Log Branding

[Rounder]

Question for you USFS folks. I saw the chaser branding logs this morning and it occured to me that I've completly forgotten why the FS requires this. Someone told me long ago, but memory fails me. Something to do with being able to track logs I suppose.

So, why? And there must be some historical reason behind the practice.....just curious, given the State doesn't require this.

Hope you all had a good Monday - Sam

 

[slowp]

There's a couple reasons. The big one here is to keep them out of the export yards. It is illegal to export FS timber (except incense and skunk cedars) unless primary manufacturing has been done. Manufacturing means at least cutting the log into a big beam. I expect you are also spraying or daubing yellow paint on the ends too? That's required here.

The logs can also be tracked...different sales are sold at different rates and branding helps keep them sorted out. Each sale has a unique brand.

Staple, staple, staple, staple, fold, staple. That is written on the load ticket. Pretty simple to do, yes? Not for a truck driver. I've seen them thumbtacked on, pinned on, or, more frequently, stuck in the shirt pocket of the driver. That's an automatic park your truck until you get it stapeled on the load, and probably a chewing out or even firing by the boss for the driver. I parked one truck because only the bottom logs were branded and painted. The chase had to come down. They were having the log truckers do the branding and that driver said (and he was) he was too old to be climbing around on the logs. Very few guys brand the logs in the decks or on the ground here. Go figure?
Second time (supposed to the first time) the whole haul can get shut down. So mind the staple directions, tie hole punches to each log truck driver, and get the correct dates and time punched out.

We had She Who Must Not Be Named as a clerk. She was evil. She would cause a major disturbance if a ticket came in with the wrong date, or not filled out properly, or too muddy, ... One logger said, "She aint nothing but a glorified bookkeeper." One purchaser told a joke about the FS to her and from then on, he was on her bad side. That was not a good thing to be.

I digress. Branding, painting and load tickets. A pain for the logger and a pain for the sale administrator.

I sleep much better now.

If you were logging in Wisconsin on FS land, you wouldn't have to brand or paint or even have a ticket book. But they don't have chasers there.

 

[madhatte]

OR still allows hammer brands. That timber theft case I worked on a few months ago had an interesting bit of side action going on: The brand the thief was using was not registered with the state. The landowner had a brand made from a plaster casting of the brand in question, which they then registered with the state in their own name. By OR law, then, tables are turned and the thief now has somebody who can legally challenge ownership of any given log, regardless of scale tickets. I'd kinda like to see how that would play out in court; alas, my involvement with that case was just as an expert witness and I have had no further contact with either party.

 

[slowp]

This forest, requires 100% both ends branded and painted, except for logs smaller than 7 inches--then one end is required. That's because there have been some problems in the past, and we are close to the export yards. Longview, Olympia, Tacoma are all an easy drive.
Other forests waive that requirement and will only require 10 logs to be done.

Confused yet?

What needs to happen is for somebody to improve the branding hammer. Invent one that can reach into the nooks and crannies of a loaded truck, and not have to be swung. Spraying paint at the same time would be a plus. It would need to be tough and must be simple enough to be operated by truck drivers (sorry Bob).

But, branding and painting have also provided us with humorous entertainment. Like the chaser forgotten on top of the load. "Look! Droopy's heading to the mill!" Or the FS pickup getting some of the yellow overspray on it. Sometimes artwork appears on the end of logs, and unoriginal words. The empty aerosol paint cans thrown and buried in the landing pile, blowing up when the fire guys burn it. It don't get much better.

Wisconsin was boring compared to here. :msp_biggrin:

 

[slowp]

An armed (with paint), courageous chaser on top of the logtruck load. Note the carpenter sized branding hammer in left hand. That mill makes the nicest branding hammers. Regular sized instead of sledge hammers on metal pipe handles.

View attachment 197219

 

[RandyMac]

As a Landing man, I used to put cryptic alphanumerical glyphs on logs, denoting where and when and by whom.

 

[Gologit]

What needs to happen is for somebody to improve the branding hammer. Invent one that can reach into the nooks and crannies of a loaded truck, and not have to be swung. Spraying paint at the same time would be a plus. It would need to be tough and must be simple enough to be operated by truck drivers (sorry Bob).

That's okay. The days I spend driving truck teach me humility. And patience. And how to put up with well meaning but totally clueless government employees. We don't do much FS work, thank God, but when we do the logs are usually branded before they're put on the truck and the loader operator or a designated landing rat makes out the ticket. The driver is still responsible for staple, staple, staple, staple, fold, staple. In R5 you might get away with thumbtacks in an emergency but they frown on duct tape. A special scaler at the mill scales all FS logs, the mill employed scaler isn't allowed to.

As a rule the ticket is put on before the truck leaves the landing but must be put on before the truck leaves the sale boundary. I used to put the ticket on upside down, just for variety.

 

[slowp]

That's okay. The days I spend driving truck teach me humility. And patience. And how to put up with well meaning but totally clueless government employees. We don't do much FS work, thank God, but when we do the logs are usually branded before they're put on the truck and the loader operator or a designated landing rat makes out the ticket. The driver is still responsible for staple, staple, staple, staple, fold, staple. In R5 you might get away with thumbtacks in an emergency but they frown on duct tape. A special scaler at the mill scales all FS logs, the mill employed scaler isn't allowed to.

As a rule the ticket is put on before the truck leaves the landing but must be put on before the truck leaves the sale boundary. I used to put the ticket on upside down, just for variety.

Wow. You have it correct!

During our 9 month monsoon, some guys put the ticket in a baggie and then staple it to the load. That cuts into the profit margin unless you recycle the used lunch baggies. Peanut butter on a load ticket? I never received a nahstygram about that. Probably would have though.

 

[hammerlogging]

We don't have to brand FS logs, but the same non export rulest are here too.

 

[flushcut]

Wisconsin was boring compared to here. :msp_biggrin:

Hay buddy, we have beer and fat chicks what possibly could be more exciting?

 

[slowp]

Hay buddy, we have beer and fat chicks what possibly could be more exciting?

Ummmmm, I'm a fat chick so I wouldn't be interested in other fat chicks. I lived there a couple years, liked it except for the summer humdidity. The trees were in rows! That was something new, and the steep ground seemed flat. Winters were fun. I liked da people. I hated da ticks. Fat ticks. Deer ticks. Icky ticks. There were too many ticks. The logging was boring...no nice whistles--everybody in an air conditioned and heated machine.

I almost stayed there.