Sometimes I drive this dirt road when I'm wasting time...and I noticed somebody had cut their timber. What do you guys think about this logger's use of the road?
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/30024/2013-03-05_16-28-21_264.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/30024/2013-03-05_16-28-27_978.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/30024/2013-03-05_16-29-51_921.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/30024/2013-03-05_16-29-10_801.jpg)
Not too bad given all the rain that we have had. The road can be re-shaped nicely with a motorgrader once it is drier. However, i would not advise driving the skidder in the ditch.
Not bad to me. BUT I would have it fixed when it hardens up. Be it regraded and or more gravel hauled in.
Looks like he drove into the ditch to deepen/widen it, maybe for better drainage?
Hard not to make a mess of things with a big machine like that.
Around here the state would have shut him down for continuing to log in those conditions.
i wouldnt call it too tough. when we file an intent to cut with the town we let them know we plan to put the road back into shape equal too or betyter then its original condition. we usually back drag and touch it up for passable traffic aty the end of every day too.
Doesn't look too bad to me. Once the job is finished up that road is an easy fix with a grader.
Quote from: BaldBob on March 06, 2013, 03:42:30 AM
Around here the state would have shut him down for continuing to log in those conditions.
Thats what I was thinking originally, that it was bad practice to log when its that wet
It's hard sometimes not too log when it's wet sometimes. Even though some loggers would like to stop,but can't due to payments and putting food on the table is a factor too.
Sure a lot easier to fix this dirt road, than if it was an improved road with topping and such. And fortunate that someone hasn't slapped him with a fine for just messing it up. It will dry and it can be graded back smooth.
Obvious the road hasn't been very well maintained with lack of ditches to drain the water away. So I don't see a thing wrong with using it to get the job done and then repair it back to how it was found.
But then, it is another easy thing for the gov't bodies to do as they sit back behind their desk and issue orders to stop using their roads. Gives them the power they seek. And that power is ever increasing and surrounding our every move.
If we stopped farming every time we made a track through the farm yard, nothing would have been accomplished. The manure would have piled up, the livestock would not have been fed, and a whole lot of other related problems. ;D
thecfarm said it well
Does not look too bad to me, and its nice to see they've put a culvert in the ditchline where the road into the block takes off. A little grading once things start to dry up will make everything good again. So from a compliance point of view if this happened in an area where I was keeping an eye on things I won't have too much heartburn.
But if this was the final condition of the road after everything was done then that would be a different story.
not real bad, the follow up in dry weather is what will count, would like to see if they do redo (not quite a Tom) the road.
Quote from: beenthere on March 06, 2013, 10:09:32 AM
But then, it is another easy thing for the gov't bodies to do as they sit back behind their desk and issue orders to stop using their roads. Gives them the power they seek. And that power is ever increasing and surrounding our every move.
That is becoming more and more of a problem with cutbacks in funding.
Some of the town boards around here are demanding bonds for loggers to even use their roads. And no matter how the loggers leave the roads, they keep the bonds because they say they have to grade the roads.
In this part of the world that would be the DRY weather :D
Unless you are going to lift the logs out with a helicopter, then logging is going to make some temporary mess of some form. Of course you should try and minimise that, but working in soft damp dirt there is only so much you can do.
Real question is what it looks like after they have left. Graded, drainage ditches reformed, a bit of gravel spread on top? All good.
Packing up and leaving it like that? Not so good... >:(
Ian
I'd say if they leave it like that or if someone presently lives on the road, that's a problem. If it's not being used for other things right now, I see it the same as Thecfarm, folks still have to feed their families and pay bills.
Allan
I wish mine was like that >:(, im cutting up against a creek/swamp bottom.
Wait till they leave before you get to excited.
is that a public road?
Can't comment on the logging ....but the road is fine ...the main road you can make it in two wheel drive , ....the spur road nothing a little dry weather and a blade can't fix...The logger did a good job of smoothing the road up considering how soft it is.
not bad at all have seen a lot worse the job end will tell
Not bad considering there are no per-existing ditches or gravel. You could argue that the road wasn't designed well... but if your like me, are your closest source of gravels is cost prohibitive to use, you make due with what you have.
Just to note, as a forester/contractor, I don't appreciate people coming into my job sites and taking pictures when no one is around to explain whats going on. Its by no means illegal (unless its posted/private property), just not very polite. I wouldn't open up someone else s brief case or laptop and start making corrections or judgments on their TPS reports. Its our office, sometimes the desk is a bit messy.
If you have a concern that they are impacting your personal or a public resource, then that is a different matter.
I've had have a fella come around to my job sites on Sundays, find the worst (only) wet hole we made on the job, take pictures, and send them out in a slanderous email to as many people as he can. Its a real nightmare. Your obviously not doing that, and your not attaching a name to the picture, but some of us lose a lot of sleep at night over stuff like this.
is that a town road
KB,that's how some people are with the wet hole. One pictuce does not tell the whole story but it does tell a bad story.
The big thing to try to avoid in logging and farming is runoff. You want to prevent water from picking up speed running down hill and carrying topsoil/sediment into waterways. Other than runoff you want to minimize soil compaction as much as possible. Soil compaction is not an issue on a road that will stay a road. If runoff is not occurring from the road than I don't see any problem based on your pictures.
KB made a very important point. We have a local group that prides itself on taking pics mid harvest and then publishing those pics all over the place to make the point harvesting is destroying the resource.
They never publish a pic after the grading, reseeding and closeout.
Not bad at all. Log on! 8) Roads and ruts can be fixed. Funny thing about logging family's, they like to eat every day just like every body ele's family's. Now, if they don't fix it, that's not okay.
Not log when its wet?Thats like a bankers job.You would have to shut down up here 1/3 of the year.That road looks fine just grade it when it drys.If you couldnt log up here when its wet there would be alot of people out of work.Logging is not pretty but natural blow downs ,forest fires dont look great.Dont judge the job before it is done!
KB Forester - I am sure we all have had our share of anti-logging types, and I think your point about explaining what we do is important. Unfortunately most folks do not understand that a forest [the trees] is/are just a part of an ever changing ecosystem [emphasis on CHANGING] and need to be reminded this - that is part of our job - not just about logging, but about fire, insects, blowdown and regrowth.
Having said that I think Grassfed has a very important point as well - it's the water and riparian areas we got to be real careful about.
In my experience, roads, landings and trails are our biggest issue to deal with. These structures all have a tendency to interrupt and impact water movement and quality and if we practice best care in these areas, then it can go a long way. We must remember we may be logging on our own ground, but what we do can affect the water that enters or leaves our site.
In the pics above, I agree with most comments that when it dries up, ditches can be pulled and the road surface graded, apply some grass seed to reduce sediment and minimizing down slope erosion/sedimentation in the ditch lines [top picture] would go a long ways for me. Tom
From what I heard, the landowner shut them down because they made the woods roads inaccessible. Anyway they are done, and the county dirt road still looks the same.
I'm not trying to make an anti-logging sentiment. My family is a tree farming family. We have to have good loggers. I just wanted a genuine opinion from the loggers and foresters since they know a lot more about this kind of stuff than I do.
And I really appreciate the feedback, helps me know where all sides are coming from.
thats just part of logging in the spring and fall ur gonna make rutts... the main thing is... time will tell... if the contractor cleans up after him self when we are done a job and make rutts we sent a dozzer in to fill all the rutts in and trim everything up again...