Wesco options.

[Gologit]

i can't lock my right knee so i can't stand up quite straight........i used to be a little over 6' lol.
i believe that on the boots.........if they don't fit right i hate um. i just try to get what i had and liked.........if i could do custom i would.........can't really fly out there for boots lol.
it does seem like nothing fits just right any more......IDK if its me changed or boots and clothes ain't cut right. i couldn't really have shrunk much.......i hope.....

You don't have to fly out here. Get on Wesco's website and they'll send you a handy-dandy self measuring kit with all the instructions. The paperwork is surprisingly detailed and if you take your time you can get good measurements and good results. Send the numbers back to them and they'll make you a fine pair of boots. I think it's about 100 bucks extra but it's worth it.

 

[northmanlogging]

Whites, Viberg, and maybe hoffman? has essentially the same thing, all the same measurments, but different brand... I think Kullians is the only one you need to be in person for?

 

[wowzers]

I'll say it again, I have had horrible luck with my whites. I didn't even get a season of hooking out of mine before they were so walked over and the heels blown out. I inquired to Whites and they said they were excessively worn and would only partially cover the rebuild. Got them back and a month or so into them they started coming apart again. I will never buy another pair and made it my mission to let everyone know how bad their product had declined! Not to mention that I went in to Spokane and got measured at the shop and they still stretched out so much I have to wear two pairs of socks.

 

[madhatte]

My buddy at Kuliens tells me that part of that problem (you see it all over) is that the leather quality just isn't there, and that it's because nobody lets steers live long enough for the hide to get strong and tough. I guess since they're not considered good for meat, and don't give milk, they kill them young. Apparently you need to let them live to about 10 years or so to get the best quality leather? They have a supply of old stock material that they're still using but once that's gone, who knows. You may not be able to get around that problem if the raw material issues are industry-wide. This is an interesting side effect of large-scale industrial farming efficiency.

 

[wowzers]

I have heard something similar along with the way they tan it is more environmentally friendly now and not as good. My Wesco's have been pretty decent so far and way cheaper! Next go around I think I'm switching to the Meindls.

 

[Eccentric]

The supply of Old Growth leather is dwindling.

Great. Yet one more thing that isn't like it used to be...

 

[madhatte]

Next go around I think I'm switching to the Meindls.

I'm wearing a pair of Meindl shoes right now. I like the cork insoles well enough, but they fit a bit narrower than expected. I'll get them a size or two wider the next time.

 

[KYLogger]

"Industrial farming" especially concerning cattle ranching/feeding is largely an urban legend. MOST of your "commercial farms" are poultry farms. Family farms vastly outnumber corporate farms in America. Steers commonly reach slaughter weight at about 18 months of age. Most of this has to do with vastly superior genetics and better quality feeds as well as a better understanding of cattle feeding. In the days of old a steer might not reach slaughter weight until two or three years of age. The breeds and feeding had a lot to do with that. Not to my knowledge has the slaughter of ten year old stock (with the exception of slaughter cows and bulls) been commonplace. I know we are a little off topic here but before becoming a logger I was a cowboy............ and this strikes a chord.....

I will get off my soapbox now.

 

[madhatte]

It was my understanding from the conversation that I am alluding to that the leather for boots historically was made from the skin of bulls. Alas, this is the pretty much the extent of my knowledge on the subject. I'll tug on my buddy's coat and see if I can't get him to make an account here so that he can answer some questions (hell, maybe drum up some business while he's at it, who knows).

 

[KYLogger]

Bull hide is definitely a preferred boot leather used by a lot of high end makers. I would say that the recent skyrocket in cattle prices and the dramatic reduction of the US cattle herd as a whole has a whole lot to do with the reduced availability of quality hides. I have noticed that a large number of boot mfgs. quality of leather has gone down dramatically in the last ten years or so.....Must be a industry wide problem...... Sorry if I offended you madhatte, definitely not my intention.

 

[madhatte]

Sorry if I offended you madhatte, definitely not my intention.

You're quite alright! I was just clarifying that I'm no expert, and that what knowledge I do have comes to me second-hand.

 

[treeslayer2003]

does any one use hog hide?

 

[hseII]

"Industrial farming" especially concerning cattle ranching/feeding is largely an urban legend. MOST of your "commercial farms" are poultry farms. Family farms vastly outnumber corporate farms in America. Steers commonly reach slaughter weight at about 18 months of age. Most of this has to do with vastly superior genetics and better quality feeds as well as a better understanding of cattle feeding. In the days of old a steer might not reach slaughter weight until two or three years of age. The breeds and feeding had a lot to do with that. Not to my knowledge has the slaughter of ten year old stock (with the exception of slaughter cows and bulls) been commonplace. I know we are a little off topic here but before becoming a logger I was a cowboy............ and this strikes a chord.....

I will get off my soapbox now.

Well,
Our 2187 lb old bull sold yesterday for $2181.00.
Hopefully he is the donor for my next pair of work boots.

I think he was old enough his sack could be used for boot bottoms.

A Word of caution Moobs, we bought a bull one time that had a broke d**k.

There is no market for broke d**k bulls.

They can't bull, and, well, there's just no 2 ways about it, it's a ****** situation.

So When you buy a bull, verify that his running gear is in working order.

We caught this watching him in the pasture... He didn't even try to be a bull anymore, he didn't act right, and it was finally observed when he relieved himself as to why he wasn't trying to be a bull.
Needless to say, we didn't get any calves from that heard that year.

 

[KYLogger]

Hog hide is tough, I have seen gloves made from it. I think that it is too thin for proper work boot leather. It does wear like iron though, just won't hold it's shape.

 

[KYLogger]

Gotta love when a slaughter bull brings $1.00...............can't beat that!

 

[hseII]

Gotta love when a slaughter bull brings $1.00...............can't beat that!

We are gonna pay for that long term.

The cow business is a cycle just like everything else.
It's high right now, but the bottom will come out of it and start the cycle over.

30 calves and 1 old brood cow that wasn't going to make it they the winter brought $23,8xx in September.

Crazy

 

[KYLogger]

The powers that be are saying that the price should level off and stay there for the foreseeable future. It was about time that the cattle market came up. Look at all of the input costs, they have rose higher and higher and cattle prices stayed relatively low. Now in my opinion they are where they should be. But then again I have seen high cattle prices before............. and not.............

Wish our timber markets would do the same. Prices are good, but not where they should be. I hear the old guys saying that prices are about the same now as they were in the 80's and early 90's........ No wonder all the older loggers and retired loggers around here seem pretty well off. LOL. I would be making a killing if diesel was fifty cents a gallon (not to mention all the other stuff)

And now......................back to calk boots...........

 

[hseII]

The powers that be are saying that the price should level off and stay there for the foreseeable future. It was about time that the cattle market came up. Look at all of the input costs, they have rose higher and higher and cattle prices stayed relatively low. Now in my opinion they are where they should be. But then again I have seen high cattle prices before............. and not.............

Wish our timber markets would do the same. Prices are good, but not where they should be. I hear the old guys saying that prices are about the same now as they were in the 80's and early 90's........ No wonder all the older loggers and retired loggers around here seem pretty well off. LOL. I would be making a killing if diesel was fifty cents a gallon (not to mention all the other stuff)

And now......................back to calk boots...........

Pulpwood prices are the same here as what we were paying for it 18 years ago.

And fuel was under $1.29 a gallon then

 

[Gologit]

Pulpwood prices are the same here as what we were paying for it 18 years ago.

And fuel was under $1.29 a gallon then

We're grossing quite a bit more money logging than we were in the eighties but we're not really netting any more than we were then. Prices of everything, people, fuel, insurance, machinery, and parts have gone up too. It evens itself out. I'm getting twice as much to log as I did some years ago and things cost twice as much as they did then.
One of our bean counters did a study on it. We're still doing as much work, moving as much wood basically, for the same percentage of return as we were in the eighties...or the seventies... or the sixties. The only thing that's different is that the numbers are bigger. A lot bigger. Bigger doesn't mean more.

 

[hseII]

We're grossing quite a bit more money logging than we were in the eighties but we're not really netting any more than we were then. Prices of everything, people, fuel, insurance, machinery, and parts have gone up too. It evens itself out. I'm getting twice as much to log as I did some years ago and things cost twice as much as they did then.
One of our bean counters did a study on it. We're still doing as much work, moving as much wood basically, for the same percentage of return as we were in the eighties...or the seventies... or the sixties. The only thing that's different is that the numbers are bigger. A lot bigger. Bigger doesn't mean more.

Truth