The "Not So Pro" discussion thread...of course Pros are welcome!

[tramp bushler]

I agree ....unfortunately getting folks to understand management ain't easy lol........most see $$$$ and ££££ signs and just wanna cash in

Sorry. But f()¢|< that. Turn er all into a clear cut.

 

[tramp bushler]

North man. The export market for spruce is still holding. For us anyway.

 

[northmanlogging]

yeah its doing alright, but I'm getting more for hemlock. Now if neighbor boy ever shows up and gives me the go ahead on them big Dougies...:tongue2: I could maybe take a week or two off... $850 plus for export more if they got tight grain... and the cedar is at $1100... hes got some of that two...

 

[treeslayer2003]

I don't know man, depends largely on the type of forest, here if you want high dollar high quality Doug fir, ya gotta clear cut and then replant, hemlock and cedar not so much or spruce. The big leaf maples they just keep growing, cut em down, poison them, doesn't matter...

They went through and planted a boat load of hemlock many years ago, or just let it naturally go to seed, back when rayon was the it thing (rayon is made from hemlock fiber...) of coarse now nobody wants to wear it so we have a bunch of middle of the road hemlock of poor quality, and very little Doug Fir on private land... its a conundrum...

The east coast has different wood and different soil, so you's all get more hardwoods which do awesome in a stepped thinning/harvesting opperations. Hemlocks do better on thinning, but Dougs don't like it too much, spruce and cedar just grow to damn slow and in the strangest places to bother with thining. Besides whos buying spruce now anyway except the occasional luthier and wright bros fan...

I know next ta nothing bout out there nm. thought ya'll did leave some tho. depends I guess. I did read something bout long leaf having ta go thru a fire. what they tried here was like further south, pine plantations. it didn't work very well. only on state property were they paid for pre commercial thinnings. private land owners wouldn't do it, those places wound up badly stunted with 500- 800 small trees per acre. I looked at a 60 year old replant that had been thinned once, they averadged 120ft that's ridiculos. pine that age should go 400-500. it jus didn't work well here.

 

[twochains]

My Son is on his way to chase some National points this evening!!! We are soooo excited! Colt is 10....wish him luck!

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[treeslayer2003]

My Son is on his way to chase some National points this evening!!! We are soooo excited! Colt is 10....wish him luck!

View attachment 299179

good luck colt, stay safe little bro

 

[HuskStihl]

My Son is on his way to chase some National points this evening!!! We are soooo excited! Colt is 10....wish him luck!

View attachment 299179

Best of luck from the Cleveland airport! Headed home.

 

[bitzer]

I plan to be back in the same stands in 10-15 years. That's our target rotation on hardwood. Typically we take 30-40% of sawtimber and pulp every time. I'm constantly walking past trees that I'm like ####### it would be nice to cut em, but just got to keep the big picture in mind. Clear cutting sawtimber hardwood (unless for development) is just not going to happen in this state. Everyone remembers (from parents/grandparents) the northern 2/3 of the state was clear cut from about 1850-1920. Its an automatic. When I say logging people think clear cut. That left a bad taste.

 

[treeslayer2003]

same here bitz, people hate to see it. I do to. that's a fast rotation on the oak, must grow faster there. ya been able ta work or to wet? we jus got 5" my pine thickets out for a month now.

 

[bitzer]

I see a move towards smaller outfits and smaller equipment, the big machines are getting spendy, diesel isn't cheap. So all these big feller bunches, huge skidders, massive loaders, chippers, processors will probably turn back into hand fallers, and line skidders, with a small loader and maybe a slasher... working smaller plots of land, good bye 300 acre jobs, think more along the lines of 5-10 and moving every couple few weeks or so

The big tower logging crews have nothing to fear from this since, most of the stuff they cut around here you just need big equipment, that and who is buying a new yarder for 1.5 million plus

I see what you are saying, but my guess is that how things are done in the northern part of my state is how they will end up just about everywhere. Dangle head cut to length on big Ponsees and John Deere processors. 8 wheeled forwarders with 7-8 cord payloads. Pretty much everything mechanized. There are a lot of lone wolf operators that cut/skid/haul their own wood to the yards. Either that or a three man crew. Processor/forwarder/trucker. Cranking out 200-400 cords per week kind of thing. I was told at an SFI cert meeting in April that I am becoming a specialized field. Very few hand cutters and really no one up and coming to grab the torch. That being said I should be able to demand more per thou a the mill when subbing right? The lumber mills are having a tough time finding suppliers and the paper mills that provide food service and specialty type paper products are going nuts.

 

[treeslayer2003]

I see what you are saying, but my guess is that how things are done in the northern part of my state is how they will end up just about everywhere. Dangle head cut to length on big Ponsees and John Deere processors. 8 wheeled forwarders with 7-8 cord payloads. Pretty much everything mechanized. There are a lot of lone wolf operators that cut/skid/haul their own wood to the yards. Either that or a three man crew. Processor/forwarder/trucker. Cranking out 200-400 cords per week kind of thing. I was told at an SFI cert meeting in April that I am becoming a specialized field. Very few hand cutters and really no one up and coming to grab the torch. That being said I should be able to demand more per thou a the mill when subbing right? The lumber mills are having a tough time finding suppliers and the paper mills that provide food service and specialty type paper products are going nuts.

i'm kinda a niche logger to. lemme know how that getting more works, only place I get more is the grade buyer. he hates a feller buncher, says they create cracks in the butt log.

 

[jrcat]

Its the same here to Bitz very very few up and coming. A dying breed. TS no one wants veneer logs here from a hot saw either. A bar saw yes that doesnt seem to bother.

 

[treeslayer2003]

yea, he don't mind the bell if I can make the cuts line up. ya can't see the bar while operating

 

[northmanlogging]

Let the big boys get bigger... hand falling will never die, but diesel prices will continue to rise, and equipment prices will rise with it... I wonder where the line will be drawn.

 

[bustedup]

Let the big boys get bigger... hand falling will never die, but diesel prices will continue to rise, and equipment prices will rise with it... I wonder where the line will be drawn.

I guess that is the $60k question .........where the line will get drawn and if it'll push to many to the wall before it is drawn.


Hand fallers will always be needed .....machines still can't go everywhere, thankfully.....I'd guess where the wheels way come off is if there ain't young guns coming thru.


As fuel and equipment prices rise it may negate young guys/girls getting taken on and trained .


I know over here at the moment any youngsters really gotta come up with a load of cash before they can legally cut commercially (and thats before they buy saw etc) and fuel prices here would make everyone I know stateside shudder (well actually cuss loudly then shudder) so the line here is way higher (if that makes sense) and there is no likely hood of that changing either.


it will kill the timber industry here but no one seems to care

 

[treeslayer2003]

no, the public don,t realize where stuff come's from. lumber? it come's from the lowe's right? milk come's from the store. what are they teachin in school.

 

[roberte]

no, the public don,t realize where stuff come's from. lumber? it come's from the lowe's right? milk come's from the store. what are they teachin in school.

I don't think you want my real answer. It would not end well.
Hey treeslayer. How's it going

 

[treeslayer2003]

dumpin the coffee in. I hated school when I went, hate it more now. I think its a joke. kids get out dumber every year

 

[northmanlogging]

I get the whole safety first B.S. but why charge so much for a guy to take a simple test? All its doing is driving people out of work. Luckily here in Warshington you don't need and certification to run most anything... yet... Guys who advertise being licensed all it means is you have a business license, unless your into dirt work, or heavy hauling then you need special licenses, other wise you could call yourself an arborist and who's the wiser.

As far as young'uns getting into the industry, there are plenty of em getting in on the big crews in these parts, they just don't stick around long, takes a special kind of stupid to work so hard and get paid so little and still feel good about it at the end of the day. They are out there though, think of Plankton and his buddy looking to log 40 acres, they're still in college (actually from the looks of the pictures I'd say they just started college but that would be ass-u-me-ing)

 

[treeslayer2003]

ya don't have ta have license there? we have license and a green card and still permits. del. just a free permit.