Logging the hard way

[jim king]

I thought you might enjoy a simple logging method.  These blocks were carried out about 4 1/2 miles.  Between today and tomorrow we will have brought out close to 20,000 bf.

[Don K]

How were the blocks cut and what species are they?  Don

[jim king]

These are all cut freehand with chainsaws.  The species today were Orange Agate, Queenwood, Tigre Caspi some bloodwood and limoncillo.

[thecfarm]

How many man,I suppose,carried these?Nice looking wood.

[jim king]

Cfarm:  In this area I have  five families working on 100 acres.  We will thin it out and take about 200,000 bf.  We have about 40,000 bf per acre here of 12 inch dba and above.  In six months at the most you will not know we were there and then will go back in 5 years for the same amount.  Our problem is the distance between trees of a species.  Some species will have only 1 or 2 trees every 100 acres.

[Buzz-sawyer]

Very interesting and enlightening.....have you considered and other on site milling, like poratable slabbing chainsaw mills or swing blades to break the wood up inthe forest?

[jim king]

Buzz-sawyer:  In the area we are working the land is so hilly and full of small rivers that it is not really practicle to do it any other way than what we are doing.  I wish there was a better way.

[thecfarm]

Did you see this thread semologger?

jim king logging

Interesting reading and some more pictures.

[Ianab]

Of course with guys that can freehand that well with a chainsaw, who needs an Alaskan mill  :D

I haul my mill to some pretty remote spots, and we have basically hand carried it the last 50 ft to some logs. But that takes 4 people and it's NOT easy. (Peterson WPF)

I still think a Lucas or ATS style mill could be carried in, if you were prepared to break the saw carriage down into parts that could be moved easily by 2 guys. May be worth talking to Peterson about a mod that would allow a quick breakdown and re-assembly of the carriage.

One that has been done in NZ is to drop a tree in the bush and lower a mill in by chopper. Saw the log and lift the boards and mill out again. But with the hourly rate on choppers, Jim's crew is probably cheaper  :D

Cheers

Ian

[jim king]

This photo shows how the blocks come out , up and over hills and over or thru creeks.  There is no end coating as we have very little cracking on most of the species and the ones that do have a tendancy to crack it seems that there is nothing to do to stop the problem. 

As for how many we can get out in a day it depends on how many uncles, cousins , brothers
etc. etc. show up to earn a little money.  We have had 10,000 bf days.  Two men put the cant on the back of the third and away he goes.  This is also a special event as at nightfall out comes 40 gallons of white lightning to seal the day and a good meal that the women prepared during the day.

The second photo is one of the woods that is like glass, the only way I have been somewhat successful is boiling the boards prior to drying.

[Greenedive]

This is also a special event as at nightfall out comes 40 gallons of white lightning to seal the day and a good meal that the women prepared during the day.

Wow!!! 40 gallons of white lightning would surely put a seal on anyone's day! :D

What is the wood in the second picture, Jim? Beautiful turning!!

[jim king]

Greenedive:  The vase is made of Palo Cruz .  It is hard as steel and brittle as glass.  The tree only grows to 16 to 18 inches in dia. but 75 to 90 foot tall and only about 4 to 6 inches in the heartwood  is black.  But it does make beautiful two color turnings.

[sawmillsi]

G'day mate!

I thought I'd get back into the posting action - here are some pictures from Papua New Giunea.

We currently use 5 Ecosaw's (we make them ourselves, but see D & L's swingblade for info) in the bush to mill trees where they fall.

We then use small 2 small 35hp tractors to pull the timber out to a road using trailers, then transport to a bigger road using my Toyota Landcruiser or Hilux, then transfer to our 4 x 4 Isuzu for transport back to our yard for grading and packing (we export to Australia and Europe).

If the conditions are bad in the bush, we also hand carry the timber up to 6km's using local villagers.

Our tractors are a really old Ford and a new Chinese copy of a New Holand (we put a frame on it to try and protect it from the rough drivers) - the chinese tractor cost $12,400!

We send about 40m3 per month out in export grade and about the same into local timber products (pallets and surveying pegs)

Here is a brige we made over a creek - nb. this is a short term bridge (no more than 6 months of use)

Following the tractor out of the bush

Transfering timber from the tractor to my Landcruiser - road is about 4 kms from where we cut the timber. Have to drive about 20kms and through 4 rivers to get back to the main road where the 4 x 4 Isuzu takes the timber

At our bush camp (after 3 rivers and 2 bog holes), from here another 3 km's to where we cut timber

Our 4 x 4 Isuzu truck

Paking export grade timber onto a flatrack

[jim king]

It sure looks and sounds familiar.  I think those guys in North America have way to many toys dont you?  Or maybe they just have enough brains not to end up in places like us.  Are you in a heavy rainfall area I assume ?

[gizmo]

Should invest in a good ATV. It'll get across the water and up the hills and it only drinks gasoline...

[sawmillsi]

Way too mnay toys!!!

We use tugger winches, jacks and lots and lots of levers.

We have just finished working in an area where the logs had to be rolled down a hill before we could mill them.

We will be looking at a D3 in the future so we can tidy up the access roads a bit more and maybe pull a few logs.

Monday we have a crew hand shovelling gravel into our truck and then spreading out on the access road cause the 4 x 4 Isuzu got stuck on the main access road on Friday night.

We have at least 10cm (4") of rain, 3-4 nights a week. We have to becarefull if we are up the bush and need to get back, cause when it starts raining the rivers come up very quickly!

I have been offered an ATV, about 500cc, but not interested! A 35 hp tractor is more our way! I am going to fit a grader blade to the back of it so we can tidy up the road a bit more.

Si

[semologger]

sorry!!! thecfarm i had been drinking. no need to be mean

[Greenedive]

Hey semologger,
thecfarm wasn't being mean....in his post, click on on the blue print jim king logging and it will take you to a different post about the same subject where Jim explained his operation in more detail.
You'll find most of the guys on here are pretty friendly and helpful....

[semologger]

owe  ok  thanks

[Ianab]

Yup, an ATV is good for getting places, but it wont haul a heavy trailer and decent wack of boards like a 4WD tractor will. I've used one to move my mill and haul out boards, but you end up making plenty of trips  :

I havent seen the Ecosaws up close, but from the pictures I've seen they break down into more 'man-portable' sized parts. I would think thats a big plus in that sort of operation 

Cheers

Ian

[sawmillsi]

Hi Ian,

From previous posts you probably know that i am a Peterson man through-and-through, but the compnay i have started working for up here have been making and selling first the Lewisaw then, when it finished up, started making the Ecomill.

So everyone here understands them and its easy for them.

Who knows, in a year or two, there might be a dozen Peterson 8" ATS's cutting timber instead.

Si

[tawilson]

This morning, there was a thing on WNBC out of NYC about logging in Peru. They had some unbelievable wood furniture on display. I wish I could find a link to it.

[jim king]

tawilson: Here are some typical pieces we make out of local wood.  In a couple of years I would like to have a furniture factory.  Now we just make pieces for photos and the grandaughter is the recipiant of most.  In a couple of years when she finishes college she should have enough furniture for a couple of houses.

[leweee]

jim.....what kind of wood is the red & white chest made of ???

And BTW that's great looking furniture. 8) 8) 8)

[Greenedive]

I was going to ask the same thing, Leweee. ;D
Beautiful work, Jim....did you do this all yourself? Love the 4-poster!!!