Lets talk skidders...

[bullbuck]

yep all woody material is fuel and we should utilize every last bit,dont know anything about biomass i will have to research it a bit because we leave lots of tonnage behind that never gets burned...i assume the finished product is to fire powerplants?

 

[Metals406]

yep all woody material is fuel and we should utilize every last bit,dont know anything about biomass i will have to research it a bit because we leave lots of tonnage behind that never gets burned...i assume the finished product is to fire powerplants?

You are correct... Biomass aka hogfuel.

 

[bullbuck]

hog fuel haha,sounds like you got a good gig goin,best of luck!

 

[Metals406]

hog fuel haha,sounds like you got a good gig goin,best of luck!

Thanks!.. But it's far from a sure thing. I still have to visit the bank, and get the bid.

FunkySawman (Forrest) is looking at some skidder's for me in Sandpoint. I'd really like a swing boom to do this one.

 

[bullbuck]

yeah i loaded two and skidded two today fixed boom,i wonder if my neck would feel any better with a swingboom?i am likely to never find this out...

 

[Metals406]

yeah i loaded two and skidded two today fixed boom,i wonder if my neck would feel any better with a swingboom?i am likely to never find this out...

I've read that on some swing boom skidders, the operator runs it from 90° to the normal facing forward position... Meaning, you're facing the side of the machine (door side)... I guess you can operate the machine forward and reverse better, and see the swing boom better?

Neck saver for sure.

 

[bullbuck]

well im thinking about it,and your favorite place to grab from is the lowside of the trail of course,i guess if you are always above your logs youd be ok working just off of one side and im sure you would be able to adjust th seat directly forward for any high side skidding...?crap you got me wanting to try one now..an old timer and pondered the thought of installing a large rear view mirror on the r.o.p.s.above your head but determined that it would be mentally exhausting to reverse to a mirror image and compensate for the oppositeness...i dunno we got confused too never spoke of it again

 

[redprospector]

yeah its really hard to make it just logging anymore,next week we start several units on the f.s.boundary to the apache res.and they call it a stewardship program where we will do small diameter thinning right along with the logging if you ask me the way we should have been doing it all along instead of all these goofy little hand piles that never get burned...

It would be nice if I never see another one of those goofy little hand piles again.
I started on a job for another contractor yesterday. 3 years ago the land owner cheaped out on the thinning and let a contractor cut & pile. Now he wants the piles gone, so I've been using my ASV, and grinding head to get rid of them. Every stinking pile has a stump under it (I thought that was a no no when hand piling.).
I had a pretty hard time today. I hit one of those stinking stumps and the shock broke the quick attach mounting plate. The grinder fell off the machine. The ground is STEEP and while I was trying to get slack in the hydraulic lines so I could unhook them, I hubbed a stump and rolled the left track 1/2 way off. Then it started raining while I was trying to get the track back on. I know we need the rain, but how about after I get my stuff back on top?
I can't afford not to do this job, but I can't afford to tear up my equipment even more. I think that when I get my stuff out of the hole, I'm going to piss on the fire and call the dog's. He had it piled to burn, and as far as I'm concerned that's how he'll have to get rid of it.

Ok, I'm through whining.

Andy

 

[bullbuck]

gotcha there red,first off those goofy piles if not burned only increase fire danger by creating miniature blowtorches,plus since they are too lazy(sometimes at upwards of 900$ an acre to build a little cubby to where the pile can be lit) that they cover the p.o.s. with 3 glad bags with the durability level that none of us could possibly afford,and then to top it off the (burn crews)didnt have time to burn ahead of the logging contractors(in most cases two to three years before logging)and so even consulting micky and saying you need to burn thesepiles before we log!we get(they had plenty of time to burn them skid it)now we have trash bags and 4 foot d6 track throwing chunks everywhere...ok i feel better handpiles are bull####!

 

[Metals406]

It would be nice if I never see another one of those goofy little hand piles again.
I started on a job for another contractor yesterday. 3 years ago the land owner cheaped out on the thinning and let a contractor cut & pile. Now he wants the piles gone, so I've been using my ASV, and grinding head to get rid of them. Every stinking pile has a stump under it (I thought that was a no no when hand piling.).
I had a pretty hard time today. I hit one of those stinking stumps and the shock broke the quick attach mounting plate. The grinder fell off the machine. The ground is STEEP and while I was trying to get slack in the hydraulic lines so I could unhook them, I hubbed a stump and rolled the left track 1/2 way off. Then it started raining while I was trying to get the track back on. I know we need the rain, but how about after I get my stuff back on top?
I can't afford not to do this job, but I can't afford to tear up my equipment even more. I think that when I get my stuff out of the hole, I'm going to piss on the fire and call the dog's. He had it piled to burn, and as far as I'm concerned that's how he'll have to get rid of it.

Ok, I'm through whining.

Andy

gotcha there red,first off those goofy piles if not burned only increase fire danger by creating miniature blowtorches,plus since they are too lazy(sometimes at upwards of 900$ an acre to build a little cubby to where the pile can be lit) that they cover the p.o.s. with 3 glad bags with the durability level that none of us could possibly afford,and then to top it off the (burn crews)didnt have time to burn ahead of the logging contractors(in most cases two to three years before logging)and so even consulting micky and saying you need to burn thesepiles before we log!we get(they had plenty of time to burn them skid it)now we have trash bags and 4 foot d6 track throwing chunks everywhere...ok i feel better handpiles are bull####!

NOTE TO SELF: Don't hand pile brush... Bullbuck and Andy will kill you!

LOL


Sorry to hear of your bad day Andy.

 

[bullbuck]

thats some funny #### metals,dont know why i chose to fuel the fire but reds probably got a brushpiler by the neck as we speak...

 

[Metals406]

thats some funny #### metals,dont know why i chose to fuel the fire but reds probably got a brushpiler by the neck as we speak...

Probably an Illegal Mexican too! LOL

Two birds with one stone! Hahahahaha

 

[bullbuck]

undoubtebly correct sir!

 

[redprospector]

NOTE TO SELF: Don't hand pile brush... Bullbuck and Andy will kill you!

LOL


Sorry to hear of your bad day Andy.

It happens, just makes you appreciate the good ones more.

You are half right. The piler's were illeagal. The contractor was Sweat out of Florida. They import their labor from somewhere other than Mexico, but they look like Mexican's.

If you decide to hand pile your brush you are safe, as long as I don't have to mess with it.

Andy

 

[Gologit]

It would be nice if I never see another one of those goofy little hand piles again.
I started on a job for another contractor yesterday. 3 years ago the land owner cheaped out on the thinning and let a contractor cut & pile. Now he wants the piles gone, so I've been using my ASV, and grinding head to get rid of them. Every stinking pile has a stump under it (I thought that was a no no when hand piling.).
I had a pretty hard time today. I hit one of those stinking stumps and the shock broke the quick attach mounting plate. The grinder fell off the machine. The ground is STEEP and while I was trying to get slack in the hydraulic lines so I could unhook them, I hubbed a stump and rolled the left track 1/2 way off. Then it started raining while I was trying to get the track back on. I know we need the rain, but how about after I get my stuff back on top?
I can't afford not to do this job, but I can't afford to tear up my equipment even more. I think that when I get my stuff out of the hole, I'm going to piss on the fire and call the dog's. He had it piled to burn, and as far as I'm concerned that's how he'll have to get rid of it.

Ok, I'm through whining.

Andy

LOL...Andy, you weren't whining. You were, uh, describing a situation. Yeah, that's it...describing a situation. That's what I call it when I do that, anyway.

I Know what you mean though. We're on our last day falling for a damn cheapskate that wants to cut our rate. He kept telling us he could get somebody cheaper and yesterday my partner and I had enough...we told him to just go ahead and get them. Rates have gone down here but there's a point beyond which it just doesn't pay to go to work.

And I'm not whining either...just describing the situation. :greenchainsaw:

Bob

 

[Metals406]

LOL...Andy, you weren't whining. You were, uh, describing a situation. Yeah, that's it...describing a situation. That's what I call it when I do that, anyway.

I Know what you mean though. We're on our last day falling for a damn cheapskate that wants to cut our rate. He kept telling us he could get somebody cheaper and yesterday my partner and I had enough...we told him to just go ahead and get them. Rates have gone down here but there's a point beyond which it just doesn't pay to go to work.

And I'm not whining either...just describing the situation. :greenchainsaw:

Bob

So, do you have another job lined up?

 

[slowp]

yeah its really hard to make it just logging anymore,next week we start several units on the f.s.boundary to the apache res.and they call it a stewardship program where we will do small diameter thinning right along with the logging if you ask me the way we should have been doing it all along instead of all these goofy little hand piles that never get burned...

Do many people bid on stewardships there? We either get no bidders or one bidder. The specialists put so many "projects" in the package and not enough timber, and then with only one bid, there isn't enough timber money to pay for all the projects. But the enviros like it--they seem to like anything that is not very economically sound, so we plan the sales that way.

Be sure the landowner knows about the stumps under the piles. That is not a good thing. We hired a new fire guy who was burning right behind the handpilers! It was a nice change. Very few of the handpilers spoke English, but I can't do anything about that. They drove up here from 4 hours away--one way, but they beat out the local people for the job.

We have one guy who works alone and does his work in the wet season. I like it. He burns as he goes. We have no biomass market here.

Since our area doesn't burn very much or often, we leave and like to leave all the slash in the woods. It breaks down fast, and disperses the rain a bit. It is hard for drier climate people to understand. Most of the ground is too steep to mess around on anyway.

Arrrgh! I took a bunch of pictures of "those short little log trucks" yesterday but I think and hope my camera fell out and is buried in my pickup. Stay tuned.

 

[bullbuck]

i am not sure about the bidding process here for stewardship?i will ask around,we usually stand a pretty good chance of getting the job being as we are pretty much the only loggers left,lol but we have done them in the past and i think that the indians gave us the logs in exchange for a 300 ft. wide cat and hand pile buffer,urban interface type crap,but i will research,and yes we too have alot of ground that is too steep for machines and hand piling certainly has its place,maybe you could send your burn guy down here for winter i am sure he would like the weather,and we need someone who will actually burn this crap,it really makes me sick to rescatter all of their hard work.

 

[Metals406]

We have very little handpiling here... Unless it's private property.

Stoltze Lumber wants to build a huge boiler to produce their own electricity for the mill... Kevin would hopefully get the hogfuel contract.

They haven't built it yet, because they can't get anyone to buy the electricity they over produce!!?? What kind of bull#### is that? The power company refusing power?

I want to sick the Governor on the power companies ass, and maybe they'll quit being idiots?

I mean, who wants a stable job market, and a prosperous local economy? :monkey:

 

[bullbuck]

yeah that seems to be the way things are going its not a pretty picture,well i dont know where you get your power from but we have an electric cooperative and any overages on your production they have to buy it back,we have a little snowplay tubing area with lift and we run all of our power off a screaming detroit and generator and i do not think they have a choice but to buy our excess power wich makes sense, somebodys gonna buy it somewhere?w.t.f. and also those power bills on a mill get pretty steep,our recently deceased stud mill at a rate of about 15 loads a day milled,in a month the bill would be around the 50,000 dollar range SLOWP, talked to the cutters today and its sounding really good on this stewardship thing,from what i gather the bossman takes two envelopes to the f.s. meeting one high and one lower depending upon if anyone else has bid against him determines wich envelope he offers up,we have bought one unit so far and they will check our finished product and apparently that determines our eligibility for the other units,thats the story im getting but i am on a "need to know basis"and right now, as always i do not need to know,things could really be looking up!you know its kind of neat with the economy the way it is the f.s.has seemed to step things up a bit to keep things going,pj is the guy we deal with in the woods he drives a green one,and you aint got nothing on this guy he has the big chrome version too(airdamless)as of two weeks ago,i mean this guy looks like hes going for the win in the baja 1000 every time i see him!makes me laugh,but anyways he knows as well as i that without us he has nobody to check on,cooperation who woulda thunk it!