Help getting into the industry

[rmtlogging]

Hey guys I really want to be a logger but since I live in central california that is easier said than done I wouldj like to be a cutter (me and my cousin have alittle tree service and falling is my favorite part of the job) but I want to learn the other jobs and work my way up if there is any advise you ave it will be apprieciated

 

[Gologit]

Why do you want to log? Not bagging on you, just curious.

 

[rmtlogging]

I have since I was I little kid and always just been fascinated with it

 

[Gologit]

I have since I was I little kid and always just been fascinated with it

Okay, I'll see if I can answer your question. You're not going to like what I have to say.

Becoming a faller if you have no actual logging experience is almost impossible. A lot of the falling now is done by machinery and the machinery, from a production standpoint, is the most efficient way to go.

The fallers cut the stuff that's too big or on ground too steep for the machines. That fact alone necessitates experienced fallers and there are still plenty of those around. In fact there are always more fallers than there is work for them. Always. I don't see this changing any time soon. If anything, the need for fallers will gradually decrease over time.

We'll always need guys who can fall big timber or work steep ground but that's not the kind of stuff that you put a rookie on. I know that makes it tough...you can't get the job without experience and you can't get experience without the job. Cutting trees in an urban arborist environment just doesn't count.

The only guys breaking into falling right now are usually the relatives or friends of established loggers. There are so few job slots available that it's hard to make a steady living at it. Very few do. Also, consider the fact that it's a nomadic lifestyle with no job security, no retirement, no health plans, paid holidays, paid vacation, or overtime. Most fallers are independent contractors and that means they run their own numbers...take care of their own taxes and such.

If you want to go logging you need to think more about operating machinery. Running a skidder is a good place to start if you can find somebody to train you. After that you can progress to a delimber or a hotsaw and maybe eventually wind up running a shovel. But...even those jobs usually have experienced people lined up to take them.

So, there it is...the view from the inside. It's not real pretty but I think it's accurate. If you really want to log, start making the rounds of logging outfits. They're getting their crews together now for the season and maybe you'll get lucky.

 

[forestryworks]

Last year, the boss man was gonna put me on the skidder 2 or 3 times a week in addition to some falling, and bucking on the landing.

A week later he shut down cause the mill changed the specs that only a handful of guys could meet.

My chance went bye bye and so did I.

Try again.

 

[rmtlogging]

Thanks for all the input. And thank you for being realistic

 

[slowp]

I noticed last week, that one of the larger outfits had a signboard outside their shop wanting experienced log truck driver(s). Some of their guys were getting a bit long in tooth. More so than Gologit. :msp_smile:

 

[madhatte]

Buddy of mine's driving truck out of Clatskanie, and a day's route is likely to have him as far south as Florence and as far north as Pt Angeles in a single day. He still makes it home every night (Kelso) but WOW are those some long hours.

 

[Gologit]

I noticed last week, that one of the larger outfits had a signboard outside their shop wanting experienced log truck driver(s). Some of their guys were getting a bit long in tooth. More so than Gologit. :msp_smile:

Pffffttt!

 

[Gologit]

Thanks for all the input. And thank you for being realistic

You're welcome. I wish I had better news for you.

 

[Gologit]

Last year, the boss man was gonna put me on the skidder 2 or 3 times a week in addition to some falling, and bucking on the landing.

A week later he shut down cause the mill changed the specs that only a handful of guys could meet.

My chance went bye bye and so did I.

Try again.

Yeah, but you're probably better off. You'd find out that there's two kinds of skidder drivers...those that have turned one over and those that will.

Besides it's an established and documented scientific fact....you lose IQ points for every day you spend on a skidder. The only machine that costs you more IQ points is a feller-buncher. :msp_biggrin:

Fallers and shovel operators get smarter every day. Just ask 'em.

 

[possumtrapper]

To get more experience you could advertise to local "farmers free land clearing for firewood type trees". Sell the wood to make your pay. This should give you a wide range of trees to practice on, and get you up to production speed, and get your saw running skills together. Take some pix of you and your work. If you have training modules like we do here, get one or two of those, then try somebody like Columbia Helicopters (assuming you're young and single) and get on the international helicopter logging circuit. There are heaps of options out there for you. Good Luck!

 

[Joe46]

To add to what Gologit so accurately stated a LOT of guys started out setting chokers(choker dogs). After spending time in the brush, and getting to know the fallers, if you really wanted to go that route you'd start talking to the cutters about breaking in. If they felt you had potential"maybe" they'd start breaking you in. There is a whole lot more to cutting timber than just putting it on the ground. Oh ya the book Del mentioned 2 of the names in the obits in the back of the book I'd known all my life. There is that aspect to logging also.

 

[Gologit]

To get more experience you could advertise to local "farmers free land clearing for firewood type trees". Sell the wood to make your pay. This should give you a wide range of trees to practice on, and get you up to production speed, and get your saw running skills together. Take some pix of you and your work. If you have training modules like we do here, get one or two of those, then try somebody like Columbia Helicopters (assuming you're young and single) and get on the international helicopter logging circuit. There are heaps of options out there for you. Good Luck!

Cutting farmer's wood is nothing like our logging here and there's no chance in hell it's going to get him up to "production speed". Logging, especially on the Left Coast has nothing in common with cutting firewood trees for some farmer down in the flat land. Not even close.

It might give him more experience with a saw, and that's good, but it will not prepare him for a Left Coast timber falling job.

We don't have "training modules" either...so that advice doesn't apply.

I think the guy is sincere in wanting to log and there's not much chance for him here. Maybe he can come to your part of the world and have a better shot at doing what he wants to do. Help him out.

 

[Gologit]

To add to what Gologit so accurately stated a LOT of guys started out setting chokers(choker dogs). After spending time in the brush, and getting to know the fallers, if you really wanted to go that route you'd start talking to the cutters about breaking in. If they felt you had potential"maybe" they'd start breaking you in. There is a whole lot more to cutting timber than just putting it on the ground. Oh ya the book Del mentioned 2 of the names in the obits in the back of the book I'd known all my life. There is that aspect to logging also.

You said it right...most guys used to start out setting chokers, maybe move up to bumping knots on the landing, get to know a few fallers and, if things worked out, they'd get a chance at it.

Now you have to look hard just to find a choker. Almost everything has grapples and a guy setting chokers is an unusual sight. Matter of fact, we were looking to tow a broke down truck awhile back and we couldn't find a choker on the job anywhere.

There's still a few knot bumpers around but it's mostly stroker-delimbers and dangleheads on the landing now. Most of the jobs I see are almost fully mechanized and the only guys with their feet on the ground are the fallers.

 

[possumtrapper]

Ooops, sorry, I thought everything grew big over there.! Here most farmers have some steep sidlings with 1 to 3 foot hardwoods, and some have 8 to 9 foot across the stump eucalyptus trees to drop. Some will pay good money if the felling is not straight forward. Anyway I just thought that type of work is a good way to get into selective cutting for helicopters.

I'd be happy to help out with some work experience over here if those kinds of opportunities are not available there, (cutting, chokers, shovel) but I'd wanna see some photographic record of capabilities and responsibility first. It would be too much responsibility for me to try and teach somebody how to cut, but helping somebody broaden their experience and get work fit while I fed/housed them and they helped my production along for winter? That sounds like a win-win situation.

 

[wowzers]

Around here almost no one is going to start out sawing. Most people start out hooking. Starting out hooking has its advantages in my opinion. If you have hooked you know how you would want the wood laid out, and also you will cut trees every day if you work on a line machine so that might be a way to start getting some experience. Just getting on for a company with no experience and not knowing anyone is going to difficult. I started out working for a forestry outfit in the summer and shoveling snow for a cutter in the winter time. It got my name out and let me meet some contractors. IMO if your serious about working in the woods your going to have to move logging area and start getting your name out. Best of luck.

 

[380LGR]

What about run run as fast as you can in the opposite direction?

 

[Gologit]

Ooops, sorry, I thought everything grew big over there.! Here most farmers have some steep sidlings with 1 to 3 foot hardwoods, and some have 8 to 9 foot across the stump eucalyptus trees to drop. Some will pay good money if the felling is not straight forward. Anyway I just thought that type of work is a good way to get into selective cutting for helicopters.

No harm done. Your logging and our logging are different. Most of the helicopter logging I see is on ground too steep for any other kind of skidding. It almost has to be high value timber to make it pay. It costs us more to log with a helicopter, a lot more, so we need to see a monetary return to justify the expense.

 

[Rounder]

I'll just second what everyone else said...try and find a job setting chokers, take any chance you can get to cut guy backs, keep your mouth shut, listen a lot.

After a few years, buy a pick-up, a few saws, a roll of chain, a grinder, set up a shop, forget about weekends.

And it's always your fault....Doesn't matter how unrelated to the falling.


And keep your skin thick.