Changing direction is a bit concerning because the outcome is yet to be. Just to set the stage a bit a few of the variables..
The province is rewriting the water protection act.
Firewood sales are down due to new tec.. ie air to air ,geothermal , reduced tax on oil and lower oil prices
Public opinion about harvesting wood.
Skidder parts and repair.
Aging workforce (me) owner operator no employies
In this environment the decision was made to downsize and focus on just farm tractor logging. The woodlot which will be worked on was thinned by me 26 years ago
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Have just completed some repairs to the tractor and finished tweaking the winch. Really pleased the way the fairlead is spooling on the cable. Hope to start the project this week weather permitting. :
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Well that's too bad that you feel you have to downsize but I understand where your coming from. We are trying to get to another area and we had everything all approved by the dept. of forestry and thought everything was ok. Then out of left field came the salmon crowd trying to shut it all down. Why, because we were going to have to build a road adjacent to a river. Now never mind that we have strict rules to adhere too, but someone might want to build a cabin on our road so it should be squashed! Funny thing is there is already a road on the other side of the river already...Grrrr. Soon won't be able to move without pissing someone off.
your not kidding its ok if its to there advantage ::) ::)
Nothing wrong when aging workforce is down sizing. :) Or do i miss something ?
I think it's a lot easier as a one man show than as a guy with a big payroll and equipment payments.
Glad your winch turned out the way you wanted it to.
These hardwood stands are rather unique and could be described as "legacy woodlots". Most of the original owners have passed and several of the families have contacted me to come back and do another thinning. This work was carried on for about a decade so there potentially would be another 10 years of work as they continue to come online. The landowners have stipulated that they do not want a skidder to do the work. Returning with the farm tractor is totally acceptable. The wood I have been harvesting for the last 15 years with the skidder has been small patch cuts in areas the were the wood was not easy to get at , generally a reparian zone was involved. I have never been fined or charged for any work in these areas but it has been getting tricky to stay out of trouble.
Originally these thinnings were done manually. A lad had an iron mule and he would yard the wood. He did a great job but there were cash flow problems. So started harvesting the the wood myself with a farm tractor. This second thinning will take a lot more work and due care. Hopefully the increased quality will compensate. A couple of these pics were actually taken on this wood lot. We shall see. :)
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That is quite the skidding grapple you have there on the tractor! Do you have any more action shots of that grapple in use? I can see where with a little care, the tractor will be almost as productive if not more so than a skidder, you have done a real nice job of "skidderizing " your tractor!! 8)
I don't mean to thread hijack but can someone explain to me why some ppl do not want skidders on their land but are ok with tractors? I can't imagine a tractor doing any less damage. I would think a better option would be to require trailer for the logs and not drag them?
I cut with here with my Father with a 40hp tractor. We did it for 3-4 years. Maybe 2-3 loads a month of logs. Really could not tell we was in there besides the trails.Than my Father passed away and I kept cutting,but no way could I get it done. We was cutting trees 80-100 years old. Than I got a logger with a skidder and a forwarder. They hauled ALOT more wood than I could. Shoot,they weighed more empty than I weighted with a twitch of logs behind me. They was some damage done,damage as in deeper ruts where they was driving. Nothing a foot deep for the most part,but they was hauling alot more than me. Also a skidder does not make a mess,the operator does. I've seen more of a mess with someone cutting with a horse than a skidder. A tractor will only get a lttle wood out in a day,so the "damage" is spread out over months. Where a skidder will do more "damage" quicker,so it looks worse.
And most don't really know either. How many do you really think get out of thier cars and walk a wood lot? Kinda a hobby of mine to get out and walk a site that has been logged. Most only see what is seen from the road. A few broken trees does not look good at all. Than after it has been cut,some more damage will happen to the tall slender trees too.
Sorry to hear what is going on, we are in ontario and not too many issues here yet but my sense on this is telling me that they don't want people buring firewood - they can't capture revenue or taxes on it...and in some rare circumstances there are cash deals in firewood im told. Do what you can to keep the wheels turning and pay the bills.
There is quite a spectrum of land owners. "Legacy woodlot " owners are very connected to their land. generally it has been in their families for generations. You will never hear them use the term "just woods". Family members have been born,toiled,sacrificed and in some cases died on that land. When you work on it they want you to treat it with respect...almost reverence. They see the farm tractor as less invasive. May sound silly but do it right and they invite you back. :)
Here are a few pics for you Mr. Murdock. The latest tweak to the grapple was to add a dangle chain.
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These were taken the last time I worked on this land.
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In my area the biggest factor in tearing up the woods with a skidder or a tractor is the weather, if it's too soft I just stay out but many/most loggers that need to make a living at it can't always wait for things to be right. I'm just cutting personal firewood so I can wait.
Stephen what does that dangle chain do?
Mr bushmechanic you are spot on. The problem with the new legislation is the " uncertainty". I have not seen the new legislation. It may be the best thing ever. There probably are aspects that are good and badly needed. Some in bad need of updating. Here after legislation is read and passed in the house it goes out to be implemented. The transition period that follows is the problem. Different enforcement personal interpret it different for awhile. It is not law until someone is charged and found guilty. There will be test cases etc and it just makes grief for someone who is just trying to make a living.
I am not claiming any high ground. I work for the landowner and do as he or she requests within parameters at the time. This was a landowner that needed the money . If what I do is ok with the landowner and within the law then its "giver"
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Mr TeaW ,the grapple is used a lot to yard small dia wood. the chain provides enough weight on the wood to make it easier to pick up. As the grapple closes on a grab it conforms to the shape of the grab , makes for better handling.
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In the early 80's 47% of the homes here heated with wood. Now it is estimated 52% are heated with electricity of some form. With sales and prices dropping the only option is to focus on quality...hoping the wood from these second treatments will make the difference.
Stephen,I had a few wet holes like that on my land. I go in with a load of rocks in the bucket and come out with a load of wood. After a while no more mud.
I cross a bog. I have rocks across that about 2 feet deep. Well deeper really. I had the land logged and they drove one layer of rocks into the bog. After they left I hauled in bigger ones,much bigger. That held him up the next time he cut here.
Thats a situation where geotextile fabric ends up saving money in the long run.
Ahhh you and your rock collection Mr. Cfarm always puts a smile on my face. I can certainly see how that would work. An added benefit that the work is done on your land, and investment really. We have no rocks here as such. We do have a sandstone shale. Placement is with a dozer and with a bit of effort you can return it to sand. In general landowners do not want to spend money on roads and the volume and profit in firewood are so small it is not justified. That road was once the a main road to town but it has been awhile since a horse and buggy used it.
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Usually I can fill a wet spot in with brush but once I do there is no grading it. I needed to travel with the ton so the goal is just to remove the water. I have a sludge hand pump to get the water off if necessary. Takes a lot of cold to drive through an inch of water and freeze the ground underneath it.
Things have been on hold while everything dries out. Started a little project.. an on site shelter. had some old steel so decided to build a yurt of sorts. Just wondering what you folks use .. pros and cons from your experience. Wanted to wish all a happy and meaningful Easter as well. :)
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Headed for the woodlot with the winch to give it a go. Just want to be clear "not a skidder" . Got to say however, it is "geezer friendly". Here are a couple pics. :D
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Like that first picture with the line of trees on the right,woods on the left.
I see you haul some small wood. I suppose you seen my post about 4 foot chains? Those 4 foot chains are geezer friendly. ;D Much easier to pull only a foot though a chocker than 4 feet of chain. Most chocker chains that I have seen are 8 feet long. I bought 3 chokers chains and 3 hooks. Cut them in half and made 4 foot chains. Those get used alot.
I sure wish it was as dry in the west end of the island as it is where you are stephen, you can barely get off paved roads here, nice looking equipment!
Thanks DW , on the plus side there are lots of great folks west of the "cattail curtain" . Planted trees in Enmore 36 years ago. Would have to check outback , but I believe the boots i wore are still wet. :D
Mr cfarm I find the different lengths very handy as well. Biggest problem after twitching with a skidder for so long is mussel memory. Grabbin for levers that are no longer there. Odd sensation :-\ the nice wood helps big time.
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Nice setup
Always enjoy your post, and your pictures Stephen Alford. Keep up the good fight and enjoy!
I keep 2-3'ers 2-4'ers an a 5'& 7' er it is so hard to remember I not young any more. Used to be you worked 24 hrs a day to pay payments now you work 24 hrs to stay alive :D .
Well so far so good. Landowner showed up this am..looked around ...then brought over hot coffee and fresh out of the oven chocolate chip cookies...always a good sign. The priorities are to generate a little revenue and have walking trails. Not sure if this would be considered a typical second thinning. This is my first so not quite sure what typical would be exactly. There does seem to be a demand for walking trails.
Just a couple of observations for what there worth. :-\ Have switched back to the leather stilh work boots. The reduction from a 11.5 rubber boot with liner to a 10 leather makes quite a difference in weight and reduces tripping when dealing with the slash. Slash is rolled not drug. Switched to a more aggressive file because of cutting low stumps for the tractor. Will use up more chain quicker but hate a dull saw.
One problem I used to have was with a tree that would get locked behind a stump. The fairlead has put an end to that.
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Here are a couple pics of the tractor working in the stand.
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Really surprised that the canopy did not close tighter in the 26 years since the thinning.
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That looks like a good piece of land. Looks like you can go anywheres there.
My land is a challenge to do that. Big rocks and knolls and uneven places,makes it hard to just go through the woods. Trails are marked and remarked and sometime remarked again. ;D
I only have a few places that is all hardwood like that. Mine is a mix of soft and hardwood.
I too am envious of the apparent easy going,terrain wise.Stephen that winch and fairlead is a very nice piece of work.
What model is that beast of a tractor?You have it tricked out super!
Mr cfarm do you have any more pics of your tractor operation and skid trails ? Really enjoy seeing how other folks deal with woodlot issues.
Mr 47 sawdust it is a ford 5610 (65hp). This is a pic from the cab.
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The winch has a mechanical lock. This takes the strain of the hydraulics when twitching. The trick is not to twitch to tight. You have to be able to take the strain of to release it and then unhook the chokers.
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The problem I had with the wood clam was the wood needs to be on the ground. In a thinning trees are laid into the adjacent crowns.
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When it goes right the tree remains on the stump. One thing I did not expect was all the sucker growth at the base of the trees left from the last thinning. On the plus side they serve to protect the trees to be left. Once by with the twitch they are cut.
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No pictures as yet. Some of my wet holes I fill with rocks,and I do mean fill. I keep talking about the bog crossing. Now there are some rocks in that adventure. ;D This is my land,so any improvement I get to use for years. I fill the wet holes or uneven places with rocks. I go in with a bucket of rocks and come out with a twitch of wood. I have a nice wood road,gravel,I can't twitch logs on that. I've been looking at a twitch trail beside that one. I have one wet hole to go through. A spring runs there all the time. Deer come there for water in the winter time. Looks like rocks will be in use there. Than that feeds a wet spot that is about 500 feet long. I kinda have to go through there. So another adventure.
I mostly cut dead stuff or real bad looking trees. I have a OWB,so that is a great way to get rid of dead wood.
Look forward to your pics Mr Cfarm. Not to get into the "onanon" loop but did want to mention the pintle setup has worked great. Removing the hook so the butt plate can be flat while the winch is being used is the way to go. The 125' of 5/16' mainline has been a dream to drag. The fairlead as optional is a plus. Well its time to scoot ..stay safe
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As this is a "thread in progress" wanted to mention the changes as they occur. Made a spot for the items used most frequently. At first drilled some holes by the vise on the exterior of the tractor. The files would drop out of the handles with the jarring. Not to mention rust up over night. mounted them inside were they are easy to reach and handy.
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Did not incorporate rollers with the fairlead because winching at an angle is simply not a good idea. Did bend and install a piece of roundbar over the fairlead thinking it would help keep the cable in the fairlead. That did not workout. Had to remove it. The winch seems way faster than the the can car . The payload is way less of course ,just part of the learning curve . The self releasing snatchblock seems to be the ticket.
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On the production end of things the harvesting of the wood is taking quite a bit longer. The nice part however is the processing of this kind of wood is much faster. The customers are really pleased. The question of getting the price up a bit remains to be seen. Stalling on that till I get all the kinks worked out. :)
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Like the use of the snatch block!
Having a rain day so thought adding a couple pics to update this thread would be the thing to do. The stubbier the machine profile the better when it comes to working in a stand like this. The narrow blade on the winch has worked well to move slash between the stumps in the uneven terrain. The sugar maple has done well. there is a bit of stump rot in the red maple where stems were removed. Over the years most of the damage has come from winds out of the south. Meetings with the farmers have gone well so at least the access issues are gone.
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For the first time in 50 years switching to a stihl saw. Nice to see the trillium a sign of spring and hope. :)
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Quote from: Stephen Alford on May 26, 2017, 06:37:24 PM
For the first time in 50 years switching to a stihl saw.
Now that's something we need to know why. Can't be the saw, must be the dealer support. :) :)
Glad that winch is working out for you.
Yes,the trilliums are out here too. My Father called them painted trilliums.There use to be a lot of them coming down the hill,before the bog.
Must have some straight trails to haul out that long.
Love your setup. I am doing very similar work in middle tennessee with a 6way dozer on 20" swamp pads, which are ideal for this constantly soft clay terrain. Skidders trash the ground here, bobcats cant go more than a few passes over same spot unless they run tracks. Dozers are slow and clunky but my work is transforming tangled overgrown rubbish clumps into trails and deer feeder ponds, food plots, animal pens etc. A skidder wouldnt do and there isnt enough timber to make fast production important.
I skid out backwards with logs tackled off the 6way blade. Sounds bad but not really.
The challenging work is getting to the tree which i like to be facing forward. Backing out of a half made trail built on the way in isnt terrible and the blades lift and articulation is excellent for weaving logs around other stumps and stems. typically short skids in a 5 or 10 acre lots. I am constantly selecting a buried baby hickory out of a big clump of timber and leaving just that one tree untouched.
I really like making beautiful land features, trying to blend landscape with farming hunting, drainage and forestry all at the same time.
Well Mr. lopet Huskey quit making the 359 which is what I have been using for a bit. They quit on me so time for a change.
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Mike would you be able to post some pics ??
I try to pick the best route for the skid trail. Bumper trees make a difference. Finding yourself on the right side of the barb wire goes a long way to getting along with neighbors. Ya just never know what ya will find in da woods. :D :D
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When Ray comes for his rock make sure there is a box of grits to go with it. ;D
Quite the floor of Husky...from donor to donor to donor to donor. You can see what gives out :D
I have a lifetime supply of both of those 5 letter words. ;D
I didn't know they quit making the 359, but good excuse :D So whatcha got, MS 262 ?
I personally only have one 372 XP with a 20" bar, good reliable saw with lots of power. Only reason I run Stihl is, I get along much better with my Stihl dealer than with my Husquarna one, and at the end of the year I get a free calendar. 8)
Seriously, I am not so happy with my latest 262. Every time I run it out of gas or if it sits for a certain time, it floods. And because I am right handed, I am having a hard time get it gone again, without setting it down and pull the throttle with my left hand. PITA Never had any trouble with the old carbureted ones, just had to choke it . They always think they have to improve something what's nearly perfect and then booooom it goes back words.
May have to switch to another brand. :D But then again, I have never seen their calendars either.
Had to laugh about Rays rock.
Giving the ms362 a go. Like the see through gas tank. The chain oil grove putting the overflow oil on the chain shows attention to the build. Wanted to jump to a 7/32 file ...same as the clearing saw which is a stihl fs560. So opted for a 16" bar which gives a pretty good balance and enough snork to block. My issue with the smaller chain on the 359 was all the chain seems to be made with fuzzy teeth making it hard to get a good edge, I think it is the steel they use...there is chatter that the real problem is that I need glasses... where do they come up with this CRAZY TALK :D :D
I know going from skidder/huskie to farm tractor/stihl seems a bit..rogue but just to be clear this is just how things are unfolding. Been a good week. Farmer showed up and left me a dandy access to the woodlot. Did not try and shove me into the roses at all,
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This an extraction trail from 26 years ago and one from this week.
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Notice the storm damage to the left in the second pic. Trying to leave the tree on the stump when laying it into the canopy and use a riser when it goes to the ground. Twitches are only 2/3 trees averaging 45/50 " of merchantable wood.
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The stihl is doing fine.
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Had crusty and a couple of his closest friends over for a dip in the hot tub. ;D
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Not sure which looks better the bright orange Stihl or the bright orange lobsta. :)
Thought I should update the farm tractor logging /with winch experience. Wanted to first point out a modification that should be made. The narrow push plate has worked well between the stumps. I should have put more webbing to give it more strength. You can see were it has started to crack in the pic. With the blade on the front of the tractor I thought I would not be using it much. Had to take the front blade off to shorted up the unit in an attempt to reduce damage to the residuals. I may try to add a folding wing on each side to enable grading the width of the tractor.
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When i was doing small clearcuts with the skidder it was taking about 16 on average to yield 1@1/2 cords of firewood. From the thinned stand It is taking about 9 trees. The tractor is skidding on average 2 trees were the skidder hauled 8 trees per twitch. This is a pic of some of the wood
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There has been a lot of storm damage. This white birch was snapped off at 12"
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A lot of debris has been left in the canopy
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The trails put in 26 years ago with a small bulldozer were the easiest to reinstate. because the trail was down to subsoil not much regen. Everywhere else a much different story.
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Had to make a rack to carry the clearing saw. a couple more site pics. ;D
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Im hoping to work my way into managing a beautiful gun barrel straight, 250 acre oak stand a few doors down thatll be starting to get to veneer grade soon. In my mind its basically culling the firewood as you are doing.
May i ask what kinda terms you have going on for this operation? I think i recall it is someone elses land? Do you just get to take firewood free or is someone paying the other? No problem if youd rather not say.. Im just wondering if its silly to think i could get paid or not. Our firewood prices are too low for me to work very hard for it.
Job supervisor had his office upstairs. :laugh:
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/21cid_954.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1502330474)
View from the landing.
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Been a good day :)
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Well Mike I like to think anything is possible. Each variable in the equation has to be accessed. Every feasible operation has to be market driven. We are all selling something to somebody. I always try to focus on the needs of the landowners i work for whatever that may be. Do the research on possible products in addition to firewood. A combination of products helps kind of like mixed farming. Hope that helps but personally I have been to busy working to ever make any money. :D
Boy aint that the truth.. Worked my whole life.. But to see my bank balance youd think i just started.
The Lord has blessed me with a lot of great sunsets however. Thanks for sharing, great pics.
Looks good.
Looks like all hardwood. I had a couple acres like that. My woods is a mix of soft and hard wood.
Very nice photos. Thanks, and good work. I take it thats a tater field.
Yes cfarm when we thinned it the first time hardwoods were favored. Left as many white and yellow birch as possible as well because of the importance of their catkins to grouse in the spring. Stand age and crown closure would be two variables that should be addressed a little closer in future thinnings.
Hey David ..tater field is what it is being called today. In 2 months it will be called something quite different.. :-X That Mac of yours is causing a bit if envy ..just sayin :D
Well its been a little over 6 months since I started this thread. things are chugging along. Always wonder if landowner is happy. Arrived to find a bench at the landing.. I will take that as positive :
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This is some of the wood on the landing
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The farther back i get the bigger the wood.
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Found this huge raptor hemlock..it stays
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This dead hemlock will make a great drumming log.
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Looks like 47 feet of snow this winter..I am in charge of wood sales might be tanted ;D
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Couple of wood delivery pics
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My dear wife thinks that the wind got her deck umbrella..me thinks ..pirates :D
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Nice.
Is that a telescopic multi stage ram on the dump or a cable pole hoist?
Quote from: mike_belben on September 25, 2017, 12:41:36 AM
Nice.
Is that a telescopic multi stage ram on the dump or a cable pole hoist?
multi stage
Yes it is a three piece scope. Had to convert it from transmission pump to the electric/hydraulic power pack. Get about4/5 years out of those units. I like the ol school style cab as it allows better weight distribution. Nice to have the dump height as the load comes off without much forward movement. Built it so the sides can be plucked off with the log loader. The tailgate is a couple off planks that go in a grove with a lock/brace in the middle. The planks are used to protect basement windows and siding when you dump , or ramps to roll stuff up onto the box. Go easy.. :)
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So what is it what tells you about the 47 feet of snow to come ?
Hope you find some time to get some use out of that bench. :)
Looks like a bea's nest high in the tree. They build their nests high for a big winter. Or so it has been said
Yes , old timers say that wasps hornets and bumble bees will build their nest above snow level. Not sure who lives in the nest..not planning on going up... or bringing it down to find out. :-\ Another reason to keep looking up. I try to wear a big whool sweater , tuk, mitts and pass out matches when trying to make a tough firewood sale . The grim weather forcast sets the stage. did I mention this will be the worst winter since the deep snows high winds and power outages of 42 :D :D :
No need to set on the bench as my new office credenza arrived ;D
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Love the work station
Didn't you guys get hammered with snow a couple of years ago ? So you're saying that wasn't a new record .
How is that ms362 working out for you ?
Ahhh we do get a wee bit from time to time :D no complaints with the 362 if all goes well would like to get the artic version by the end of December..Santa ;D
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Hey Mr lopet just reread your post and thought I should do a better job of answering your question. Technically the winter of 2015 set new records for annual snowfall . Now as to the..." winter of 42" I thought I might share the story how that came to be a reference point....
Most firewood deliveries are made in the evening when folks are home to show me where they would like wood dumped and of coarse they can pay me. On this particular evening I was running late and had several deliveries to make. This particular customer is a great guy and under normal circumstances we would take the time to chat and catch up. I was in a real hurry but he was insistent that I look in this shed to see if there was room to stack another load. We opened the door and stepped inside. The only thing in the shed was a chopping block. As we looked around the wind caught the door and it slammed shut. I felt for the handle and could not find it. I asked where is the handle. His response was ..Funny thing there is no handle on the inside only a handle on the outside. When i was shopping for a handle the double handle was 3.49 and the single handle was only 2.25. So I bought the single handle. He then says do not worry my wife has gone to pick up a few things at the grocery store. She will be back in a couple hours. He sets on the chopping block and says.. Did I ever tell you about ..."the winter of 42" I turned booted the door said I will bring you new hinges and a double handle in the morning. Thus ..."the winter of 42" :D
........booted the door :D :D
Yeah, I always get to hear those stories from the old timers when they had snow banks so they could " almost " touch the hydro wires while standing on them.
But always forget that they didn't had the heavy equipment back then with the big wings to trow the snow. :D
and the light poles were much shorter
You plowing Searsmont again this year Snowstorm? We'll see if the Farmers Almanac is right, could be a good year!
Ya 30 miles of it
So what is the winter to bring? I don't mind the snow the ice storms get tiresome
Supposedly cold weather and at least 5 good snow events. I sure could do with out the ice.
Starting to see the first signs of colour in the canopy.
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The diggers are out and about, that changes the weather forecast from great fall to ...could snow any minute. ;D
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On the plus side supper is looking promising.. :)
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Widened out the wheels on the ol blue ,hoping to improve stability and make room for chains for the winter. As mentioned had the push plate on the bottom bent. Added some plate on the back side to beef it up, plus a pair of removable teeth . they worked great as extra braking working slopes.
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I see something to dig rocks with. ;D
A good idea. That will keep you in place when winching.
My tractor is 6 feet wide. I feel safe on it.
Cfarm the wheels are now 7' outside. this tractor has 4 settings.
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The teeth go full depth no problem even without down pressure.
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They seem to handle logs at the landing.
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I think they will reduce brake ware as well.
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Just a couple of pics from today. :)
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Nice outside pictures.
Seven feet wide should make it stable for ya.
Shoot, youre half way to makin it a grapple skidder now! :D
Well it has finally happened, A buddy of mine has been visiting and he likes to stay connected to his grandchildren by making little vids and putting them on utube.. ol blue made a cameo appearance ... guess immortality via utube has happened :D
https://youtu.be/aku_fWA0JF0
Yes,you are doing a fine job.
:)
Thanks lads glad to share. :) Getting ready for the transition season. Need something for dragging roads to work with the frost. Reworking some steel . Using an ol truck bumper for now.
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Will do for now, travelling through the fields now that the crop has been harvested.
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Pleased with the teeth for handling slash. Generally it is spread through the stand. When I have to , I put it on the downhill / inside corners.
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Putting an access road in now.
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Great time of year to be in a woodlot. Just have to remember if I am guessing distance in English or Metric. :D
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When I puts roads on my land,with the trees I want to leave,knolls,rocks,and wet areas,it's hard to get a straight road through it all.
Were a woodlot bumps against another woodlot with a different owner and where it is possible the trail is put in parallel to the adjacent property with a 30' treed buffer. In my vision of your roads Ray there is probably a lot of signs like ...caution" man at hard work " ... danger " swamp ahead" and now i am guessing ... Home of the "offthebeatenpath cfarm drill hammer eat rock company" :D
You are ahead of yourself,future home of :D
Quote from: thecfarm on October 22, 2017, 05:56:10 PM
You are ahead of yourself,future home of :D
Future Home Of: MORE ROCKS!
Boy thats a pretty stand if i ever saw one.
Like most of you there is always some project on the work bench. Getting things straight and round is a skill I do not have. The fact that time and material resources are a tad scarce not to mention everything is pretty much bent to start with do not help. Anyway always on the hunt for good tabs. Stopped by the local steel shop . They cut and punched holes using a shear in these 1/2" 4x3" tabs for $3.00 each. I was surprised. With a couple smaller holes and a zip cut they could also be used for sliders on chain chockers. :)
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I really miss having an ironworker!
Great to see all the tractor pics. Thank-you. Seasons are changing , sure miss having a skidder however things are going well. The combination tractor/skidder is a sweet combo for a one man show. Been trying to rework things on the front end of the tractor. When I had to make the choice for front end loader or log loader ,for me at least the log loader was the way to go. When you purchase a tractor over 60 hp it and anything attached to it at the time of purchase is zero rated;no taxes. So for the front end "no money solutions" are called for. the next couple pics are not pretty so for those faint of heart this is your opportunity to "log off" :D :D
pause
pause
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The blade that I had was just to wide to work in a thinning. So narrowed it . This is working well. Damage to residuals was caused by the wide radius. Had to cut it in two so different things could be put on the front. The 3 pt configuration allows for changing the angle. Nice to have the lift capability back.
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Tried making a v blade of sorts. (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/21cid_742.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520187798) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/21cid_823.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520188031)
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Nice to be able to tidy up the landing. The summer landing was out in the open to get rid of the bugs with the breeze. Now it is time for a landing that is sheltered and with southern exposure. Stay safe :)
When are you gonna stop teasing us and show that truck chassis forwarding trailer?
How right you are about sticking out in front. The wife's tractor,30hp,has no loader on it. Yes,it's a shorter tractor but nothing in the front that sticks out 4 feet and 6 feet wide either. I can sneak that thing through the woods,but only been allowed to do it a few times. The woods is hard on equipment.
But I would miss the bucket too. Sometimes I haul in a load of rocks and than I haul out a bucket of firewood as I am hauling out trees behind it.
Hey Mike the trailer is used at the landing to sort /load and sometimes to haul out to the landing. I rent out by the hour sometimes to tear down buildings or load wood for others. It was mounted on the rear of a truck back when I had a sawmill and was building stream crossings. It has never worked well in the woods. Always thought I might come across an old belarus manure spreader with offset walking beam suspension. Cut a piece of pipe in half and use it to load stuff. The rotating pintle works great. The trailer will roll and not take the tractor. Not many "borrowers " have a pintle setup. The reciever set up works great on the 3pt. Unhook the adapter and drive away. To hook on it is just back up and lift. Just happen to have a couple of pics. ;D
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Cfarm any pics of you in your "wifes" tractor ??????? :laugh:
I have to ask permission to use it and than say what for. :D Not quite that bad. ;D And I am the one that wash and wax it too. She does not want her tractor to look like my tractor. That is why I try to keep it out of the woods.
Quote from: Stephen Alford on November 16, 2017, 07:33:16 AM
When I had to make the choice for front end loader or log loader ,for me at least the log loader was the way to go.
Stephen, when you once had a loader you will never go back to something else. Mine comes down right in front of the tires with the quick attach plate. The blade on the skidder I only use for making new trails.
Btw I have a Belarus spreader but that one has no suspension but good rubber. Oooh sorry my wife just said it's not for sale. :D
Looks like a great setup. I like the pin on dirt clam.
I have a small pintle hook box trailer i built that i grab with the bobcat grapple and drive along to piles, setting it down and loading as i go sort of like your 3pt pintle technique. I love not getting out of the machine. But its definitely the bobcat the would flip the trailer in my case!
Cfarm, as long as you and your wife keep "rockin" you folks will do just fine. ;)
Ahhh my friend lopet... oh to be in the zone where expansion and growth were possible ; a loader would be a great way to go. Forestry and firewood is quickly becoming a subsistence lifestyle , at least in my reality. We recently had two new extension cords laid under the straight to the mainland. The province is really pushing any form of electric energy. Heat pumps or air to air are fast becoming the norm. I suppose once everyone is relying on electrical the price for it will then increase. The demand for firewood may return but it does not seem it will be any time soon.
Mike do you harvest your wood or do you buy it delivered ?
Saw this guy on my walk out. I think it might be a great grey or barred owl. Pretty neat not nervous of me at all.
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By the time i left massachusetts my electric bill delivery had 13 lines of delivery charges tacked onti the kwh fee. The part i wanted to buy was less than the surcharges i was forced to buy. Eversource bought out western mass electric. Within a few years i went from .07/kwh to around 18. Why send an army to conquer people when you can just buy out their power grid. Youre right, itll be astronomical once the sweetheart signup is complete. Keep your timber gear.
I live on 5 acre rectangle of former timber stand back in the woods. Im repairing the generations of high grading on my own lot and a few neighbors by culling about 70% of it which is only suitable for firewood.
I cant load pulp fast enough or get a good enough rate locally in under CDL quantities to bother with it so i do firewood. Which is perfect since my wife works full time and my 4yr old isnt in school yet, have to be home and make money at the same time.
I cut/split/stack while he makes sandbox construction sites in the driveway.
Much of my firewood gets dropped off for free from tree companies trying to get their truck empty, especially during storm season. The wood isnt even close to the value of getting to the next job with daylight. Id say i got 15 cord dropped off this summer. I built a thick rock driveway with room to get a semi tractor in and out which is very rare here, and ive got a loader always ready. our roads are almost european narrow with sharp ditches on both sides and 12ft driveway culverts that always have a mailbox right where it cant be. So that alone is helpful in getting commercial folks to keep you in mind.
We had a beautiful November day, cold, drizzal ,wind from the NE, bleak ...wood stoves lit everywhere.. :D . Mike you probably have one but I was thinking of those wood pics you posted. This is a block puller for when a roumd gets stuck. takes about 10 minutes to make ,very handy. Just put over block and ram then reverse.
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It has been getting colder. have been running an exhaust hose from the truck to the fuel pump. Sure helps the tractor get going. By time I give the saw a rub and have a coffee she is good to go. Sorry I have posted this before but thought it might be of help.
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Moved into this stand which is a little more sheltered for the winter. Go easy.. :)
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You know, ive never actually seen one like that. Very clever.
I have huskee vert/horiz for now, its got a pair of posts on the main frame that the wedge retracts from and will unstick itself. Comes in handy once in a while.
Cold? Whats that? Was in a tee shirt today. Maybe thats why firewood isnt selling!
The original intent of this thread was to share the the experience of going full time farm tractor logging. The hope was it might provide some insight for someone considering or actually attempting do so. Winter here puts a spotlight on hurdles for sure. I no longer have my backup " woods brother". He had to move off island.We used to check on each other several times during the day. This gave our families relief knowing that if something went wrong there was someone who knew exactly were the other was. Cold kills cell phone so working alone in the winter here can be risky. One thing this means is that a plowed track to the landing is a must. The tractor can function in about 2ft of snow but the bellie pan will cause you to get hung up. I have a great deal of respect for first responders. Could I just drive back with the tractor..sure but that would be a long miserable treck for someone coming to render help. So i wanted to come up with a simple and "cheap way to plow a track into the landing. I admit its a tad ugle ok a lot ugley :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/21cid_480.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1516458041)
Plowed track
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V blade
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Needs some rubber bolted on the top.
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This is what she looks like at "RAMMIN SPEED" :D :D
I prefer Ramen Speed. Top ramen, not that middle or bottom stuff. Blehk.
Nice work, beats a shovel!
My building stuff is functional,no reason to be pretty. Most times I am the only one that will see it. I do have one friend that might study it,but most won't even know what it's for.
I was just out welding up a skeleton bucket for the skid steer from 1" bar stock. Wife says whats that.. I told her it was one of those spike perimeter fences that keep cavalry from charging into your fort. And that i was gonna do 200 more of them.
Ahhh...welding for wifie...now there is a challenge. Kinda like Cfarms rock swamp ; you go in with a bucket of rocks hopin ya come out with all your gear in tact :D :D.
Firewood sales are down again this year. Trying to do what I can on the marketing which is on me. Getting rid of the old land line and all calls will be forwarded to cell. Phone books have become a bit useless and and I get a lot of unknown name calls . With todays pace the message service seems slow and often folks leave a rather lengthy message . That missed call could make the difference. Impressed with the new cat phone and its thermal imaging.
On the LO front one of his concerns was how his right of way had grown in. So with things slow and the rain/snow winter decided to spend some time on that. The clearing saw is the pup for that. What would have been a big job with a chain saw was just a matter of a couple hours.
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They were pleased gonna be there another year. The adjacent LO stopped by and has invited me to work his woodlot. :)
Tell me more about the cat phone.
The boys tell me there pretty tough. I am a pretty lame typist..digits.. just give it a google. Would be quite an asset. Let me know what you think, your opinion would be appreciated. thanks.
I looked them up. My cell carrier wants everyone to use there phones. And I did get a new one last winter. Maybe next time
You have to adapt, old timer.
Not sure how your cel networks are but if verizon works well enough consider a walmart phone and straight talk plan. I dont have anything but a $100 LG fiesta smarthphone and a $35/month straight talk plan. No desktop, website, phonebook or sign ads at all, everything i do on a cheap phone thats always with me. Just craiglist and here its LSN.com Facebook regional marketplace groups is probably the most powerful current free sales networking device but i hate FB. Dont have enough wood to cover CL/LSN demand.
Patchy service no matter what carrier but you never miss a text.. They eventually come thru as you move around. Im at 50/50 between calls and texts.. Maybe 3% email.
"You have to adapt, old timer."....adapt...you want sumpin ta adapt...I'll gives ya sumpin ta adapt... did I ever tell ya about da time back in bla...bla...bla.. then I...bla bla bla...when I bla... bla bla bla.. thats how I... bla bla bla... cause I...bla bla bla ...on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on...and on and on and on :D :D :D
You are absolutely right "adapt" and do it sooner. :)
Hope you're not gonna regret cutting your landline.
I don't see why I should adapt to something new, when old is still working. ;D My cell phone cost me 100 bucks a year and it's off most of the time, I only carry it on me when I think I eventually have to make a call. People know, when they wanna get a hold of me they have to call the house and because my wife is there most of the time, she can also deal with the annoying calls. ;)
Not trying to talk anybody out of the newest technology, just think new isn't always better.
This is where we headed.
The local high school now allows cell phones in the class room. :o so kids pay even less attention if a teacher is trying to teach.
My neighbor's wife, now a retired high school teacher said that she ever was glad she got out. They can't touch the kids and they can't take their phones away. The board makes the decisions and listens to all the parents who say that they have to get a hold of their kid. In the old days you called the office, obviously that's too inconvenient.
I think Einstein was right.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2929268/Was-Einstein-right-Physicist-said-feared-technology-surpass-human-interaction-photos-time-not-far-off.html
I think forward is all you can do. My flip phone is coming up on her tenth birthday. I am not big on change but change we must. It has been a tuff phone , a bit weak at swimming but it has been dependable. The new phone will have a GPS tracker so I could be found if need be. Not that I have to look for me often but more of a compromise with my family. I have been fortunate enough to have a pretty loyal customer base. I am never home much when the weather is fit. New customers appear to be working through a list when they call. By the time I get home at night its to late to return the call and 90% of the time they have found a wood supplier by the time I reach them. Folks are looking to pay through the phone as well. When they pass me their credit card I want to be able to use it . As Mike said adapt ... I have to do it more often. I wait to long and and this increases the height of the jump. :)
Cash is going away, just like checks and landlines and vcr's. And yeah the longer you wait the bigger the leap. I'll take paypal for firewood.. Theres not much risk when im standing there, they send funds, i get email that funds are recieved then i have them sign their name in my paper receipt book.
My wife has a card reader that plugs into her phones usb port. Swipes credit or debit and doubles how much business she can do.
I dont LIKE technology, but i do like to eat and the world tells me id better play ball if the eating is to continue.
quote: "The adjacent LO stopped by and has invited me to work his woodlot." Doing a good job is great advertising for future customers. ;)
I have just a cheapy phone for safety. I only cut firewood,but still something could happen. I had a phone,picked up a rock,phone was in my front pocket,cracked the screen with rock,that phone gone. Than I went to the flippy ones. There,no more smashed screens. ;D Than I started to keep the phone on the tractor. Yea,that does a lot of good if I get hurt, ::) Phone back in pocket. So far so good. Yes they make a holder,but don't wear a belt in the woods and a clip one I'm sure I would lose some wheres. These are the trac phone,find them $5 each at time,regular price is $10. Just buy minutes.
Have found an app called "find my friend" anybody use this and if so how good is it ? According to emergency response when they trace a call they get "cell tower location". Actual phone location.. step 2 is iffy ???
Cfarm you raise a valid point ; where to carry cell phone. I wear no weight around my waist. Over the years weight around my waist increases the risk of back muscle spasm . Added an extra cross piece to the back of my suspenders to reduce shoulder slip. On the front carry plug wrench,whistle, jack knife,lighter and phone clipped and tethered. Have not been able to pick a new phone yet...to many choices. :-X
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/21cid_42.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1516884313)
I keep phone in shirt pocket.
Are you looking for smart phone? Just FYI, theres are some great free apps for measuring acreage and finding property lines. Theres an app for everything really.
I like android alot more than apple and have been really pleased with LG phones for the price compared to samsung. Droid works like microsoft windows on your desktop home computer
Depends what the phone is going to be used for. I just use mine to call someone. To text on my phone is a real bother. Have to do through 3 letters to get the one you want. But I only call people. ;D I know the old way. But my phone is just a cheap one. Wife has the good one.
I have evn run over this phone in the snow. Just pure luck I found it in the track of the tractor.
We did away with the land phone. I was the only one using it.
I would not want a better phone,unless someone else was paying for it. :D I'm rough with stuff,don't mean to be,but if I can broke it,I will. ::) Or lose it.
Those old phones are still pretty good. The new phones get phased out then there are no longer updates for them. as that happens you start to lose places you have signal. My phone is old enough they stopped updating it and I used to have 3 bars in my living room. Now I am lucky if I have enough to send a text.
Only way to fix it is to spend 600+ on a new one. but I hate the new ones they are twice the size of this one. I just want a phone that works and is small is that to much to ask?
I was caught in the $550 phone trap until i got away from ATT/ verizon contracts. Their phone prices are insane and atleast for ATT, they rig the device to only take a sim that works on their network, with huge monthly bills. When i couldnt get the thing to work anymore i finally just went to walmart.
$115 for better smartphone, $35 a month bill. I wish i knew years before.. Woulda saved thousands.
For any of you who are gonna make the leap, budget for a hardshell case and screen protector. The store will be happy to sell you an otterbox for $90 but you can get a generic for $20 shipped or less on ebay.
Quote from: Stephen Alford on January 25, 2018, 07:49:35 AM
Have found an app called "find my friend" anybody use this and if so how good is it ? According to emergency response when they trace a call they get "cell tower location". Actual phone location.. step 2 is iffy ???
Cfarm you raise a valid point ; where to carry cell phone. I wear no weight around my waist. Over the years weight around my waist increases the risk of back muscle spasm . Added an extra cross piece to the back of my suspenders to reduce shoulder slip. On the front carry plug wrench,whistle, jack knife,lighter and phone clipped and tethered. Have not been able to pick a new phone yet...to many choices. :-X
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/21cid_42.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1516884313)
love the snowman, might be a good class project for some of my students if you don't mind
" Fill yer boots" my friend. :) That was a "wifie weld". A wife weld is when you come home and you realize you are in need of a giftie. . So out to the shed you go. Four spikes ,two nuts ,couple slices of pipe, some ragged plate and you are good to go. Without wife and family support , owner/operator is not possible
Looking at a droid..sonim xp7. Anyone have one ? Droids come hard shelled and oil resistant. I think there is a cost to inefficiency. Going to look at phones from now on as a consumable. :)
LOL. Sounds like yours gets a lot of the same stuff as mine. im running out of places to put the rough sawn spice racks, picture frames and shoe racks.
The worst is when im engraving a date into something with a carbide burr going "oh man.. Was our anniversary on the 27th or 28th?"
I guess its time to let this thread slip away. Just wanted to thank everyone who took time to post. One more pic....really... ;D My daughter loading the truck. A little vid of PEI as well.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_2169.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1519747697)
Aerial Tour of Prince Edward Island - YouTube (https://youtu.be/WvTdBI8RzfE)
Stephan,
I do enjoy following your going's on. Hope you keep the pictures and the stories coming! If I remember correctly you built a pretty niffty shop out of some shipping containers, how is it holding up and what's it look like (as far as layout) now that it's been up for a while?
What a beautiful island you live on, i have never heard of it.
Thank you for the video! I visited PEI when I was about 10 or 12, and even at that young age enjoyed every minute of it
Visiting PEI is on my bucket list some day. :)
Thanks Stephen for taking the time and post pictures, we are just getting too lazy to write comments.
I too enjoy following your posts.
Quote from: Stephen Alford on February 27, 2018, 11:11:27 AM
I guess its time to let this thread slip away.
Thats just nonsense. One of my favorite threads. I get junk lust every time i look at it.
"Anne of Green Gables" was filmed in part on PEI 8) 8) 8)
Ditto on all the comments to keep it coming. Really like to read about your efforts to do a good job for both landowner and the site itself. Also, loved my trips up to Maine and always wanted to go all the way to PEI. On the bucket list as well.
I've enjoyed this thread quite a bit. Your journey is an interesting one and it is fun to see a person succeed when they have to change their operation as much as you have.
You are doing some great work and the woodlots you are thinning look amazing. You may not have asked for a vote but I say keep the updates coming!
Clark
We (Wife, Daughter and I) were in PEI two summers ago, we all enjoyed it!
I have to say that little restaurant on the wharf in North Rustico had some of the best food I have ever had!
Can't let this slip away. I won't be able to send you any rocks for the wet holes. :D
I like your ideas for making a tractor work for you.
I generally only post if I have something constructive or funny to ad, but have followed this thread with great interest.
It's nice to get ideas and see the pitfalls of what works and doesn't work before I set our tractor up.
Thanks for all you have offered and I do hope to see more in the future if you so chose.
In my mind a good house guest keeps his room tidy and does not wait to be told to pick his stuff up. Keeping that in mind , the intent is to contribute not store. Jeff has just completed this amazing renovation which must have taken an incredible amount of work to accommodate his growing family. I thought the least I could do was be more concise and keep a post relevant. I think when you have an idea of a individuals history and where they are located its equivalent to the history of a woodlot and the soil on which it grows. I guess I should add a selfie.... :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/1677/fences.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1295670236)
Well GMP the shop worked out fine. Considering after 5 days we shelter then continued to work on it as time and resources allowed. We used one lower container as a mini machine shop and the other for wood storage, the upper containers were used for parts storage and the other for a lunch room/ office. In floor heat was a dream. Only two tweaks I can think of offhand is the floor drain should have been put at the rear and not in the middle where it is a pain when on a creeper. The heating system is home made. If you were to sell the shop whom ever was to buy would probably need a mortgage. To get that you need insurance. To get that you need to have a CSA approved heat system. The selling of an asset should be kept in mind during construction. Alls good with you ? :)
I never have nor will ever do any logging of any fashion, but I have followed this topic from the beginning. It has always been; Different, Innovative, Educational, and Entertaining.
I understand life changing, but it doesn't end until it ends and we are not in control of that. With that thought in mind, continue on at the pace that life dictates.
Just wanted to take a moment and thank-you all for the kind words and encouragement. We shall carry on .... :)
Thanks Stephen.
I don't know what it is but I LOVE seeing peoples shops! I used to work in racing and I loved going to other people's race shops just to see how they had everything set up and how it all worked out. Thanks for the run-down, more pictures would be great, sorry, I'm greedy!
Matt
Got the new blade on. Thought I should mention that the tractor has the duel power transmission. These transmissions will not hold the tractor....thus the shanks. If you want to use a block heater and you put in the heater hoses , the heater has to be turned on for the antifreeze to circulate. Here are a couple pics of the blade at work. The plan is to use the front for slash and the rear for logs.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180303_151757.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520110977) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180303_143114.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520111001) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180302_113248.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520111103) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180302_145930.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520111150) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180302_144054.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520122095) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180302_122005.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520122207)
Just a great day ..large flocks of ol goozers in low all day. This flock was stretched both sides of the boom. (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180302_160400.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520111172)
Wow, what a flock.
I see you got the Mad Max Forestry Package, nice!
Good idea. I suppose that comes off? It would be a bother sticking out in front in my woods. Even my loader sticks out too much,most of the time. But I need it to haul in a load of rocks and haul out a load of wood in it.But I only play on my land,not doing it for money,just the love of the land.
"Mad max" :D ya I can relate to that.
Yes Mrcfarm it does come off. Three parts actually. If I get the kinks out will make some sort of quickcoupler. At present I now have this slash/brake blade , a v plow which works great and a bucket.
We have had a lot rain and really cold temps this winter , just plain wonky. Really slippy under foot. been laying wood into the crown then pulling to a spot were I can handle the slash after limbing. To handle the slash it has to be pushed side ways ie roll it while shoving between stumps. Caught to take your time and be carefull because if things go south I will be back there for awhile. (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180303_140011.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520167999) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180303_152451.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520168052)
Well the "mad max uprights" are working out fine for pushing slash. Really nice not to have the slash back up when you do.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180305_145131.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520303962)
Got a chance to test the shanks. Have a hill to go down leaving the property. The roadway is right at the bottom. Have not tried it with a load on the trailer. Pretty much glib ice. May put that off for a bit.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180305_112911.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520303757) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180305_161818.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520303786)
Dropped the shanks front and back ...
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180305_160638.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520303819) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180305_160703.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520303851)
No problem dug in well. If the widths between shanks are different front and back they cut in different places.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180305_162319.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520303877)
Ice would be the worst case , hills and thawed earth should not be a problem, I am quite certain they will hold the tractor. When your working down hill behind a machine it always makes me nervous. :)
Great thread...makes me miss home (PEI). I plan on moving home in the next year or so.
Thanks for providing insight into forest management and the fuel wood business on the Island.
Do you do much work through the FEP on the Island?
Well I see your not going to be stuck for a saw to use and have to go home out of it :D
Looks like there is room for 3 more saws on the right....
Emery most landowners I work for do not want to be involved with government programs. It is a good program and well intended but in my opinion it is underfunded for the work that has to be done. Past programs were jointly funded by the feds and province. Governments changed,policy changed, priorities changed....programs died...landowners attitude....changed. There is now some funding intended to woo Islanders back home , might be something to check out. have not looked into it as I am already here. :-\
Saws... I hear ya. Im sick I tell ya... sick. I need professional help. I sharpen , clean, fuel saws at night....whats with that. :D The twins are great and " Buck" the lad in the middle is some fiesty.
Things are not all rosey for the competition . Since I am in charge of wood sales felt it was my duty to post this. ;D google..cbc pei "I had no idea" heat pump owner says about potential for mould.
Stay upright and safe. :)
Do the twins have names or how you keep them apart ? :)
Good job on the shanks. 8)
I do plan on submitting a few woodlots around my home base (Wood Islands) to the program, Ive got a few interested landowners and have reviewed the rates assigned to prescriptions covered by the FEP.
I also got a fuel wood business that will just be firing up this year, Ill be sure to post some pictures of the processor and wood in the appropriate thread.
I will have to look into this funding to woo Islanders back home. ;D
Thanks for the information.
Stephen Im sure you have said but what kind of winch is that on your tractor.
Well Mr. Lopet one is Merlot and the other Malbec mostly because of there wine.. Merlot is easy to identify as she sustained some inflight damage after ruining a brand new pair of boots. Malbec is more full bodied. ;D
Look forward to your pics Emery. Woodsales are still strong in that area. Be sure to give me your contact info. Will be able to pass it along. Stratford is pretty much as far east as I deliver.
Matt the winch was called a "Skid and Winch" The one I have is the original. I under stood the lads that built it sold their design to a firm in Quebec.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/h48~1.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520393581)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/21cid_918.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1479052425)
Nice to see. :) At a time when there are now shower curtains with pockets to hold your cell phone. :-X
Redirect Notice (https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjO0MqNj9rZAhULSq0KHV_vCTcQFggsMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbc.ca%2Fnews%2Fcanada%2Fprince-edward-island%2Fhorse-loggers-pei-woods-forest-scott-kevin-roger-1.4562795&usg=AOvVaw1FLo9d4XqlIgWO5pUdMPbL)
Shoot i been lookin all over for a shower phone holster. Now all i need is a bluetooth vacuum cleaner for my 28ft luxury park model and my problems will be SOLVED.
I realize that I have been posting a lot pics lately but trying to learn how to use the new android. Getting the hang of it , this new tec is very impressive. Lots of folks new to forestry and to the forum so thought maybe a few pics on the basics would be of some benefit.
This is the stand I was in today. The only product is fire wood . (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180307_150821.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520482786)
The main haul road goes in first. Most of the work layout is based on stand height. Merchantable wood in this thinned stand is running at 60' . A turn around goes in about every 120' . (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180307_150637.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520483041)
Start with the farthest tree and work toward the tractor. By putting the hitch point on the side of the tree it will spin and seems to cause less damage to the residuals. (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180307_140222.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520483506)
If the wind catches it the snach block is used to line it up for extraction. (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180307_153426.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520483620)
Their twitched to the turnaround then limbed. (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180307_160002.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520484003)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180307_160541.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520484058)
If I have to top haul a tree , I cut it off at the what we call the " bud " Set the slider at the end of the tree. (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180305_122358.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520509171)
If the chain grab looks iffy , just cut a notch in two sides where the chain will set. (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180305_122917.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520509269)
Oh... Mr Lopet new phone is named Ima...."Ima Daboss" ;D
I dont think ive had a log slip out of a choker yet but im gonna remember that notch collar trick. Thanks for posting
If you're hooking on the small end and I expect the bark is slipping this time of year,it can happen. Hooking on the big,not so much. The chain might slip,but the tree is getting bigger,so the loop of the chain will grab.
Read that line in the third picture,if you don't know. Spin the tree. The reason I do it too,is that it breaks the hinge easier too. Just put the hook on the side and it will spin.
Good job there Steve.
Not much softwood in your pictures. I have a couple acres line that. Between the rough ground and I do mean rough and the rocks,it's no place for a tractor.
Right you are Mr cfarm, it should be noted that due diligence is required at this time. If the hinge remains in tact and you continue to pull the tree will come forward on the "puller" This sounds crazy to to even mention but bad things happen. Grab the wrong lever , distracted by phone,or what have you. "I was not paying attention" can and have been last words. ;)
Looks like were in for a five day " Weather Bender"....turn er nose inta the wind lads
You laying some of these into other trees on purpose then twitching off the stump?
Ive got a few ill probably have to do that with when time comes to cull them. Otherwise will flatten saplings i aim to keep.
Yes most of the time. Given a choice I try to cut in a true south direction. The trees are just naturally top heavy to the sun. One criteria for the LO is to leave the outer perimeter untouched. Because of this I am working in a northerly direction. I have to winch them over to butt haul.
Our winds are the unknown. Change with seasons ,slope, tides etc. Predominately out of the west (jet stream) and rarely under 30km. The big factor are the gusts. They can run 60/80, on a storm day 100+ . When your felling the gust can tweak a fall Spinning helps compensate that and line up the twitch. When we trail cut this stand 30 years ago all the wood was extracted with the tractor grapple. One of the key leave species are the white and yellow birch. Their catkins are crucial for partridge survival and procreation another priority for the LO. :)
Well after a couple of weeks the mad max verticals are still straight . I would prefer to spread the slash out but these small piles are acceptable. (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180312_144642_28129.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520901756)
Took a couple pics of a tree I was trying to spin today.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180312_122812_28129.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520901896)
Want to spin the top to the right while pulling the butt to the left to try and save a cavity tree. The second tree for the hitch was felled first. It will be top hauled.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180312_140421_28129.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520902168) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180312_141045_28129.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520902299)
This is a sample of the growth rings for the thinning. You can see how the tree responded to the thinning.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180312_125804_28129.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520902408)
I know these tools have been mentioned but for those that are new to felling or just interested..
The first is a push stick. Square on one end and slashed on the other. A horizontal cut is made 5/6' in the tree to prevent slipping. (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180312_141401_28129.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520902756)
This a chocker pooker and a home made felling lever. Started out as a pry bar that fell off a truck ..roadside find. (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180312_164523_28129.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1520902891)
Roadside finds are awesome. :D Then you feel sorry for the guy who lost it, well a bit at least. ;D
I have been able to do some impressive reshuffling of pretty big oaks on the trailer with a pair of binder bars, just kinda nibbling an inch at a time. Never thought to make a peavey out of one but i guess now ill hafta.. Have one with just the right amount of mangled.
Tractors seem to be both an entry and exit level piece of forestry gear. One of the more problematic fells occurs when the tree gets locked behind the stump. Again I must thank Bill M's hour glass concept for the fairlead. Being able to just pull the rats tail over top and lower it is a plus. Had high winds and was in a bit of a rush with a pending storm ....
The fairlead height allowed the second log to be dislodged then spun the third off its stump.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180313_120435_28129.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1521027221) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180313_120935_28129.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1521027246)
These required the use of the self releasing snatch block because getting near them was not possible. No damage to the residual birch.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180313_140638_28129.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1521027275) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180313_141022_28129.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1521027300)
One limitation of the tractor is piling. However I haul away every day so not that bad. I guess most of you have realized "ol blue" is a teenager at heart... Loves a selfie :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180313_155353_28129.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1521027327)
I surprised you have not made some tusks for the front of that pusher. That would help with the piling. But you said you haul away each day. Once I get a good pile,I can go high. Just hard at first.
When I cleared off the Old Pasture I had clumps of white maple like that. Did a job on a chain to cut the stumps down low. But we mow the New Piece now. Dug out rocks and smoothed out a few areas,and all is good.
Enjoying the posts, especially your use of snatch blocks.
Looks like your making headway. We just got another 2ft of snow, you get any out of this last storm? All that snow sure will slow down production...
Clever work getting out of that log jam there, old timer. ;)
Mr Snowstorm if you happen to be reading this I looked into that infrared tec a bit. You can purchase an IR camera which attaches to a smartphone or android. Then down load the app . The add on cameras runs from 300/700$ Canadian. Have a friend using this tec to locate hotspots in his potato warehouse. A carpenter friend is using it identify thermal loss in homes. You guys probably know all this but cool tec just the same.
Mr cfarm I do not believe the front pusher has enough snork to push logs. However the narrow blade and verticles are doing a great job with the small slash. The landing is more a matter of keeping things neat. The landings are usually located on land which is leased to a farmer. Want to get along with both.
Mr nativewolf using a chain grab on chocker works great when attaching to an anchor tree. Keeps the chocker from sliding down. (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180307_152516.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1521115940)
Mr Gmp sure has been great the way you folks have been collecting the snow this winter. Mostly rain here then back to the deep freeze... thanks ;)
Ahhh Mr Mike...old timer..really... old timer.... I ask you would an oltimer after hearing the words "what in heavens name are you saving one old work mitt for ? " make a case for his brand new sonim xp android ?????
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/IMG_20180315_084334.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1521116007)
or upon finding a cow bell in the woods attach it to his tractor to ward off evil spirits....oltimer ...really (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/21cid_552~1.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1521115977)
Consider it a term of endearment. Im 38.. I grew up in the hollar between the cold wars death and internets birth. I have friends from about 30 to 80. Let me tell ya, if i have to choose a team i want to be on, between the old timers and these new timers, im goin with the old ways.
This cracked android is my one piece of technology. I use it to get up to speed on the old ways that i was too young to learn first hand.
I am now 57. Years ago I would look at someone around 40 and call them an older person. Now it's the opposite. Now if I want to find a Cougar for me their as near as the closest nursing home. LOL.
ON one of the above posts you show a picture of what you call a "push stick" not sure about what that is.
As far as I remember you have been posting pictures of hardwood stands you 've been working in 30 years ago. Come on Stephen you must me a old timer by now, just suck it up. :D :D
luvmexfood the push stick is a poor man's version of a wedge :D I never saw the notch cut before though, I guess that's because our trees have limbs to the bottom :o
Just wondering. Any little trick or tid bit of information that I can pick up to make the job easier helps. No need to reinvent the wheel if a fellow forestry forum member has already done it.
His peavey is the felling lever. The push stick is to shove up high on the stem to get the fall started. Climb ontop tractor and saw a little notch for it to dog into.
I use a chunk of EMT. It bites in pretty good.
This is a great post, very informative and lots of pictures to make understanding easy. I have learned a lot and have many ideas and projects I am planning now, specifically because of this post. I am relatively green as far as a logger is concerned but learning quickly and this post is helping. Keep it coming.
Just want to say I have no problem being called "ol Timer" , here at least it is considered an honor. It is probably a surprise to some but I have actually been called much worse. :D :D Only recently I have discovered that I am now going to be called " Grampie" and I can't tell you how exciting that is going to be. :) :) :)
Should point out that in the woods there are plenty of push sticks priced right. They just need to be cut before you need them. ::)
Hope to see some pics Rob ......
Congrats grampie
It's the best feeling in the world to be a grampie Mr. Alford! I have been one for almost a year now 8) But I will warn you those kiddo's are some darn distracting! :D
Oh yea,they are fun. My grandson loved to see trees fall,I would take him,park the tractor a long ways off,strict orders,STAY ON THE TRACTOR and he did. We would go scope out the chosen tree,I would take the extra time to show and tell him what I was doing and why. Then he would have to go sit on the tractor. I would always make sure the tractor key was in my pocket and all controls was down on the ground. Man he loved to work them levers. ;D Seem like it took him 5 minutes to get to the tractor with me telling him,get going. :D Chainsaw would be started and I would start to cut it down. TIMBER we would hollar and I would shut the saw off so he could hear the sound of the tree falling before it hit the ground. Strict orders again,DO NOT COME UNTIL I TELL YOU TO. When I would tell him OK,he would be there in no time. :D
He's 19 now. The day came and he was pretty proud of it,when he did not have to sit on the tractor to see the tree fall. But we both had a escape route planned out and cleared out.
When i was a boy i couldn't sit still when a logger, skidder, chainsaw, excavator, crane, ..... was in the neighborhood!! I had to go to school and could not wait until the bell ringed and i ran home where the machines where. you wouldn't have be able to pull me away from there with a horse!
and look what i do now: half time logger, excavator owner/operator, and future quarry operation(https://forestryforum.com/board/Smileys/default/cheesy.gif)
It's just in the blood!
I hope my boy turns out alright and resists all the drugs. Lord, Im tryin.
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What touching photos. Thank you so much for sharing those. When the world seems so bleak, it's comforting to know all is well in Middle Tennessee.
Hey Mike,they will be just fine. ;D
Mike, of course he will be alright! The kids turn out like they have been educated from their parents
Mike, I like the Cub photo!
Kids can sleep ANYWHERE!!! (Never with all of their clothes on, they always loose something, shoe, sock...) Mine always falls asleep either when we're mowing fields (in the not so quiet cab) on hauling silage!
Thanks gang. I keep tellin him hes gotta bulk up soon. That 395 dont carry itself, and im sure getting tired of it.
Sorry stephen i didnt mean to steal your thread.
I'm betting Stephen has already check his cab out and picked a spot for his new buddy.
Now how could Stephen mind with pictures like that?
I use to sleep in the house my Father built. The sound of a saw and banging nails would put me to sleep. ;D Any visting could not believe it. I would even sleep with the sound of the buzz saw going cutting firewood.
Unbalanced driveshaft in my truck. 40 seconds of cheek jiggling and that kid keels over into the door like a drunk.
Great to read and see pics of members and their families . This is not "my thread"... just like minded folks hanging out in Jeffs kitchen sharing the journey. Mind you some of us set a bit closer to the back door than others.
Both of our daughters have worked in the woods with me. Our oldest studied the ballet in Toronto. At her graduation one of her instructors came over and asked if I was the forester from PEI. He said " I do believe your daughter is our first ballerina with skidder experience" I was so proud I almost busted.
This is a pic of my other daughter running a load through. the other pic is her having lunch with an "olTimer" :D
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Love this! smiley_heart
What is smouldering on the Hibachi? ;D
Al
Nice pics old timer. :)
Good lord thats a cylinder on the guillotine!
This is what I love about this forum, yes it's about the forestry but on the other hand were like an extended family! Well Mr. Alford in all the years I have been on here and seeing all your excursions I think that is the first time I have seen a pic of Mr. infamous himself 8) To mike_belbin I see you have a haircut just like the ol" bushmechanic :D, good that you get to spend time with your family, whatever happens in there life they will remember it!
;) genetic skinhead. I was losing hair at 16. Preparation for being a credible old timer i guess!
When I grew my beard out I had someone ask if it was for a "comb-over". (https://forestryforum.com/board/Smileys/default/hair.gif) (https://forestryforum.com/board/Smileys/default/afro.gif) (https://forestryforum.com/board/Smileys/default/mad.gif) (https://forestryforum.com/board/Smileys/default/grin.gif)
Well Al with marijuana becoming legal this summer thought I should become smoke tolerant. Gonna be lots of "Pot Luck" :D
When the children were the size of yours Mike my wife and I had built a log home. Took a jackknife and put a natch in their sneakers and geared them up with safety whistle. Made them easy to track and easy to find. For a teenager you may need a GPS chip. :)
Generally for the push stick one small cut at 7' (whatever is an easy reach) works fine.
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Cutting doubles are sometimes tricky and require a good look up. They tend to catch and hold debris.
The push stick can be used as a pry. They are a big help if a back spasm occurs and you have to hobble out. Sidebar... a bit of pickle juice daily seems to reduce that issue.
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Sometimes with doubles and a pinch a simple twister can be used to free the saw.
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If you were to make a felling lever put a hammer block on the heal. A clip pin for the dog helps as well.
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A slow back cut leaving the tree on the stump makes it easy to hitch up. There are great cutting post on the forum but our trees are relatively small so technique is a tad different...Stay safe
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Good idea,drive up to the stump and lift them off the stump.
I cut a pile of those trees like that,most times 3 to a clump,sometimes even 5. Took alot of winching them down. Almost look the same size. Was not heavy enough to break through the limbs of the other trees.Now we can see the corner of the field. I had a lot of limb wood to burn that year and a good size brush pile to burn. That got burned when there was still snow on the ground. I had to haul off what did not burn to another pile.
Thats clever to twist up the chain like a fence post brace wire.
Heres one of my tricks. Carb tuning screwdriver i grind into the end of my files.
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This is my file thing, use golf balls for handles, when the file gets dull throw the whole thing away (drill a pilot hole first)(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/36122/20180319_161844.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1521490956)
Stephen, I've really enjoyed this thread and have studied pics and tips. I currently building a felling wedge (a copy of yours) and am looking for a spot to mount the cowbell on my Fordson. Its got me motivated enough to dig out my ole winch and head to the bush yesterday aft. with plans to go back today. All the pics and stories of you guys taking your kids with you also remind me of taking my boys with me and spending more time walking around in the bush, talking and picking the trees for next years firewood than working.
So just want to say thanks for sharing to you and everyone else.
Doug <br
these red pine were planted by my uncle and my mother in 1943>(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/36122/20180319_140915.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1521547923)
good stuff
The title of this post is just perfect.......wanders around some but eventually circles back to somewheres near the beginning.You all make me smile and proud to be here.
Very nice what was. Keep them coming.
Mike that cylinder is not that big. Just in casing. Dont know if your a fan of Monty Python ...my chums call it " da black night " . First post from my new phone in the woods...gonna get a lot done now.. :-(
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Well 47 sawdust full circle it is . Back in the stand were I started. Just a beautiful day. Had the first taste of maple sap this year. Had to drop the blade as things are a bit tighter in places. Got to say the skidder/ tractor was a nice combo. The oldoll was the beast for the times when the snow was deep the wood was bad the mud was a pain and production was needed. But with wood sales so bad the tractor is fine. :)
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I think im gonna try to clone your processing layout. Would make my setup a lot more efficient. I bring home a lot of limbwood too, and handle than in a roller rack conveyer with a chopsaw at the end. But big wood is just on the ground and makes for a lot of sharpening and lifting onto the splitter. I really need to set things up so that the loader and an eventual wood conveyor are doing most of the real labor. Have the two "sides" funnel together onto the conveyor like yours.
For what its worth having a road circle around the area where the wood is processed helps. The area under the conveyor is the high point . Because it is a high traffic path and getting gone with the load is a priority. When the soil gets damp...goose comes to mind.
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Having a major snow storm here to day.... come back "summer"
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Noticed the SMS on your log truck, are you running it with farm plates ? Or is PEI just a little more tolerant ? :D
Have never ran farm plates. Always inspected and insured to the hilt. We also have a system for annual driver physicals. When your truck is inspected all your measurements (brake drums etc) are stored in an attribute file. When dot pulls you over they will pull your file and check everything. Had 4 reds on the back of the ol Pete. Had one incident were a young mother with a baby on board got in my line heading towards me while flossing her teeth. I bet her ears are still ringing from the sound of my air horns. Always figured I brought her closer to the lord that day. After the mills closed and the industry tanked decide the yard was the best place for the truck. We have a lot of tourists. Roads here get hectic with so many folks having such a diversity of driving habits.
"Roads here get hectic with so many folks having such a diversity of driving habits"e
Stephen,you are a smooth talker.
I hauled a load today, first time we have been in the woods for a couple of months. This sale is only 11 1/2 miles in, but about half way someone had stuck up a sign, saying dog teams on road. There is plenty of evidence of them, but thank god I didn't meet one, the road is barely, and I mean BARELY plowed as wide as a truck, with four to five foot burms on each side. I am pretty sure any dog team I meet will be chapped for having to turn around.
Having a snow/rain day. Muck season is upon us. The snow conditions in the stand were not bad last week.
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Have gone through a lot of wedges this winter. combination of cold and an 8 lb mall, put a 2 lb head on the old handle and I am really surprised how great it works. this is the current set.
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Couple stand pics.
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By laying a skid log down first the others come nicely. Some of the wood coming off.
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One of the seed trees left behind 30 years ago. :)
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How do you keep all the gear from getting stolen? Taking it all with you or bringing the tractor home every night?
Charlottetown is perceived to be the safest city in the Maritimes by Maritimers and the number two city by Canadians. For the most part when you live on an island there is a sense of community. Everybody knows everybody or is related ie third cousin second time removed. :D However theft is pretty common. Sorta three kinds of thieves. The young heller who is just learning and needs a wee course in respect. The desperate ...and they just need a hand up. Then there is the pro. For them it is just about the money. What they steel they want to sell and fast. When your tools are home made they don't want them. Not much value to the buyer and to easy to trace or identify. So that leaves equipment... make it hard to start and hard to get at. I cut out a place to park it in a thicket out of site and stumps between it and the landing. Batteries..... the large ford farm batteries. They are deep cycle and do not fit in cars or trucks without modification. Saws...they come home. If I leave them in the woods I stach them under an old skidder tube opened up. The tube reflects no light and with a bit of slash it is hard to spot. Can't find them myself some mornings. :'( Fuel is the tough one. Sometimes the best you can do is see the thief gets gaubed with grease. A lot of grease. May loose some fuel but sure puts a smile on my face. :) If you have someone coming around with grease stains on their clothes clean finger nails and a handshake like a noodle... class is in session ;)
We had trouble here a few times. My Father was mowing the fields with the old NAA. Parked it in the woods. This is a dead end dirt road with only one family living here at the time. Someone stole the distributor and and then poured sand down the opening. ::) >:( The sand had to come from the dirt road,more than 500 feet away.
I kept the tractor here in some sort of shed that I built.which was locked. But I also had the fuel tank with a lock over it and had something through the dipstick so if it was tampered with I could tell. Some people are jealous of what others have and try to destroy it. ::) Maybe if them type of people would work a full time job,than they could have stuff too.
I always enjoy your pictures and posts.
Only one type of thief here, addicts, tons of them in my corner of the county. Maybe 30% of the population. Ive lived in bad neighborhoods in the north and the south, with valuable stuff always sprawled all over. I have never had anything stolen in either place and i can be gone for a week or 3 months.
Lots and lots and lots of staring contests and confrontations and yelling and some shooting to get my point across. Thieves have one common theme. All Cowards.
My bobcat is chained to a light pole right now up the road. Real good chance itll get messed with by those too cowardly to mess with me to my face.
Hard for me to get my head around someone who destroys property belonging to others cfarm. In some respect you must represent all that they are not. I appreciate your posts and insight as well. :)
Man oh man ,that must be discouraging Mike. I cannot imagine a more dangerous sitch than someone heading to the woods using heavy equipment with a head full of domestic unresolved issues. How do the other 70% cope. Is there an opportunity for a small security business or possibly secure storage facility at your place ? Dawned on me that the Cumberland plateau may be the same area that has the Cumberland gap that Danial Boone used . Had a look at the sat imagery. That Cumberland tunnel is awesome. Hard to believe that can be done yet you lose sleep over vandals. Sounds like they are pretty entrenched. By the way those are beautiful oak stands you are looking at. Wish I knew of some solutions for you but this is just something I am not familiar with. The FF has an incredible folks ....maybe...just maybe....
Quote from: mike_belben on April 05, 2018, 08:47:30 AM
Only one type of thief here, addicts, tons of them in my corner of the county. Maybe 30% of the population. Ive lived in bad neighborhoods in the north and the south, with valuable stuff always sprawled all over. I have never had anything stolen in either place and i can be gone for a week or 3 months.
Lots and lots and lots of staring contests and confrontations and yelling and some shooting to get my point across. Thieves have one common theme. All Cowards.
My bobcat is chained to a light pole right now up the road. Real good chance itll get messed with by those too cowardly to mess with me to my face.
30% ??(https://forestryforum.com/board/Smileys/default/shocked.gif) that sounds awful. We don't have lots of robbery, most in the citys where people are more defenseless. all thieves know that the finca (farm) owners, including me, have guns in their homes and will put up a fight if they go steal there.
We have some violence between the narco families (drug war), sometimes they find peoples burned up in stolen cars with some hands and foots cut off (https://forestryforum.com/board/Smileys/default/shocked.gif). But if you not in that business you don't have to worry.
Sadly lots of young peoples like to make 200-400 dollars in a few hours on a drug haul than work for 500$ dollars a month with hard, honest work
Quote from: thecfarm on April 05, 2018, 08:15:08 AMSomeone stole the distributor and and then poured sand down the opening.
It would be pleasant to catch that guy in the acct and brake'm an arm or hand so maybe he gets cured!!
Please keep in mind i am speculating here and also that my worldview is made up by my day to day life. I live on a road thats known far and wide as the place to get the pills you need. Last night there was an argument few doors away that ended with rounds getting popped off and no law. I literally paused from typing this to watch two guys steal some appliance out of abandoned house 2 doors over. So on my road id put the numbers closer to 60% or so. I dont stress about it. I have made it clear that two can play the home invasion game. Bible says the lord will make my enemies into my footstool and so far he has. A mans got to stand for something.
Mike. A few areas like that around here. Even if the people wanted to work there is none. Maybe fast food at $7.35 an hour. Not an excuse to steal though. People laugh if you want to pick up a woman all you have to do is drive down one of those streets and shake a pill bottle.
My local weather always gives a forecast over the Cumberland Plateau. Seems like you guys don't know weather to start out in a coat or shorts. Calling for us to have snow tomorrow.n
Yea thats the cumberland county mating call. Pills and meth are a favorite currency. Wrecks a lot of lives, its a shame.
Im from new england so i cant complain too much about the weather or taxes. Sposta snow here also.
Mike, I can not wrap my head around your sitch, sounds like you have a bunch of stuff where you lived? Now you have druggy criminal neighbors? New england can't be that bad, what gives?
both places were full of criminals. It was heroin up there, and meth down here. But i can afford life here. I was working 2 jobs when i lost my cheap house up there.
That is a real shame... I guess where ever you go your gonna find those "peckers"
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Things have warmed up a bit. Well warm enough to shed the winter boots and back to the stihl leathers. The go to snack is a "4012" orange. They travel well and just enough moisture and sweet to keep you chugging along.
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The north extraction road is holding well.
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The days are getting longer as well, but as is the case for you.....not long enough. :)
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Thats a sweet trailer.
Are you able to charge for this service or is it a "you can have the wood for payment" market? I can have all the trees i can haul but i cant manage to get paid for it yet and not for lack of trying.
Weather wise its hot here already. Just got back from a septic tank job. That first wave of methane that comes out from under the lid when you pry it up is the kinda sweet that keeps me going.. Like 20 more paces the other direction!
Not really, and just to be clear with the intent to not mislead ... this is not really working from a business perspective. Land here is relatively scarce so it is valuable. I have done work for speculators who buy a piece of property and it needed to be cleaned up, for example tires out of streams garbage and old structures removed. Generally got paid when the property sold. So funding someone else . Not good. Cleared building lots , but now the go to machine is an excavator with live thumb. That market dried up. Had hoped folks would pay a little more for firewood derived from good woodlot management, that has not happened yet. Firewood markets are in decline and competition from folks with other sources of income who are just selling wood for cash are hard to compete against. The only bright spot that I am aware of is a guy who does a B&B with a woodlot experience for folks. The deterrent for the education/ tourist concept is the insurance liability aspect. A business is no longer a firewall between personal assets and liability. For now "soldier on" ...we shall see :)
I hear ya. Thats a bummer.
Spring seems to be the season of the "break and bust". For a couple days of late seems like everything was broke in some manner. Have had a particular difficult time with the air brake system on the ol tandum. Don't know how relevant it is to others but I was surprised. After days of trying to clean and repair the old system with minimum success priced up new components. The governor was only 23$ and the entire air dryer was only 128$ ... had I know that to start with could have saved a lot of laying in the muck. :(
Had to tidy up the lane way with the scraper blade ...
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Found a world war one foot locker it has been over seas and came back so ...no surprise ...manifest destiny :D
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Looks good. I don't do much scraper. Don't have too,the rocks hold me up. :D
Yes,spring is here. I am digging rocks out of the old pasture. More I clear,the more rocks I find and the more I have to mow. It has to stop sometime. Well I mean the land clearing,no end in sight to the rocks. ;D
Youll expire before they do!
Nice find stephen. Perfect.
Hey folks been awhle so thought it was time for a bit of an up date. Crazy spring weather wise,snowing yesterday morning when I left the house. Sure hard on the fruit crops. had to do some upgrades to my ol truck. Mr lopet had raised the point of dot tolerance here. I think they are as tough as anywhere but I will give them this , they served notice this spring that they would be stepping up their game. Well after new tires brakes etc my last encounter was.... "Stephen shes legal but you got to know she aint pretty".... :D
One tool upgrade was to put a full length shovel handle in my pickaroon, realy pleased what a difference on the back.
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One issue has been trying not to waste wood and minimize damage at the same time.
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Just a couple pics for those who are unable to get out and about :)
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Nice pics. Glad to see youre still at it.
smiley happysmiley
Thanks Mike, how are the dozer repairs coming along ?
This what the cable looks like after a bit over a year of use .
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These were a pair of trees heading NW that I wanted heading SE.
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Looks like your directional felling works!!!
I have not been cutting wood. Too busy digging rocks and stumps. I made a mess and now I have to make it look good.
Nice rigging mr stephen, i need to make a self release snatch like that. You sure do some precise work!
Dozer is just sitting there apart. When i had the aim to get under it there was a constant creek flowing between the tracks. Then i fractured my arm doing a triple gainer off the wood trailer and crawling under anything is painful enough to make me find something else to do. i have no money to pour fuel through it anyway so meh.. Let it sit, the dirt piles arent going anywhere. Just gotta stay home and let the kids get older for a while and be patient with how life plays out.
I have been putting up firewood, laying out my operation better, getting into camp bundles and gardening like crazy between dishes, feedings and internetting. Also reworking the quad into a mad max thinning machine, sorta miniature version of your tractor. Need to get some overhead shelter up. This sun is relentless and im barking up the melanoma tree.
Ill get some pics up later for ya. Im glad you popped up, i was getting a little worried in your absence.
Hey mr cfarm hope you get a chance to take some before/after pics. Great to see your endeavors. :)
Well mr Mike ...I hear ya... balancing domestics and work are always a challenge. By the time you raise your children you find yourself looking after family seniors. Just the way of it. For cooking my mentor is a lad by the name of Jamie Oliver. Great meal plans...healthy,inexpensive and quick. like most tasks tools make the difference. In the kitchen my go to is a quality blender. First sign of "dodgie" in she goes. :D For the garden my "mantis" is the boy. Stihl now makes a version, it looks a little more rugged. Had frost again last night but did plant the cold crops last week in my little grow plot. The BRS in the pic is one I leveled with the clearing saw last year. Boy did it like that. ;D
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I did take some pictures. Really not much to see. I had this piece cleared off for at least 10 years. So these stumps have been there that long too. Mostly white pine. Some I got,some I could not,maybe another 10 years. ;D The could not ones are about 3 feet across. There must of been a few red oaks in there. I try to leave the oak,good food for the wild life. Those stumps was only about 1-1½ feet across and came out pretty easy. Some of those white pines stumps,I had to work on them.
Even dug out a few rocks. :D Kinda low on the few too.
Is that red soil? Looks different than what I have.
The red is due to the high iron -oxide content (rust really ;D). Really hard on undercarriage. You do well not to break your tractor dealing with stumps and boulders. You must have "datouch" :)
Well yesterday was one of ...dozdays . Hate that crunch noise. Was not even under strain.
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Spent the day prepin for the extraction. Went well got the ol boy back to the ER. Only charged me 70$. He was really impressed with the prep work. Said most people never have a concern for his gear. On the down side thats gonna be it for awhile. You all stay safe :)
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Never said I did not break my tractor digging rocks. :o :( Stumps I don't bother with much. Those critters come out hard. And than some. But so have some of the rocks I have dug out. ::) Where's the dumb dumb smiley? If the stumps have been in the ground for 10 years they come out easy. White,red maple stumps are gone in half that time,but those white pine hand right in there.
Can't tell. What did you break?
Well things are looking up...just the clutch. I know compared to some of the mechanical magic I see on here this is pretty basic. The idea with this thread was to share the farm tractor in the woods experience. Well to quote Mr snowstorm if your gonna own it and try to make a living best be prepared to learn how to repair it. The one issue is the armour.. gets bent over time and the on/off gets to be a bigger challenge every time. The nice thing about the farm tractor I find is recovery and repair for a one man operation is not so bad. Have had to fix a lot of stuff in the woods . Not easy at all. Let the parts hunt begin... :)
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Way to get'r done there old timer. Yer makin me and my dead dozer look bad!
:snowball: ;D
Not to jinx ya i hope, but how much trouble do you have with sticks and tires making love? I dont want to even say that 4 letter F word.
Looks like you took the center right out of her! That's not too bad of a job and I know it's pretty minor for you Mr. Alford! ;)
Jinx Jinx double Jinx...Hex be gone...turn around...SPIT. Nope i am good. Never had a flat on the tractor. the rears are forestry specials put on new when I got the tractor. The fronts have been replaced a couple times just wore out. Do a bit of road travel doing tilling mowing snow etc. Its a mindset thing in the woods i know there vulnerable and cut accordingly. With the winch the wood comes to you as opposed to the grapple where you have to go to the wood.
On another note meet a nice young couple yesterday. He and his wife were working on an extension to his fly tying shop in the rain. Picked up what he called "the deadly dozen" as a gift for a buddy getting married. Got a couple like the one in the middle for my hat. Oh ya baby in the woods its its all about LOOKS... :D
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Hey Mr Mike .... how is the arm coming along ? Hope the healing is going well. Hard to imagine tackling your work load with two arms let alone one.
Mr Bushmechanic you are highly over rating my mechanical skills. When I pick up a wrench in my right hand the devil takes my left. :D Thought you might get a chuckle out of my impromptu sliding hammer to remove the pilot bearing. Only had a foot between the engine and the tranny. Poor ol 3/4 johnson bar had to take a hit for the team. The grove in the handle did the trick. Three waks and wala.
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Was back in the woods Tuesday. Had to refit the armour ,change all filters etc. What I wanted to mention in case someone else has to do this be sure to calk the engine on both sides over the axle before you pull the front ahead. Keeps the engine from rolling right or left. Pilot shaft can be borrowed. Put the pto in gear as well as the trannny. May have to turn the engine over through the starter hole. If you put the two halves together without using come alongs etc. its best. Been a busy week as deliveries fell behind . Sure feels great to get back at it. Go easy :)
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Hey mr stephen. Good to see you got her back together. I'd say my arm is pretty well healed, its only as achy as everything else now..thanks for askin. Tryin the get everything in the yard cut and split but my system needs work. I dont want to stack all of it, but because of all the dirt piles thatve been hauled in, i dont really have a good place to pile.
What do you do for wood storage? Do you sell green or seasoned? I cant move a single rick in summer but need to have all i can piled and ready to go come the first cold.
Glad to hear your on the mend Mr Mike. I suspect our firewood markets are different. When you live on an island the mind set is different. If you were to check our DNA there would be traces of packratasorous or at the very least squirelamentala. Those spellings are probably wrong. :D We tend to store and make ready for winter ; that and the mentality that we will meet each other again in the coarse of our days. It is rare that I have any inventory ahead. Inventory is just tied up resources. My situation has evolved with the focus on folks who buy their wood a year ahead. Those who buy their wood a year ahead plan their finances the same way. Getting paid is not a problem. I do a stump to stove same day. Cutting more than a load a day (1&1/2 cd) is the goal. Hopefully when things are working right I will get a couple loads delivered one day of the week. Cut in am, process after lunch then deliver around suppertime when folks are home to pay. Folks are pretty much creatures of habit when they buy is a variable you can nudge but who you sell to is up to you. Sorry for rambling...need more coffee...
Ramble away, its all helpful to someone.
Im coming up on my second winter at it here and i hope that those receipts with my number on them generate repeat customers. But i havent ever sold a summertime load of heating wood. One summer load that i lugged down a big hill to a firepit along a creek a few days after i busted my arm up is all ive moved since last winter. In summer you can buy a face cord for $35 picked up. Our winters are mild enough that many many people do all heating cooking and hot water off LP filled at the co-op or tractor supply. We also have a natural gas pipeline just about everywhere (this region produces small volumes of gas and oil) with a nearly free hookup to your home. It all keeps the firewood price low.
But you havent seen saveitallacitis until youve toured the rural south. Its like a perpetual yard sale where everything is worth 3x MSRP to the owner. Ive met quite a few nice folks with a disorder level cling to their junk, while passing out leaflets for the hoarders association i am starting up :)
Wanted to post a pic of what some of the stands look like one year later.
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The wood and appearance of the stand are pretty much dependent on the history of each stand.
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Some of the firewood coming out.
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The wee one has arrived safe and sound....wakeup sunshine suns up in da swamp...days half gone...nothin done yet... :D
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The wee one have a name?
I would show a picture of my firewood,but you all would thing I was stupid or lieing. ;D
The stand and the junior logger both look like they should, fine work sir!
Her name is Ramona... wanted posters will probably say..."Moni and Grampie". :D
On the firewood side of things the province is now offering rebates starting at 500$ for heat exchangers. But sales are holding. Inventory is way up ...got 3 sticks on the infeed...
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Often get urban buyers comment they would get mor but have no place to store it. This technique often helps with that. Do need to lay branches across every now and then to stabalize...
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Sure do not miss changing skidder tires but the spoons have come in real handy..
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Talking with an old friend that had worked here with me the first time. Wanted to come and spend a couple of days. What a treat to work with some one who knows what there doing.. :)
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Lucky you. I really only have one friends that really wants to help. He comes and finds me in the woods with leather gloves on and does not ask,You need some help? He just jumps in and helps. He's still in training. :D I trained him on some just cut full 2"X8"X14' rafters. He remembers that training. :D
Some show up in thier sandales,or whetever some wear, and get on the phone and call me in the driveway and ask if I need some help. ::)
Not much wood cutting going on here. I was doing good. But started another project, ::) and smoothing out some of the New Piece. It is looking good,real good. Not even many rocks. Yes,I said that. Very odd place. 200 feet away,it's all rocks.
Bring on da pics....... ;D When you work alone it is odd to hear a saw moannin on the cut...add a couple ravens ...a few song birds and a wee of diesel ....sweet ;)
Tried these felt bags ...hot peppers left,regular center and some Kale on the right. Seem to be a great idea.
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Things keep chugging along. The province is now offering a rebate on heat exchangers starting at 500$ . combine that with a hot summer consumers are moving in that direction. The AC in the summer and heat in the winter are going to keep those puppies around awhile.
Some of the extraction trails from last year grassed in quite nice.
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Finished one block. not much tado upon completion. Paused for a bit of a boilup and watched the wind dance with the grain then onto the next block....
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Great thread here. Thanks to everyone who has shared even the smallest thing. This thread is what makes a forum more than just a bunch of random posts. It a community, a family and a place where we can share our trials and triumphs. One of my favorite threads of all time. Thanks to you all. Keep warm and keep a light shining.
Hey folks,things are winding down on this project. The landowners are just fantastic folks to deal with. Want to put up enough wood on the landing so they will have firewood for the next few years without having to deal with the cutting and extraction. Thanks everybody for taking the the time to read and post, wanted to just add a couple fall pics...keep looking up :)
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Some sale worthy photo's there Mr Alford. I was wondering how it was going this fall, we had a near brush with sleet this morning but that will probably be the only scare for a few more weeks. Cooling down.
Boy those colors really pop, thats pretty. Ive been wondering when youd turn up. Im trying to set my place up for efficient processing right now and keep thinking about what you said a while back on it.
Good to see youre still at it old timer ;)
I don't have many stands of just about all hardwood.Lots of hardwood I see. I think I said it before. Out of the 170 acres I own,maybe only 3-4 like that. And that 3-4 is down by the house.
Glad things are going good for you.
Got your winter lots all picked out?
One of the odd results of getting the new android phone is that I am rarely on the computer anymore. The texting etc has really helped with sales , but with the pad format versus my finger size I do not type on it very much.
In some respects this project was a test. I wanted an opportunity to modify the gear, combine that with downsizing and get an idea of costs/efficiency/production. It also provided an opportunity for pictures which I can use to help landowners make an informed decision. This is not really a profit orientated indeavour . It would be more of a service that yields intrinsic values such as access for recreation , firewood etc. If it merely keeps an ol timer out of mischief and in the woods... alls good :D
your not that old
Hey folks...have not contributed in awhile so thought I would start by updating this thread which was started 2 years ago , and add a couple pics.
For the first year ever the gear has been parked for a couple of months . two reasons really...without the skidder winter logging with the crazy weather just was not working, not feasible really at least for me. Primarily because I only cut hard wood (green)and sales are not there. Second wanted to head to the other side of the country to meet my new grand-daughter. The woods plan as of the moment is to dig the gear out of hibernation this week. Going to try and find a wood lot were strip cutting will be acceptable to the woodlot and landowner. We shall see...
British Columbia and the rockies are something that pictures just do not do it justice. for a flatlander like myself a totally humbling experience. Recommend a trip there to anyone.
This is were I stayed
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The wood was amazing
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Some of the scenery
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Lots of wildlife..a cougar strike across the lake and a chance to practice my stealthin technique
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Family pic.. and got to pick out a new outfit for my wee bairne... :)
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wow, beautiful country!
Nice pictures and nice updates.
I am almost in the digging rocks mode. :D Almost is still 2 months away. I still have that bog road to finish,and the truck road. I might start cutting in another area. That is a wet hole. Might have to haul in a few rocks in there too. :) Lots of dead fir to get. Live ones too.
Beautiful pictures Sir :)
Stephen,
Very nice looking family.Did the "wee bairne" take the photo?
Not everybody has the love of "da Rock" you folks in Maine and New Hampshire have. Wanted to bring home a couple pieces of the rockies to clear the water out of my ears after swimming. The guy going through my luggage at security just shook his head when he picked them up. :D
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The "wee bairne" would have loved to get her hands on the camera ...but she shock tests everything. She took to pullin suspenders like a PRO. I am a big advocate of early child hood learning. Ya just cant start to soon. We had several moose calling tutorials. So if you meet an infant who turns her head sideways and goes...UGH...UGH you will know who she is. Her and I were very pleased how quick she piked it up. Her mother not so much.... :D
Stephen,My youngest grandson is 1- 1/2.The next couple of years will be the best formative years for us.The silliness we are able to share is priceless.As you mentioned , the parents aren't always impressed with the new habits they bring home from G-ma and G-pa's house.HaHa,tough nuggies.
Love for rocks. :D I'd love to see them somewheres where it is very hot. ;D Any wheres but on my land. The only good thing I ever use them for is filling in the bog.
Have not had much time to contribute of late , been one of those years. Thought i would add a couple pics.
Made one modification to the forward verticals on the front blade for handling slash. Not a big deal but by bending them forward , it made quite a difference in rolling the slash.
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Finally finished the v plow (225+piant @16$=236.00 :-\) . Really pleased at the way it opens a road.
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Glad to hear from you.
This post was a great read on a rainy morning. Thanks
Quote from: thecfarm on March 13, 2019, 06:56:10 PM
Love for rocks. :D I'd love to see them somewheres where it is very hot. ;D Any wheres but on my land. The only good thing I ever use them for is filling in the bog.
I sell them to north carolinans by the truckload. snapped and stacked 4700# of flagstone few days ago. Good exercise.
Nice update stephen!
If you ever run out, I can set up you up with another 100,000 pounds pretty easy. :D Than we head for the woods and found another 100,000. Might have to cut a few trees for the second 100,000.
Thanks for the update
Yes ... great to be able to check in with you folks as well. Impressive the way yall are able to downshift on da big hills and keep going. :)
Bruno , I notice you have been working on powerpack/trailer. I have been attempting the same. Dot seems to want slower moving rigs off the road. For quite some time my trailer was just used to move wood from the landing to the pavement.
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With the move away from woodlot work to residential work the idea is to have the trailer legal , truck towable and the option of the power pack. First step was to remove the cab. do not want to get tangled in low wires or have it blow apart at 80k.
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Had to remove the old truck axle which was heavy and no brakes. This trailer is not to haul wood on the highway....just able to move from site to site in a timely manner.
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Keeping cost in mind pilfered a couple stakes off the log truck and got a good used 7000lb torflex axle with electric brakes.
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The 15 gal hydraulic came on sale at 50% off had an 11hp honda in the shed and a 8gal/min pump. Put it on a frame ...fork lift friendly so it can be put on or off with ease. this way it can be in the shop over night or when the tractor is powering the trailer.
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Added emergency stop break to trailer along with lights.
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Cut off the woods feet and added more ashphalt /soft ground friendly feet.
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fenders etc....ta daaa
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Just a couple site pics.
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That's a nice trailer build 8)
That's a nice trailer/loader setup. Are you sure that 7000 lb axle is going to work? Seems it might be to capacity with just the weight of the trailer and loader never mind a load of wood on it.
Hey Donjb... as I was saying wont be hauling any wood on the road with this trailer. Its quite a process to get a home made trailer licensed here. The nokka 2500 was 1150 lbs. this is a 2900. Have not taken it to be weighed but it is only slightly more. The goal is just to be able to move the loader from site to site hauled with the f450. I have two of these loaders and I leave the second at the wood yard/shop. The work being targeted is residential tree removal /building lots and environmental cleanups. If the loader can be hauled with the truck I can just hire a drop deck truck to move the tractor. This would clear me with any issues with the dot. Most times once on site the tractor will power the loader. the power pack is an option.
As it stands now I am waiting for a DOT designate to come and take a look at it. This is step one because it is a total of 24 ft. (over18 ft). If he oks it then I submit pics and info and get a serial number then it can be licensed. If there is an issue with the build I have to have an engineer who is on consignment come to PEI from Fredericton NB. He then gives the yaaa or naaa and adjustments have to be made at that time. At the moment the way it is with lights and brakes i can haul it down the road with the farm tractor.
It is a work in progress. The power pack needs tweaking. May have to drop down from an 8 to a 5 gpm or go up from the 11hp to a 13hp. that will require spending money :-( Winter has set in so may be a while before I can back at it. Thank you for pointing out the weight issue. Any observations or suggestions are appreciated. DOT told me that they look at each trailer as an entity. Until they have something to actually look at getting a serial number is hypothetical. We shall see .
My concern wasn't pulling empty on the highway really. I assumed you were going to load it up where ever you take it from job to job. If you are going to load it off road with that axle under it I would be concerned imo.
We are forecast for some bitter cold here as well, so I guess just hunker down and throw some more wood on the fire.
The way things have evolved here off road work ie woodlots etc are a tough go. That trailer may never see another load of wood. The work i have lined up will be tires, old equipment chopped up on site , derelict buildings and the like. It has to all be sorted/ loaded and hauled to the appropriate disposal site. Not forestry per se but more environmental cleanup.
Weather here back and forth as well. If your not happy with it you only have to wait 15 minutes for a change. Go easy :)
Almost looks like my tractor with a twitch behind it. I bring out a lot of small stuff now. But mine is mostly fir for the OWB. I just thin out my land now. I run 6 chockers, sometimes all six are used and I double up on some of the chains. Other times I only have one tree on the winch.
By the way, is that a fox in that last picture? Looks like you got close to it.
Your DOT rep may not like it, but I think you've done an excellent job with the trailer. Good to see you're staying busy. smiley_clapping
My Father in law didlots of clean up and demolition jobs with his log truck.
Storm damage clean ups for many towns.
You need to do what makes money when you can.
Those steel plates were post anchors from a building werent they? I have some identical that came out of a demo. One is in my woodstove for a floor.
Nice work. If you go down in gpm or pressure the engine will smooth out. I am guessing its on the governor alot and lugging down or stalling out? For reference, i built a machine with a 16hp cast iron 1cyl briggs. 4000psi @10gpm would shut it right down like a kill switch. 2000psi @10gpm was manageable but jerky for the cylinder size and had the governor working often. 1800psi @ 3gpm ended up being the perfect spot for caterpillar/komatsu/kubota smooth operation where the engine never lugged and nothing twitched around. I guess that illustrates that we can make due with low power but having double the minimum is how the big brands make that silky smooth operation that we aim to achieve. Power to spare is more important than gpm to spare.
Trick to downshifting a roadranger when youre headed down a steep hill, if you must, is two footing it. Hopefully your brakes arent too hot at the time, left foot rides the brake while you float into neutral and right foot raises rpm. You need to brake to keep the truck from speeding up while youre in neutral. And you also must be below about 1600 rpm when you begin this process or there wont be enough rpm available to get the next gear. Missing on a big grade is pretty deadly. If you have a splitter its much safer to downshift half a gear on the stick, jake a while then down another half gear on the button. Youve got about 500rpm gap on whole shifts and half that on splits so 1600 to 1900 is safer than 1600 to 2100 or worse. Gears strip fast when your sweatin it and jammin the stick.
Well that actually makes sense to me Mr Mike. I will try a the 5gpm pump. The tractor has flow control on the remotes which makes it work just fine. Thanks buddy. As far as dat shift jibber jabber yer jest makin me ...dizzzzzy :D
Mr Ray that was a case of... him... getting close to me . Workin on the tractor looked up and there he was. Don't know who got the biggest start. Its great to be in a woodlot long enough to be just a part of it. If you have time and patience this puts a smile on your face.
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Started this thread 4 years ago . Its been a great learning experience and I just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your input and interest. Sold the ol pete firewood processor and delivery truck last week. So Mr Snowstorm if you see that truck ... wave and there is no response ...its not you...cause its not me... :D
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Liked the comment I heard awhile back...its not the end...its the end of the beginning. :)
Fresh start. New Year 👍
Change is good when youre the one initiating it at your own free will.
On to greener pastures buddy. Congrats on the leap. May it be a blessed one.
Now whatcha buying? ;D ;)
Quote from: Stephen Alford on January 11, 2020, 12:22:13 PM
Keeping cost in mind pilfered a couple stakes off the log truck and got a good used 7000lb torflex axle with electric brakes.
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The 15 gal hydraulic came on sale at 50% off had an 11hp honda in the shed and a 8gal/min pump. Put it on a frame ...fork lift friendly so it can be put on or off with ease. this way it can be in the shop over night or when the tractor is powering the trailer.
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Added emergency stop break to trailer along with lights.
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Cut off the woods feet and added more ashphalt /soft ground friendly feet.
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fenders etc....ta daaa
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There's some pretty fine work indeed. Well done!!!!
Well Mr. Mike timing looks right. Glad for my customer base. They now get the same product at the same price produced by the same gear delivered on the same truck. Should be a smooth transition. Just the guy driving is 40 years younger and arguably better looking. :-\ Naaaa... :D
Just trying to buy some time Mr. Cfarm..... but like everything else these days it ain't cheap. ;D
Have to keep busy to buy time....helps keep you mobile.
Spot on Mr Stephen 1...time is quantitative and should be used wisely. Firewood will pay a lot of bills but does require a lot of time for production and delivery of that product and service.
The new owner is a great young farmer and the firewood will be a nice fit. The customer base will receive their product.
The new focus for me will be woodlot/land renovation. Housing and materials are up 30/35%. Room rentals are 800 a month, single apts are 1400 a month + - . Recently I have been involved in a band saw rebuild and log home construction and enjoyed that. With the use of the tractor and implements looking forward to the next project. At the very least a new log home in the woods. We shall see... :)
Hey folks...been awhile since I contributed anything so thought it was time for a couple pics.
Been doing some clean up of the wood yard.
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Finally got the on site yurt finished.
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The modified log trailer is completed.
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Big flocks of geese this fall.
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Took a walk through the woodlot that got this threat started. Go easy :)
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Hey buddy good to see you! Looks like a beautiful fall youre having. Nice work. Whats next?
...Hey mon chum...just navigating this pandemic haze which has brought some weird times. No grandeos plans ,been kind of an odd house arrest sitch. However been blessed to live were I do.
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First off just wanted to thank you for your hydraulic insight. Going smaller with the loader pump worked great ... 5gal/mi with 11hp honda . Added a place to carry the clam shells and some steps and rail to the perch. Want to avoid that header of the perch from last winter. Not much give to our topsoil in Feb.
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Been working on some landscaping ie shrubs and flowers...a couple of flower pics... with tomorrow being November 11 wanted to post the last pic...
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Wow those flower beds are rocking! Nice job im jealous.
Glad the pump worked out. I think of it like choosing gears on a road truck. A big cat might lug a load right up the mountain with 3.55s in 3 minutes but a little detroit wants to be screaming like an angry mosquito through 4.88s and will take 5 minutes. Well the 4.88 takes more revolutions for one tire spin. Same with pump gearing.. Thats whats inside right.. Gears.
The smaller displacement pump takes more turns of the engine for 1 gallon of fluid moved @ full load pressure. Shrinking the pump is just like going numerically higher in a rear axle. It takes longer but the little more can do it if you gear low, spin fast and dont mind a slow climb.
" Not arrayed like one of these " always comes to mind.
Yes indeed Mr Mike...that sweet spot between ...slow/steady ....quick/jerky :P
Had a chuckle yesterday , got asked what our maritime winters look like ? First winter here for them. Response...you will know it when you see it ... :D
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Quote from: Stephen Alford on November 10, 2021, 02:54:20 PM
" Not arrayed like one of these " always comes to mind.
Yes indeed Mr Mike...that sweet spot between ...slow/steady ....quick/jerky :P
Had a chuckle yesterday , got asked what our maritime winters look like ? First winter here for them. Response...you will know it when you see it ... :D
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Did you guys get hit by all that snow March/April 2015 I think it was? We had over 100cm within 3 days, plow truck never made the road for a week, was over my head in snow in some areas
Yes indeedy that was quite the storm , will be the benchmark for some time. Had a few black asphalt shingles sticking out on the roof of the shed. this lad used to lay there to warm up and keep an eye on the bird feeders.
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You were discussing sharpening your saw in another thread. For what its worth a swivel vise mounted at the right height for you is a big help. If its mounted using receiver stock you can move it to use elsewhere.
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Nice pictures, PEI is a beautiful place :). The home owners take pride in their property unlike any other place I've been.
I like the setup on the tractor, the fords are a classy machine.
Yes winter of 2014-2015 was a year for the books. We had over 5 meters of snowfall, but I remember talking to a customer in O'Leary PEI and they got more than we did. We had enough. ;)
Best thing about winter, Hockey! I'll be quiet about my team, things aren't looking good. :D
Id love a vice but ive found a welded on beam clamp is small and sufficient. Its wonderful to sharpen upright with the cutter close to eye level.
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Well Mr Dom watching your team make a run for the cup last season was great ,a lot of potential. Sure do applaud CP for his seeking backup. Wish him all the luck in the world ,if only more would follow his example. Habs vs Leafs classic.
Mr Mike your tenacity and ingenuity never cease to amaze me. From the look of your welds you must be a proper heller with a caulking gun... :-\
The move away from thinning woodlots has been awkward but under the currant pandemic sitch not surprising. The reason for messing with flowers and shrubs was the hope there might be some viable work in property enhancement. To date not so much....we shall see.
Took a stroll down to the shore winter is not far off.
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thanks bud. im a good enough welder. if it stays together its good enough for me. i have not lost my original ability to make a booger weld if necessary. but my boogers have gotten stronger than the ones i was spackling on as a 12 year old.
look into market gardening and CSAs. there are a lot of people making a full time living producing year round food, even in your climate. "the market gardener" on youtube is near montreal. richard perkins is another very successful one.
covid has activated a lot of underlying sickness in the entire world at once, and people are realizing pills arent curing disease at all. the reward for producing nutritious local foods is going to grow long after all our graves have daisies well established.
Thought this thread had kinda ended but... not so said mother nature. We had a storm called Feona
roll through about a month ago now but to me just seems like a couple of days. Winds around 180 km/hr , rain to no end for a couple days. Most of the province lost power. No power at my house for 9 days. Quite an experience, generally we are geared up for maybe 3 day outages. After 9 days of cutting trees off houses and no hot water wifie said I was getting what she called...a bit of a funk :D . Just wanted to post a couple pics of the stands that were thinned in this thread.
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This was a nice stand of spruce
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This is a pine plantation planted about 40 years ago.
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A lot of big urban trees over as well.
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Always enjoy your posts and so sorry to see that mom was so aggressive in the thinning.
Such unmerciful wide spread damage !
gg
Just seeing the horizon in that spruce stand made me sick. :(
Hey, just wanted to mention I do not think it is my place to post pics of damage to folks private property. There are lots who have if you google Fiona damage pics PEI.
Thought I should also mention for those who have never delt with storm damage rootball trees that in most cases you end up standing them back up. In a lot of the cases you are trying to minimize damage to stuff the tree has fallen on. the large creator formed when the tree goes over is a danger to kids and pets.
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In this case it was on top of a camper trailer.
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As you clear the tree from the top down they stand back up and you want to be prepared for that.
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The multiple stem seems to stand up a bit slower than the single stem but each one is different.
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The root ball can go both ways so if you should find yourself dealing with these rootball trees be extremely carefull . Stay safe Folks :)
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Wow Stephen, lots of damage there, we had a lot on our southwest coast also. That should keep you busy until the snow flies!
There is a lot of work to be sure . We have moved from the panic phase of the cleanup to the...who's paying phase. At first it's just kind of hard to get your head around the scope of the damage . The oldest I have come across was a 226 year old sugar maple . Just finished checking on another woodlot I had worked on years ago. Acre after acre like this
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Stephen I have loved following your work over the years. You obviously had the long term vision in mind with your thinnings. It must be heartbreaking to visit these stands you put so much sweat and care into.
I guess the only upside is that a major disturbance like that will lead to some interesting regeneration.
Be safe in the storm cleanups. In my experiences the twisting forces of the wind leads to very loaded up situations
All the best
Thank you Mr Chep for the kind words . When I go to do a walk and talk with a landowner I like to grab a couple coffees . They have a contest we're you roll up the rim and you can win free coffee and muffins etc. thought it was ironic when I was walking out of the woodlot and rolled up the rim ...
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The only mess I saw like that was in Sumner ME, maybe ½ hour from me. A microburst laid down a few acres. Well I say a few acres. I just drive by it. It looked just like that. Probably been 15 years since that happened. Driving by I can't even tell now. There was a lot of big hardwood trees laid over.
Stephen
One other thing. Are there any lessons to take away from the storm? Thinning densities? Gap size? Edge thinning etc or was it just a mother of a storm and anything and everything got wrecked?
What got spared? Species? Density etc
Sorry try again is very ironic though...
Up until lately the focus has been on the urban situation for the most part. Fruit trees and shrubbery are all that I will be planting handy my home. The damage is widespread, estimates vary at this point but 40 % of the tree cover may be flattened. The thinnings seem to have done better overall. The established road and trail systems are already in place. They are definately not in the tangled mess that the untouched stands are in. Thinned stands are going to be much safer to work in. Having been thinned for firewood in most cases the poorer trees were already removed. The storm occurred when the canopy was still in full foliage which contributed to the degree of damage. When we have storms in the winter season everything is frozen in place. As for species at first glance pine seems to have been hit hard. There are a lot of things to be learned from an event like this on all levels and at this point it is a work in progress.
A colman stove and a garden go a long way in the aftermath :)
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Got thinking about your question so went out to check on an ongoing mechanical thinning. It is a white spruce plantation about 25 years old with 2m spacing between rows. They are removing two rows then leaving 4 rows. It seems to have done really well compared to most stands I have walked in the last week.
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On a domestic note having a manual sump or bilge pump for your home is a good idea. When the power fails or the gas for the generator runs out they sure are handy.
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Stephen thanks for the additional thoughts.
Once the initial residential work is done are you going to do any salvage work in the woodlots to try and save any saw timber that you once so delicately danced around?
Good morning, once the dust settles a lot of decisions will have to be made by all stakeholders. I would enjoy working in the managed stands for several reasons. The landowners of managed woodland are great folks to work with and for and the hazard risk will be lower. Enter real world variables no markets wood value even firewood low. Markets at present are studwood and biomass both machine intense. The best market the past month has been forestry gear. and you real world folks understand ...market driven. Suffice to say all I have left is Ol blue with his winch. We are currently going from dangerous tree removal to the hazard tree removal and cleaning up ag acres. My guess is work in the future will be done by landowners so I am hoping there is an opportunity in the training aspect that has a wee bit o space. If not more time for the garden. :)
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Those peppers are awesome, you got a green thumb.
Crazy to see all the damage done in one storm. I like your attitude,might as well try to learn how to prevent damage in future growth.
I saw that Arsenault Sawmill was operating again, I imagine they only do studwood.
Yes they are my friend, kinda like da habs , you can never count those rascals out they are one of the first trucks you see on the road in the morning and the last one at night. The 80...100 km winds yesterday identified a few soft spots in the storm repairs . Burring power lines will have to be part of the go forward. The reason we had no cell service for so long was they were unable to get to the cell towers with fuel for the backup generators because of downed wires and trees. The cell companies actually had employees standing in line with 5 gallon jugs at the gas station trying to get fuel. ::)
This fellow by me here in Ontario has a couple hundred acres of pine the storm trashed. He's upset because no logger will take the clean up on. He thinks they'll get a hundred load of logs or more.
I told him no logger will touch it if there is no money in it for them.
When the trees are all snapped off 20' up, by the time you figure in the splintered wood, you may get a 12' log or 2 8's if your lucky.
Quote from: Stephen Alford on November 09, 2022, 07:35:15 AM
The reason we had no cell service for so long was they were unable to get to the cell towers with fuel for the backup generators because of downed wires and trees. The cell companies actually had employees standing in line with 5 gallon jugs at the gas station trying to get fuel. ::)
That's crazy! You'd think someone in the know would prioritize those generators. ::)
My grand mother was an Arsenault, Franky was her brother. I was happy to see the family mill got a new injection recently.
The ol' Habs are fun to watch, playing with grit. I'm liking it.The Leafs are picking up, if they keep it together they'll go far. The fans deserve a good season, but I'll stop short to wish a good playoffs. :D
That scenario you are describing Mr Woodfarmer is what I believe is the drive behind the demand for small to medium woods gear here in the Maritimes. Private landowners planning to do the cleanup themselves.
Wow small world Mr Dom, great folks. Dont even mention the P word...most leaf fans are still in therapy... they dont start to chirp till mid January... :D
Well this switch over to urban forestry sure does present a whole new array of variables that do not present themselves when working alone in a woodlot. The worst is folks taking a mosey unto the work site just to see whats going on and conversate .... got my buddy riding shotgun (retired RCMP ) he is great at crowd control. Some of these storm trees are rather tricky when trying to minimize damage to assets.
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In some cases its difficult to find something to tie off to. Came up with this proto type after watching the power company make repairs. its 3ft long with 8in disc . takes a 5ft crowbar to turn it in and a 5ft crowbar to turn it out . then attach to the 5in clevis.
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Also found a set of these...what could go wrong :D...
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Just as a bit of an update , been about 6 months and with spring here thought I would take the first run up to check a couple stands and the beach sitch out. The average provincial wood volume is about 25 cds to the acre. This stand of spruce would have been about 40cds to the acre logs ,stud and pulp.
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The beautiful sand dunes in some areas are completely gone.
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Surprising what did survive. This lighthouse is still standing. Got to admire quality work.
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That takes the fun out of cutting wood. :(
That's for sure Mr Cfarm. Land owners are pretty discouraged. Prices for wood have dropped and the realization that the even the salvage work will be limited . Even the crews with machinery are finding it very difficult and slow going. Reports that there is a lot of fiber damage when the wood is sawed are not that surprising.
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This is part of the provincial seed tree nursery for larch .
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From the tourism perspective , efforts have begun to start some beach rehab. Some sand was being stockpiled in this parking lot.
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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-fiona-ian-names-retired-hurricanes-1.6795089 (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-fiona-ian-names-retired-hurricanes-1.6795089)
Well its been seven months since the hurricane and the cleanup continues. Had to add a little bling to ol blue to make him a little more visual when scooting around town . Got to say dot and most folks have been very patient as the work goes on.
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Had to take this seventy foot oak down as it was a threat to a residence and power lines. Only the second oak I have ever felled. What nice wood to work with. I have always left them standing as they are rare in the woodlots.
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Good to hear from you.
I have lots and lots of red oak.
When claiming back the pasture I try to leave as many as I can. I have to cut a few from one place I claimed back. Too many in one area.
Nice to see you and ol' blue still at it. :)
Thanks, woodlot cleanup is off the table for the time being. With the tangled mess high operating cost low wood value dont see how its feasible. Some landowners are attempting it themselves not sure how it is working out for them. The urban work has turned out to be a surprise.
The province or city will haul it away if it is roadside and no longer than 6ft. So the trees are yarded and blocked for firewood either for homeowner or given away.
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The challenge has been dealing with the slash and small rounds. The go to tool has turned out to be a hoedad. Great for chucking small rounds or dragging slash out were it can be pushed roadside. No bending over and keeps the slash away from you face.
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I never heard of a "hoedad" but I have one that stays on my Kubota side by side, makes a good arm extension.
Quote from: gspren on May 26, 2023, 08:50:09 AM
I never heard of a "hoedad" but I have one that stays on my Kubota side by side, makes a good arm extension.
Same here - had to look it up and found out I have one.
gg
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I guess the one on the right is a more traditional ...hoedad... used in tree planting years ago. The modified rake is what gets the most use for slash and lawn repair. There is a longer tinned version used to dig clams. I charge out at a flat rate does not matter polesaw, chainsaw, clearing saw trimmingsaw or hoedad . If the tractor is running I double it. What works best is the landowner usually rounds up family or friends to handle the hands on labour and because the tractor is so nimble around town I do not charge floating fees. In general the cost is pretty good for the landowner. There does not seem to be any need for advertising its more of a pick and choose sitch. :)
I had to google hoedad too. I thought for sure it was a PEI term. :D nice collection of tools, all with specific goals. My grand father had 1 rake for clam digging that I kept. Gotta bring the boys this summer.
If ya come to da island to golf or spend the day on the beech... come early seems to be a lot of okie fans and players here already . Odd though da habs fans seem to have all the best spots . :snowball: :D
Hey folks , I had posted this pic of an earth anchor prototye to give me something to tie off to when removing trees from peoples houses .
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Well you can buy them for 30$ at princess Auto now no need to make them for that price , but I would weld the eye together .
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