going to try logging at night. MAYBE

[semologger]

i runn a 221 hydroax. cutting a 20 acre pine clear cut. i was working yesterday and started out like any other day cutting in the morning.  I noticed i could cut down in this bottom that i would never get to cut if it was warmer. well i cut most of the day till 2 and the ground started getting to warm. done cutting. skidder was still running though doing alright sinking a little. it was starting to get dark so i hooked up the lights on the skiidder and the knuckleboom, a 210 prentce with a delimber. long story short by the time we shut down at 8 oclock pm 3 hours after sunset, the ground had got hard again.

the gound gets soft during the day and froze at night. its not hard to see what i am thinking here. the trucks can run during the day eto get the wood out. my cutter is the only thing i am not sure of i need to be able to see pretty good to cut. i hate to put a hundred dollars of lights on it but if it makes it were i can work why not.

i am just going to have to try it and see how it all works. any of you guys ever tryed it? any suggestions on what i need to do.

[WH_Conley]

Put the lights on you think will need and then put about that many more. Used to pick corn at night for just the reasons you just stated. Gotta remember there is a whole lot of difference in the height of the crop.

[slowzuki]

They log 24-7 here to pay their equipment off.  The ground is pretty solid all winter so those are the big months.  Everyone tries to save dry ground for summer work.

[stonebroke]

farmers do it in very wet falls to harvest crops. You just have to slow down and be extra carefull. Also the ground tends to be the hardest right at dawn and stays for a few hours even in sunshine.

Stonebroke

[stonebroke]

Something else, Walk the lot before you start logging and get an exact plan of what you are going to do when and in what order so you are not surprised by the wethole in the middle of the night.

Stonebroke

[semologger]

I got the lights on the cutter today it stayed to wet to do anything else. I tested the lights out on the cutter after dark and they worked good. It could use a couple more but its hard to find places to mount them on there without them getting broken. You wouldnt believe the pounding that cab gets dead trees falling on the cab sounds like someone shot a shotgun in the cab.  Its going to get down in the mid teens tonight so going to give it a go in the morning. Hopefully the ground will be hard enough.

Stonebrook i usually cut myself a boundry around were i want to cut first then i work my way from the back out. I can keep track of were i am at that way. I might take some flagging with me to me to mark were i want to go and the bad spots. I need to put some pitchures on here of the job before i get it cut ill try and do that tomarrow.

untill later c ya

[Gary_C]

I have cut at night with the harvester and it has good lights, but I don't do it unless I have to. Depth perception is not as good and even with very good lights you have no distance vision. You can easily lose track of where you are cutting.

And don't forget to carry a good flashlight just in case you lose your lights or have to shut down and walk back in the pitch black night. It does happen and stumbling around in the woods trying to find which way is back to your truck is not fun.

If you are adding many lights, don't forget to put in multiple circuits and switches so you do not overload the electrical system. My forwarder came with two lights in front and four on each side in the back for a total of ten and it takes three switches to turn them all on and it is a 24 volt system.

But then again, I've known guys that worked a night shift running a harvester and actually preferred night to daylight.  :

[arojay]

With the short hours of daylight here in the north we often work in the dark at 9 am.  I have done a lot of night work with different kinds of equipment and jobs and one thing I won't go without now, is a headlamp.  After about 30 years of carrying a flashlight around I got one of these things and rediscovered what you can do with two hands!  Batteries last for ever with the new LED types.

[semologger]

Why does it seem the harder you try to make a living the harder it is.

By that i mean i have to guys that work for me and it seems like i cant get neither one of them to work. Its about time to find new help. The ground is hard enough to work and no crew. but here in a few weeks its going to be to wet.

Then i have the mill saying they can only use a couple more loads. But last few weeks he didnt have any wood. He usually dont have any wood this time of year.

Here i can go full blast and all this. I can only do so much. Today i cut and skidded myself around 35 ton. And took the starter of the skidder and had it checked out and put it back on.

Sometimes i feal like going to work for someone else and leave all the headaches to someone else.

[Phorester]

Winter night logging is not unusual in my neck of the woods.  "Logging" is a misnomer, they are really only loading and hauling.  The will cut the trees in the daytime, not running any skidders or haul trucks on the job, only pickups to get their crews into and out of the log decks. Then they walk in and fell the trees.  They'll send in another crew late in the day to work through the night or part of it, to skid, load, and haul out on the now frozen ground.

The night crew likes to start while still daylight to get the lay of the job before it gets dark. 

I'd think a headlamp would also be the way to go.

[Left Coast Chris]

We are forced to do highway construction at night and there are a number of factors to consider.   Not only is the depth perception less for sight but the alertness of the operators is not as good so workmanship goes down hill by a good amount.  Accidents occur more also.  For loging at night,  hopefully you do not have to have anyone on foot around the equipment.   :

[rebocardo]

I would not drop trees or cut trees at night, I think that is just asking to be killed by an unseen overhead hazard or having something come up through the cab.

Depth perception goes down at night and -imho- with only lights shining up you never have the crisp view of things like you do with the sun's light coming down.

Haul pre cut stuff out, yea, I would do that.

[chet]

I've cut or worked on lots of trees in some purddy rough conditions, but nuttin' has ever made me more nervous den doin' it in da dark. I always preferred cuttin' in da daylight, problem was da customers were never willin' ta wait 'till daylight ta git der lights back on.

[9shooter]

My wife's uncle was a crazy logger who decided to see how long he could work in one stretch. He worked 3 days and 2 nights before he took a break. Sounded rather suicidal. This was back in the 60's, felling trees with the truck lights. Of course, the first time I met him he brought over desert after dinner- 2 gallons of ice cream, one for the rest of the family and ate the other whole gallon by himself........only in the U.P....I would think that you would want to be extra careful about widow makers and spring poles and the like.....a daytime walk through sounds like the right idea.

[semologger]

My wife's uncle was a crazy logger who decided to see how long he could work in one stretch. He worked 3 days and 2 nights before he took a break.

I need to run a shift like that. I havent heard a wood from my crew in a while so its down to me and dad working out in the woods. Dont bother me none much. I seem to always chaseing my own tail anyways. Soon as it warms up and drys out I am going to be going as hard and long I can. Plus daylight savings time is coming so be able to work late in the afternoons now. But for me to have to run the skidder and cut its going to make some long days.