on the same job.....wow!!! how big is that patch of timber?

The thing is there is another crew following him, planting more trees.

He's not ever gonna finish that patch of timber

Cheers

Ian

 

[Kiwilogger]

The thing is there is another crew following him, planting more trees.

He's not ever gonna finish that patch of timber

Cheers

Ian

Dead right Ian.

I forget, plantation forests are not the norm over in the USA. I don't know if you know the area Ian, but we are out in the Pipiwai Forest, 35 miles (haha) out of Whangarei. After 8 yrs of harvesting that forest, the next block is the Mohaka block which stretches non-stop all the way to Kawakawa. :jawdrop:

Amazing stuff. May as well say that our company will never get out of the area! Makes for a secure employment situation for sure.

 

[sILlogger]

all the cutting is done by chainsaw? how big are the trees at the end of thier rotation when they are ready for harvest?

 

[Kiwilogger]

At the moment, all the felling is done by chainsaw, but, a new self leveling timbco harvester is due to arrive by the end of the year, so some of it will be done by machine soon. Still plenty too steep for the timbco, so plenty of work for chainsaws still.

The trees are around 28yrs old at the end of the rotation and will average approximately 2.5 tonne piece size. ie: 2.5 tonne of logs out of each tree. They will get up to around 30-36" across at the stump and 100' + tall.

 

[1I'dJak]

cool thread....though i do get lost with the yarding crew lingo....i don't work on a yarding crew, but i have worked around them...i do know the yarding crews here have gotten alot smaller...much of what i see is grapple yarded with a big yarder and the closer stuff is done with a super snorkel... i think it was called a yoader by someone here...they're kinda cool.... its almost like fishing for logs....buddy casts out his grapple and yards her up...don't see so many towers anymore...a lot has to do with the fact that they have to log around 'leave patches' and riparian zones...which is good for me cuz we 'windfirm' these patches...basically climb and spiral prune or top the edges of these patches... keep the pics coming!

 

[Kiwilogger]

Hey 1I'dJak

Lots of difference between USA logging and Kiwi logging huh!

In NZ, its pretty much illegal to log native timber. Theres not many decent patches of big native left, so what is left has been protected by law. Thankfully.

So, correct me if I'm wrong, what you do is prune/top some of the outer trees to protect the stand from wind/weather damage? Nice job!

I love talking about haulers/yarders, so any of the lingo you don't understand, ask, and I will explain it better. Also, the Kiwi vs The States hauler lingo is somewhat different too.

The swinger we have runs a grapple to, and once the self leveller (fell and bunch) comes, the wood it pulls in will be amazing I'm sure. Its a pretty creamy forest, nothing too hard that I have seen yet.

1st Kiwi hauler lingo lesson:

Creamy also, Cream Adjective. Easy logging!

 

[Kiwilogger]

At the moment, all the felling is done by chainsaw, but, a new self leveling timbco harvester is due to arrive by the end of the year, so some of it will be done by machine soon. Still plenty too steep for the timbco, so plenty of work for chainsaws still.

The trees are around 28yrs old at the end of the rotation and will average approximately 2.5 tonne piece size. ie: 2.5 tonne of logs out of each tree. They will get up to around 30-36" across at the stump and 100' + tall.

Might be a bit light on the piece size estimate.

I just worked out from the tonnes out the gate divided by the stem count which = 3.1 tonne piece size. Pretty good size timber for hauler country!

 

[1I'dJak]

yeah that's right...basically pruning the edges so they don't blow over...windfirming.... to avoid climbing up and down all day, we have a rapelling line and and another thinner line with a grapple, or 'claw'...so you chuck it into the next tree you're going to...tighten your claw line with and ascender, so that when you rappel down, you swing over to the tree that you;re 'clawed into'....pretty wild... my father in law did logged a lot on the coast here...mostly on vancouver island....did everything, ran yarder, loader, fell....had some pretty wild stories....worked on the biggest cutblock on the island here....said it was huge...could see it from satellite...national geographic got a picture of it and had an article about BC logging in the 80's... called it the Brazil of the NOrth....He actually said that clearcut was pretty big and ????ty...went up one side of the mountain and down the other... lot of slide action cuz its right on the coast and had lots of rain... said as he was yarding, one log went on him all the way down the hill towards another smaller logging outfit below him that was logging along the water (hand loggers they were called)...said they looked like ants scurrying around once they saw what was coming!