winter logging (pics)(merged thread)

[Quebecnewf]

Here is anothe pic of a load of logs we hauled yesterday. All spruce and fir. These were cut last year but lost the snow too early to get them home


Got to love that Yamaha

Quebecnewf

[grassfed]

Quebecnewf,

Did you use your new winch on those logs? How is it working for you?

[sprucebunny]

Nice logs, Quebecnewf !

I need to build a sled/trailer like yours.

[Quebecnewf]

Grassfed

Winch is working great. Still need some more experence but that will come with time.

One thing it seems as if every now and then the motor stops for no reason. Seems to be when the motor moves suddenly. Could it be the oil alert. Have yu had this problem

Quebecnewf

[Quebecnewf]

Here are a couple of pic from yesterday .It was a mild day so no trouble to get wet. Better when it is cold. The pile of logs are spruce that we hauled to the path with the new winch

Quebecnewf

[grassfed]

Could it be the oil alert

That's it. When the motor tilts past a certain point a switch cuts the ignition. Usually it happens when you first take a strain and the winch starts to float. It happens less as you get the feel of the machine.

Warm there huh...we had -25F this morning to cold to run the equipment unless I have to, things tend to break allot when it gets this cold.

[SwampDonkey]

Way to go newf! What have ya got strapped onto yourself? Cut your snow shoes yet? ;D How far away is the mill?  ;)  Any black ash, yellow birch or red maple that far up the Quebec coastline? It does grow in western Newfoundland. But, that might be in the rain shadow of the mountains.

Nice little read below.....

Tough little trees on the fringe

[Quebecnewf]

That is a pouch with files spare chain etc. I have not cut my snowshoes. Many of my freinds do though but I say if you cut your snowshoes your chainsaw is out of control. We haul logs about 13 klm half over the ground and half accross the sea ice. We have no black ash or maple here but we do have birch.

[Quebecnewf]

Well went in the woods again today but not a good day too mild. Cut a load of firewood and hauled it home along with a load of logs


Starting to get a few logs on the rack at the mill

My freind got stuck with his kometick load of firewood so broke out the winch had to add a snatch block to increase the pulling power to 5000 lbs line pull but it came out fine after that "love that winch"

Here is the load of firewood mostly dry spruce. My path is still a little soft but got out to the plain with no problem.


Blizzard forcast for here tomorrow so who knows what snow conditions well be after that. It is supposed to turn back cold so that sounds better

Quebecnewf

[farmerdoug]

Just thinking out loud but I wonder if they log with Huskys up there like they use horses and mules around here? 

Great job using snowmobiles up there.  Around here we sometimes in some winters do not even get enough snow to cover the ground enough for snowmobiles.

Farmerdoug

[Quebecnewf]

Yeas ago they hauled all their firewood and logs with dogteam but when the ski doo came along in 1964 the dogs went the way of the dodo bird

Quebecnewf

[tonich]

Nice pictures, Quebecnewf! Very exiting!
Thanks for sharing them with us! 

Would you please, tell us more about applied cutting methods!
Was it a snowfall?

[farmerdoug]

Just like horselogging went by the wayside when the skidders came out down here.  Just a few horseloggers around now that want to keep it going.  I wonder if there is any dyed in the wool husky loggers left too?

Farmerdoug

[Quebecnewf]

I,m not quite sure of the question but here goes.

We do all our log cutting and firewood cutting during the winter months after the sea ice freezes and we can travel from the island where the village is to the mainland. The land is far to rough and swampy to move over during the summer.

I cut a path through the woods wide enough for my snowmobile and sleigh and then cut logs on each side of this path. Logs are hauled to the path by a small gas powered winch and then loaded on sleighs and towed by snowmobile about 13 klm to my mill which is located on a small island next to the island where the village is.

I then saw part time througout the summer and fall months and haul the lumber home to the wharf on a sleigh that I tow behind my boat (see pics in my gallerey). My buddy then hauls the lumber loaded sleigh up the ramp onto the wharf with a forklift and I transport the material home to my business with an ATV and Trailer.

A lot of moves don't you think

Quebecnewf

[Quebecnewf]

Dogs were not near as good as horses for logging. You also in this region had to feed them all summer and of course you could not use them during the summer. No one would go back to logging by dog it just can't be done anymore. One guy in the village has a team that he uses for sport riding during the winter but he hauls all his wood with skidoo

[farmerdoug]

Good point,  Horses are useful in the summer too.  I am guessing that the dogs would not pull much on soil. :

Farmerdoug

[tonich]

I,m not quite sure of the question but here goes.

Oops! My bad!
My question was concerning ”cutting methods” as silvicultural practice.
Who specify the trees for cutting and how?

PS. I do apologize for not being clear enough.
My English could have been better.  :-[  :

[Quebecnewf]

We cut our firewood on crown land. There is no control in this region. Because we only cut in winter there is no damage to the soil. Most of the forest in this region was destroyed a few years back by the hemlock looper further down the coast it was not harmed at all.

I have cut in a area that was logged by my grandfather when he was a young man. Very little logging now as the distance to travel and the rough terrain make it too expensive.

In a few years with the development of a large hydro electric project on one of our large rivers there will probally come on line a whole lot of first grade logs. They have to  remove trees from areas that they plan to flood.

I hope I am not too old and get a chance to saw a few of these logs. Back in the country there are spruce trees that have to be seen to be believed. This is all old growth and due to the fact that our winters are harsh slow growing so very tight rings.

A few years a freind of mine went a long distance up the river over rapids and waterfalls and brought back a spruce. We took a 8' log of the butt and then a 16' log. That 16' squared 13" clean and in that block of woodthere was not one knot can you imagine the timberframe structure one could build with logs like that. We won't even go into the birch which are out of this world

Quebecnewf

[sawguy21]

I am fascinated with this story. Just one question though. Where are you located ? Google Earth put Harrington near Ottawa. :D

[tonich]

This is what I’ve found.

BTW, my village has almost the same population.

[sawguy21]

That is where I found it too but definately not where he is logging. I am guessing he is on the coast north west of Newfoundland.

[Samuel]

That is where I found it too but definitely not where he is logging. I am guessing he is on the coast north west of Newfoundland.

Do they have trees in Newfoundland?  I thought all they have is rocks or at least that is what their provincial tourism is trying to sell to everyone...   :D

[SwampDonkey]

sawguy, the newf is located on an island located at Harrington Harbour. It's across from western Newfoundland. Most of those folks are Newfoundland fishermen that settled on the Quebec side.

Map

Harrington Harbour

[sawguy21]

Thanks SD.

[Stephen1]

My son calls everything east of Quebec City, some of the most beautiful country that Canada has.  Quebec' little secret, that most Canadian's will not visit because it is French. I have been to the Saginay which is a small part and it is beautiful.