Help getting into the industry

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Gologit said:
I know how to get into this business. How the hell do you get out? :laugh:
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Still working on that one Bob......I just don't know what the hell else I'd do.

"Welcome to ####### ####ing Wal-Mart shoppers"................Fired. :pumpkin2:
 
rmtlogging said:
Thank you everyone, is there any state or area that is better than the other as far as hiering
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Not sure on that, but like others have said, hopping in a machine might be your best bet. If I could do college over again, I probably would have done diesel mechanic at the college of technology. If you can fix it and keep it running, people will want to keep you around.
 
I'd say you're looking to get on with a really small 2 or 3 man crew with a guy out cause he's always drunk or in jail. Ask a forester at a small sawmill, since they don't know #### about logging they'll think you're kinda neat for wanting to log and may turn you in to some contacts. That'll get you some experience and you can go from there.
 
We are actually running out of hand cutters in this part of the country. Or at least those that have any clue about what the #### they are doing.

Bob- once you're machined outta work out there you can semi-retire on some of my short trees here. Half the tree = half retirement right?
 
Gologit said:
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.
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Sure does cut down on insurance costs/workers comp. We dont have a lot of manual falling in aus thesedays either. Old growth is locked away, and plantations are harvested well before the capacity of even mid sized iron is exhausted. Same story here with the ratio of workers to jobs.

When i was in new zealand there was plenty of work, but it's hard to call it logging. It's all small stuff, plantation radiata mostly. It's well managed and pruned at regular intervals to promote growth and reduce knots to help make grade, but you can leave your wedges in the truck. You can mostly just shoulder it over. OHS always seems a few pleasant years behind most other developed countries over there.

Shaun
 
I was fortunate enough to be born where I was and when. More importantly were my family connections or else I might will have found something else to do. My first payin' woods job at the ripe old age of 20, was falling timber. Which I wouldn't have gotten if my Grandad had the time to do it himself. He ponied me up in his stead, told me not to #### it up. I had a ten minute audition at the edge of a landing and was told to start on Monday. I raced to Eureka and bought a brand new chainsaw. As I was getting my gear together, my Grandad eased on by and told me it was bad luck to start a new job, with a new saw. He promptly confiscated my shiny new saw and directed me to his saws "pick one" he says. As I stood in horror, staring at relic class equipment, he pushed by and selected one for me. Oh my ####ing gawd!! I should have lunged for the big Homelite when I had the chance. I ended up with a forty pound wad of metal, vaguely formed as a chainsaw, oh yes, I started my falling career with a D.D. Terrill CS-7. While I wrestled with that antique, my dear old Grandad broke in my new chainsaw.
The most important lesson I learned on this first of all timber falling jobs, keep a close eye on the old ####ers, they will lead you astray every time.
 
At least he didn't hand you an axe and misery whip.

A guy here who learned from his dad said his dad would not come and cut him out when a tree sat back and got his saw stuck. He made him chop it out with his axe thinking that would make him learn faster.
 
slowp said:
At least he didn't hand you an axe and misery whip.

A guy here who learned from his dad said his dad would not come and cut him out when a tree sat back and got his saw stuck. He made him chop it out with his axe thinking that would make him learn faster.
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LOL...that's the way it was done. Before I was taught to fall I was taught to buck. The first couple of times I got hung up my uncle would cut me out and explain what I did wrong. Patiently. The next few times I got hung up he did the same thing, but not quite so patiently. This went on over a month or so. The timber was too big to chop your way out of so he had to walk back and take time away from falling.

I was a slow learner, and headstrong. Bad combination. He finally told me that when I got jammed I could just damn well cut my own self out. Or go home and stay there. After the first couple of weeks of having to walk back up the hill (it's always up the hill) to the pickup to get the spare saw and getting further behind and having to work harder to catch up because I was spending so much time correcting myself, the light begin to dawn.

I still get hung up occasionally. It happens.
 
Gologit said:
LOL...that's the way it was done. Before I was taught to fall I was taught to buck. The first couple of times I got hung up my uncle would cut me out and explain what I did wrong. Patiently. The next few times I got hung up he did the same thing, but not quite so patiently. This went on over a month or so. The timber was too big to chop your way out of so he had to walk back and take time away from falling.

I was a slow learner, and headstrong. Bad combination. He finally told me that when I got jammed I could just damn well cut my own self out. Or go home and stay there. After the first couple of weeks of having to walk back up the hill (it's always up the hill) to the pickup to get the spare saw and getting further behind and having to work harder to catch up because I was spending so much time correcting myself, the light begin to dawn.

I still get hung up occasionally. It happens.
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When going from newbie to experienced you certainly learn the benefits of going a little slower to actually get more done in the day.

I know when I was starting out I would try to cut as fast as I coulc ........... and that wasn't always the fastest overall, it takes a lot of trips to that second saw before some of use figure that out, LOL.

Sam
 
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Slamm said:
When going from newbie to experienced you certainly learn the benefits of going a little slower to actually get more done in the day.

I know when I was starting out I would try to cut as fast as I cut ........... and that wasn't always the fastest overall, it takes a lot of trips to that second saw before some of use figure that out, LOL.

Sam
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Yup...I wish I'd kept a book of all the good things the old timers taught me. I think my favorite was '''if you'd just slow down a little you'd get done sooner." :laugh:
 
rmtlogging said:
Thank you everyone, is there any state or area that is better than the other as far as hiering
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If you *really* want this, move to a small logging town in Oregon or Washington.
Get a job anywhere you can to pay the bills.

Then find local bars with several trucks which look like the following picture, but filthy dirty with mud on the sides. Those are loggers trucks. Hang out at those bars around 4 or 5 pm on weekdays. Get to know the loggers. After a while you may find a job as a choker setter.

View attachment 224550
 
hammerlogging said:
I'd say you're looking to get on with a really small 2 or 3 man crew with a guy out cause he's always drunk or in jail. Ask a forester at a small sawmill, since they don't know #### about logging they'll think you're kinda neat for wanting to log and may turn you in to some contacts. That'll get you some experience and you can go from there.
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I was kinda thinking that going to jail on a Friday night cause you're drunk might just make you meet one of our local loggers.
 
With all the mechanised crews around this area a niche has opened for small operators, guys with processors will not move into some of the smaller jobs, and with all the land fragmentation there are more of these small jobs all the time- too small for many crews to even look at , or bid on. Enter the smalltime operator who pays a fraction of the going rate, and he gets the job.

I am not saying it is easy, but it is possible around here, and it is a welcome sight that a guy with a chainsaw and small equipment can learn some skills and make a profit for himself.

If you really want it, you will figure a way. Good luck in the search!
 
You could try getting in with a landclearing company usually they fully mechanized and may train you on a skidder that might be the easier way but like the rest of the guys said above I second em I cut my teeth at a landclearing company
 

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