Where is manual labor saw use still used in the logging industry?

[Ryan Willock]

I've seen guys cut some 36'' oak with a disc head but they have to cut it from 2 or 3 sides, its not safe really but if they can get the machine around the tree to do it then they will. I've also seen them bust those trees trying it as well.

 

[Tree Sling'r]

That CAT guy sounds like a typical fat ass salesmen. Blabbing his big mouth about the biz just to sell his product.
Besides CAT feller bunchers are obsolete around here. I cut oversize (too big for machines) every once in awhile and TIMBCO is all this area uses. As far a steep ground many of you would be very suprised. The cabs are self leveling and like any thing else a machine is only as good as the operator.
But back to the basic question, it is probably 60-to-40 here, 60 being on myside - manual.

 

[Billy_Bob]

Beware of what salesmen tell you!

Salesmen *want* you to think things are a certain way, so they twist the facts to get everyone thinking in a way which will benefit them the most (more sales).

This is called propaganda. Propaganda is used in advertising, sales, politics, and wars.

Here is some info on Propaganda...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda

 

[Lonnie]

There is a business here that just went out of business...He had a fella buncher ...Im wondering if the steep ground what made him go out of business? We use saws at work but we are cutting for a excavators for setting the logs out works well...It gets more then leaves lol cuz of the ground thats when dozer gets in play///

 

[bwalker]

Most of the logging in the Central part of Upper MI is done by machine, Typicly feller buncher, forwarder and slasher combos.

 

[Fumbler]

The southeast is dominated by feller bunchers.
However, we have river basin rules in some areas that limit mechanical harvesting and skidding within certain distances from streams.
In these instances, some loggers use feller bunchers with articulating booms and reach into the streamside management zone.
Those feller bunchers are expensive, so most of the time the trees are hand felled with chainsaws.

There's always room for at least one good hand feller.

Of course there's always a few loggers that harvest with feller bunchers and skid all through the streamside management zones.
They never understand why we write them up when we do our logging inspections:bang:

 

[jon72]

I recently attended a job fair seminar featuring Caterpillar. During the presentation the speaker talked about the latest heavy equipment for logging. He specifically talked about the machines that grapple trees and saws them off. While speaking of this subject, he joked that the good ol' days of using a chainsaw to cut down trees is dead because of all the high technology machines available. I got thinking about this comment and wondered how true or untrue this really is? Are the heavy machines dominating the bulk of cutting trees? Is the chainsaw only used occasionally in logging operations? To me, it's almost kinda sad to see manual labor with chainsaws in the logging industry disappear. I also realize that phasing-out labor intensive, back-breaking work is beneficial to the workers and overall costs associated. I would certainly like to hear what the true modern story is for chainsaw VS. heavy equipment machine.

There is a lot of both here in Maine and(I think)both are here to stay.As long as a guy with a chainsaw and a cable skidder can make a good living he'll keep doing it.I know I wouldn't trade it for a $15,000 a month payment.

 

[Rick Alger]

hand crews

Another thing in the cable skidders favor is flexibility. Now that a lot of mills are back on quotas, some of the buncher/grapple outfits can't work a full week. The jobber I'm working with parked his grapple and hired a cable guy. He can give the cable guy a full weeks work, but he couldn't ship the production a buncher/grapple system would put out in a week.

 

[gjersy]

Tree processors r dominating here (WI) however I park my old one alot to cut nice sawlogs or big stuff or steep fozen hillsides.The guys with the new ones cut sawlogs but they do fiber damage where the steel roller wheels puncture the bark as it is fed through the head.

 

[Timberjackboy]

Cable skidders

In my part of the country most of the logging on government and the lage company lands is being done by bunchers and grapple skidders, although up in the northern part of the rpovince harvesters and forwarders are replacing the bunchers, lot flatter ground up there. A buncher can work on steeper gorund then a harvesters do to its shorter boom, and i don't even know how you would load a forwarder on a side hill, they are tippy enough on flat gound. A buncher will also handle a much larger tree then a harvestor. The advantages of a harvestor how ever is that they separate your pulp from your stud and stud from your logs, so the mills have less work when it comes. Although a buncher can handle a much larger tree. The cable skidder/chain saw boys are mostly scrounging for stumpage on private ground , and a few have asmall contracts with the large companies cutting over size and what not, but with ina few years over size will no longer exist cause it will be cut befor it ever gets a chance to grow very big. Wood now is also going at much lower rpices per cord. The mills are being plugged full, cable skidder guys around here are running machines from the 70s and 80s no one can afford to buy new machines cause you never know when you will have work anymore and the prices are way down. Personally i think it was better for everyone befor this mechanical revolution of the forest industry took place. We still had forests left and people were still making good money. Now contractors have to cut so much just to pay the monthly payments on these large machines. A hydraulic pump on a Ponssee beaver harvestor runs about $50,000 canadian is what I have been told.