Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[rarefish383]

Sounds like you have the right guys on the job. It's very hard to find a place that will take care of you, even harder to find someone who can mock up parts of another model and make them work as they should on yours, many mechanics are just parts replacers.

My helpers are a lot cheaper per hr lol.
When you look at the cost of getting and processing firewood there isn't a lot of profit there unless you are focusing on it solely.
The customer I delivered to today asked me if I could cut up a walnut tree top from a nice sized walnut she sold. The guy who bought it said they would take care of all the brush and cut up all the firewood, they took the stem and left . I told her I could but it would cost just as much as buying a seasoned cord delivered, then I asked her if her son was going to split it(he suggested she ask me to cut it up), she said I hadn't thought of that. I'll probably buck it up this fall so it can dry out a bit and then load the rounds onto the trailer and split off the trailer right into her woodshed for spring next season, I'll ask her son remove the rubbish left over.

Back then our top climbers made about $20 an hour, as the owners son, driving a chipper truck and working on the ground, I made about $10. I started driving the 12' flat bed with a 16" Asplundh chipper at 16, and the C60 dump with chipper at 18. When I started working for him in 72 minimum wage was less than $2, so I was making pretty good money. We said our flat rate to the customer was $85 per man hour, but the 3 man crew was $250 per hour, saving them a couple bucks , and $300 an hour for the 4 man crew, saving them a little more. There was good money in the tree business, and you were real lucky to break even with wood. We had a big clientele list, so we stayed busy all winter. We made more money on the wood selling it to the farmers market for $50 a dump load and not having to handle it.

 

[steved]

It will be touching up the chain on the 590 now. Soft maple but its 20 yards from the racks.

If that's the end of that truck I have absolutely nothing bad to say about it. 250k on the original drivetrain. 1/4 ton rated and treated like a 1/2 ton or worse since the beginning.

Gona throw the 590 and 355t in the 350 and take a drive in a minute. Its calmed down a bit for now but supposed to get really strong winds again tomorrow.

Looks like the brunt of that system hit to our east by about 15 miles...my site in New Jersey is a wreck, so much for digging dirt.

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[svk]

Snowing to beat the band this morning. Was thinking about cutting one more load of wood today or tomorrow but not interested in dealing with wet sloppy wood. I have plenty of work to do around the house so may just do that instead of going to the cabin.

 

[James Miller]

Daylight picture. All cleaned up. Tank and a half through the 355t didn't bother getting anything else out. Biggest part was 12" or so easy work for the little saw. Any of you fine folks know if aluminum power line is worth anything befor I strip it for scrap? Got around 100 yards the power company left here this morning when they came to check the down cables in the drive way.

 

[farmer steve]

View attachment 769897 Daylight picture.View attachment 769898 All cleaned up. Tank and a half through the 355t didn't bother getting anything else out. Biggest part was 12" or so easy work for the little saw.View attachment 769899 Any of you fine folks know if aluminum power line is worth anything befor I strip it for scrap? Got around 100 yards the power company left here this morning when they came to check the down cables in the drive way.

Strip it off and scrap it unless you might need it some day.

 

[svk]

View attachment 769897 Daylight picture.View attachment 769898 All cleaned up. Tank and a half through the 355t didn't bother getting anything else out. Biggest part was 12" or so easy work for the little saw.View attachment 769899 Any of you fine folks know if aluminum power line is worth anything befor I strip it for scrap? Got around 100 yards the power company left here this morning when they came to check the down cables in the drive way.

How does the truck look with the tree gone? Did it just blow out the rear passenger window or damage the other side too?

 

[steved]

View attachment 769897 Daylight picture.View attachment 769898 All cleaned up. Tank and a half through the 355t didn't bother getting anything else out. Biggest part was 12" or so easy work for the little saw.View attachment 769899 Any of you fine folks know if aluminum power line is worth anything befor I strip it for scrap? Got around 100 yards the power company left here this morning when they came to check the down cables in the drive way.

Put it on Craigslist, someone will probably pay more than scrap for 100 yards of aerial in that size...

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[svk]

Back then our top climbers made about $20 an hour, as the owners son, driving a chipper truck and working on the ground, I made about $10. I started driving the 12' flat bed with a 16" Asplundh chipper at 16, and the C60 dump with chipper at 18. When I started working for him in 72 minimum wage was less than $2, so I was making pretty good money. We said our flat rate to the customer was $85 per man hour, but the 3 man crew was $250 per hour, saving them a couple bucks , and $300 an hour for the 4 man crew, saving them a little more. There was good money in the tree business, and you were real lucky to break even with wood. We had a big clientele list, so we stayed busy all winter. We made more money on the wood selling it to the farmers market for $50 a dump load and not having to handle it.

Just doing the math quickly, your father must have made a good living once he paid off his equipment. And a climber making 20 an hour was good bucks too.

 

[Philbert]

Daylight picture. . . . Any of you fine folks know if aluminum power line is worth anything befor I strip it for scrap? Got around 100 yards the power company left here this morning when they came to check the down cables in the drive way.

Sorry about your tuck.

+1 on posting the cable on CL - someone might use it to power an outbuilding, cabin, etc.

Philbert

 

[James Miller]

How does the truck look with the tree gone? Did it just blow out the rear passenger window or damage the other side too?

 

[hamish]

View attachment 769918 View attachment 769919

Id be driving it as is

 

[James Miller]

Id be driving it as is

Inspections good for almost a year. So it will stick around atleast that long.

 

[James Miller]

 

[svk]

Inspections good for almost a year. So it will stick around atleast that long.

Learned something new. I did not realize that physical damage could sideline a vehicle. Thought it was more about emissions, warning codes, and operational things.

 

[MustangMike]

It's a truck … a scissor jack and some 2 X 4s and she should be (almost) good as new!

My SIL's truck got totaled by the Tornado's we got hit with 1.5 yrs ago in the Spring!

 

[farmer steve]

Learned something new. I did not realize that physical damage could sideline a vehicle. Thought it was more about emissions, warning codes, and operational things.

PA is picky. Also depends on the inspection station. Some more picky than others. Had 1 charge me $4 one time because my washer fluid wasn't full. Another told me he had to put reflective stickers on my trailer$$$,wasn't up to code. Thing was only a few years old .

 

[farmer steve]

Inspections good for almost a year. So it will stick around atleast that long.

Yep. Duct tape and a trash bag and that window will be almost as good as new.

 

[abbott295]

Pasture truck.

 

[MustangMike]

Pasture truck.

So, the guy with the cabin next to mine on the Mtn (in the Catskills) brought a "woods truck" up and left it up there. Within a month, the Porcupines ate the brake lines, radiator hoses, etc, etc. The darn thing has been there for years and has not moved once!

The guy with the cabin on the other side of me was furious when he left his skidder up there, and the Porky ate his tire (through a gap in the chain) and gave it a flat! Had to change it in the woods, and it was $$$!!!

There is a reason I surround my cabin with cement board, although sometimes even that does not help! They used the solar panel as a ramp to thwart it! Luckily, they did not go in before we discovered it.

 

[steved]

PA is picky. Also depends on the inspection station. Some more picky than others. Had 1 charge me $4 one time because my washer fluid wasn't full. Another told me he had to put reflective stickers on my trailer$$$,wasn't up to code. Thing was only a few years old .

You get a good station and they are worth hanging on to...mine knows I'm a gearhead, and treats my inspection as such. He knows if it's not right, I won't drive it because I need a vehicle I can jump into and drive to the other side of the country.

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