Writer Looking for Answers for book

[shockmount]

Hey Everyone,

I am in the process of writing a novel and there are a few scenes featuring a character who works as a logger. Specifically, he drives a loader and loads logs onto the trucks. I have a few questions that I wanted to ask people who work in the logging field to ensure truthful accuracy for the character. I plan on visiting a site soon to get a better idea, but I thought I'd try posting here as well.

What are the day-to-day operations of someone who drives a loader? Does he spend all day in the cutting area, or does he begin and end his day elsewhere? In other words, would he spend all day in the woods? How many people would work in one clearing area?

I'd love to hear any insight on these things. Specifically, this book takes place in northern maine, if that makes a difference.

Thank you so much for your insight!

-K.

 

[toddstreeservic]

It really depends on the size of the company and how much wood they are moving. My guess is that most companies in Northern Maine would be small enough that the loader operater would also be doing something else like driving truck or skidder etc.

 

[masiman]

You may be able to give yourself a good primer before you head out to the woods by watching the TV show called "Axe Men". It originally aired on Discovery but is currently airing on History Channel, Sundays 10p/9 Central.

 

[toddstreeservic]

Axmen is pretty westcoast specific though.

 

[hammerlogging]

Ah, the loader operator. True, on a smaller outfit you may find them driving the truck too, and the skidder driver might have to pile some logs using the loader to keep the landing open.

But, a real loader operator. He'll show up before light. Creak out of the truck, pull up his pants and button his cuffs of his shirt in the cool air. Put in a chew and throw on the lid, the helmet, cause he's been around long enough that its second hand. Crawls up on the loader and fires it up. After a pause, gets back down and greases the fittings. Puts the grease gun back in the truck. Crawls back up the ladder, pauses, and pours a cup of coffee form the thermos. Takes a sip, another, then amps up the motor.

Logs come in to the landing tree length (usually). Lots of loaders run sawbucks to buck the logs to the right length and all the loaderman has to do is run the levers. But, sometimes he has to get down and bump some knots. Some loaders don't run a sawbuck and these fellows have to crawl up and down all day to buck the logs as they come in from the skidder. Of course if the cutting is way ahead, a cutter might come in and do this log merchandising for the loaderman.

Anyhow, the first truck rolls in just before dawn. There are maybe 3 log sorts and a pile of pulpwood. This truck is gonna get a load of pulp first, then a load of logs, then a load of pulp for the end of the day, so he can go sit in line for 2 1/2 hours at the papermill waiting to get unloaded and get home after a 14 hour day. A hotshot could load a truck in 14 minutes. This fellow will take about 22 minutes cause he already proved everything he had to back in the day. (a new guy might take nearly an hour)

The loaderman can serve as sort of a dispatcher for the whole outfit too- especially a crew running radios.

Of course go down south to the plantation pine and a loaderman has it a little more rough, running the pull-through delimber. But this is not what its all about. The loaderman is older, wise, mellow, tough, and friendly. First one on the job and often the last on to go.

I'd recommend checking out more than one crew. Its easy to find the loader anyhow, considering 18 wheelers come in and out all day.

 

[slowp]

Terminology is important. They are not loader drivers. They are loader operators. There are only truck drivers. The Cat or Skidder is operated. In Maine, you might have log forwarders, I don't know. We call loaders, shovels out here. Work on getting authentic terminology, at least the simple terms.
Yes, what hammerlogging said is true. Loader operators sometimes start at 2:30 AM and then work til the last truck is loaded, which could be in the evening, if the trucker wants to be first in line at the mill, and has a spot to park his load overnight. There are very few young loader operators. They are high if not highest in the caste system.

 

[Adkpk]

Oh you should have been with me last winter. I met a logger, JP, up on a mountain in the Catskills. He was 72 and working alone. He was skidding logs out for a local lumber company. I was full of questions and he didn't seem to mind me at all, taking his time. I asked if I could follow him someday back to where he was cutting and he said, sure why not. but I never found the time to take him up on it. If you don't have something set up with a logger already I could probably at least help send you in the right direction to find someone in the Catskills. Or go to into a saw shop in the area your looking in and ask them, they'll know the local loggers.

 

[Adkpk]

And by the way how about a heads up posted on here if you get published.

 

[hammerlogging]

Yeah, you run a loader. But you do drive a skidder. But you can also run it.

 

[Bushler]

Down here, (SW OR) we refer to a 'loader' as a machine with forks, either rubber tired or track machine. A grapple machine is refered to as a 'shovel', and is usually a logging front on an excavator.

The term 'shovel' is derived from the early days of 'steam shovel' and refers to the set up of the hydraulic cycls. and how the boom was designed. Shovels are designed to lift up,( like a shovel). An excavator with a bucket is refered to as a 'hoe', and is designed to pull and dig, (like a hoe).

Terminology probably varies with location.

 

[RandyMac]

988

 

[Tzed250]

Sometimes lawyers come on sites like this phishing for information to build cases with...

 

[Gologit]

Sometimes lawyers come on sites like this phishing for information to build cases with...

Sometimes they do but usually, by the type of specific questions they ask, we can figure out what they're up to.

Lawyers are sneaky though and it's hard to be sure. Maybe they teach courses in Allowable Subterfuge at law school. SpaceMule could tell us about that, I guess, if they haven't made him take a vow of silence on certain subjects.

One thing you can be sure of...all lawyers think that they're smarter than the average guy. Let 's not prove them right.

 

[Tzed250]

Sometimes they do but usually, by the type of specific questions they ask, we can figure out what they're up to.

Lawyers are sneaky though and it's hard to be sure. Maybe they teach courses in Allowable Subterfuge at law school. SpaceMule could tell us about that, I guess, if they haven't made him take a vow of silence on certain subjects.

One thing you can be sure of...all lawyers think that they're smarter than the average guy. Let 's not prove them right.

An ounce of prevention.................




.

 

[Gologit]

Yup. opcorn:

 

[Zackman1801]

usually if there is an operation with a loader around here its big enough to have a drive operating it all day long. the most you usually see on small operations is a second dozer or cutter. but alot is one man if its small.

On a big clearcut operation the operator would stay in the loader all day, and pull the logs through the delimber, cut them with a big curcular saw and then pile them on the sides of the road for the truck, then usually feed the tops into a chipper. most wood comes out of the woods tree length with limbs still on because alot gets cut with feller bunchers, and moved to the landing with grapple skidders.

 

[slowp]

Sometimes lawyers come on sites like this phishing for information to build cases with...

Whoa. I'm too naive. I'll have to chew myself out. OK. It's done. Maybe it is a book about lawyers?

 

[Bushler]

Randy, nice pic. Cat numbers designate whether the machine is tracks or tires. Even #'s denote tires, odd #'s tracks. Randy's Cat 988 (even) has tires, my Cat 941 has tracks. Just so you know.

 

[toddstreeservic]

I don't understand the whole lawyer thing? What kind of info could we be giving them to build a case?

 

[slowp]

I don't understand the whole lawyer thing? What kind of info could we be giving them to build a case?

And would internet info be considered reliable? Or expert?