i never thought!!

twobears · March 17, 2009, 09:31:12 PM

the day i quit working in the woods i never thought i,de ever say this.."i miss the woods"
i guess i,am watching way to many of those logging shows on tv.
for some reason i,am really missing it...getting up early and driving to the job site,firing up whatever machine i,am running that day,,skidder,log loader,chipper,,feller,dozer,ect,ect,ect.
the last few days have been really nice and i wanta be outside enjoying it.i think thats one reason i started missing logging.plus,springs here and i,am watching some of the guys i used to work for taking there equpiment back to the shop for spring breakup.
it sure can be tough dangerous work and even tho i have some really bad scars from it i still miss it alot right now...if the pay even came close to matching the work i,de go back in a heartbeat.
thanks for letting me vent!!.. ;D

delbert

Jeff · March 17, 2009, 10:26:48 PM

I've had the itch lately to go back to the woods, I know my sawmill days are over, but I wonder how I would hold up in a forwarder.

timber tramp · March 17, 2009, 11:58:43 PM

Might be a little tough to find a job in the woods at all right now, unless things in your neck of the woods are better than they are here.

TT

Gary_C · March 18, 2009, 01:51:10 AM

Jeff, you would not have any problems running one of these newer forwarders or grapple skidders. Those pulp wood loggers are always looking for good dependable operators although I don't know if you have that many in your part of the UP. There are a lot of pulp wood cutters in the western UP but not sure in your area.

And the reason I say one of the newer machines is they are not physically demanding although they are tiring for long days just because of the concentration and constant activity it takes. And I am really spoiled with the comfort of those newer machines and too danged old to consider anything else.

One early and very cold morning, as I was heading out to the woods an older lady commented on how difficult my job must be on these below zero mornings. I told her that not to minimize the hazards of my work, my biggest problem was recognizing when to turn the heater in the cab down before my shirt was soaked with sweat. :

That did get a laugh, but not much more sympathy. :D

SwampDonkey · March 18, 2009, 07:28:46 AM

No brush cutting jobs in your area twobears? How come I never here about pre-commercial thinning programs in the US. Your governments not believe in thinning? There's your next woods job. ;D

SwampDonkey · March 18, 2009, 07:33:13 AM

Quote from: Gary_C on March 18, 2009, 01:51:10 AM
And I am really spoiled with the comfort of those newer machines and too danged old to consider anything else.

Like one of them old patriarch farmers that never retires. Gotta stick around to team the boys, and never gives up the reins. :D ;D

twobears · March 18, 2009, 08:47:12 AM

SWAMPDONKEY:down here brush is just another thing to run over... ;D i really don,t know why i feel the way i do right now.but,the woods sure is calling me right now.
i drive a school bus now and this morning i meet one of my old bosses.he had one of his old trucks and a lowboy..i almost turned my bus around and followed him to the job.
ya,i know i,am sick and in a week i,de be ready to get out of the woods..

i guess i should just keep driving a bus and get equipment so i can log on days i,am not driving my bus that way i could have my cake and eat it to... great benefits and time in the woods. ;D

delbert

stonebroke · March 18, 2009, 12:10:31 PM

Get some stuff and do it as a hobby. That way when it is not fun you don't have to do it.

Stonebroke

twobears · March 18, 2009, 12:37:56 PM

STONEBROKE:thats how i,am thinking.i,de like to get a good 4x4 tractor and maybe a forwarding trailer.i already have a winch.i,am also building a firewood processor and i have my sawmill.
my biggest problem right now is lack of money to buy anything.when,i sawed my arm i was really sick for a long time and it cost me alot.i,am just starting to get back on my feet.

delbert

Jeff · March 18, 2009, 02:10:28 PM

Driving school bus is enough to make a guy want to do anything else.

SwampDonkey · March 18, 2009, 02:25:21 PM

:D :D :D :D

All kidding aside, it's a job more stable than depending on a mill. Just gotta be able to take a bus load of kids going ape. ;D

I know one fella who drives bus that partnered with a friend who was an accountant with a lumber mill. They bought woodland 50:50 for years and later divided the lots, I did the plans on them. They cut a little wood as a hobby mostly and have a tractor and trailor with log loader. Their lots are handy to the mill the one of them worked for so they can haul their own softwood to the neighboring mill. Most any hardwood is for firewood and very little of that. It's just a hobby for them, and who wants to work for ever. Enjoy life I say. They don't need income from their woodlots anyway. ;)

twobears · March 18, 2009, 04:18:07 PM

JEFF:rotflmao!!!! i live in a very small rural town and i have a great bunch of kids on my bus.i really enjoy driving and working with kids.the kids like me alot too.

delbert

stonebroke · March 18, 2009, 05:10:04 PM

You are very lucky!!!

Stonebroke

twobears · March 18, 2009, 09:22:01 PM

the parents are far worse to deal with..one woman tryed for two years to get me fired..according to her i made fun of her daughters scar..ya,right..i have more scars then 20 kids so why would i make fun of anybody with a scar.
i love "my kid wouldn,t do that"" then we show them the video tape from the bus they try to change the subject by pointing out other kids acting up.

delbert

SwampDonkey · March 18, 2009, 09:51:51 PM

:D :D :D

Reminds me of the school yard bully that picked on the littler ones. When someone laid a thump'n on him on the bus he went home to momma telling is teary eyed story. She'd call up all over the neighborhood to see who beat up her little darl'in.

twobears · March 18, 2009, 10:05:16 PM

..yep,thats how it worked.
i had a teenage boy tell me he was going to hit me,i got on the radio and asked the school if i had the right to defend myself if he did try it.i had half the town call me and tell me how they enjoyed me saying that..they heard me on there scanners..lol the boy said that to me one to many times and i started walking back to him...he sat right back down in his seat..lol
the next morning i pulled up to his house,flipped the red lights on and set the brakes,i got off the bus and stood by the door waiting...the look on his face was priceless when i told him he wouldn,t be riding that day..he didn,t and for two more days.
the school didn,t have the guts to call his mom and tell her he couldn,t ride the bus for tthree days..so,i told him..lol the forth day i met with him and his mom at school and told her what was what on my bus...they moved shortly after that...lol
now,i know why i wanta go back in the woods...lol killin trees is a great stress reliver.. :D

delbert

badpenny · March 19, 2009, 02:15:39 AM

I drove as a substitute for the local school for the '93-'94 school year, mostly after school activity events with some route driving. When asked if I would drive the next year, I replied that I would rather haul pigs, as pigs were cleaner, quieter, and better behaved. I was then told my services were not required, and that worked for me.

DanG · March 19, 2009, 03:17:17 AM

I wouldn't drive bus on a dare around here, at least not for the public schools. The private schools might be a different matter, but I'd still rather swing a clearing saw for SwampDonkey, than to take the chance. If I was in the kind of environment where twobears is, I'd jump at the chance to drive, though.

This thread is bringing back memories of Mr. Jones, who drove our bus throughout my Elementary School years. I want to tell you, I admired that man almost as much as I feared him! If someone got out of hand on the bus, he would stop the bus right in the road, pull down that handle that put out the little stop sign(there weren't no flashing lights in those days) and open the door. In the mirror through which he watched over his passengers, his eyes would focus on the offending party, and that person would exit with his head hanging, knowing that he had a long walk ahead of him. Nobody ever questioned the fact that Mr. Jones was in charge of everything about bus 27! I don't recall ever hearing of any complaints from parents, either. It was more likely that the offenders got a little dose of "medicine" when they came dragging home an hour after the bus went by. :D :D

twobears · March 19, 2009, 06:19:51 PM

DANG:thats the problem now a days..a kid get himself in trouble and the parents wanta know what someother kid and/or person did to him..back in my school days you got in trouble at school and at home.
another thing that burns me is this..some bully picks on a kid,that kid gets sick of the crap and hits the bully...the picked on kid gets tossed out of school and the bully just laughs and picks on another kid.
i beat up four bullys when i was in school and never got in trouble at all.two bus drivers and a teacher told the kids/bullys they got just what they earned..lol
this afternoon a boy on my bus left his ds on my bus seeing how we have a three day weekend i drove over in my truck and give it to his mom.before,i left i had three little kids looking out the door smiling and waving to me...it was neat and things like that make it worth driving a bus.

delbert

ely · March 19, 2009, 06:27:42 PM

sd, down here in the WH timber land they never do anything like you were showing us the other day with your brush cutters. all thru the pines they have various sizes of undesirable species. i would think these trees would compete with the pines for water etc.

sometimes the big boys dont make too much sense.

twobears · March 19, 2009, 06:47:16 PM

ELY:fyi::i,ve been in atoka,ok.i saw my first twister in warren,ok..you folks can have that i,ll stick with the snow and cold.
it was someplace around atoka i pulled a 13,6" trailer under a 13,6"overpass...lol i was going west and another truck was going east under that overpass at the same time...lol

delbert

twobears · March 21, 2009, 08:55:12 AM

yesterday,i had to go past one of my old logging bosses garage.i see he has most of his equipment home for spring break.
i wanted to stop and fire some of it up.i see he still has the 640d skidder i used to run and the same morbark chipper.i also see he has a new jd skidder,loader truck and timco.

delbert

SwampDonkey · March 21, 2009, 10:11:11 AM

I know of a couple that went through 3 or 4 of hurricane or tornado storms in the south. They moved up here and bought a country store and said they had enough of having to rebuild their lives.

Faron · March 22, 2009, 09:59:09 PM

Quote from: twobears on March 19, 2009, 06:19:51 PM

DANG:thats the problem now a days..a kid get himself in trouble and the parents wanta know what someother kid and/or person did to him..back in my school days you got in trouble at school and at home.
another thing that burns me is this..some bully picks on a kid,that kid gets sick of the crap and hits the bully...the picked on kid gets tossed out of school and the bully just laughs and picks on another kid.
i beat up four bullys when i was in school and never got in trouble at all.two bus drivers and a teacher told the kids/bullys they got just what they earned..lol
this afternoon a boy on my bus left his ds on my bus seeing how we have a three day weekend i drove over in my truck and give it to his mom.before,i left i had three little kids looking out the door smiling and waving to me...it was neat and things like that make it worth driving a bus.

delbert

Times change. There were railings about knee high along the sidewalks at our little K-12 school. I was in eighth grade walking along the crowded sidewalk. I, having a big armload of books, had backed up along the railing to let a big group of kids pass. One of our class bullies saw his chance and shoved me over the railing into the bushes, books flying everywhere. He got a big charge out of it. I knew I couldn't let that go. I stowed my books and followed him. At that time I imagine he outweighed me by 30 lbs. Further down in the schoolyard was was another set of pipes, actually a teeter totter frame with the boards removed. He was about 4 feet from it when I hit him at a dead run, putting him over the bar and sliding him across the gravel. He got up with bleeding hands and knees, blazing mad. He looked at me a second, and turned and limped away. "What the heck?" I had prepared myself for the fight I was sure would come. I noticed several students looking at the school door behind me. I turned and looked straight into the eyes of the high school principal, a no nonsense guy. He gave me just the slightest hint of a smile, and walked back in the school. He later told my aunt, a teacher at the school, "I didn't see what started it, but I knew John deserved what he got, and Faron wouldn't have done that without good reason." I am pretty sure in today's school I would have been kicked out for something like that.